Tagging the Child Smut Trade

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The overwhelming majority of Americans want to close the door on adults who exploit children sexually. That strong public pressure helps justify two new actions that should help curb this perverse practice.

* The first action is a set of Justice Department regulations that went into effect Thursday and which require pornographers and porn distributors to keep records of their performers' ages and identities.

These rules expand existing laws designed to protect children from being used in the production of pornography. They require that sexually explicit materials display labels indicating that the producers maintain private records proving the age of a …