I haven't made up my mind completly, but here are a few thoughts, don't bother reading them:

First off, CP is real. I have reliable knoweledge to that effect, but let me present some arguments, since the only way to prove it would be to post some, which I would be incapable of doing. First, several agencies have been shut down for it, for example the infamous LS (which was before my time). I have been on forums where former members were talking about them, and they were arguing about what got it shut down, and the consesus was that it was some masturbation video. Okay, some people that disbelieve in CP really are saying that they disbelieve in abuse porn, which is a harder stance to discredit. What reasoning is there to believe that nobody ever abused a kid with a video camera and posted it on the internet? Considering how many pedophiles are in the world (estimates run from 1%-25% of the population), and how many sociopaths there are in the world (5% of males, 1% of females), it is only reasonable to assume that there are also plenty of sociopath-pedophiles. The only thing that would stop a sociopath-pedophile from violently raping a child on video camera is fear of legal consequences. If fear of legal consequences isn't enough to stop serial killers (generally sociopaths, with rare exceptions), then why would it stop child rapists? It seems unreasonable to assume that it doesn't exist, and this is all a huge conspiracy among all the police worldwide.

I just posted that because I know that there are plenty of people here who think CP isn't real. It has little with the post this replys to...

So, assuming CP is real, I think what needs to be done is a division into levels. Each level needs to be treated differently. For example, if we call models soft core CP (as some already do), then it is clear that it deserves different treatment then, let's say, anal rape. I think that distribution and creation of models and even nudes should be perfectly legal. It is merely the showing off of ones body. It ought not to be traumatic, some LGs out there grew up in nudist colonies. The only thing that could make it traumatic is societal reaction to it. If it were legal, then perhaps societies reaction wouldn't be so harsh. As for sexual acts, it is a bit more murky for me. Possession shouldn't be illegal ever. A picture is merely pixels. However, I do think buying CP with certain sexual acts should be illegal, as well as production and distribution. Maybe an age limit for self-pleasure, and a different age limit for actual acts. I hate age-limits, but I don't see any other solutions. I think it is legitimate to make it illegal to anally rape a 9 yo and sell videos of it. I also agree with consent rules. I think that releasing CP without the child's permission should be clearly illegal. I know I read some case a year ago where there was an interview of a boy who's bigger lover distributed pictures that they had taken, and thus got them caught. He could care less about the sexual relationship, he didn't feel raped, but he was very pissed off at his older friend for distributing the pictures, and he felt betrayed by that. So yeah, that was a digression, but basically I'm just saying that I think that any distribution of CP should require a contract signed by the young participant(s).