Okay, I don't have the time to go over this point by point with you right now, but I want to make a couple quick observations.
Y'know, it's when I'm answering these kinds of posts that I am rather thankful that I've taken a philosophy of law course, and consequently have some idea of what I'm talking about. Alright, since it's come up, I'll go ahead and make some distinctions. I think that there's two which we should make in this case:
1. Moral v. Legal
2. Criminal v. Civil
Something is
moral iff (if and only if) it is consistent with the dictates of the Moral Law. That is, it is moral iff it does not contradict some principle of morality (whether it be the dictates of God, the Categorical Imperative, or whatever). Inversely, something is
immoral iff it contradicts some principle of morality.
Given the above, it's possible to commit an immoral act even if there's no social interaction. Sloth, for example, doesn't require social interaction. It's still contrary to the Moral Law. If you are guilty of sloth, then you have committed a moral wrong.
Something is
legal (at least, ought to be) iff it does not entail an infringement of rights. That is, something is legal (or ought to be) if it does not involve one person infringing the life, liberty, or property of another person. Inversely, something is
illegal (or ought to be) iff it entails an infringement of rights. That is, something ought to be illegal if it means that one person is infringing against the life, liberty, or property of another person.
Given the above,
it's impossible to commit an illegal act if there's no social interaction, since an infringement of rights must involve at least two people. Theft, for example, involves two people. A is infringing against the property rights of B. Conversely, masturbation
simpliciter ought never to be made illegal, since there's only
one person involved.
That's the first distinction. Ok. Now let's talk about things about which the law ought to be concerned. The law rightly can be divided into two categories, that is,
criminal law and
civil law.
Criminal law involves the punishment of someone who intentionally infringes the rights of another person. That is, criminal law is designed to exact a fine from, put in jail, or put to death a person who intentionally infringes against the life, liberty, or property of another person. So, if I steal your car, then I am infringing against your right to property, and in so doing, I forfeit (at least some of) my own rights. Consequently, the law therefore rightly steps in and either takes away some of my property, puts me in jail, or both.
Note in the above that criminal law ought not to concern itself with accidents. If I am driving a car and, due to poor environmental conditions (through not fault of my own), hit your car, then yes, you have lost property in at least some sense (even if its in terms of property
value). However, I ought not to be put in jail or fined, since the offense was
unintentional. I didn't
intend to harm
your property. Therefore, I haven't forfeited
my right to property, liberty, or life.
Civil law, on the other hand, deals (or ought to deal) strictly in terms of recovery. That is to say, if A causes B some monetary loss, then the civil law (ought to) apply in such a way that B is able to exact from A what A caused B to lose. So, I'm driving along and the weather conditions are really bad. I accidentally run into your car. I haven't committed a crime. However, I have caused you a monetary loss. The civil law therefore applies and I am rightly made to pay for the damages to your car.
Note in the above that for civil law to apply, there must be some
loss which can be measured in a monetary quantity. That is to say, if there is no monetary loss, then civil law
can't apply. A plaintiff in a civil case ought not to be made better off than he was before the event about which his case is concerned occurred.
So, if I punch you in the stomach, then I indeed perhaps should go to jail (I have infringed against some right of yours). However, presupposing you don't incur any loss on account of it (like doctor bills), then you have no claim in a civil case. You didn't
lose anything. Any monetary quantity you would get in a civil case would make you better off than you were before I punched you.
So, given the above, for any action, we must ask ourselves the following questions:
1. Does it contradict the moral law?
2. Does it infringe a right?
3. Was there a loss?
If it contradicts the moral law but there is no infringement of rights, then the action, though immoral, ought not to be illegal.
If it infringes a right, then the law applies, and if the infringement was intentional, then it's a matter of criminal law.
If it infringes a right and there was a loss incurred, then it's a matter of civil law.
Note that 2 and 3 are not mutually exclusive.
So, with all of that in mind, I'll answer your points:
There is NOT only one person involved. You are not viewing a drawing that you created yourself. You are viewing digital images of living people.
Nonetheless, there was no interaction between the viewer of the video and the person represented in the video. That is, if A is using the internet to watch a video of B getting raped, there is still nonetheless no interaction between A and B. Consequently, there necessarily is no infringement of rights. Consequently, it ought not to be illegal.
And yes, we are talking about a case of non-consent assuming the woman hasn't given her consent to your viewing her body.
In such a case, I'm not viewing her body. I'm viewing an
image of her body. Her body isn't physically present to me. I conceivably could watch such a video on a desert island (of which I am the only inhabitant).
By viewing this recording, aren't you using the woman's body without her permission?
No. That's why I think that it's very important to track the progression through which all of this occurs. Let's construct a scenario.
A rapes B. C videotapes A raping B. D distributes the videotapes of A raping B. E watches the videotape of A raping B.
When A rapes B, A is using B's body without her consent. There is an infringement of a right. B is physically present to A. There is a social interaction. This constitutes a crime.
When C videotapes A raping B, C is using B's body without her consent. There is an infringement of a right. B is physically present to C. There is a social interaction. This constitutes a crime.
The next one is trickier. There is social interaction involved, but not necessarily between D and B. D is currently dealing,
not with B's body, but with an
image of B's body. Nonetheless, you rightly point out, in some sense there is a real loss here, in the sense that B loses the right over her image in how it's being used and handled. I'm not sure that this should be illegal in the criminal sense. Yet, it's pretty clear that this should be actionable at least in the civil sense.
The last one is simple enough. There is no social interaction involved between E and B. E is dealing, not with B, but with an image of B. In fact, there's no social interaction involved
at all. E is dealing exclusively with an image. He's not interacting with any other person. He is alone. Consequently, this ought
not to be illegal in
any sense.
Can you explain to me how it is specifically the exchange of money that makes something like this worthy of being illegal?
In the above case, if E pays for the video, then it becomes a social matter. That is, there's an exchange. In a very real sense, he's
contributing to the actions of the person he's paying. He becomes an
associate to that person's actions. If the action is a criminal action, then he becomes an associate to a crime. If the action is a civilly actionable action, then he becomes an associate to that action.
See?
But if he doesn't pay, then there's no social interaction, and therefore the law can't
possibly apply (or at least, it ought not to).