I believe that's right. Which makes the author's point of view rather odd - in that they are obviously mistaken to think that Westerners don't see a difference between the two, or don't think that 児童ポルノ is worse than ロリコン. (Of course we do.) It's also rather funny that the author uses the word "nerd" to describe people who consume this stuff, because it clearly doesn't fit the ordinary use of the term. No one is denying (I think) that the appeal is a sexual one. Even assuming the interest is above board, we'd never label a fetishist a nerd. So it's (I think ) extremely misleading to describe them that way.
I also don't think the Red vs. Blue framing made much sense. For one thing it's not clear at all how the .jp instances are related to the "Red" servers.
There's an actual question to be answered about whether ロリコン is morally wrong and if so, a harm that should be prosecuted. If reason that ロリコン is appealing is fundamentally the same as 児童ポルノ (i.e. that there are children portrayed), it seems like the moral case against it is very clear. I don't know enough to say whether that's the case. On the other hand there might be more societal harm from banning it than allowing it. At any rate it's not hard to see why one might be troubled by it, and so I'm suspicious of the author's claim that it's accepted without controversy in Japan.
I also don't think the Red vs. Blue framing made much sense. For one thing it's not clear at all how the .jp instances are related to the "Red" servers.
There's an actual question to be answered about whether ロリコン is morally wrong and if so, a harm that should be prosecuted. If reason that ロリコン is appealing is fundamentally the same as 児童ポルノ (i.e. that there are children portrayed), it seems like the moral case against it is very clear. I don't know enough to say whether that's the case. On the other hand there might be more societal harm from banning it than allowing it. At any rate it's not hard to see why one might be troubled by it, and so I'm suspicious of the author's claim that it's accepted without controversy in Japan.