TOKYO — A project team of the ruling coalition basically agreed Friday on a bill to stiffen the law against child prostitution and child pornography to criminalize the possession of such pornographic material even for personal use, team members said. While the current law does not cover individual possession of child pornography, the revised bill states, ‘‘Nobody is allowed to own or keep child pornography,’’ and stipulates a prison term of up to one year or a fine of up to 1 million yen for violators, the members said.

The bill also requires Internet service providers to contribute to preventing the dissemination of child pornography, which occurs across national borders, and to cooperate with authorities in investigations, they said. The bill does not cover pornographic animation or computer graphics, only focusing on photography and images.

The last bit is great news. It's a shame certain other countries aren't more rational about making laws.