In general, the answer is 'yes' since local community laws regard the possession of material that is offensive as illegal almost anywhere in the USA, except in certain communities such as Tahoe or Las Vegas, Nevada and New York City. But if you live elsewhere, you may have a problem say, if local authorities confiscate your computer and find p*rn in your files. Technically, you can be charged with a violation of decency laws, especially in a conservative community. However, there are rarely any prosecutions in these cases.

In cases where you are viewing p*rn online or getting it through your cable or satellite TV, your lawyer can argue that you were not in possession of the offensive material. The exception is if minor children are involved viewing p*rnography with you, in which chase, you can be prosecuted and, frankly, you should be.

One way to safeguard against legal entanglements is to avoid downloading p*rn on a shared computer even if you're at home. Another way is to purchase a browser cleaner, which can delete cookies, cache files and your browser's history log as well as block ad pop-ups

You can also clean your browser manually on Microsoft's Internet Explorer, in a few simple steps. First, go to the top menu and click on Tools, open the menu and click Internet Options to open a new pop-up screen. Find and click the General tab to open a new section on Temporary Internet files. Click on two buttons here: 'Delete Cookies' and 'Delete Files'. The first one erases cookies that were placed onto your computer by adult web sites while the second erases temporary or cached files from the web sites you have been browsing.

Finally, near the bottom of the General tab, under the History section, click on the 'Clear History' tab to erase all your browser's records of the websites you have visited.

Now, you can rest assured that nosy friends, neighbors and relatives, including those who are computer savvy, will not be able to track your footsteps online. And if some of them decide to view p*rn on your computer, then you know how to clean their tracks.