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Web
companies should help curb growth of child porn
By RICHARD MEEHAN with ANDY THIBAULT
For the Norwich Bulletin
October 15, 2006
Popular Florida U.S. Rep. Mark Foley was a shoe-in for re-election. But,
during the course of a few days, he was labeled a potential Internet
predator and resigned his congressional seat; it seems the congressman had
a penchant for e-mailing sexually suggestive comments to young male pages.
Federal investigators are now searching for more sordid information
concerning the ex-congressman's fascination with teenage boys.
The same week the congressman was crashing and burning, I found myself
sitting in the FBI's computer forensics laboratory investigating a cyber
porn case on behalf of a client and being educated on how the feds snag an
alleged Internet predator. I was working on the defense of what the feds
call a "traveler" case; that is, someone allegedly caught in an
Internet sting exchanging salacious e-mails and instant messages who then
travels to meet the "child" only to be met by some burly cops
with guns and handcuffs.
Chris Hansen and NBC's "Dateline" have made "To Catch a
Predator" the pervert's "Deal or No Deal," and with much
higher stakes. They have demonstrated how this Internet sex trolling has
evolved into almost epidemic proportions.
Today, Google will point you to any manner of unthinkable human
depredations in nanoseconds.
In some gulag half a world away, a child is forced to perform unspeakable
acts in front of a webcam for the profit of faceless exploiters. Little
technical skill is needed to create Web sites and upload graphic images to
feed this perversion. Despite formidable skills in tracking criminals
through the Web, the purveyors of this perversity are rarely unmasked.
The kindly Internet giant AOL permits anyone to create chat rooms, even
those the names of which bespeak the kinky desires of the chatters.
Fantasy role-playing chat rooms exist to satisfy every manner of cybersex.
Sitting at a computer console in a quiet space somewhere has emboldened
people who may never have taken their perverse interests beyond mere
fantasy. The Web has created a seeming cloak of invisibility that fosters
these misadventures into forbidden Web sites.
There are certainly instances most Web browsers can point to where a
seemingly innocuous Web page title pops up a porn site. Accessing an adult
Web site that does not exploit children is not illegal. But one doesn't
accidentally stumble onto child porn. What most don't understand is merely
downloading child pornography is a felony on a state or federal level.
Prison sentences for mere possession are severe. Utilizing the Internet to
solicit sex with a minor is a mandatory five years at Club Fed.
So why do they do it?
The answer is simple enough: No one thinks anyone is really watching.
But these guys get caught in a variety of ways and the cloak of
invisibility disappears. In its place comes the public pillorying of
another Internet pervert, prison and eventual sex-offender registration.
But the answer does not lie in allowing a Big-Brother-like monitoring. We
shouldn't all abrogate our personal privacy because of a misguided
minority. Maybe the solution lies with the Internet providers.
How about it AOL? Can't you cyber geeks find a way to filter potential
kiddie porn sites? We have sophisticated anti-spam filtering programs that
save us from the barrage of Internet spammers hell-bent on giving us
cheaper drugs and larger sexual organs, so keep the kiddie porn purveyors
at bay.
Link:
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/OPINION/610150323&SearchID=73259930307829
Bridgeport attorney Richard Meehan Jr. is past president of the
Greater Bridgeport Bar Association and appears regularly on Court TV. Andy
Thibault is author of "Law & Justice In Everyday Life" and a
private investigator. This column examines political corruption and the
inner workings of the court system. Web site: www.andythibault.com.
Blog: www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
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