Group Reveals There Are Ways To Fight Child Porn Other Than Useless Web Filters

from the progress,-perhaps dept

There has been something of a stink made in the UK after some children's charities complained that some ISPs weren't implementing web filters designed to stop people from accessing child pornography. While trying to stop child porn is certainly an admirable cause, the problem here is twofold: first, the filters simply don't work, and often do more to block access to legitimate content than to stop access to undesirable or illegal material. Second, simply thinking filters will solve the problem focuses only on catching consumers, rather than working to stop the producers and distributors of such reprehensible material. Stopping it at the source would seem to be a much more effective way to combat child pornography, rather than to just focus on the point of consumption. With that in mind, it's nice to see that a new pan-European alliance has been formed to go after child-pornography producers by tracking the flow of money around trade in it. The goal is to track the money back to those who are abusing children and making the porn, which would seem a much better way to fight the real problem. By only focusing on stopping consumption through filters, little is done to actually prevent kids from being abused, or to put the dirtbags who make this stuff out of commission.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: filters, porn, producers


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Matthew, 6 Mar 2009 @ 2:56am

    *gasp* You mean they're treating it like other violent crime and are actually investigating it to find the people responsible? Imagine that!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 3:43am

    Why not just legalize it?

    It's a hell of a lot cheaper to just legalize it.

    Or are you all still under the impression that children are somehow "harmed" by having their picture taken when they're naked?

    Violent crimes (rape) are violent. Treat violence as violence. Violence towards children is a higher offense in any civilized society. There's no need to change that.

    But don't be carving out special laws for CP when none are needed. If there's no violence involved, the children aren't harmed, no matter how naked they are, and there's no need to waste taxpayer money on it.

    (And now, I will get flamed to hell and back for actually knowing something on the matter and not just buying into the "protect the children" mentality...)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      lulz, 6 Mar 2009 @ 4:19am

      Re: Why not just legalize it?

      You are such a sick f*ck. "Protect the children" arguments are misused a lot these days, but that's beside this point. Do you have any children? Would you want some sick f*ck such as yourself taking pictures of your children, then sell and/or masturbate to them? NOOOO...

      CP is a gateway drug to child molestation and abuse.

      That is why the FBI will pull up in a van and beat you with an ugly stick.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 4:22am

        Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

        My, you are a genius, aren't you?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Chronno S. Trigger, 6 Mar 2009 @ 6:01am

        Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

        "CP is a gateway drug to child molestation and abuse."

        *Sarcasm mode = ON*
        Just like porn is a gateway drug to rape and spousal abuse.

        We should go nuke all those countries that have their age of consent set below our arbitrary number. We need to rid the world of perverts.
        *sarcasm mode = OFF*

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          lulz, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:27am

          Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

          I never claimed that [i]all[/i] porn led to rape and abuse. Don't go off on a tangent here.

          My point is that anyone sick enough to get off from kiddie porn is sick enough to do worse and worse things. Is it too far of a jump to say that if they enjoy it in their fantasy, some, not all, will want to seek it out in reality?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      usmcdvldg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 6:30am

      Re: Why not just legalize it?

      OMG, I sincerely hope you don't have children.

      Go pick up a psychology book or just stop talking please!!!

      One, you wanna know where the majority of Americas strippers and crack whores come from??

      Two, how naive are you, naked is just the beginning.

      Three, Exploiting a child whether its for naked pictures or for their candy is just plain evil.

      Four, Just imagine what the sick fuck who takes porn shots of his kids or some orphans he found actually does to them or how he treats them.

      You probably watch the shit and as an atheist, I sincerely hope there is a god, so he can put you in that special part of hell reserved for those who ruins children's lives before they get a chance to begin.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 6:33am

        Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

        Another troll proves he is too irrational to be able to make a coherent point. Thanks.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          usmcdvdg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:11am

          Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

          You can't be this stupid.

          Listen even if child porn was just naked pictures, WHICH IT IS NOT, children develop a sexual identity at a young age. And when I say sexual identity I don't mean puberty and sexuality. Ask an eight year old if he would be willing to goto school naked, and he will respond the exact same way a 30yr/old would. The difference being children process stress and trauma differently than adults. Simply forcing a child to be naked in front of others repeatedly is going to have a long lasting and permanent effect on there mental state. THEY WILL DEVELOP DIFFERENTLY THAN OTHER CHILDREN.

          Now if we exit your fantasy world where child porn consists only of naked children and enter the reality of sexual abuse and child molestation and you have fucked up kids.

          Please Please Please shut up. You're an idiot. And obviously incapable of rational thought beyond a face value third grade level.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:21am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

            Dude, go back and read your own posts. You are irrational to a Tee, and seemingly a compulsive liar.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Usmcdvldg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:29am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

              Please explain how the emotional trauma of being forced to be in a porn at a young age doesn't damage children.

              PLEASE, if you insist of arguing your ridiculous point, at least attempt to defend some of your ignorance with an actual argument.

              Do you even know the definition of irrational.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:33am

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

                Please explain how the emotional trauma of being forced to be in a porn at a young age doesn't damage children.

                No, that's rape. Not children being photographed in the nude.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Someone, 8 Mar 2009 @ 11:56pm

        Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

        Wait a minute...you're an atheist and you disagree with his point?

        I too believe Jesus is a fairy tale much like Santa or the Easter Bunny. That said, you speak of being naive, perhaps you should take a look in the mirror.

        When a girl is 14 and having sex with a boy who is 16, it's rape. Two years later when she is 16 and he is 18 it's not only consensual, it's the plot line of practically every "high school" movie (with the exception of those damn musical movies) since before Grease. Hell, Juno was one of the best selling movies ever, but the real story would've ended with the male lead in jail for 15 years, even though they both agreed to do it.

        In several countries in the area of Indochina, girls are expected to be married and with child by the age of 14. If no boy will agree to do this with them, they are considered to be too ugly to be a productive part of society and are looked upon as lesser citizens for the rest of their lives. If they don't have sex at the age of 13, it hurts them, not helps them. How does your "childhood development" logic apply here?

        But perhaps the big problem I have with you is that you profess a lack of belief in religion, and yet you still grasp at a code of morality that if not for the three major world religions would not exist. It's simple: Don't kill, steal, lie, or rape. The rest of the Bible, Torah, or Koran is in the words of Lewis Black, "A story told to a bunch of people in the desert to distract them from the fact that they did not have air conditioning." On last of those 4, I believe that rape should be a matter of personal opinion, not forced upon a child by the norms of society. Rape should have no statue of limitations and anyone under a certain age should be required to have a rape kit done in a hospital, but pressing charges should be up to them to decide any time for the rest of their life. With the kit collected and stored they will have all the evidence they need if they decide to proceed with a trial later, but if a couple of teens decide to get a head start on their future college roommates, I don't think the law should prevent that.

        As for child porn - actual children, before the age of 13 or so - we could argue that since they are not sexually developed enough to gain anything from it, they should be prohibited. Of course, there are well documented cases of girls going into puberty before age 9, so maybe we can't put a number on this at all. Perhaps this should be the legal test: "Was it good for you?" In truth, this would seem to meet the spirit of the law, if not the letter of it.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:13am

      Re: Why not just legalize it?

      Ummm... CP can be extremely traumatizing, let alone embarrassing for the children, especially in later life if the content comes up again. Pain doesn't have to be physical for it to be there.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:26am

        Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

        Actually, studies of these children have been done. The ones that were traumatized by the incidents are the ones where the parents made a huge deal over it.

        When the parents were ok with it, the kids were just fine.

        Stop oppressing your kids (by making them think their nakedness is sinful/wrong) and you'll stop fucking up their fragile minds.

        Also, I've taken my kids to a nudist camp, and several nudist beaches. See, I actually know what I'm talking about, and you're just foaming at the mouth.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Usmcdvldg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:32am

          Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

          Being at a nudist camp is quite a different story(I can only imagine). Unless the other nudist got a boner and started whacking it to your kids as they insisted they act out sexually explicit positions.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:39am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

            Being at a nudist camp is quite a different story

            Not according to the law.

            According to the law, we are sending 16 year old girls to jail for taking a picture of themselves.

            According to the law, I can go to jail if let my mother take a picture of my kids in the bathtub. I refused to let her. Not because I was afraid it would traumatize my kids, but because I was afraid some zealous irrational fool would have us arrested and my kids put in a foster home.

            According to the law, my mother can go to jail for being in possession of pictures she took of me when I was kid running around the house naked covered in marker cause I got bored one day.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              usmcdvldg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:50am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

              I agree with you on all points. That IMHO is not porn and shouldn't be a legal issue. No one is being exploited, and prosecutors need to have fucking common since along with the judges trying these silly cases. The law can be quite DUMB.

              But there are many many many children who are being harmed and exploited by "pictures".

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Mike, 6 Mar 2009 @ 10:06am

          Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

          uh about 90% of the pedophile material is generated at "nudist camps" and there are THOUSANDS of stories from adults who were molested as children at these camps. We know what kind of people these places harbor, and I would say that your defense of these things is a telling sign of your compulsion. Seek help, or seek death.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      :Lobo Santo, 6 Mar 2009 @ 7:33am

      Re: Why not just legalize it?

      And then there were flames!

      You, sir, are obviously psychic.
      :p

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Michael, 6 Mar 2009 @ 8:52am

      Re: Why not just legalize it?

      Your kidding right? You must not have any children, at a young age they are like a sponge, absorbing and learning from every experience, the people that we are trying to get rid of here aren't taking innocent little candid shots of nude children, they are taking sexually suggestive pictures of children, and the children are learning to be sexual at a young age, before they even know what it means. In fact if you gave me that BS comment in person I would likely have to beat some sense into you.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 8:58am

        Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

        I'll just assume you already read the rest of my comments and have stopped foaming at the mouth.

        Also, just so you know, I'm a 200 lb Triathlete who teaches self defense classes. If you attacked me for having a differing opinion than yours, I would leave you with more than just your fragile ego broken.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Usmcdvldg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 9:04am

          Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

          Just for fun since we're having a contest

          I'm a 240 pound ex marine, I wouldn't attack you for having a differing opinion, but you had to have know that we were arguing to different subjects and that the manner in which you were replying comes off as very pedophilia.

          And I do sometimes get the urge to beat pedophiles senseless.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            some old guy, 6 Mar 2009 @ 9:21am

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

            In my very first post, I made it abundantly clear I was not referring to anything that harms a child.

            And yet you still attacked me as if I was raping 5 year olds.

            I am not pro pedo. I am anti-over-reaction.

            Child rape is a seriously heinous crime. Child nudity is not. Traumatizing our children by oppressing them with an irrational fear of their own nudity should be illegal, as that does actually harm them. You can ask any child psychologist about that.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Usmcdvldg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 9:50am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

              I see your point and agree with it. But You keep saying photographed in the nude as if the article and the discussion was about a mother taking a picture of her baby taking a bath.

              Taking a 10 yr/old boy or girl whose already aware of how society views nudity, and forcing them to take picture with there legs spread open, sitting on someones lap, hold someone else s genitalia, riding a bike or doing any number of other acts that may or MAY NOT be rape will permanently harm a child. you can ask any psychologist about that.

              Most PORN

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Usmcdvldg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 9:55am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

              Most porn, And this hang up on violence.

              How do you think a grown women would react if a gun was held to her head and she was told to strip naked so I can photograph you.

              well

              You don't need a gun with children, in there minds they have no choice.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Mike Langford, 6 Mar 2009 @ 10:03am

          Re: Re: Re: Why not just legalize it?

          yeah well, one in the back of the head precludes all that now doesn't it?

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2009 @ 8:18am

    The Middle Ground

    Let me ask some questions of you:

    What is the physical/emotional difference between a 17 year old and an 18 year old?

    Is a 16 year old girl tramautized, embarassed, abused, raped, or molested if she films herself stripping for a webcam?

    is a 15 year old boy scarred for life by watching porn and masturbating? What if he films it?

    My point is that "child" is arbitrarily defined as under 18. younger people are incresingly sexual (15 for me, there's a 10 year old father out there) and they like to film themselves and take pictures. I can't say there is anything the government should be doing to criminalizing it. I won't say it is right or moral but I know it isn't criminal.

    CP is completely reprehensible if it is forced on the kids. just as if it was forced on an 18 year old or a 40 year old. Rape is still rape. sexual abuse is still sexual abuse. Punish the crime itself bot the evidence of it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Weird Harold, 6 Mar 2009 @ 8:36am

      Re: The Middle Ground

      For the most part, the world of CP involves very young children, in the 3 to 10 year old range. It isn't much of a discussion.

      18 is an arbitrary number, but it is the age where legally a person becomes an adult. They can sign a contract, they can go and die in a meaningless war on the other side of the world, and they can get naked on the internet without a problem. It's just one of those things. 18 is actually too young for most of those things, but that is the line that is set and that is the way it goes.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Usmcdvldg, 6 Mar 2009 @ 8:59am

      Re: The Middle Ground

      I agree with you, and the ambiguity of laws can be a point of contention.

      But....

      I would say that the emotional difference between a 17/and 18 year old is quite large. Most people aren't fully matured until about 26 or 27. But 18 is where we have drawn are line.

      "My point is that "child" is arbitrarily defined as under 18. younger people are increasingly sexual " Yes, and each year younger you go; the less responsible a young adults/child's actions will be; And the less you can reasonably hold them responsible for said action; and the less they are able to protect themselves from bad situations.

      "Punish the crime itself bot the evidence of it." - That's analogous to saying don't punish me if I buy a car I know to be stolen, punish the thief.

      And yes, I know, being criminalized for having a photo of you baby taking a bath is DUMB!!!! however an ADULT should be punished for caring around a naked picture of a girl he KNOWs to be 16! She may not know better he should.

      "child porn" doesn't need to be legalized, it needs to be ENFORCED more intelligently!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Gene Cavanaugh, 6 Mar 2009 @ 3:53pm

    Child porn

    1. Totally agree with Mike.
    2. Additionally, even though I am a patent attorney, I have always been a history buff and a Constitutional law buff. I am always concerned about limiting access, since, "who decides"? If we have limits, but we are not EXTREMELY careful about "who decides", we move in the same direction as Nazi Germany - don't want to go there.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Aidantheawesome, 6 Mar 2009 @ 4:28pm

    RE: usmcdvldg

    What does being an atheist have to do with it, after all it was priests that molested little boys...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Stephen, 17 Feb 2011 @ 4:00pm

    Re: Why not just legalize it?

    Well firstly not all naked pictures of children are classed as child porn, secondly the majority of child porn involves exploitation of a child by an adult in a position of power, thirdly most child pornography and child erotica is obviously sexualising young children and study after study has shown the huge negative effects of premature and coerced sexualisation which include low self-esteem, the inability to develop healthy adult relationships and even a higher rate of suicide. http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/early_childhood_news/march_2007_american_psychological_ass ociation_report_on_the_sexualisation_of_girls.html, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6376421.stm, http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx, Slater, A., & Tiggemann, M. (2002). A test of objectification theory in adolescent girls. Sex Roles, 46, 343-349, O�Donohue, W., Gold, S. R., & McKay, J. S. (1997). Children as sexual objects: Historical and gender trends in magazines. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research & Treatment, 9, 291-301., McConnell, C. (2001). An object to herself: The relationship between girls and their bodies. Dissertation Abstracts International, 61(8B), p. 4416.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.