Slashdot Mirror
Computer-Edited Photos Lead To Child-Porn Locale
Leilah writes "Toronto police have found a new application for computerized photo editing. The police released edited photos on Feb. 3 from a series of child pornography pics in an attempt to locate where the photos may have been taken. Two days later, they have identified the Port Orleans hotel in Disney World as being the location. This seems to be the first time photo editing has been used in law enforcement this way and strikes an interesting line between protecting the victims and being able to get public tips. It looks like it may be used quite heavily in the future given this success."
If they DID use photoshop? Was it an illegal copy? =P
This cannot be allowed to be considered evidence in any criminal case. We all know that software exists to place people in places they aren't.
I recently got an invitation from Guru.com to join a project that would create software that could insert a preloaded video clip into a live video stream in real time. Such software could only be used for false incrimination.
While child pornography is a terrible crime, governments must take care to ensure that such clips are not legal evidence, but used as "hints" in investigations.
"If they were so foolhardy, I'd love to see some civil court judge (or jury) find for the plaintiff and award one dollar damages."
Statutory damages for copyright infringement are US$ 250,000 per incident. Or as Lessig puts it: share two songs with your friend and you will be paying more in damages than the surgeon who amputates the wrong leg.
I doubt, however, that a court would rule this copyright infringement. It would probably be considered fair use.