Orkut Linked To Drug Ring Bust

Dynamoo writes "Google's Orkut service has been allegedly used to sell drugs by a Brazilian outfit, according to a BBC news report. According to the report, the dealers offered pot and ecstasy for sale via the system to Brazil's large Orkut user community. Google is reported to be investigating. One interesting issue that springs to mind is: how can you monitor and moderate such a large, multilingual community such as Orkut? And what are the limits of criminal liability in a case like this?"

Comments

What is wrong with Marijuana?

[linzeal]

I'm sure such services facilitate the transaction between brewers of beer and makers of wine. Why does marijuana which is less damaging than both when injested instead of inhaled deserve any attention from police? MDMA is different and has been linked to brain damage by multiple studies I believe.

Re:What is wrong with Marijuana?

[0x0000]

The Reagan administration also told us catsup is a vegetable. Now the same idiots think they can convince teenagers to stop having sex.

People who trust everything the government says are fools

While that was once true, times have changed. Nowadays people who trust anything the government says are fools.

Re:What is wrong with Marijuana?

[runderwo]

To elaborate on your statement against the inevitable rebuttal, saying that it is foolish to trust the government does *NOT* mean that none of the propaganda the government puts out is true. (Some of it *is* true.) It just means that so much of it is demonstrably false that now a statement being made by the government is an extremely weak predictor of whether or not the statement is actually true. Or in other words, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Duh!

[Locke2005]

And what are the limits of criminal liability in a case like this? Gee, I don't know... what are the limits of liability for the phone companies, postal server, or the package delivery companies if they are used by drug distributors? I beleive the answer is "no liability whatsoever". Why do people think that everything is different if it's done on a computer?

Re:Legal Liability

[xiando]

What you need to know about using a Mobile Telephone in most parts of the world: They use something called GSM technology. Every GSM phone has a unique number. And every GSM customer in (almost all parts of the world) are required to be registered with the provider. It is illegal to provide anonymous cellphone subscriptions in this country and most others. Furthermore, cell phone providers must comply when police and other authorities require a real-time tap of your calls, a printout of all your text-messages and most importantly a mapped feed on your location at all times based on your phones distance from the GSM masts all over. This is how these cell phone companies are liable for criminal activity: They MUST assist fully to uncover and prove crime when asked to do so. They ARE HELD LIABLE if they are asked to comply in any criminal investigation and fail to comply.