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Graphics Advances Make Identifying Real Images Difficult

destinyland writes "The FBI's geeks admitted they were nervous over computer-generated images at a recent forensics conference. In court they're now arguing that a jury 'can tell' if an image is real or computer-generated — which marks the current boundary between legal and illegal. But reporter Debbie Nathan argues that that distinction is getting fuzzy, and that geeks will inevitably make it obsolete." Note: some of the linked (computer-generated) images may be disturbing.

5 of 531 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Should be criminal anyway by LWATCDR · · Score: 1, Troll

    There does seem to be a link between viewing child porn and abusing children. Now that leaves open the question is do child molesters like child porn or does porn encourage it.
    There have been many studies that show that all pron can have a very bad effect. Of course you will have any number of people on Slashdot jump up and say that they look at porn and haven't committed any sex crimes.
    But then I also know people that are 80 and smoked a pack of cigs a day since they where 12 and I know a few people that survived combat without a scratch.
    I doubt that anybody would say those where both harmless.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  2. Re:Why does it matter? by wvmarle · · Score: -1, Troll

    It is not that the prosecution can not demand proof to back-up a defendants claim. That would become ridiculous.
    If you as defendant were to claim "this is fake", then it is quite reasonable to give some proof of that. E.g. if it is self-made, the original photoshop or gimp format file where the edits are stored, instead of just the jpg. Or the source where the material is obtained, that at least they had good reason to believe it is a fake, such as someone selling it to them as "fake porn".

  3. Re:Should be criminal anyway by carmaa · · Score: 0, Troll

    So you think this will be a successful business just like the international porn industry? Following market and demand? I think it is naive to think that an increased availability won't increase the usage, at least if it isn't illegal. And if you RTFA, you will also see that the point is that it is hard to tell the difference between CG and real. So if CG child porn is legal, and you cannot see the difference, how are you going to convict anyone in possession of REAL child porn? It's a get out of jail free card for all lowlifes in this world.

    --
    From the dark, old days of the Internet when men were men, women were men, and children FBI agents
  4. Re:Should be criminal anyway by blahplusplus · · Score: 0, Troll

    "the actual study is Baron, Larry; Straus, Murray. (1984). Sexual stratification, pornography, and rape in the United States. In Neil Malamuth and Edward Donnerstein (Eds.), Pornography and Sexual Aggression (pp. 185-209). New York: Academic Press. (can't find on web)"

    Unfortunately, researchers themselves are frequently biased and have an agenda. The ancient world had no modern pornography and had all the same problems and even worse then that (child sacrifice, etc). What pornoagraphy does is merely bring out what is already inherently latent in many males.