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Child Porn As a Weapon

VoiceOfDoom writes "Want to get rid of your boss and move up to his position? Put kiddie porn on his computer then call the cops! This was the cunning plan envisaged by handyman Neil Weiner of east London after falling out with school caretaker Edward Thompson too many times. Thankfully, Weiner didn't cover his tracks quite well enough to avoid being found out — earlier boasts about his plan to friends at a BBQ provided the police with enough evidence to arrest him for trying to pervert the course of justice. Frighteningly, however, between being charged with possession of indecent images and being exonerated, innocent (if 'grumpy') Thompson was abused and ostracized for eight months by neighbors and colleagues. With computer forensics for police work often being performed by 'point 'n click'-trained, nearly-retired cops, or languishing in a 6-month queue for private sector firms to attend to it, the uncomfortable question is raised: how easily might this trick have succeeded if Weiner had been a little more intelligent about it?"

774 comments

  1. Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you don't f* with the people who handle your food!

  2. First off... by Pojut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...the obligatory Weiner name.

    Moving on.

    The idea of this is sick...it's no different than accusing a teacher you don't like of rape. Even if you are found innocent, there is still a stigma attached to you that will never fully dissipate within your community. People around you will always have this accusation in the back of their minds.

    Whatever happend to using a whoopie cusion, or putting a flaming bag of poo on someone's doorstep?

    1. Re:First off... by Tim+C · · Score: 5, Insightful

      People around you will always have this accusation in the back of their minds.

      Not only that, but quite often while the initial coverage of the case is headline news, by the time the wheels of justice have ground out a verdict of "not guilty" and the false accusation has been proven, coverage is much less prominent.

    2. Re:First off... by mcgrew · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The idea of this is sick

      Yes, but it's nothing new. Anyone could more easily put an ounce of cocaine in his desk and call the cops, no computer expertise needed. What's sickest is someone willing to download, let alone look at, child porn just to get someone in trouble.

    3. Re:First off... by grub · · Score: 2, Funny


      Whatever happend to using a whoopie cusion, or putting a flaming bag of poo on someone's doorstep?

      Nowadays they put a flaming bag of kiddie porn on someone's doorstep. When the victim is stomping the fire, they sneak in and plant kiddie porn on the victim's computer then light the computer on fire. Then light the smouldering bag back up and make good their escape.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    4. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...the obligatory Weiner name.

      Moving on.

      The idea of this is sick...it's no different than accusing a teacher you don't like of rape. Even if you are found innocent, there is still a stigma attached to you that will never fully dissipate within your community. People around you will always have this accusation in the back of their minds.

      Whatever happend to using a whoopie cusion, or putting a flaming bag of poo on someone's doorstep?

      I put a woopie cushion under a flaming bag of poo on the doorstep of the teacher who raped me.

    5. Re:First off... by mdarksbane · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You ever been to a picture board?

      I avoid them like the plague now for the easy "accidental felonies" available when someone posts child porn as a joke, which will then put the illegal material in your browser cache, history, and in the server logs downloading it. Trolls on 4chan do this all the time, and moderators can never be fast enough to catch all of them.

    6. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whatever happend to using a whoopie cusion, or putting a flaming bag of poo on someone's doorstep?

      Those things don't get your boss fired, which means you still have to deal with him the next day.

      Getting your boss arrested means you get to keep your job but don't have to deal with the boss you don't like.

      Seems pretty obvious to me.

    7. Re:First off... by Keeper+Of+Keys · · Score: 1

      It helps that the UK chlid porn (to capitalize or not?) laws are absurdly draconian, to the point where a guy who tries to report someone else's possession of it can be done for having seen it himself.

    8. Re:First off... by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is exactly why "possession" (of *anything*) shouldn't be a crime.

      --
      No sig today...
    9. Re:First off... by LihTox · · Score: 1

      Isn't it a lot easier to get child pornography than to get cocaine? If I recall correctly, it doesn't have to be an actual photo to be child pornography: drawings count, and perhaps doctored photos? Never mind the aforementioned 4chan source.

    10. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I had something similar happen to me. I was a volunteer at a youth center monitoring a computer lab. Each kid was permitted 30 minutes, and there was much fighting about using them. One of the girls didn't like my policy and decided to tell my supivisor that I slapped her on the butt. This accusiation initially only got me suspended, but the local atorney decided to pick the case up. I was forced to get a lawyer to look into the case. After many delay the child was interviewed a total of 3 times over 8 months. Each interview was more scandalous than the last (eventually claiming that I grabbed her breasts). A few days before I was to appear in cort, the atorney decided to look at the case, and simply dropped the case after realizing that the girl was lying. I didn't have the energy to prusue the case any further so I simply accepted the couple thousand dollards of lawyer fees and went on my way. However, when I went to get an internship later, my background had an issue, where the case was still open. It only took a polite visit to the cort house to get it offically closed, but that still delayed when I was going to start work by a month. I did end up going back to my volenteer work for a short while, but things just seemed to be different, an uneasy atomphear; I decided to call it quits a month later.

    11. Re:First off... by dawich · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Someone in Wisconsin has emailed child porn to legislators and administrative staff in the state government, apparently to extort votes or political favour. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gnAmcYzYG2Ef0BJwTrf9aYQRIrTAD9HBNFR80

    12. Re:First off... by jgagnon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Anyone pointing their browser at 4chan deserves what they get.

      --
      Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
    13. Re:First off... by jgagnon · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      So walking around with a bomb strapped to your chest is ok? Or carrying a machine gun into a bank? There have to be limits, silly. :p

      --
      Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
    14. Re:First off... by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Informative

      First, to get cocaine one would have to get in contact with a seller, buy it, store it, bring it to work with me, etc. Every step of the way entails real legal and in some cases physical risk. There are, of course, risks associated with getting child porn too, but I'm willing to bet that someone who knows what they're doing would have near zero chance of getting caught downloading child porn once; most of the people that get caught are members of 'communities' of people who trade images back and forth.

      Second, drugs don't have anywhere near the stigma that child porn does in our society. Someone finds a baggie of crack in your desk and you deny it's yours and are eventually found innocent, people will believe you. Someone finds child porn on you computer and you are instantly and forever labeled as the most disgusting form of human being imaginable. There was an article online a few months ago about a guy who was accused of having child porn, except that the pornstar in question showed up at his trial and testified that she was 25 (25 for christ sake!) at the time the movie was made. People in the comments section of the article were universally of the opinion that he got off on a technicality.

    15. Re:First off... by jayme0227 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This actually just happened in my home state. Senators were blackmailed with child porn placed on their computer through malicious e-mail attachments, apparently in order to sway their votes on some legislation.

      Child porn is messed up, but the reaction to it, and the effects stemming from those (over)reactions can be equally messed up.

      --
      But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.
    16. Re:First off... by flajann · · Score: 5, Interesting

      So walking around with a bomb strapped to your chest is ok? Or carrying a machine gun into a bank? There have to be limits, silly. :p

      Carrying a gun into the bank should be OK. Using it to rob the bank, on the other hand, is a different matter.

      But it would be tough to do that if everyone were open-carrying, anyway. Hello, we can end the cycle of victimhood already.

    17. Re:First off... by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 1, Informative

      I carry guns into banks all the time as I live in one of few states that allows the unlicensed open carry of firearms. Possession in and of itself is absolutely harmless (even of bombs and the like), it's how you use a thing that is important. I trust people with lethal force (regardless of type), from private citizens to government employees of various stripes, so long as they don't try to use it without cause and due consideration of collateral damage.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    18. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Forget 4chan, mods enforce No CP policy and forward logs to LEA-s. If you are concerned about pedophile online hangouts kill anontalk.se - notorious spamers, botnet herders and ddos organizers pretending to be free speech bbs.

    19. Re:First off... by flajann · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Isn't it a lot easier to get child pornography than to get cocaine? If I recall correctly, it doesn't have to be an actual photo to be child pornography: drawings count, and perhaps doctored photos? Never mind the aforementioned 4chan source.

      This is true. Lolicon now counts as "child porn" despite the fact no actual child was ever involved. It's just cartoons. Don't ever sketch kiddie porn on a napkin in a restaurant. You could go to jail for a long time for making naughty with your pencil.

    20. Re:First off... by mmaniaci · · Score: 1

      Or you could, you know, defend your networks against the obvious and inevitable attacks.

    21. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whatever happend to using a whoopie cusion, or putting a flaming bag of poo on someone's doorstep?

      It was made illegal, and then the laws were hardened. Nowadays you are better off with being caught trying to frame someone than if you harass someone with flaming poo.
      If you want to get rid of your boss, just murder him. If you get caught you just blame someone else and then go free when it can't be established who of you it was.

    22. Re:First off... by Seumas · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is just a variation on retribution through false rape claims. There have been a number of very public incidents of that recently. Substitute women with children and you've eradicated even the smallest chance there might have otherwise been that anyone would ever have questioned the accusation's veracity and destroyed someone's life.

      Also, for what it's worth, I heard a discussion with John Dvorak recently about this where he states that the current interpretation of most US law makes everything "child porn" even if there is nothing sexual about it. For example, the recent uproar over juveniles having to go through background x-ray machines at the airport, because a photograph of a seventeen year old girl through an x-ray machine just standing there is clearly pornographic.

      It really wouldn't and doesn't take much to damage someone's reputation forever. All it takes is one upset person with no scruples who has access to the internet. Frankly, they wouldn't even need to involve the police or make such drastic claims. Say a few horrible things about them. Use their real name. Get it out there on the web so that Google indexes it and it appears every time the person's name is searched (so the more rare the name, the better the results of this action) and you have instant permanent revenge.

    23. Re:First off... by tixxit · · Score: 4, Informative

      I think there was a story here a short while back where a Canadian judge ruled that just having the picture in your cache doesn't make you a criminal. I think the reasoning was that a cached photo was not enough to prove intent, which is a big part of most charges.

    24. Re:First off... by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 1

      Doesn't even need to be a picture board. Awhile back a belgian cardinal was involved in child pornography possession charges, turns out the picture was a cached thumbnail from the frontpage of a news site (it won some photography competition.) of course the whole discovery was blabbed to the press by the cops before they really knew what was going on and the news went around the world causing irreparable damage to the guys image. I wonder what would have happened if the person involved wasn't as high profile and the police didn't have to backpedal as quickly as they did.

      It's so easy to get a file on someone else's computer I'm surprised this doesn't happen all the time.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    25. Re:First off... by WeatherGod · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This is so true. Back in my high school days, we had some bomb threats that got called in to the school. Then a couple of students "came forward" and accused another student of calling it in and planning an actual event (this was shortly after Columbine). The student was arrested and everyone in the town heard about this. It was front page news in local newspapers for a few weeks.

      After a few weeks, I hadn't heard anything new and the whole thing slipped from my memory. A few years later, I read in the local paper that the student had committed suicide because of him being constantly ostracized by the town. Turns out that he was cleared of all charges, but this was never announced in the media and most people in my town still thought he did it. When confronted, he would tell people that he was cleared, but most people didn't believe him because his credibility was destroyed by the original media coverage. There was no trial verdict for him to point to since it never went to trial.

    26. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And how many already convicted and on a list for life, didn't have the luck, knowledge, or skill to have a forensics expert detect the fraud?

    27. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh note to mods ... this guy has a history of being just a little bit 'off' - I don't think this post was intended to be funny.

    28. Re:First off... by dcollins · · Score: 1

      "Anyone could more easily put an ounce of cocaine in his desk and call the cops, no computer expertise needed."

      Personally, I don't know where to get cocaine, and presumably you'd have to go out and be seen by somebody procuring it. Computer porn is orders of magnitude easier to come by.

      --
      We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    29. Re:First off... by Seumas · · Score: 3, Informative

      Sick, but very common. You hear reports of false rape accusations all the time. There was the Duke Lacrosse case. There were the two women recently who claimed a guy raped them, when they were really just upset that the sex they had with him wasn't very good. There are cases where people are not only dragged through reputation-assassination in the public, but spend days, months, or years in prison for it. And of course, the best part of any sort of false accusation like this is that you can't question the supposed victims, because you'll be blamed for "blaming the victim". In fact, because of "rape-shield" laws, the public is almost always given the identity of the accused, but the accuser is protected from being identified. In a lot of cases, they remain protected and unidentified even after they have been found guilty of making up the rape accusation!

      Here's a representative news article from a few months ago, where a 27 year old woman accused a man of rape and he SPENT FOUR YEARS IN PRISON for it before they discovered that he was innocent. In return, they sentenced her for "up to" three years. That's right, she'll spend fewer years imprisoned for an actual crime than the real victim spend for doing absolutely nothing.

      Why did she accuse him of rape? Because she was hanging out with her girlfriends one night when she decided to head off with the guy in his car. When she came back to her friends, they were angry at her for ditching them. So she made up the rape story.

      http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/justice_happened_things_system_solomon_JyyLFVitMM4bx63gpD1ouI

      Crying "rape" has become the modern "sorry, I'm late - traffic was hell!".

    30. Re:First off... by lgw · · Score: 1

      Sadly, in America, intent is not necessary when it come to the witch-hunt CP laws. It's a very broken system, that does nothing to help children beyond what a reasonable system would do.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    31. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better yet, put an ounce of cocaine in his desk, wait for him to try it and get hooked and go into a slow spiral of self-destruction, and then when he asks you, tell him you know a really good dealer...

      Much more satisfying revenge than just a silly little possession arrest.

    32. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We usually find such people funny.

    33. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are careful, you could actually probably get some child porn and put it on someone's computer without ever having actually seen any of it.

    34. Re:First off... by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      The idea of this is sick...

      Seriously. This Weiner sounds like a real dick.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    35. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This would be why I use full disk encryption. Not because I know I have anything that would get me in trouble, but because I can't know for sure that I have nothing that would get me in trouble.

    36. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah, just download Kazaa or Limewire and tell it to download random image files. a few of them are bound to be CP.

    37. Re:First off... by Philomage · · Score: 4, Funny

      "an uneasy atomphear"

      I'd never heard of that word, but looking at it I could imagine a sense of dread pervading every atom of your being and I thought "what a great word"... why haven't I heard of it before?, so I tried googling it.

      The google suggestion was "atmosphere"... what a let-down. Pfft.

    38. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't mock 4chan. You'll get slashdot 4channed if you do.

    39. Re:First off... by thesandtiger · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What is it about you that makes people escalate what seem to be incredibly mundane disputes into the scenes you describe, I wonder? It seems absurd to me that someone who manages a cheap motel, a person who likely has disagreements with customers on a daily basis about discounts etc., a person who has been trained to resolve those disputes in a way that does the least harm to the chain's reputation, is going to go from "No, you can't have $4 a night off of this room" to "He was trying to have sex with my employees and was screaming at maids." Your tale doesn't make sense.

      All it takes is one maladjusted loser (that would be you) getting it in his head that he needs to ruin people he imagines did him harm, and poof - someone's life is wrecked. That's why this kind of thing is so scary, because it's so easy for sick people (again, that would be you) to ruin the lives of anyone they like very easily.

      Revenge is a dish best not served at all.

      --
      Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
    40. Re:First off... by FakeStreet123 · · Score: 0

      Maybe it does, but nobody finds out about it. Who knows how many innocents there in jail.

    41. Re:First off... by Fjandr · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I have a friend who works with children who have extreme behavioral issues, and she had a situation similar to this that was just resolved last week. A girl claimed she was touched inappropriately, and my friend was suspended without pay for the last 4 months while the investigation was ongoing. This girl has a long history of fabricating such stories.

      Unfortunately, she's also currently engaged in a nasty custody fight where the allegations (of which she was completely cleared last week) are being used to support a claim she's a danger to her own children.

    42. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Interesting

      >>>What is it about you that makes people escalate what seem to be incredibly mundane disputes

      I look like I'm easy to push around. People are more likely to do "evil" things to other persons, if they think the victim won't defend him or herself. The Motel 6 guy thought he could kick me out simply because he didn't want to honor the 10% sale price (and he was right). The Boss figured I wouldn't fight an unjustified termination (and she was right too).

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    43. Re:First off... by Urban+Nightmare · · Score: 1

      You listen to No Agenda don't you.

    44. Re:First off... by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      Once upon a time, there were heathens.
      Then there were witches and heretics.
      Then there were, depending on location, communists, Jews (OK, they’ve been a target all the time), counterrevolutionaries etc.
      Then there were, at least here on the Balkans, Croats, Serbs, Bosnians and Albanians. (Other regions may have to substitute some or all ethnicities.)

      A witch hunt is a witch hunt is a witch hunt. The methods have remained the same (plant the evidence, then accuse; if hysteria level is high enough, skip planting the evidence), only the target of hysteria changes.
      Yes, it is easy to falsely accuse someone of possessing child porn. It is also easy to falsely accuse someone of rape. Or child molestation. Or anything you please.
      And every time someone is proven to have been falsely accused, I force myself to doubt all subsequent accusations a little bit more. The little boy who cried wolf does not only harm himself; he harms anyone who could ever cry wolf again.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    45. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Don't browsers include spell checkers by default now?

      "supivisor", "accusiation", "atorney", "cort", "prusue", "dollards", "offically", "volenteer", and last, but certainly not least: "atomphear".

    46. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Happened to someone I knew. He had split from his wife - she left him for his best friend. She retained custody of the children, the affair wasn't found out until after all proceedings had finished. Not exactly an amicable split, especially since when she kicked him out he ended up living with his best friend until proceedings were done and HE also kicking him out! One day his child is visiting the home of he and his new girlfriend and he catches the child playing "Doctor" with her child. The children were young enough that he was concerned as to where these ideas had come from so he spoke to child services about his concern (and to cover his ass or so he thought). Child services performed an investigation and found nothing out of the ordinary, no action taken. One week after this was concluded the ex accused him of abusing the child sexually, he found this out by coming home and finding officers on his doorstep with a warrant. Unfortunately the parents picking up their children from his girlfriend's daycare also heard this news as the police were non too subtle about delivering it. Within two weeks every single child was pulled out of that daycare. He was cleared of all charges after yet another investigation. It gets better - he found out he was placed on one of these damned "pervert" watch lists for having been accused\arrested! Never mind that he was completely cleared....

    47. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Name, place, date, or it's all made up.

    48. Re:First off... by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 1

      Go ahead and blame the victim. You're just building his revenge-complex up even further.

    49. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Troll

      P.S.

      >>>a person who has been trained to resolve those customer disputes

      Actually I witnessed the Motel 6 manager treating other customers poorly too. For example about one week earlier an elderly businessman commented that he had not received his 10% discount per the reservation, and the manager replied, "Too bad. I'm charging full price." The businessman looked shocked. The manager had very poor customer skills, and I bet he's not even working there anymore.

      As for the boss I suspect you've had your hsare of lousy managers too. You're just lucky you haven't encountered one (yet).
      .

      >>>Revenge is a dish best not served at all.

      By that logic, we would have no prisons. Without revenge (or the more PC term: justice) there'd be no arrests of murderers, thieves, et cetera and no need for prisons. There'd also be no need for courts, or lawsuits either. People like you would just allow yourself to be abused.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    50. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...and this is exactly why with the lone exception of celebrities, announcing full names and printing photographs of the accused in press is forbidden in most civilized countries, until he is finally found guilty.

      That may not prevent colleagues to notice, but it would certainly help in cases like this.

    51. Re:First off... by mcgrew · · Score: 2, Informative

      First, to get cocaine one would have to get in contact with a seller, buy it, store it, bring it to work with me, etc. Every step of the way entails real legal and in some cases physical risk.

      I drink at a tavern in a bad part of town, and walking home I'm almost always approached by hookers and dope dealers trying to sell me their wares. A large city would be even easier. The guy's not going to remember who he sold the dope to. Once it's in your posession, well, how many times have you been stopped and frisked by the cops? Almost zero risk. Downloading porn leaves traces that can be recreated in the right lab; deleting your cache and defragging your drive isn't going to be enough. If I found porn on my computer I'd disassemble the hard drive and sand off the oxide, that's the only way to be sure of completely destroying it. With cocaine, once it's out of your posession it's gone and you're in the clear.

      Planting dope on someone would be way safer and easier.

      Someone finds a baggie of crack in your desk and you deny it's yours and are eventually found innocent

      If it's in your desk it's in your posession; an open and shut case. You're not going to be found innocent, especially if it's enough crack to prove intent to sell.

    52. Re:First off... by melikamp · · Score: 1

      These people deserve nothing but quality hentai and asinine comments that go along with it.

    53. Re:First off... by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      I would advocate allowing both open and concealed carry.

      If only open carry is allowed those who choose not to carry, or are not allowed, would be easy to spot and become preferred targets of muggers, etc.. By also allowing concealed carry there would always be the deterrent factor to a mugger that even though their potential victim was not openly armed they might still be carrying.

      I would also advocate that no one be issued a permit of any kind without first passing a weapons safety course and displaying an understanding of not only how to fire a gun but the laws regulating when you can/can not use it and the legal responsibilities involved.

      Anyone can use a gun, being able to use one effectively is another matter entirely and their are some people who flat out should not handle a gun because they are a danger to not just those around them but to themselves as well.

    54. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>"He was trying to have sex with my employees and was screaming at maids." Your tale doesn't make sense.

      Your belief is not required, because I am telling the facts.
      Would you care to read the response from the State of Virginia?
      Or maybe the letter of apology I received from Motel 6's central office?

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    55. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, like I'm going to click on any link from this article!

      Fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again

    56. Re:First off... by computational+super · · Score: 1

      For God's sake, who cares about innocents in jail! Think OF THE CHILDREN!!!!

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    57. Re:First off... by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 1

      Is there a legitimate reason to have a bomb strapped to your chest? One could argue that this is fairly good evidence of intent to go kill some people. Not so with guns, and the CP in the browser cache thing has already been mentioned.

      --
      "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
    58. Re:First off... by computational+super · · Score: 1

      Yeah! The abnormal deserve to rot in PMITA prison for the rest of their lives!

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    59. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Interesting

      P.S.

      I can also show the Credit Card Dispute where Discover Company sided with me AGAINST the Motel 6 manager, sucked $130 away from him, and refunded it back to my account. Still think I'm lying?

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    60. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No ... this is why accusations should not be published in the media ... especially not on the front page.

    61. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      o /[ ]\ - 5y.o.
      / ' \

      Why should any normal person have his/hers life destroyed for something like this ? Who was harmed ? Who is the victim ? What did i do wrong ?

    62. Re:First off... by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      After I heard that in California a man was convicted of rape because he hadn’t told the Jewish girl he’d slept with he was Palestinian, I lost all faith. I am a man and by definition, apparently, guilty of rape.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    63. Re:First off... by timeOday · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I can name a lot more countries where bank robberies with firearms are rare due to limits on gun ownership (e.g. most all of europe) than I can nations where peace is maintained by everybody being armed all the time (e.g. Afghanistan, Somalia). So, I really have no clue what you're basing your opinion on. Unless it's a thought experiment of some sort.

    64. Re:First off... by jahudabudy · · Score: 1

      and other nonsense like saying I was eating too much food at lunchtime. She then used these false claims to file for breach of contract and terminated me.

      What the hell do you do that you are contractually constrained to a lunch-time food limit?!

      --
      ...sometimes, in order to hurt someone very badly, you have to tell that person terrible lies. - PA
    65. Re:First off... by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Personally, I don't know where to get cocaine

      Just walk down any street in any ghetto in the US dressed like you belong there, and someone will try to sell you dope.

    66. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It didn't work too well for Eric Foreman on the 70s Show.

    67. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 1, Troll

      You too?

      Siding with thesandtiger (819476)?

      Why do ye find the story so hard to believe? Surely you've encountered assholes in your life..... your coworkers, your managers, retail store clerks. Like back in 1994 when a black woman called me "prejudiced". My crime? I told her that our store charges $5 for gift wrap. She then went on to tell me how if she was white, she wouldn't have to pay anything and I'll probably keep the money for myself. Yet another asshole who I'll probably remember for the next 50 years.

      99.9% of people are good, but then there's that 0.1% that create "memorable" experiences you never forget.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    68. Re:First off... by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      IE still doesn't have a spelcheker. I noe from personall experience.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    69. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Personally, I just say that revenge is a dish best served. Too often vengeance stays unserved because people keep waiting to be able to serve it cold. Serve it any way you can, but serve it.

    70. Re:First off... by thesandtiger · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Absolutely. The fact that you were so bothered by my single comment that you were compelled to respond no less than 4 times to it indicates to me that you are very likely to overreact to other things as well. Further, your repeated posts in which you keep on trying to add more and more "evidence" of your victimhood here when it's a more or less anonymous internet disagreement about something makes me think you lack a sense of proportion. It absolutely makes sense to me that if there is any disagreement you're party to that you would cause it to escalate to the point of absurdity, without question.

      I'd seek professional help; that kind of dramatic response to minor provocation is something that *will* cause you to get into real trouble someday.

      --
      Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
    71. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>What the hell do you do that you are contractually constrained to a lunch-time food limit?!

      Engineer. But because the company was giving the lunch for free, they felt they had a right to regulate how much we eat. Due to incorrect identification, my boss thought I was the 300-pound engineer who ate 3 plates at a time. Of course looking at me (140 pounds i.e thin), she immediately realized I wasn't overeating but she didn't want to admit she was wrong.

      And besides it wasn't about the truth. It was about axing engineers so she could go back to the CEO and say, "Look. I consolidated the department, axed 20 engineers, and saved us ~2 million dollars." She also said I was late for the previous day's 11 o'clock meeting, except I sitted in my seat at 10:55 so that was yet another clear lie on her part.

      It's difficult to do your job as an engineer when you're dealing with dishonest management that produce fake performance reports.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    72. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      You called me a liar.

      In my book that's almost as bad as the racist epithet. It is not an overreaction to defend yourself against being insulted.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    73. Re:First off... by horza · · Score: 1

      The English press are famous for this. They are quite happy to scream sensationalist headlines of "X is a rapist" or "Y is a paedophile", along with a nicely selective photo that makes them look like a serial killer, then maybe give a mention of a not guilty verdict in small print on page 10 in the future. The truth isn't important, selling papers is. There is the attitude that as long as you throw in the word 'allegedly' it is ok.

      Of course they don't hold all the blame, some has to go to the idiots who actually believe this drivel (key phrase to spot a complete moron: "there is no smoke without fire").

      Phillip.

    74. Re:First off... by Lord+Ender · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Which media? This sounds like the sort of thing parents could sue over.

      --
      A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
    75. Re:First off... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      He didn’t just “forget” to tell her that he was Palestinian. He claimed to be Jewish.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    76. Re:First off... by stumblingblock · · Score: 1

      The idea of this is sick

      Yes, but it's nothing new. Anyone could more easily put an ounce of cocaine in his desk and call the cops, no computer expertise needed. What's sickest is someone willing to download, let alone look at, child porn just to get someone in trouble.

      Good idea - I volunteer to plant an ounce of cocaine you give me in the desk of anyone you choose. No charge.

    77. Re:First off... by horza · · Score: 1

      Maybe there are less bank robberies there because there are less banks there BECAUSE they get robbed all the time? This could become a seriously circular argument.

      Phillip.

    78. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Troll

      Correction:

      You called me a liar [in private message]. And also it's annoying that you would side with the Asshole instead of the victim. You're probably the same type that says, "Well she deserved to be raped, because look how she's dressed." You're the type that blames the victim and labels them a "liar".

      I hate people like you Sandtiger.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    79. Re:First off... by gangien · · Score: 1

      Crime happens for a variety of reasons. with or without guns. And to counter your argument there's Switzerland, where every household just about has an assault rifle, very low violent crime rate.

      But there's this thing called freedom, that this country was supposedly founded upon.

    80. Re:First off... by Dexter+Herbivore · · Score: 2, Funny

      The biggest crime here is what you've done to the English language.

    81. Re:First off... by nege · · Score: 1

      Perhaps cheaper, I would not say easier. Depends on where you live and who you count as friends and acquaintances!

    82. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As an avid severed head collector, I totally agree. Why these heads? These people cut off their own heads as gifts to me!

    83. Re:First off... by greylion3 · · Score: 1

      There was an article online a few months ago about a guy who was accused of having child porn, except that the pornstar in question showed up at his trial and testified that she was 25 (25 for christ sake!) at the time the movie was made. People in the comments section of the article were universally of the opinion that he got off on a technicality.

      I remember that slashdot article, although somewhat differently.
      Sadly, I can't find it again. Anyone who can?

      --
      Privacy begins with ..
    84. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm using firefox, and the spell checker doesn't seem to work within the comment boxes that slashdot provides. I was in a hurry, but I did spell check at least 3 words I knew were mispelled.

    85. Re:First off... by WrongMonkey · · Score: 1

      That was is Israel, not California.

    86. Re:First off... by gknoy · · Score: 1

      I would also advocate that no one be issued a permit of any kind without first passing a weapons safety course and displaying an understanding of not only how to fire a gun but the laws regulating when you can/can not use it and the legal responsibilities involved.

      I'd like to also suggest a requirement to pass a marksmanship exam. I don't really want to have people who are trained in When and How to use the weapon properly, yet when the time comes end up missing their assailant and potentially hitting others.

    87. Re:First off... by 1s44c · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How that got modded insightful I have no idea.

      You don't know what happened, You have no reason to flame the guy.

    88. Re:First off... by LihTox · · Score: 1

      I have no idea what that's supposed to be. And I appreciate it. :)

    89. Re:First off... by thesandtiger · · Score: 1

      I'm only responding to you here to tell you that you really should seek some professional help. I was going to just ignore you, but I feel that maybe if enough people you run across tell you to get help, you might eventually do so, and be better for it.

      Good luck.

      --
      Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
    90. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      STOP BEING DEAD.

    91. Re:First off... by timeOday · · Score: 1
      Maybe somebody from Switzerland can speak up on whether it is legal and conventional for ordinary citizens to carry their assault weapons into the bank with them.

      I don't believe guns cause fights, bank robberies, or anything else. That's all human nature. But what they do sometimes is turn a stare-down or a fistfight into a homicide. Even cops wind up murdering people sometimes [1] [2]. That said, the horse is well and truly out of the barn, you won't see people banned from keeping a shotgun around the home for self defense and I'm fine with that. But no, I do not favor forcing banks to allow customers to be armed.

    92. Re:First off... by BigSlowTarget · · Score: 1

      "more easily"? Personally I wouldn't know where to purchase an ounce of cocaine even if I needed to. I don't think typing cocaine into Google and emailing the search results would work.

    93. Re:First off... by hazah · · Score: 1

      Buddy, He may lack a sense of proportion, but then again, the event in of itself will pretty much guarantee this type of a response. Especially when he's used to having to be the victim most, if not all of the time.

      A state of mind I know all too well, unfortunately. See, being 5'3" will sometimes even give rent'a'cops the go ahead and drag me out of the building rather than a simple tap on the shoulder. In that specific case I was complaining, a little too loudly, and that was the extent of my actions... a complaint. I wasn't a victim because I was approached, I was a victim because the actions on his part were over kill. He only did what he did because he assessed he could get away with using physical force on me. I admit that I've thanked whatever deity for not having enough training to stop him, because if I had, and the way he actually grabbed me would probably incite a rather violent and probably a very damaging response. He completely surprised me... I know if i had the conditioning that this would probably result in his hand being broken.

      Like the GP, I too am very willing to type and tell this story, and would probably want to elaborate as much as I could. It's the passion of the matter. Do not dismiss him so easily for he is just excited by a small and rare taste of personal justice.

    94. Re:First off... by Fjandr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Limits on gun ownership don't stop violent crime. A culture opposed to violent crime stops violent crime.

      Canada has lots of firearms legally owned, and has a fraction of gun crime per capita. Switzerland has one of the highest rates of ownership per household (if not the highest), and has almost zero firearm violence. US gun violence is a symptom of culture, not the accessibility of firearms.

    95. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about those pointing someone else's browser to 4chan?

    96. Re:First off... by hitmark · · Score: 1

      hell, i get the impression that the images dont need to be sexually suggestive in any way. Just snap a couple of photos of junior running around the back yard in the nude, and presto, pedophile. Its the modern day witch hunt.

      --
      comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
    97. Re:First off... by horza · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I had a boss like that once. She came in as a touchy-feely Technical Director, and disliked me because I told off some girl for forwarding spam around the company (not in a rude way). She tried to fire me on all kinds of flimsy grounds. Tried accusing me of resisting any kind of QA (I forced the company to set up the QA department), of sometimes arriving after 9am (er I did every day as I cleared it with my line manager to do 10-6 rather than 9-5 to avoid rush hour), and random other things in the hope something would stick. She even suspended all work going to me, so I was 'forced' to spend months sitting around doing whatever I wanted (awesome). It worked out well for me in the end.

      Don't worry comm64, for every one of you that gets pushed around by bullies, there is somebody like me to give them grey hairs :-). As for the motel guy, he would have a crowd, the police, and myself all camped there going mad in short order. I've caused a scene in a bar because their clock was a couple of minutes fast and they tried charging me a non-happy hour price!

      It's not a bad thing being a nice guy, you just need to have a good friend that has a complimentary character. He can stand up for you when you are being too nice, and you can reign him back when he is being a dick.

      Phillip.

    98. Re:First off... by eth1 · · Score: 1

      First, to get cocaine one would have to get in contact with a seller, buy it, store it, bring it to work with me, etc. Every step of the way entails real legal and in some cases physical risk. There are, of course, risks associated with getting child porn too, but I'm willing to bet that someone who knows what they're doing would have near zero chance of getting caught downloading child porn once; most of the people that get caught are members of 'communities' of people who trade images back and forth.

      Not to mention that you really don't even have to download/possess CP, or even touch someone's computer to get it on there. If you can dig up a *link* to a CP image, you just put it in a web page, and somehow make the actual image invisible. Now anyone you can convince to go to that page will have it in their browser cache without knowing about it, and there's no evidence sitting around on your computers (like those "cookie" images). Hell, I'm not even sure whether that would be illegal.

    99. Re:First off... by eth1 · · Score: 1

      It's in the *company's* desk, to which lots of people other than myself have access. It's not like finding it in the locked glove compartment of someone's car.

    100. Re:First off... by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 1

      Holy crap. You have issues. Seek professional help.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    101. Re:First off... by dissy · · Score: 1

      This is exactly why "possession" (of *anything*) shouldn't be a crime.

      So walking around with a bomb strapped to your chest is ok? Or carrying a machine gun into a bank?

      So because someone could potentially carry a machine gun into a bank, you think possession of guns should be illegal?

      Because someone could potentially strap a bomb to their chest, you think possession of any substance that explodes should be illegal?

      Simple possession of pictures should NOT be illegal. What you do with them and why is the point that matters, which is what you are trying to ignore here.

    102. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is not simply "possession", but active involvement with the items in question. Very different from child porn squirrelled away on a hard drive or a bag of coke in a glove box.

    103. Re:First off... by shmlco · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have a friend who's always complaining about rude drivers who cut her off, honk at her, curse at her, and so on.

      Later on, I had the occasion to ride with her as a passenger in her car... and found out why "everyone else" was so rude. She parked herself in the fast lane and backed up traffic for miles, her driving was distracted at best, she didn't signal, and she constantly made sudden, unpredictable lane changes.

      Had another acquaintance who was constantly getting fired from jobs. Everyone he every worked for was a lousy boss. Always yelling and screaming and making unreasonable expectations. Like actually wanting work done.

      Stopped by a restaurant where he was employed once, and found him zoned out in the bathroom, still half drunk from a party the night before. Was fired about a week later, "Because the manager hated me!"

      Yep. Funny how the problem is always about all of those "other" people....

      --
      Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
    104. Re:First off... by sorak · · Score: 1

      But it would be tough to do that if everyone were open-carrying, anyway.

      If everyone were open-carrying, I would be sure to do all my banking online.

    105. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your flaming is unwarranted. The guy talked about stuff he would LOVE to do, not stuff he actually did.
      He's not trying to tell a tall tale and brag. He shouldn't seek professional help just because your reading comprehension sucks.
      You're the one that got "so bothered by [a] single comment" that you sent him a private message accusing him of lying. The maladjusted loser is you.

      Good day, sir.

    106. Re:First off... by sorak · · Score: 1

      People in the comments section of the article were universally of the opinion that he got off on a technicality.

      This reminds me of a Futurama quote:

      "We've petitioned the governor but he doesn't want to appear soft on people who've been falsely imprisoned."

      Some people are so intent on not letting any "bad guys" get away, that they seem to think not being guilty is a technicality.

    107. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I must be a good person, I got kittens!

    108. Re:First off... by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      The cache trick has always been a favourite of the illegal porn rings.

      Even 10 years ago, they were hiding kiddie porn in plain sight by setting their image tags HEIGHT=1 WIDTH=1. No-one ever noticed a 1-pixel image on a website, but people who knew they were there could get them from the cache. Because no-one would discover what the sites really were during casual browsing, they could go a long time without being put on blacklists by the universities etc and they wouldn't have to keep moving.

      The cache certainly doesn't show volition....

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    109. Re:First off... by rwyoder · · Score: 1

      This is exactly why "possession" (of *anything*) shouldn't be a crime.

      Absolutely! It is asinine to make possession of the *evidence* of a crime, a crime its self. By that logic, it should be a crime to possess photos of the stacks of bodies found in the Nazi concentration camps at the end of WWII.

    110. Re:First off... by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      I consider marksmanship to be part of any basic course and didn't think it needed to be mentioned explicitly, my bad. If someone can't hit a target they should not have a weapon no mater how well they do on the exams. Just like a drivers test, a person may be able to pass the written exam and drivers ed class with perfect scores but still not be someone you want behind the wheel of a car.

      There would still be factors like fear, rapid breathing, poor light, etc. that would affect a person ability to hit center mass, but the same factors apply to even trained police to an extent.

      I would also like to add that the test/(re)certification should be annual, maybe even bi-annual depending on time required.

    111. Re:First off... by shmlco · · Score: 1

      Justice is a process that involves courts, trials, juries, and so on.

      But the "revenge" you discussed would be served solely based on single person's whim. Yours. With no recourse. No counsel. And no justice.

      --
      Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
    112. Re:First off... by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      Let's reword it for the unimaginative: For a crime to be committed they have to show that you were definitely aware of the items and did nothing to get rid of them.

      I think you'd be fairly aware that you were walking around carrying a machine gun or had explosives strapped to your chest. Even handguns are plenty heavy/bulky enough for you to deny you knew they were there (unless they're buried inside a heavy backpack or something).

      A two ounce baggie in your pocket? You could easily not notice it.

      An image on your PC...? Unless it's your desktop wallpaper and you're sitting in front of the screen when they burst through the door then you should be 100% innocent until proven otherwise.

      --
      No sig today...
    113. Re:First off... by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Here in Arizona, both concealed and open carry are legal, and it's not too unusual to see someone open-carrying a handgun in a bank (as long as the bank doesn't have a sign out front restricting it). My wife frequently open-carries in her bank, and when there's a cop on duty there, they never say anything.

      However, since the Recession started, there's been a rash of bank robberies here in Phoenix. However, almost invariably, these are committed by people who don't have any guns, only a handwritten note claiming they have a gun.

      So, carry a gun into a bank in a holster, and nothing happens. Carry a piece of paper into a bank and they give you a bag of cash.

    114. Re:First off... by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      About all you can do is pack up and move out of town, and hope where you are going has not heard of the charges. Remember the dismissal of charges are always on the back page of the newspaper, since that story is not sensational news. Living down the front page story is difficult, if not impossible unless you move. People are more liable to punch you then believe you were framed.

      Most likely your career is also over regardless of how it turns out, especially if your job involved children. And while waiting in jail, you might lose everything else ( and get beat to a pulp ).

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    115. Re:First off... by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      I can't claim to be a perfect speller, but Firefox works great for me when I'm unsure of a word's spelling, even in the Slashdot comment boxes.

      Are there still people using IE or something?

    116. Re:First off... by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      Are there still people using IE or something?

      Yes.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    117. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is exactly why "possession" (of *anything*) shouldn't be a crime.

      Agreed! No one will take away my collection of severed heads.

    118. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Revenge is a dish best not served at all.

      Game theory disagrees with you.

      In the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma, one of the most simple and effective strategies is Tit for Tat.

      Or, in layman's terms: Start by being cooperative, then copy what your opponent did last round.

      If people are nice to you, be nice back.
      If people wrong you, your actions *must* communicate that there are consequences for that wrong. (i.e.: That stepping on you will carry retribution.)

      Notice that kids are quick to capture fireflies with their hands and put them into jars. However, nobody is quick to capture wasps with their hands and put them into jars. That's because wasps aren't aggressive, but carry a threat of significant retribution.

    119. Re:First off... by dreampod · · Score: 1

      I have to admit that I thought that your claim was one of the worst bullshit urban legends I had ever heard. However I decided to Google it just to be sure and came up with

      http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/palestinian-saber-kushour-accused-of-rape-of-deception-speak/19568421

      I have lost a hefty amount of my minimal remain faith in humanity.

    120. Re:First off... by JumpDrive · · Score: 1

      Aaaaaa, what land are you living in?
      Have you ever heard of the Duke lacrosse team rape trial? Have you ever heard of Nancy Grace CNN?
      Unless you have a lot of money or have someone with a lot of money backing you up, good luck with that legal case.

    121. Re:First off... by Curien · · Score: 1

      >there's Switzerland, where every household just about has an assault rifle, very low violent crime rate.

      From WP:
      "To carry firearms in public or outdoors (and for an individual who is a member of the militia carrying a firearm other than his Army-issue personal weapons off-duty), a person must have a Waffentragschein (gun carrying permit), which in most cases is issued only to private citizens working in occupations such as security."

      So Switzerland is not at all applicable in a discussion of the viability/utility of liberal carry laws.

      --
      It's always a long day... 86400 doesn't fit into a short.
    122. Re:First off... by FileNotFound · · Score: 1

      Wow you umm sure proved SandTiger right...

      --
      In Soviet Russia, the television watches YOU!
    123. Re:First off... by Joe+Snipe · · Score: 1

      People in the comments section of the article were universally of the opinion that he got off on a technicality.

      I thought he got off on porn?

      --
      Sometimes, life itself is sarcasm...
    124. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was an article online a few months ago about a guy who was accused of having child porn, except that the pornstar in question showed up at his trial and testified that she was 25 (25 for christ sake!) at the time the movie was made. People in the comments section of the article were universally of the opinion that he got off on a technicality.

      Of course they do. I've discovered through many discussions with otherwise "normal" people that the current hysteria over CP has absolutely nothing to do with protecting children. What it's really about is one of two things, depending on the person:

      1) It's about punishing people for their thoughts. Many people openly espouse torturing and/or killing people merely for finding children sexually attractive, but never so much as touching a child: The mere thought is enough. It's not even about "because if they think it, they'll do it." Many say that at first, but when cornered, will admit that thought doesn't guarantee action, but that, in this case, the thought is enough, because it's "so sick."

      2) For the anti-porn crowd, CP is the permanent foothold they have into banning all porn. From there, they can move on to banning adult porn where people pretend to be kids, and then mere drawings of kids, and then "extreme" porn featuring only adults, and then somewhat less "extreme" porn, and then even less "extreme" porn, etc. This seems to be happening a lot faster "across the pond" than here in the U.S., but it's still happening.

      So, it doesn't surprise me at all that people "believe he got off on a technicality," because what's really going on is, 1) they believe he's a pedophile and that he should have been incarcerated for that alone, it's just that the law doesn't allow for that, yet; and/or 2) they believe he should be put away for looking at any porn, because they believe that'd be a deterrent to others looking at porn.

    125. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some would call that bribery...

    126. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same thing happened to the accused Atlanta Olympics 96' security guard bomber. (except he didn't commit suicide)

      I believe it was 60 Minutes that did a follow up on the guy, and though he was never charged with anything, the community and public had their minds made up and let him know about that. Decade later he seemed to be getting his life back on track, however.

      Sad state of society when perception precedes guilt or innocence.

      /welcome to the human race

    127. Re:First off... by Joe+Snipe · · Score: 1

      What did i do wrong ?

      You put the head on the same line as the body.

      --
      Sometimes, life itself is sarcasm...
    128. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't recall any Slashdot article about this (which is odd since I do usually recall much of the stuff I read here.)

      I believe you're referring to Melissa-Ashley.

      You might have seen her in such Internet memes as "But I poop from there!"

    129. Re:First off... by Treeluvinhippy · · Score: 1

      I did end up going back to my volenteer work for a short while, but things just seemed to be different, an uneasy atomphear; I decided to call it quits a month later.

      I have don't have a clue what anatomphear is, but it sounds really cool.

      --
      >
    130. Re:First off... by jgagnon · · Score: 1

      My statement was not that broad or far reaching. The post I responded to was.

      Personally, I'm all for gun rights and own several. But that doesn't mean I think everyone should be allowed to possess anything, anywhere. There have to be limits simply because we can't all trust each other.

      --
      Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
    131. Re:First off... by Treeluvinhippy · · Score: 1

      I have don't have a clue

        What the hell was I thinking when I typed this?

      --
      >
    132. Re:First off... by dissy · · Score: 1

      Limits yes. Even the GP wasn't arguing that ;}

      But an outright blanket ban on simple possession of something is far from 'having limits'.

      You need to be able to do something first in order to be limited in how much you can do it.
      While technically 100% is a limit, most people would still not say that is a limit to something you can do, since by definition you can't do it at that point.

      But we are just getting into semantics, and I think you're on the same page as the rest of us. So over and out

    133. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Carrying a gun into the bank should be OK.

      ... and then Americans wonder why foreigners think they are crazy gun-loving SOBs...

    134. Re:First off... by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 1

      I avoid them like the plague now for the easy "accidental felonies" available when someone posts child porn as a joke, which will then put the illegal material in your browser cache, history, and in the server logs downloading it.

      Those sort of comments get posted to Slashdot by trolls every now and again.

      What we have here is the ultimate form of guilt by association. To merely gaze upon/hear about/read anything that could be construed as child porn is now a prosecutable offence. So much for the rule of law.

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
    135. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Informative

      The Motel 6 manager claimed I yelled at his maids, and had sex with a clerk. Now either these things happened, or they did not. I can tell you they did not.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    136. Re:First off... by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      I have to admit that I thought that your claim was one of the worst bullshit urban legends I had ever heard.

      Yes, it does sound like it couldn’t possibly happen. Ever.

      Think again.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    137. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>With no recourse. No counsel. And no justice.

      Yeah. Just like what my boss did to me when she terminated me based-upon a bunch of lies. It seems reasonable to me to hold-up a mirror, and reflect some of that "no recourse; no counsel; no justice" right back at her. Return to her what she did to me first.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    138. Re:First off... by jones948 · · Score: 1

      There should be charges/jail time for the person making the false accusations equivalent to what the falsely accused would have received. Might make someone think twice about doing it.

    139. Re:First off... by gangien · · Score: 1

      Well, I did misread his post, I thought it was just robberies, not bank robberies.

      But the basic point of gun control != crime control of my post is still the same.

    140. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Troll

      >>>I'm only responding to you here to tell you that you really should seek some professional help.

      You too. You're just like the bullies who beat-up the nerds/geeks in school. Why do you feel the need to that? Why do you feel the need to say "Liar" in response to someone's tale about a bad boss and manager? You're sick Sandtiger. You're s mean, cruel, and vindictive bully.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    141. Re:First off... by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Troll

      written by thesandtiger (819476):

      >>>>>All it takes is one maladjusted loser (that would be you)

      "You really should seek some professional help."
      Insulting people is juvenile.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    142. Re:First off... by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      Which is obviously a sexual assault. He’d forced her to have sex with him just by claiming he was Jewish.

      Fuck that. I’m going to tell all the girls I meet I’m Jewish. Then they’ll be compelled by Elohim themselves to have sex with me. I’m going to rape girls by the power of YHWH.

      Do you see how moronic that sounds?

      Besides, this is a very, very slippery slope.
      Not earning as much as you’d said when you met her? Rape!
      You said you were blond, but you actually dye your hair? Rape!
      You had sex with more women than you’d told her? Rape!
      You embellished any truth whatsoever? RAPE!!!ONE

      He could have claimed he were Steven fucking Spielberg and that he would make her famous. It would still not be rape.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    143. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What difference does it make?

    144. Re:First off... by Tranzistors · · Score: 2, Informative

      If fraction per capita of gunfire crime is good, then bad would be one or more gun crimes per capita? Still a lot in my book.

      And about Switzerland - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rise-in-gun-crime-forces-swiss-to-reconsider-right-to-bear-arms-446946.html

    145. Re:First off... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      He lied to someone for the express purpose of having sex with them when they knew they otherwise wouldn't. She gets a choice. She gets to decide who she has sex with. When you purposefully lie to have sex with her, or you drug her to remove her choice, what's the difference? She can't give consent if she was fraudulently deceived, depriving her of information necessary for her to make that decision.

    146. Re:First off... by The+Wild+Norseman · · Score: 1

      I look like I'm easy to push around. People are more likely to do "evil" things to other persons, if they think the victim won't defend him or herself. The Motel 6 guy thought he could kick me out simply because he didn't want to honor the 10% sale price (and he was right). The Boss figured I wouldn't fight an unjustified termination (and she was right too).

      So what you're really trying to say is, "revenge is a dish best served passive-aggressively."

      --
      "A government is a body of people usually -- notably -- ungoverned." -Shepherd Book
    147. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FF (on Windows) spell-check has always worked for me within the slashdot comment boxes, even the annoyingly tiny Idle comment box, regardless of FF version (since built-in spell-check was introduced). NoScript is also blocking JS, but I doubt that could be involved.

      - T

    148. Re:First off... by l0b0 · · Score: 1

      While in secondary school I heard that someone I know had overheard her daughter (13 or so) discuss with her friends framing their teacher for molestation because she (the teacher) was being an ass. Of course the mother got hugely upset with her daughter, but is it any wonder that people are super paranoid about everything from childhood photos (especially if it's not your own kid) to helping out a lost or hurt child?

    149. Re:First off... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Bullshit.

      Everybody lies to get laid.

      Usually smaller lies (or bigger ones e.g. 'I love you', 'I respect you' etc).

      The slut in question fucked a complete stranger. When she found out he was a Palestinian not a Jew she accused him of forceable rape.

      Video evidence proved that false, she then proceeded with the sex under false pretenses charge. The jury never heard of her earlier lies regarding forced rape.

      Israel has some fucked up laws.

      What are the chances that the same scenario with races reversed would result in a charge much less a conviction?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    150. Re:First off... by Fjandr · · Score: 1

      48 deaths in a year, out of a population of 7,500,000. Yes, a staggering number.

      So, nothing about firearm ownership has changed in their history, well, ever, and now deaths are increasing. Perhaps, just perhaps, something else is the issue. Maybe? Nah, it must be the thing that hasn't changed that's the root cause of the change.

    151. Re:First off... by ultranova · · Score: 1

      What is it about you that makes people escalate what seem to be incredibly mundane disputes into the scenes you describe, I wonder?

      He's a crazy bully. He's evil. He seems to be utterly incapable of comprehending that people might find his behaviour anything but exemplary, based on his behaviour in both threads. Also note what he's arguing in this thread.

      Notice how both disputes were basically used as methods of getting him away from the other party by said party? I'd hazard to guess he simply sets off the warning bells in people's heads so they get rid of him - a wise choice, IMHO.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    152. Re:First off... by the+phantom · · Score: 1

      Her choice is whether or not she believes him. People lie. People who want to have sex, more so. They lie about their income, their religion, their politics, &c. At the end of the day, she decided to give her consent, and had sex with him. Is he a sleazy, unethical asshole? Yes. Did he force her to have sex? No. It was not rape.

    153. Re:First off... by ultranova · · Score: 1

      The little boy who cried wolf does not only harm himself; he harms anyone who could ever cry wolf again.

      The little boy was a child. What excuse do these supposedly adult wolf-callers have?

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    154. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What can they tell us?

    155. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Don't feed the trolls. He misread your original post and thought you were bragging about having revenge on the people you were talking about, and trying to make you look a villain. It's just a strawman argument, don't let him get you flustered.

    156. Re:First off... by Shark · · Score: 1

      I look like I'm easy to push around. People are more likely to do "evil" things to other persons, if they think the victim won't defend him or herself.

      That likely is completely true, but what you describe is a bit beyond 'getting back' at them... It's a life-destroying event. In this day and age, it might arguably be equal or worse than just putting a bullet through their head and walking away with the knowledge that you won't get caught. Not to mention the indirect consequences... What about their spouse/kids? Do they deserve their lives afflicted with that sort of ordeal?

      --
      Mind the frickin' laser...
    157. Re:First off... by lawpoop · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, but it takes money to sue, something on the order of $10 to $20k, and a lot of folks don't have that lying around. It's risky. The media was just reporting that he was a suspect, just like the police thought, right?

      --
      Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
      -- Pablo Picasso
    158. Re:First off... by dreampod · · Score: 1

      From all the (admittedly scant) evidence I was able to find online there was no proof that he lied to her rather than her drawing incorrect assumptions based on limited information. According to him he never made any claim that he was Jewish but she assumed that he was based on his long used nickname.

      How was he supposed to know that he was going to have sex with a rampant racist? No reasonable man should expect that he would be accused of rape for having sex with a enthusiastically willing and forward woman whom he had only met a few hours earlier. More over he gave her his contact information and stayed in touch with her indicating that he had further interest in her.

    159. Re:First off... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      If you hopped into bed with someone in the dark and she asked “_____ is that you?” and you lied – “yes” – and proceeded to fuck, her never the wiser until the morning when she freaked out when she found out you weren’t her boyfriend, ... yes, that would be rape.

      Claiming to be someone you aren’t in order to get into someone’s pants is rape. They didn’t consent to have sex with YOU, they consented to have sex with the fictional person you created.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    160. Re:First off... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      The difference between someone giving their consent to have sex with you, and someone giving their consent to have sex with the person that they thought you were because you deliberately gave a false impression of yourself. I.e. coercion by deception. I.e. rape.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    161. Re:First off... by Dr.+Grabow · · Score: 1

      That is the most insightful comment I've read on /. in years. Too bad you can't be rated higher than 5 ...

    162. Re:First off... by Dr.+Grabow · · Score: 1

      >>>Revenge is a dish best not served at all.

      By that logic, we would have no prisons. Without revenge (or the more PC term: justice) there'd be no arrests of murderers, thieves, et cetera and no need for prisons. There'd also be no need for courts, or lawsuits either. People like you would just allow yourself to be abused.

      Gotta disagree on that one. Revenge may or may not be a reason for the existence of prisons and a court system, but removing criminals from society for a period of time has value in itself, and there's always the slim chance that the prison experience will not only deter behavior but also reform behavior. It's not just revenge.

    163. Re:First off... by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      The little boy who cried wolf does not only harm himself; he harms anyone who could ever cry wolf again.

      The little boy was a child. What excuse do these supposedly adult wolf-callers have?

      They are bloody idiots?
      Or should we say, they are thinking of children? And in a perverted way at that, too.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    164. Re:First off... by WeatherGod · · Score: 1
      plus, it would have been hard to prove the media's contribution to the matter. The student did have other issues in his life that a defense could point to (but what teen-aged boy doesn't?).

      I did go back a looked up a couple of extra pieces of information (I won't mention names and such because that would reveal too much of my own personal information). It turns out it did go to trial (but not a jury trial). The student was found not guilty by the judge.

    165. Re:First off... by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      If you hopped into bed with someone in the dark and she asked “_____ is that you?” and you lied – “yes” – and proceeded to fuck, her never the wiser until the morning when she freaked out when she found out you weren’t her boyfriend, ... yes, that would be rape.

      Claiming to be someone you aren’t in order to get into someone’s pants is rape. They didn’t consent to have sex with YOU, they consented to have sex with the fictional person you created.

      The first example is true. That would be rape. In a way. Though I am uneasy defining a non-violent act as rape for the reasons stated above.
      The generalization, however, is patently false. Strictly speaking, we all agree to have sex with the fictional persons our partners create. And whom we create in our minds.

      And kindly do take note of the slippery slope. Where do we draw the line?
      In my country, in more nationalist areas, being of “wrong” ethnicity can still get you into trouble at both work and personal life. Much more rarely than ten years ago, and even more so than fifteen years ago, when it could literally get you killed, but it still does happen. So I can understand people hiding their true ethnicity.
      But let’s move from ethnicity. I shall repeat, since you ignored everything I’d written: is it rape if you say you earn more money than you do? Is it rape if she finds out you lied about your cock size? (Insert joke here.) Is it rape if you used some pickup line that isn’t true? Is it rape if you lied you were an agent or director?

      And does it work the other way round? Is it rape if we start screwing before we get undressed, then it turns out she stuffed her bra?

      You cannot cry rape for every personal disappointment.
      I mean, you can, but I do not want to be a member of a society where that is acceptable.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    166. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, if you say your penis is longer than it is, rape.

    167. Re:First off... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Did he force her to have sex? No. It was not rape.

      Rape is sex without consent, not just non-consensual sex by force. Drugging someone until they agree is rape. Convincing someone who is legally defined to not have sufficient judgment to make such decisions is rape. Neither require any force at all.

    168. Re:First off... by Baldur_of_Asgard · · Score: 1

      "the pornstar in question showed up at his trial and testified that she was 25 at the time the movie was made. People in the comments section of the article were universally of the opinion that he got off on a technicality." Ah! Technicality! So THAT'S what they're calling 25yo porn stars these days.

    169. Re:First off... by complete+loony · · Score: 1

      it's so easy for sick people (again, that would be you) to ruin the lives of anyone they like

      I wonder what he'd do to the people he didn't like...

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
    170. Re:First off... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      The generalization, however, is patently false. Strictly speaking, we all agree to have sex with the fictional persons our partners create. And whom we create in our minds.

      And kindly do take note of the slippery slope. Where do we draw the line?

      The line is at the point where you intentionally tell them something that is false because you know that if you told the truth they would absolutely not have sex with you and by your lying, they might.

      You are creating an agreement (mutual consent) which is, in a sense, a legal agreement – as it is your legal defense against claim of rape – and for many people (certainly for Jewish people who are practicing Judaism to any degree at all!), that consent is going to depend on your race (and likely your religious beliefs as well).

      Now, I wouldn’t allow that in all cases where the woman was mislead into thinking the man was something he wasn’t, that she was raped. That gets completely ridiculous very quickly, I agree. However, when the guy obviously knew that his real identity would never get him laid (by that particular girl) and intentionally deceives her to get in her pants, yeah. I’d call that rape.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    171. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I once got about ten pages pop up filled with really vile child porn. After closing the last one another pop up appeared advertising one of those evidence eliminator type products.

    172. Re:First off... by tftp · · Score: 1

      I personally would be escorted out of the building, and once in the street I'd go directly to a lawyer, with lots of evidence of wrongful termination. Gems like "you eat too much" would do wonders in front of the judge - but the company will settle before that. Guess who would be fired, and who gets his job back?

    173. Re:First off... by CodeBuster · · Score: 1

      Yes, but lawmakers have themselves to blame for the present situation. The "tougher on crime" meme has been going on for years in politics and continues to have currency even today. Of course, as each subsequent generation of lawmakers positions themselves as "even tougher on crime" than their predecessors the laws have become downright medieval in both severity and prescribed punishments. I also blame the ignorant voters out there who reward such shameless pandering by electing "tough on crime" politicians without realizing that "tough" new laws might one day be turned against them, guilty or not.

    174. Re:First off... by Fjandr · · Score: 1

      People who open-carry are those you probably have the absolute least to worry about. It would be amusing if it wasn't so ignorant. People who open-carry are no different than cops, except that they don't have near-immunity from prosecution if they unholster a weapon in public. So, a little different maybe. You're less likely to be shot by one that you are to be shot by a cop.

      A bank full of open-carry customers is not going to be robbed except by a note-carrier.
      Oh, I get it. You're an armed bank robber. I completely understand your problem with the situation now. Don't worry, your secret is safe with /.

    175. Re:First off... by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      Now, I wouldn’t allow that in all cases where the woman was mislead into thinking the man was something he wasn’t, that she was raped. That gets completely ridiculous very quickly, I agree. However, when the guy obviously knew that his real identity would never get him laid (by that particular girl) and intentionally deceives her to get in her pants, yeah. I’d call that rape.

      And again, I wouldn’t. There is no hint of violence. There is the slippery slope. And it softens up real rape – “oh, yeah, you were raped, right; some guy lied about who he was”. It works the same as fake rape charges.

      I find that despicable. I am fairly certain real rape victims do so as well.

      Yeah, he lied. Everybody lies. We are all rapists then.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    176. Re:First off... by rdnetto · · Score: 1

      The problem is that a large fraction are incapable of using a gun in such a situation. For them, the idea of even pointing a weapon at another human being is unthinkable. If you want to rob a bank, then it's a simple matter of choosing a time when the majority of people at a bank will fall into that demographic.
      Alternatively, simply take someone hostage. Nobody wants to have someone else's blood on their hands.

      --
      Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.
    177. Re:First off... by Yvanhoe · · Score: 1

      I think you can sue for a "right to response" that must have the same treatment as the initial accusation. Here in France, some celebrity magazines often have to add a banner on their covers following a justice decision stating things like "Ms A. has been acquitted by justice of the child molesting claims, more on page 24.". However the editors frequently consider this as a danger to the freedom of the press...

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    178. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Switzerland does NOT have the highest per household. They have household ownership of about 25% (give or take) according to their own Government. (As per what the reported to the UN).

      They do however have a high per capita rate (about 45%), but both of these percentages are below the USA's Household ownership and per capita rates.

      If you stick an ownership % rate next to the % deaths per 100,000 people for the first world (like has been done in the past many a time), you find that they pretty much correspond. [Source: Kinnears] (Sorry, no link as I don't think it is listed on the internet.)

      I agree with you that there are cultural aspects to this too. [Gun ownership doesn't take place in a vacuum]. Almost all the first world countries have about 50% of their gun deaths caused by suicide. The other 50% are murders and the occasional accident. But still, the accidents should be preventable. Most countries, like the UK and Australia have laws concerning the locking up of firearms and accessibility etc.

      The link you might be looking for that could marry up the statistical evidence with the cultural aspect may have to do with 'a culture that is more opposed to violent crime has stronger gun laws than those that don't.'

    179. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is why I keep naked children around instead of taking pictures! Much safer. :p

    180. Re:First off... by indiechild · · Score: 1

      Switzerland has lots of guns because of conscription and citizen soldiers/reservists being obligated to store their assault rifles at home. However, the guns are supposed to be kept unloaded with the bolt removed until a national emergency (invasion by a foreign force etc) -- definitely not intended for self defense or anything like that.

      It's true that Switzerland has a long history of shooting readiness/competition but from what I hear this is dying out. Many people in this day and age aren't really interested in shooting as a sport anymore, which I think is sad.

    181. Re:First off... by the+phantom · · Score: 1

      As you say, rape is sex without consent. The woman was not under the influence of any drugs. The woman was of sound mind and body. The woman was old enough to make her own decisions (i.e. not a child). Legally, her judgment was not impaired---she was responsible for making her own decisions. If we say that lying to a woman in order to have sex with her is rape, then pretty much every man who has ever had sex is a rapist. We all tell little lies to order to have sex.

      For instance, imagine the same situation. Suppose that he were Jewish but didn't keep kosher, and lied about that. Is it still rape? What if he claimed to be an orthodox Jew when he was only a conservative Jew. Rape? What if a Mormon boy tells a Baptist girl that he is a Christian, and she agrees to have sex with him because she only sleeps with Christians. She then discovers that he is a Mormon, which she considers to be a non-Christian religion. The boy, on the other hand, feels that he is a Christian. Is that rape? What if a man claims that he make $100,000 per year, when in fact he earns $10 per hour mopping floors? Rape?

      Again, the man in this story is not without blame, but he did nothing illegal. If you are willing to have sex with someone without adequately checking their background, it is your own damn fault. Even then, you need to be cognizant of the fact that people lie, especially when sex is involved, and weigh that into your decision to sleep with someone. I am sympathetic to the woman in the story, but she was not raped, and alleging that she was dilutes the meaning of the word to a point where almost all sex is rape.

    182. Re:First off... by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      I will freely admit that I don’t like the fact that the only thing we have to charge him with is rape. But then, the only we have to charge with for consensual sex with a 15-year-old is statutory rape: statutory (the-law-says-it’s) rape. Rape is pretty clearly defined in most people’s minds; it stands to reason that the law should define rape according to what it actually is. So the law defines rape. And then it defines statutory rape, which isn’t rape. Except that it is, since by definition it means “the law calls this rape”. We need a bogus not-rape-but-the-law-says-it-is type of rape in order to charge people for this crime?

      Coercion by deception is wrong. Most people would agree with that. How bad it is, and just how much punishment should be carried – well, that should depend on the situation. Rape is probably the wrong thing to call it, but legally it’s the only thing we have.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    183. Re:First off... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Canada has lots of firearms legally owned, and has a fraction of gun crime per capita. Switzerland has one of the highest rates of ownership per household (if not the highest), and has almost zero firearm violence.

      While I'm pro-gun ownership myself, your argument is weak, because it centers on ownership and not the ability to carry, and ignores the various gun categories. Taking Canada as an example - except for some very limited circumstances (cop, or a private security guard for a bank or something like that) you cannot own a handgun at all, and for long guns, you can own, but the ability to carry is very limited.

    184. Re:First off... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      What is it about you that makes people escalate what seem to be incredibly mundane disputes into the scenes you describe, I wonder?

      There's no need to wonder. He's quite an asshole, and proud of it, too. With attitude like that, I'm entirely unsurprised that he gets into situations that he describes (though they're probably quite different from how he describes them, in reality).

    185. Re:First off... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      It's not the first time the guy he flamed posts on Slashdot. Read this first, then go ahead and tell me if you'd trust him on any claims of other people abusing him.

    186. Re:First off... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I have lost a hefty amount of my minimal remain faith in humanity.

      As Lev Landau (a prominent Soviet physicist) once said, "the product of one's optimism and one's knowledge is a constant".

    187. Re:First off... by Fjandr · · Score: 1

      Ability to carry has nothing to do with increased gun violence. Last I checked, those bent on violent behavior don't typically have much regard for laws saying "you're not supposed to do that."

      In addition, violent crime rates are traditionally extraordinarily low in jurisdictions where it is not overly hard to obtain carry permits (or where they don't exist).

    188. Re:First off... by stonewallred · · Score: 1

      correct, no mens reas(sp?) is needed in any cp violation. possession is guilt, no matter how or why or even if you had no knowledge of it being there.

    189. Re:First off... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Ultimately, from what I've seen, neither allowing nor restricting gun ownership has any significant effect on crime in the long term. I also find it really strange that the pro-gun-ownership side tries to play the utilitarianism argument again and again, when it is clearly more of an ethical issue (just as any other freedom). Yes, there is an utilitarian angle there as well - same as everywhere else - but unless it is particularly strong (i.e. literally thousands of people get killed by allowing gun carry), it's a weak one and should not take precedence. The right to self-defense is ultimately more important.

    190. Re:First off... by Fjandr · · Score: 1

      I would agree that the total effect of firearm availability is smaller than either side makes it out to be. It could simply be that rural areas have low crime as a result of being much more culturally homogenized (in general).

      They play the utilitarian angle because there are people who don't recognize it as an ethical issue. They simply reject the logic out-of-hand that one should be able to defend themselves instead of relying on the police (whose job can only realistically be described as cleaning up after the fact, not in any sort of meaningful prevention of crime).

    191. Re:First off... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      For instance, imagine the same situation. Suppose [...]

      No. I won't. You are using nonsense to argue. The legal standard in the US (and sounds like they applied something similar in this case) is the Reasonable Man. If a reasonable man would not presume that calling oneself a "Christian" if you regularly go to church and believe in God, but don't believe in Creation, then calling oneself Christian and having her find out later that you believe in evolution is a problem. So don't ask me what I'd think. As yourself what you'd think and what you'd think a "reasonable man" would think. You may want to apply cultural context if your opinion doesn't line up with the story, since the legal authorities would obviously disagree with your opinion in that case.

      people lie, especially when sex is involved,

      I guess that's the core of our disagreement. You think fraud is acceptable and I don't.

    192. Re:First off... by flajann · · Score: 1

      Why would any normal person draw kiddy porn to begin with?

      Maybe they are not drawing "kiddie porn" in their minds -- but something else. Aliens who mature differently. Or maybe they are drawing childhood fantasies. Who knows?

    193. Re:First off... by flajann · · Score: 1

      I would advocate allowing both open and concealed carry. If only open carry is allowed those who choose not to carry, or are not allowed, would be easy to spot and become preferred targets of muggers, etc.. By also allowing concealed carry there would always be the deterrent factor to a mugger that even though their potential victim was not openly armed they might still be carrying.

      Agreed.

      I would also advocate that no one be issued a permit of any kind without first passing a weapons safety course and displaying an understanding of not only how to fire a gun but the laws regulating when you can/can not use it and the legal responsibilities involved.

      Here we disagree. The government should NOT be in the business of regulating our rights to bear arms. Period. While I hold strongly that all who do bear arms should also go for a training course or otherwise become HIGHLY educated in the proper use of firearms, it's not the government's place to force that upon us.

      Besides, I think most would want to train up as they arm up, anyway.

    194. Re:First off... by flajann · · Score: 1

      I can name a lot more countries where bank robberies with firearms are rare due to limits on gun ownership (e.g. most all of europe) than I can nations where peace is maintained by everybody being armed all the time (e.g. Afghanistan, Somalia). So, I really have no clue what you're basing your opinion on. Unless it's a thought experiment of some sort.

      More Guns, Less Crime by John Lott.

    195. Re:First off... by flajann · · Score: 1

      Carrying a gun into the bank should be OK.

      ... and then Americans wonder why foreigners think they are crazy gun-loving SOBs...

      We are gun-loving. But that doesn't make us crazy SOBs. Just a part of our long standing tradition and culture, as all...

    196. Re:First off... by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      Please note that I did not say anything about restricting the ownership of guns or their use, only weather a person can carry them in public places.

      I am a firm believer in the Second Amendment. I think that, except in cases of someone who is a danger to society (violent felons, psychotics, etc.), anyone should be able to own as many guns as they want and use them as they wish on private land or at public gun ranges. The only place I think there should be any regulation is in who can carry, open or concealed, in public places where the use of a gun would be a danger to the public. In my mind the concept of requiring a permit is the same as requiring a drivers license.

      A DL does not prevent you from owning a car or operating it on private land, it only restricts your ability to use it on public roads where an unlicensed driver would pose a threat to others. The purpose of a drivers license is to safeguard the public by ensuring that anyone driving on the roads with everyone else has shown a minimum level of competency. The same should apply to carrying a gun.

      I know personally of a case where a person failed a Police firearms course when he not only failed to safe a pistol but managed to discharge it (thankfully it was pointing down range). This was a person who had been shown less than 5 minutes before exactly what to do and he still managed to fuck it up. If he had screwed up again in a public place someone could have been killed. And his performance in the course went down hill from there. If I knew that that idiot was allowed to carry a gun in public I would fear for the safety of those around him. I would however defend his right to own a gun, and use it in designated locations. And nothing prevented him from trying to pass the course again, for as many time as it took for him to pass.

      I would prefer that the need for any sort of permit/regulation on the carrying of a gun would be unnecessary, but this is one of those times when the safety of the public should take precedent. As you say, most would train up, but lets face it, some people are idiots who would never be able to handle a gun safely. Those are the ones who would be prevented from carrying, but not owning, a gun.

      Thanks for the feed back.

    197. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a male, I would NEVER in my wildest dreams consider any work that involved contact with minors. Employers don't pay enough "Danger Money" to compensate for the huge risks involved. I suspect many males feel this way today. It is to the detriment of children not to have as many male role models as female ones because of the insanity of pedophilia fear-mongering. Pedophiles and terrorists are the modern day witches used by people in power to maintain their power.

    198. Re:First off... by couchslug · · Score: 1

      That's why I'd never consider working with young people and don't associate with them.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    199. Re:First off... by strawhatguy · · Score: 1
      *If* we take your definition of gunfire crime only, then yes, I'd agree. The problem with that definiton is that the pro-gun stance is that *all* crime, especially violent crime, would be at worst the same, but probably lower, if gun ownership was encouraged. From http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5712573/UK-is-violent-crime-capital-of-Europe.html :

      It means there are over 2,000 crimes recorded per 100,000 population in the UK, making it the most violent place in Europe. Austria is second, with a rate of 1,677 per 100,000 people, followed by Sweden, Belgium, Finland and Holland. By comparison, America has an estimated rate of 466 violent crimes per 100,000 population. France recorded 324,765 violent crimes in 2007 - a 67 per cent increase in the past decade - at a rate of 504 per 100,000 population.

    200. Re:First off... by Fjandr · · Score: 1

      The link you might be looking for that could marry up the statistical evidence with the cultural aspect may have to do with 'a culture that is more opposed to violent crime has stronger gun laws than those that don't.'

      If football (soccer to Yanks) matches or the eagerness to kick someone while they're down during a bar brawl are any indication, the above is not true. It also doesn't explain why the cities with the most violence don't move around much on the top XX lists for crime, whether you look at them before or after the implementation of restrictive firearm laws.

      New York, D.C., Detroit, and Chicago account for much of the inflated per capita violence numbers, and up until recently (in the cases of D.C. and Detroit) had virtual bans on carrying firearms or even owning handguns. None of these cities has ever had anything resembling a culture that is more opposed to violence than the rest of the nation. In fact, a strong case can be made for the exact opposite being true.

    201. Re:First off... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alternatively, simply take someone hostage. Nobody wants to have someone else's blood on their hands.

      ...and this is why I love the scenes in movies where the “good” guy simply shoots the “bad” guy in the head when this tactic is tried. If you aren’t sure that you can hit what you’re aiming for at medium-to-close range... why the fuck are you holding a gun?

    202. Re:First off... by rdnetto · · Score: 1

      But it would be tough to do that if everyone were open-carrying, anyway. Hello, we can end the cycle of victimhood already.

      Because someone said a few posts ago that it would be a good idea. People will treat guns like computers - they'll own them, but they won't necessarily know how to use them.

      --
      Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.
    203. Re:First off... by Mauzl · · Score: 1

      There are many lawyers who would take this on for nothing up front, for a cut of the award.

      There are also lawyers who would do it pro bono.

    204. Re:First off... by flajann · · Score: 1

      I know personally of a case where a person failed a Police firearms course when he not only failed to safe a pistol but managed to discharge it (thankfully it was pointing down range). This was a person who had been shown less than 5 minutes before exactly what to do and he still managed to fuck it up. If he had screwed up again in a public place someone could have been killed. And his performance in the course went down hill from there. If I knew that that idiot was allowed to carry a gun in public I would fear for the safety of those around him. I would however defend his right to own a gun, and use it in designated locations. And nothing prevented him from trying to pass the course again, for as many time as it took for him to pass.

      All the gun owners I know of are highly responsible and have had training in some regard. Occaionally you get the idiot, but all of the idiotic cases I have ever heard of happened in Massachusetts, which is a lot more restrictive of gun ownership than New Hampshire, where I reside.

      Government restriction creates inexperience, and inexperience create the problems you describe.

      I am fully for responsible gun ownership, and the State must have no regulation or licensing in the matter. Why do I say this? Because if Government has a list of who owns a gun, it can decide to harass those individuals needlessly.

      Case in point? New Orleans. I have a friend who volunteered for relief efforts after the mess hurricane Katrina created, and guess what? The government there were rounding up all the guns owned by "blacks", but leaving the "whites" alone. Pure discrimination, plain and simple, at a time you need your gun the most.

      Perhaps you have a blind trust of government, but I know too much history, recent and past, to be that naive. We have few to no problems in New Hampshire with idiots owning guns, as we have a very strong culture of gun ownership here, and neophytes are strongly encouarged by their more experienced peers to seek training -- or are simply taught directly by their more experienced peers.

      Places like Massachusetts south of us don't have this, since they hate guns so much, and that's where you see the most inane mishaps, like a young kid being allowed to handle a semi and loosing control of it due to the recoil. That crap would NEVER happen in New Hampsire. I can't imagine why anyone would be so stupid.

      And I needn't say that licensing will only affect law-abiding citizens, not actual criminals who will conceal carry despite whatever laws you want to have. Better to allow free gun ownership with the option to freely conceal carry in public for such idiots. They'll be put down after the squeeze off the first shot, I assure you, thus saving many lives otherwise lost -- like in that shooting spree incident that occurred around Washington DC shortly after 9/11, or that case where the loon on the barracks went on a shooting spree recently.

      But this would require you to put the usual knee-jerk fears aside and look at what ACTUALLY HAPPENS.

    205. Re:First off... by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      Funny how people always seem to accuse me of "knee-jerk" responses when I try and be rational and polite in discussing a subject while also trying to present a compromise that both sides might be able to work with.

      All the gun owners I know are also very responsible and have also had some degree of training. But I'm sure that you, like me, do not know everyone in the county. Your friends are equally intelligent to you, so of course they are going to have similar skills and opinions, if they didn't they wouldn't be your friends. Its the rest of the people, the one who are dumber than you, and outnumber you and your friends by a fair margin that you have to worry about.

      I know my US and world history way better than most of the people who have graduated from American schools in the last 20 years. Maybe not as well as you do since you act like you have a Phd in American history but well enough to know that you are right about how lists will be used to stripe people of their guns if they let them.

      I also find it amusing that you cite the DC sniper, even if every person in DC had had a gun on them it wouldn't have saved a single life. What was your point on that one again?

      A better event would have been to cite the Luby's Massacre", thats the one I always bring up to support my position that people should be able to carry. Suzanna Hupp would have been able to shoot the gunman before the second person was shot, but she had had to leave her gun in car. As a result 23 dead, including her parents.

      And as to New Orleans, a citation please. I'm not saying it didn't happen but if I'm going to start citing it myself I would like to know more.

      And again in regards to New Orleans, what did you do about it? Scream about lists, shake your fist impotently in the night at the government? Or did you do something to try ensure it doesn't happen again? What could you do? I don't know, but if you didn't do anything then you are part of the problem.

      My honest take on the situation. Have no fucking laws about it at all. If someone wants to carry a gun, great! They pull it out and shoot themselves or someone else is faster and shoots them first Fantastic!! Darwin in action. Someone innocent get caught in the crossfire, oh well, they should have ducked faster, Darwin again.

      Keep in mind that just because someone tries to present a balanced plan to try and get two opposing sides to agree it does not make them a whining knee-jerk liberal! You obviously never learned that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

    206. Re:First off... by flajann · · Score: 1
      Your criticisms are duly noted.

      Guns and Cars -- yes, there are many people who drive cars, and most are probably less intelligent about it than I am. And the 41000 deaths per year on our roadways speaks volumes to this.

      Innocent people are killed in car crashes, too -- lots of them. And yet we are willing to tolerate the risk. Somehow, even if everyone were free to carry, I don't think we'd have a death rate due to idiot gun accidents that would even approach what we see on the roads everyday.

      Of course, we can get some ideas from hard facts. The Swiss, for instance. Or States in this country that have pretty open laws about guns, like New Hampshire.

      You may be right about the DC sniper -- bad choice on my part. But I dunno. There's a good chance someone may have seen him pulling out his guns that would've been in a position to do something about it. DC is not exactly a rural area. But I would have to dig up the details of each incident, and I don't have the time. But there's been others, like the one you mentioned yourself, and a McDonald Shooting some time back. Not to mention the handful of incidents where a crazed student shoots up all his classmates. If teachers were armed, they could've taken out this individual before much damage was done.

      But then there are some crazy teachers as well -- well, the public school system is crazy in its own right, worthy of a thread all its own.

      It's all about risk vs. the reward, and realism. We are willing to accept a relatively high mortality rate for our right to travel. I used that as a benchmark to see how realistic our expectations and perceptions are. Everyone goes insane over the 9/11 incident, a singular incident where ONLY 3000 or so people died, but doesn't bat an eyelash to the 41000 annual fatalities on our roads. Trillions of dollars are being wasted on the so-called "War on Terrorism", and just think what that money would do if it were, instead, used to improve road safety and technology in a realistic way! How many US lives (not counting soldiers) are lost due to terrorism? The risk factors are very low and yet an astronomical figure is spent fighting it.

      Which convinces me that Government has it all wrong, period. Always has, and it always will.

  3. very by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Informative

    very very easy... every time I here about someones brother or uncle got caught with it on their computer I always try and explain how easy something like this would be and we shouldn't jump to conclusions. But they always do anyway.

    1. Re: very by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      very very easy... every time I here about someones brother or uncle got caught with it on their computer I always try and explain how easy something like this would be and we shouldn't jump to conclusions.

      Given how many compromised computers there are out there, I'm surprised it's possible to convict anyone on the basis of anything on the computer.

      How many of us know what's on our computer? Yours might be serving up kiddie porn, stolen credit card numbers, or trade secrets right now.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    2. Re: very by marika · · Score: 1

      a lot about these convictions are more about how one tries to conceal this information than about having it. but then again it's a case by case thing.

      --
      This is totally insecure, but very convenient.
    3. Re: very by ScrewMaster · · Score: 1

      Yours might be serving up kiddie porn, stolen credit card numbers, or trade secrets right now.

      Probably not. But then again, other than my laptop (which I reimage periodically just in case) I don't have any Windows systems running and everything else is as tight as I can make it. No guarantees, of course ... but Mr. Weiner would have had a harder time with someone who takes a few precautions. Hell, that caretaker would have probably been safe from his handyman's depredations if he'd just passworded his desktop.

      I'll bet he does now.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    4. Re:very by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 1

      Every time? You speak of this like it's some common occurrence.
      If something like that his happening around with with that degree of frequency, I'd be more inclined to suspect that something was in fact wrong.
      And no... not with people "planting" stuff, but with these people actively engaging and trading.

    5. Re:very by Chrononium · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Is it really so different that the offending items are electronic than if they were physical?

      Consider this scenario:
      (1) Disgruntled person A wants to get person B in trouble by planting child porn in B's work desk.
      (2) A calls the cops on B.
      (3) Cops find the porn in B's work desk.

      Do the cops automatically jump to the conclusion that B owned the child porn? Or do they try to investigate further to establish how the material likely got there? If yes to the latter question, then perhaps the basic problem is that cops don't get the desktop metaphor: anyone who has access to the desk can put stuff on it. There isn't an invisible shield permeable by only the desk's owner. Computers are literary no different and thoughts of equivalent magic shields around the computer's hard drive only impede justice.

    6. Re:very by ericspinder · · Score: 1

      While I'd agree with you in general on your attitude about 'innocent until proven guilty' and I personally have never ran across this situation once IRL. However, I'd consider some life changes if I kept running across personal stories of such type, like you seem to have had.

      --
      The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
    7. Re: very by Bobb+Sledd · · Score: 0

      No it isn't; I'm turning it o[CARRIER LOST]

      --
      "They said I probly shouldn't fly with just one eye," "I am Bender. Please insert girder."
    8. Re: very by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>Yours might be serving up kiddie porn, stolen credit card numbers, or trade secrets right now.

      On my 750k connection? I think I'd notice the slowdown

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    9. Re:very by DrgnDancer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      One difference is, as pointed out in the summary, physical investigations tend to be much faster than computer investigations. Most of the time, whether the case is "real world" or digital, these frame ups get caught. People who do these things tend to do them on the spur of moment and often aren't very smart about it. Unfortunately, while the finger prints on those photos found in your desk might come back in a couple days. Thus showing that your cube-mate was the only person to actually touch them. The forensic analysis of your hard drive might take months, even assuming the person doing it is vaguely competent and likely to notice any red flags.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    10. Re:very by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      try and explain try to explain i don't see a difference...

    11. Re: very by flajann · · Score: 1

      Yours might be serving up kiddie porn, stolen credit card numbers, or trade secrets right now.

      Probably not. But then again, other than my laptop (which I reimage periodically just in case) I don't have any Windows systems running and everything else is as tight as I can make it. No guarantees, of course ... but Mr. Weiner would have had a harder time with someone who takes a few precautions. Hell, that caretaker would have probably been safe from his handyman's depredations if he'd just passworded his desktop. I'll bet he does now.

      Unless the hard drives are encrypted, all bets are off. It's just too easy to boot off of a distro like Knoppix and do anything to the hard drives you want.

      For some truly enterprising sickness, how about creating a Bootable Kiddie Porn Distro, which will automatically infect your target's computer with kiddie porn in a way that would fool forensics? Just imagine the level of damage you could do!

    12. Re:very by sjames · · Score: 1

      Most of the time, whether the case is "real world" or digital, these frame ups get caught. People who do these things tend to do them on the spur of moment and often aren't very smart about it.

      Point to consider: All we know is that most of the time that we know of when someone does these things spur of the moment and isn't very smart about it these frameups get caught. We have no idea how many frame-ups DIDN'T get caught but we can be fairly sure the answer isn't zero. The latter part is especially true since we know of amateurish frame-ups that nearly worked.

    13. Re:very by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The difference is my fingerprints won't be on the incriminating evidence if it is physical and I can point out that my desk is unlocked, so anyone could have put it there.

      Anything on my work computer will probably be assumed to have been put there by me, despite several people having access to it, some even if my machine is locked. Any competent admin could fudge timestamps and backup tapes to provide corresponding evidence that they were created when I was at my desk.

      Plus, I probably won't get my house spraypainted or my car firebombed if somebody plants a bag of drugs or a murder weapon in my desk.

    14. Re:very by DrgnDancer · · Score: 1

      Valid point. I didn't mean to imply that their weren't more clever attempts or that some attempts might succeed. Rather I was saying that in the many case where they *don't* succeed it takes longer to unravel with digital cases.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    15. Re: very by Snarky+McButtface · · Score: 1

      I do. netstat -tulpan...

    16. Re: very by ScrewMaster · · Score: 1

      how about creating a Bootable Kiddie Porn Distro

      Call it "Pubuntu Linux".

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    17. Re:very by tftp · · Score: 1

      Do the cops automatically jump to the conclusion that B owned the child porn?

      They most likely start there, just because the computer is protected by a password that only the worker is supposed to know. A desk is not protected, as you note, so the accusation won't be that strong from the very beginning.

      Or do they try to investigate further to establish how the material likely got there?

      They have to. But there are very few competent computer forensics investigators, so the case will be dragging on for months. What, in your opinion, are job prospects of the accused during this time? Besides, the investigator may conclude that the files were stored "by undetermined piece of software running under $worker's credentials. That could be a browser, or an IM client, or Outlook...

      Computers are literary no different and thoughts of equivalent magic shields around the computer's hard drive only impede justice.

      Someone earlier commented that many computer crimes are investigated by officers who are nearing retirement. To them a computer is magic. Once the forensics report is in the case is solved. How would anyone even tell a difference between intentionally browsing the $evil_site.com or going to $innocent_site.org which was hacked the night before to include 1x1 pixel illegal pictures? How easy would it be to prepare a CD with autorun, load it into the victim's computer while it is locked, let it run and terminate, and remove the CD. [I don't know if a locked computer will start autorun, though.]

    18. Re: very by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Worse, this could technically be legal. Populate it only with non-pornographic images, and a piece of software programmed to cut and paste specific zones from those images to create nasty new ones.

      You don't possess any child pornography. Anybody booting the distro on their own PC would.

    19. Re: very by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      more about how one tries to conceal this information

      How so? Mere possession of something being a crime is asinine as it is, but now it's a crime to be suspected of trying to hide something? That's just crazy!

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    20. Re:very by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      I think you're over-estimating the thoroughness of our law enforcement.

  4. Devious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The weapon of the future. The more things we make illegal, the more things we can use as legal weapons. marijuana, kiddie porn, anything that they can outlaw they can also plant it in your house and stick you for it.

    1. Re:Devious by Pojut · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The weapon of the future. The more things we make illegal, the more things we can use as legal weapons. marijuana, kiddie porn, anything that they can outlaw they can also plant it in your house and stick you for it.

      Frylock: "All right...just don't be suprised if I call the cops on your ass."
      Ignignokt: "Fryman, we have hidden four kilos of cocaine in your room."
      Frylock: "..."

    2. Re:Devious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You have a point though. Instead of using child porn, he could have planed drugs, an illegal weapon, a bomb etc.. Of those examples, child porn seems to raise the most concern and the authorities seem to get more leeway with questionable evidence and forensics and the public seems to go along with it. My god man, think of the children! Let's fail safe and assume he is guilty. Anyone trying to defend this guy or look further into the real evidence might be considered one of them!

    3. Re:Devious by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      And what's more we've built an information system that everyone can access from anywhere in the world. Said system never sleeps, and never forgets. Ever. So what you did to that puppy when you were 7, yeah, we'll always know about it.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    4. Re:Devious by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      How easily can you obtain illegal drugs or weapons in a way that can't be traced back to you? I'm fairly sure that I could find some child porn with a few searches, and if I routed it through something like freenet or tor it would be difficult to trace to me. Getting an illegal weapon would be much harder. I'm fairly sure that I know some people who know some people who could get illegal drugs, but it's possible that the police are watching some of these, so it would not necessarily be particularly safe.

      Planting the drugs or weapon on the person also requires getting physical access to their house or person and finding a hiding place where it will remain undiscovered until the police arrive. It's trivial to hide files on someone's computer (how often do you check through all of the folders on your hard disk) and even planting them just requires them to have an unpatched vulnerability and for you to download some script kiddie toys.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    5. Re:Devious by davidwr · · Score: 1

      'm fairly sure that I could find some child porn with a few searches

      I'll defer to your expertise in these matters, good sir.

      --
      Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    6. Re:Devious by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Well, admittedly, I've never actually tried, but given the number of people who claim to have come across child porn while looking for adult porn, I don't imagine it's especially hard.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    7. Re:Devious by stdarg · · Score: 1

      Given people's reactions to mere accusations, you'd do fine planting legal nude pics of children and just saying "well it looked like child porn to ME".

    8. Re:Devious by FlyMysticalDJ · · Score: 1

      So what you did to that puppy when you were 7, yeah, we'll always know about it.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.

      I take it you're speaking from personal experience?

    9. Re:Devious by shadowrat · · Score: 1

      true, but i don't think the victimless argument of marijuana works for kiddie porn.

    10. Re:Devious by evilviper · · Score: 1

      given the number of people who claim to have come across child porn while looking for adult porn, I don't imagine it's especially hard.

      That's quite the logical fallacy you've got going there...

      "I was just driving along, and happened to see a dragon at the side of the road."

      "I'm sure if I was intentionally looking for dragons, I'd find lots of them!"

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    11. Re:Devious by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      I deny it. I love puppies. Especially with salt and ketchup.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    12. Re:Devious by FlyMysticalDJ · · Score: 1

      I think the best part is that every time you come back to comment on your taste for puppies, you sig continues to assert that another seven puppies were harmed.

    13. Re:Devious by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Considering I have close to 5000 posts on this board, that's a lot of puppies. It's an ongoing process. What can I say - it's what I do.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  5. I wonder by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Insightful

    how many governments get rid of "undesirables" by planting child porn on their computers.

    Throwing a baggie of pot behind your toaster is just so passé these days...

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:I wonder by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Sounds like the plot of Blake's 7. In the first episode, Blake was expecting to be tried as a freedom fighter and get to use the court time to expose corruption. Instead, he was tried on fabricated charges of child molestation.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:I wonder by flajann · · Score: 1

      how many governments get rid of "undesirables" by planting child porn on their computers.

      Throwing a baggie of pot behind your toaster is just so passé these days...

      I have reason to suspect it happened to a public official in my State, once. Someone mysteriously reported kiddie porn on his laptop. How would someone know about that unless that someone put it their himself?

      What a paranoid society we live in. One person says, "boo", and another's life is ruined.

    3. Re:I wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All that is needed is a script to run on their computer from a keychain drive -with enough permissions access it can fake everything required. without permissions, it can fake enough that only experts going over the computer would notice the problems and experts COST MONEY as well as take a long time since there is currently not enough computer forensics people on the gov side of it. This is also an issue in places where some old desk jockey is using a forensics program and does not have enough experience which could lead to some things being missed (so then the defense expert would be needed to save the day.) All of this, even with a positive outcome still LASTS LONG ENOUGH to ruin the reputation of the victim.

      The police already have flash drive software that hack into your system and rip passwords from RAM without needing admin access; I've seen it. So if you don't have a password locked screen saver they can get quite a bit on your account without admin access and likely any logged in user's passwords still active in RAM. A variation of this attack -- local user elevation - could be used to run scripts that plant things on the computer.

      Not that this is required- a simple program that asks for admin access at the proper time which is misleading enough... runs at local user, plants files and then runs in the background waiting to trick the user into giving it additional access-- someday when it gets that access it can finish up cleaning up its trail - it doesn't have to leave an exe on disk to do all this (but a reboot or crash would wipe it.) This is all possible without getting into the many more methods involved in malware that could be employed.

    4. Re:I wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's a red
      Shes a witch

  6. 8 months? by bcmm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He's lucky he wasn't murdered while the cops were messing about.

    As for "how easily might this trick have succeeded if Weiner had been a little more intelligent about it?", I'd bet it has succeeded in the past, repeatedly.

    --
    # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
    Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
    1. Re:8 months? by MozeeToby · · Score: 1

      It could be worse, they could be charging people for child porn when said porn is perfectly legal. ...

      Oh, wait. They've done that too.

    2. Re:8 months? by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      I'd bet it has succeeded in the past, repeatedly.

      Without a doubt in my mind.

    3. Re:8 months? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's lucky he wasn't murdered while the cops were messing about.

      I wholeheartedly agree with this. I distinctly remember a documentary about forensics where a guy was arrested as a suspect in a child abuse investigation. The guy showed up dead in his cell the next morning.

      The forensic exam proved that the guy didn't commit suicide, but instead was murdered. It turns out that the guy was taken to jail, but a police officer let the cell door open and let some other inmates know what the guy was arrested for. Later on, it turns out the guy was inocent. They never caught either the killer or the real abuser :-\

      Child abuse charges are a dangerous thing, indeed...

  7. How do you know... by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...people aren't successfully pulling off this "trick" already?

    1. Re:How do you know... by Firethorn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I can guarantee people are pulling this off successfully. I know of a case where it wasn't until the 2nd appeal that they figured out that the computer was infected with a rootkit that was downloading/uploading the stuff.

      My only thought is that, generally speaking, most people can cause 'probable doubt'.

      A benefit is that 'most' people don't know how to get the CP in the first place without leaving tracks. It takes more effort than simply crying 'rape', that most people don't think of it.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    2. Re:How do you know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's only 1 way to put a stop to this shit. Take a high profile politician or judge, infect his pc with a trojan and download some cp to the pc at a time when it is in use. Self destruct trojan & phone in anonymous tip to police. Wait 5 years during which this poor bastards life will be completely destroyed. Afterwards go public (anonymously) with evidence the charge was BS (eg. the pictures contained a steganographic string hidden in it which only you know.) This would put the fear of god into people in government by placing a target on their heads and things will change. Of course if you're caught thing may get a tad uncomfortable. These are the thoughts that kept me out of the really good schools.

    3. Re:How do you know... by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      So, did you handle your second ethics dilemma any differently?

      Not trying to preach and I understand that sometimes it comes down to "keep silent==eat/pay rent" but even an anonymous tip to the right people might have helped, maybe not in that case but the next time something like that happened involving that lead someone with some clout might have gone "Hang on a sec".

      "The greatest Evil is when the Good do nothing." May be simplistic but its a good place to start.

    4. Re:How do you know... by tingentleman · · Score: 1

      you should find and call the 'victim' - make your peace. It will help him and you. My friend is a teacher who let some

  8. Uhm, yes... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny

    trying to pervert the course of justice

    No pun intended.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:Uhm, yes... by Ant+P. · · Score: 1

      So... they arrested the guy for that but not also for possessing/distributing these images?

      Sounds like the course of justice was already perverted before this happened.

  9. how to stop this from happening? by meow27 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    use an encrypted drive and lock down your machine when you arent using it?

    1. Re:how to stop this from happening? by Firethorn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What if they put it on an unencrypted partition? Maybe just toss a thumbdrive into your stuff, then report it to police?

      Heck, the case that resulted in conviction that I know of was the result of a rootkit - it was mere luck that somebody finally noticed that the machine was making requests it shouldn't. Even then it was something of an uphill battle.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    2. Re:how to stop this from happening? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      You know, that may be even worse. One of these days you're going to forget to lock your computer/logout/etc., and then proving "Yeah, it was on my encrypted drive that only I can decrypt -- but it wasn't me!" will be hell.

    3. Re:how to stop this from happening? by DrgnDancer · · Score: 1

      I'm sure my government employer wouldn't care at all that I encrypted my entire hard drive and won't give them the keys. I'm equally certain that the other 10 or so other employees in the administrator group would never be so dishonest as to misuse their administrative logins while attempting to frame me for a crime I didn't commit. Not that I think my fellow employees would do such a thing, nor that I mistrust them at all really; but if I was concerned there'd be a minimal amount I could do about the situation. even given that I'm an administrator on my own box (which a lot of people aren't in the working world). If the auditing on your system is tight you might be able to prove that you didn't put the images there, but a really intelligent attacker with admin access to your PC could still fake it.

      I'm not denigrating your solution per se. It's great for a home PC and I totally recommend it, but from a business perspective it's not going to be horribly effective for most people.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    4. Re:how to stop this from happening? by flajann · · Score: 1

      And good luck trying to explain what a rootkit is to the jury.

    5. Re:how to stop this from happening? by FlyMysticalDJ · · Score: 1

      It's cases like these that make me hope I get picked for jury duty and end up in one of these cases. Just so I can be more objective about what actually happened. Of course from what I know about the legal system, the prosecuting attorney will probably kick off any juror that knows what a computer is.

    6. Re:how to stop this from happening? by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      Give me 10-15 minutes to explain, and they'll know. I have to explain it to non-technical higher ups all the time.

      "It's software that allows somebody at a distant location to covertly take control of the computer without the owner/user knowing, allowing them to move files/data, steal the user's information, or even perform attacks on other computers."

      More techical stuff is explained all the time; and you should make time to explain it in a misdemeanor trial, much less a felony one.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    7. Re:how to stop this from happening? by flajann · · Score: 1

      Give me 10-15 minutes to explain, and they'll know. I have to explain it to non-technical higher ups all the time.

      "It's software that allows somebody at a distant location to covertly take control of the computer without the owner/user knowing, allowing them to move files/data, steal the user's information, or even perform attacks on other computers."

      More techical stuff is explained all the time; and you should make time to explain it in a misdemeanor trial, much less a felony one.

      That's a completely functional explanation. Shame on you! :-)

      Of course, explaining HOW a rootkit does all of that is another matter. Whether or not that level of understanding is necessary to the investigation is even more of another matter.

  10. dont get caught by digitalsushi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In most states, you'll be a registered sex offender for taking a leak in public -- i.e. down a dark alley after a few too many pints. Should it be illegal? Yeah probably. Should it be ambiguous whether you raped a kid or couldn't hold your bladder? I dunno, I don't write laws so I shouldn't have an opinion. Maybe the slashlawer can opine on why these are similar things.

    --
    slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
    1. Re:dont get caught by jridley · · Score: 1

      In fact I believe that a few years back, someone was killed by a vigilante who discovered a "sex offender" living nearby and decided to take care of the problem themselves. Turns out that he was on the list for public urination. So the guy was killed for taking a leak outside.

    2. Re:dont get caught by bsDaemon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Public urination involves a level of "indecent exposure." It's more like flashing, but without the same intent (probably). Should being a flasher get you a "sex offender" rap? I guess, if we're going to have the term "sex offender," a flasher would be one.

      Basically, I think that if there is no intent to commit a crime, then that should be taken into consideration in sentencing, if the jury doesn't realize what an asinine state of affairs they've been roped into and acquit. Peeing down an alley beyond a dumpster, making a good-faith effort not to be seen and having the un-luck of a cop coming down just before you zip up is completely different from exposing yourself to kids on the playground humming 'aqua lung' to yourself.

    3. Re:dont get caught by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Do you have ANY idea how much public urination happens ? Hell, at Roskilde Festival this year, I saw literally THOUSANDS of men pissing in the bushes or anything stationary. And not a single fuck was given. Its pretty much guaranteed to be on the news at 6pm prime time, full frontal nudity shot. Dont be so god damn prude. Its a Penis, half of us got one. Geez.

    4. Re:dont get caught by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I couldn't find that example, but there is no shortage of other examples of "vigilante justice" based on finding people listed in sex offender registries, and, yes, you can get added to such a list for public urination.

    5. Re:dont get caught by moxley · · Score: 1

      I'm not so sure about that.

      A lot of times people are charged as sex offenders when they shouldn;t be - like the guy who took a picture of these two girls who were flashing on the side of a public street when after they were arrested it turned out that they were only 15.

      But urinating in public in most places will NOT get one a sex offender charge. Usually it's a disorderly, or a public decency charge.

    6. Re:dont get caught by easterberry · · Score: 1

      There is literally no way that pun wasn't intended. The entire purpose of the post was to make that pun. You put the part you were making a pun out of in quotes for god sake!

    7. Re:dont get caught by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As someone who recently plead guilty to urinating in public (3 am in the morning, in an ally, behind a dumpster), I was extremely happy it happened in NJ where it does not put you on the sex offender list but is an ordinance violation, and will remain with me until one year from now I try and have it expunged from my record.

      The very fact that this event was not considered a fine, similar to a parking ticket, is outrages. The fact that I had to appear in court and couldn't just plead guilty and pay the fine, similar to what one would do for other ordinance violations, was, as a tax payer, insane.

      Back to the point however, I hired a lawyer (which was dumb, they essentially can't do anything in this situation), and was essentially advised that if this case went to trial my ONLY hope was if the police officer didn't show up, even though the officer never saw me doing anything, but only saw me walking away from the dumpster at 3 am. Essentially, an officer only needs to accuse you of urinating in public, and since it's such a common occurrence the court will find you guilty unless you have hard evidence, and in effect in some states you will be put on the sex offenders list. THIS IS INSANE!

    8. Re:dont get caught by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      Because penises are evil - The Christian Nation of America.

      Then explain the Washington Monument!

    9. Re:dont get caught by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The moral of this story is. If a cop catches you pissing on a dumpster. Kill the cop.

      --
      If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
    10. Re:dont get caught by Splab · · Score: 1

      Crikey, that sure is putting things out of proportions - here in Denmark, taking a leak in public isn't legal, but you will only get a fine ( although, if you happen to be a drunk teenager, the police will usually also give you a good yelling at ).

    11. Re:dont get caught by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I dunno, I don't write laws so I shouldn't have an opinion.

      Whoa, there, Tex, wait a minute! Of course you should have an opinion. You've got a brain, you can think, you can come to yuor own conclusions - and what's more, you're a citizen of the United States of America, one of those that those who write laws ostensibly represent. You very much should have an opinion - and if it's one founded on facts and rational consideration, all the better!

    12. Re:dont get caught by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 1

      But urinating in public in most places will NOT get one a sex offender charge. Usually it's a disorderly, or a public decency charge.

      Most places perhaps, but the places were it is true are big enough to affect a LOT of people:

      California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire , Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Vermont.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    13. Re:dont get caught by mrFur · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't write laws so I shouldn't have an opinion.

      Are you kidding me! This is where we need better civics lessons - you should absolutely have an opinion and voice it to your elected representatives - and encouraging other too as well! It's called democracy.

      --
      My $0.05 (AUD - we don't have pennies any more)
    14. Re:dont get caught by flajann · · Score: 1
      What if you just "had to go" and there's no restroom in sight? Your choices are:
      1. Whip it out
      2. Piss your pants

      If a cop catches you on (1), you're nailed. If (2), then you're humiliated. You just can't win.

    15. Re:dont get caught by bsDaemon · · Score: 1

      I agree that it's stupid. I don't think it should carry the same weight as a "real" offense (who among us hasn't had to do this before?), and at the end of the day it seems to be pretty much left to chance as to what the cop feels like and what kind of mood he's in at the time. But any jury and/or judge should be able to tell the difference between behind the dumpster in an alley at night and off the top of a jungle gym in the park onto some kids in the sandbox. They're completely different things even though they both involve "public urination"

    16. Re:dont get caught by tmosley · · Score: 1

      The worst part is, if you just kill children with no rape involved, you don't get on the sex offender list, and are free to get as close to children as you want once you get out.

    17. Re:dont get caught by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about if you just p*ss your pants? No flashing, just urine dribbling out the trouser leg. Perhaps get charged with 'release of a hazardous chemical' into the gutter.

    18. Re:dont get caught by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keep in mind also that people can die if they refuse to make the choice between the two as well.

    19. Re:dont get caught by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      I dunno, I don't write laws so I shouldn't have an opinion. Maybe the slashlawer can opine on why these are similar things.

      Are you serious? The whole point of our system of government is that YOU have a right to an opinion on the subject.

    20. Re:dont get caught by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The whole concept of nudity=sex is fucked up anyway, public urination is a public health concern, it has nothing to do with sex. Urinating has as much to do with sex as breast feeding.

    21. Re:dont get caught by The+AtomicPunk · · Score: 1

      "There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. When there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. " - Ayn Rand

    22. Re:dont get caught by malice · · Score: 1

      In most states, you'll be a registered sex offender for taking a leak in public -- i.e. down a dark alley after a few too many pints. Should it be illegal? Yeah probably. Should it be ambiguous whether you raped a kid or couldn't hold your bladder? I dunno, I don't write laws so I shouldn't have an opinion. Maybe the slashlawer can opine on why these are similar things.

      Name the states. Because what you're stating is misinformed urban legend.

    23. Re:dont get caught by jewishbaconzombies · · Score: 1

      Wait - Jethro Tull will get you arrested for being a Pedo? Or are they just the most favored musical act of Pedos.

      I better throw-away these CDs just to be safe.

      Can't be too careful.

    24. Re:dont get caught by B+Nesson · · Score: 1

      You may not write laws, but you're expected to follow them, so you should absolutely have an opinion.

    25. Re:dont get caught by bsDaemon · · Score: 1

      The song is about a pedo. "sitting on a park bench (duh-nah-nuh) eying little girls with bad intent". Was that not obvious?

    26. Re:dont get caught by jewishbaconzombies · · Score: 1

      Sorry - never listened to his stuff without being stoned out of my gourd.

    27. Re:dont get caught by Chowderbags · · Score: 1

      If you walk into a blind alley and take a leak behind a dumpster, you're not trying to flash anyone (and probably wouldn't have any chance of doing so unless a nosy cop comes along). At worst it could be called a public health hazard.

  11. well... by AxemRed · · Score: 5, Insightful

    First off, it sounds like his "trick" DID succeed. The guy's life was hell for 8 months...

    It's scary to think about, but it wouldn't be all that difficult to frame someone like this. You wouldn't even have to get access to their computer. I imagine it would be as easy as getting an anonymous pay-per-use cell phone, texting someone illegal pictures for a few days, and then reporting them to the police. Maybe they wouldn't get convicted, but their life would still be ruined by the allegations.

    Something like this could even happen by accident. God forbid someone rummage through your cache after you spend an hour browsing /b/. Do you know what was in all of those thumbnails that you scrolled past? Do you even WANT to know? ;)

    1. Re:well... by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It doesn't even take any particular malicious action. Operation Ore in the UK fingered all sorts of people, including The Who's Pete Townshend, who were in fact innocent and victims of online credit card fraud. Once you get the name "kiddie porn lover" it's very hard to get rid of.

      The problem here is that the cops and the media have created a mad child porn frenzy completely out of proportion to the problem. Innocent people are railroaded through a system that cares more about showing large numbers of accused flowing through than about quality of evidence.

      The fact is your average cop doesn't have the know how to analyze forensic evidence. Any competent IT forensics expert is first going to check to see if the computer has been rootkitted, is going to check to see if the credit card has been stolen, etc. and so forth, but between the missionary's zeal to stamp out all child porn and incompetence you don't get that. Operation Ore was a good example of how things can go terribly wrong, and shines a light on how innocent people can even be manipulated into admitting guilt if they are given the choice between jail time and a lesser sentence.

      In other words, cops are often moronic bastards, and anyone accused of anything, or taken in for questioning on anything should not say a goddamned thing to them and refuse any co-operation until a lawyer is present.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:well... by Nichotin · · Score: 3, Informative

      Something like this could even happen by accident. God forbid someone rummage through your cache after you spend an hour browsing /b/. Do you know what was in all of those thumbnails that you scrolled past? Do you even WANT to know? ;)

      In my socialist utopia country Norway, there was actually a court ruling that found a man who had child pornography in his browser cache not guilty. The reason was that he did not download them (but he did in fact confess to have purchased them intentionally) and that regular people should not be expected to know that the browser caches images from the web. In effect, the ruling actually means it is legal to surf child pornography in Norway. I don't have any English links about this, but any norwegians reading this post can check out this DB article: http://www.dagbladet.no/dinside/2003/07/05/372987.html

    3. Re:well... by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

      The technique of falsely accusing somebody in order to ruin their life isn't exactly new though.

      For instance, studies of false accusations of rape (yes, they do happen) have found that a significant percentage of them were revenge for the accusee breaking up with the accuser (another top reason was trying to explain unexpected pregnancy). There have also been cases of falsely accusing people of all sorts of things in order to gain an advantage in divorce proceedings. And of course the old standby of accusing one's boss of sexual harassment.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    4. Re:well... by dbet · · Score: 1

      Scrolling past thumbnails shouldn't be an issue. A couple years back a guy was found innocent in a CP trial because he only had a couple images on his computer and they only existed in the browser cache. Since he hadn't saved them, there wasn't any proof that he even intentionally looked at them, and he was let go. Sorry I don't have a link, but I'm 90% sure there was a summary on this site.

    5. Re:well... by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Operation Ore in the UK fingered all sorts of people, including The Who's Pete Townshend, who were in fact innocent and victims of online credit card fraud.

      I don't know about the other people on the list, but Pete Townshend's defense was that he was researching the easy availability of child porn on the Internet for a treatise he was writing. Pete Townshend admitted to entering his credit card number on a kiddie ponr site according to several news sources.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    6. Re:well... by Unequivocal · · Score: 1

      I thought Townsend claimed he was researching kiddie porn for a book or article?

    7. Re:well... by mmaniaci · · Score: 1

      Obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik

      Never talk to cops.

    8. Re:well... by cdrguru · · Score: 1

      I believe in all US jurisdictions the browser cache is not considered to be evidence of intent.

      Nobody gets convicted because of their browser cache, at least in the US.

    9. Re:well... by flajann · · Score: 1

      I believe in all US jurisdictions the browser cache is not considered to be evidence of intent.

      Nobody gets convicted because of their browser cache, at least in the US.

      The moral of that story, kiddies, is that if you are going to do kiddie porn, hide it in your browser's cache!

    10. Re:well... by binkzz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The problem here is that the cops and the media have created a mad child porn frenzy completely out of proportion to the problem

      Actually, it's the government that did it. Terrorism and kiddie porn are the two best persuaders to get questionable laws through.

      --
      'For we walk by faith, not by sight.' II Corinthians 5:7
    11. Re:well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember this.

      Basically, there was a business running several dozen web sites for porn, including one for child porn. Because it was ultimately a sole proprietor, once the police got the credit card database, they accused every customer who did business with them of being child pornographers. One of the customers was a DBA so he got ahold of the evidence and managed to clear himself and, by extension, lots of his co-accused. The police refused -- at the time, I don't know what happened since -- to admit that they couldn't do a 'click to sort' with the new-fangled mouse technology.

      Eventually, a lot of the charges were dropped but I remember that at the time, the police were being mealy-mouthed about it.

    12. Re:well... by horza · · Score: 1

      I don't see how you get from images in your cache not being classed as downloaded to surfing child pornography being legal. There are plenty of spam emails and links than can send you to a site that may have child pornography, or you may simply come across a site mentioned often on Slashdot beginning with a number. Having them in your browser cache does not necessarily prove intent. You can confess to buying drugs, but the police finding traces on your bathroom sink is going to be a harder prosecution than finding you in possession.

      Next time, get a warrant to monitor him then convict him with evidence.

      Phillip.

    13. Re:well... by Spacezilla · · Score: 1

      My Norwegian is pretty bad and my English is even worse, but I'll attempt to translate the relevant parts, because I'm bored and someone might find it interesting:

      Time after time a father of young children from Lillehammer logged onto the Internet to look at child porn. He has told the police he did this intentionally. He was driven by curiousity and excitement. Some of the pictures were of very young children. The pictures showed adults and children together or children alone engaged in sexual activities.

      The police have documented that he looked at at least 110 pictures, because these were found stored in his browser cache. They managed to track him down, because he had used his credit card to pay in the porn store online. He even admits this. Yet, the court still found him not guilty.

      The reason is a hole in the law: Only possession is illegal. Since he has only looked at the child porn, that isn't enough. He must have physically downloaded it to his computer. But since the browser does this automatically for all images you look at while surfing, legally this doesn't count.

      A court ruling from the year 2000 determined that it is not a criminal possession to look at child porn without downloading it to your computer.

      [A representative from] "Save the Children" says to the local paper that a new proposal now going to the justice department will be able to strengthen the legislation in this area. This could happen before 2011.

  12. Just. Encrypt. Everything. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just encrypt everything, and refuse to disclose the passphrase. No matter whether you are innocent or guilty, this makes sense.

    Not only will malicious people be less able to sneak material onto your system, but should this kind of shit happen, cops will be unable to decrypt your system.

    1. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by 6031769 · · Score: 1

      Except that this occured in the United Kingdom where failure to disclose the passphrase is an imprisonable offence with an unlimited tariff (it's in the terrorism legislation). So no, don't try that one.

      --
      Burns: We're building a casino!
      McAllister: Arrr. Give me 5 minutes.
    2. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by s0litaire · · Score: 1

      But since this case was in the UK....

      If you *DON'T* tell the police your passwords for encrypted files / folders when arrested / charged then it's an automatic "Go directly to jail do not pass GO and do not Collect $200" for up to 2 years (or untll you tell them the passwords!)

      --
      Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
    3. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by Eevee · · Score: 1

      So...if the guy had planted the pictures and an encrypted file, the victim would still be in jail? Bloody wonderful.

    4. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by LihTox · · Score: 1

      Steganography is the way to go: if the police don't know that there's something there, they can't ask you for the password.

      Since there's no way of knowing whether someone truly knows/remembers a password, the UK law is really just a variant of thoughtcrime. Appropriate for the land of Orwell.

    5. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by MozeeToby · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't think the idea of encrypting is to prevent the police from looking as much as it is to prevent someone getting the data on there in the first place.

    6. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *shrug* -- 2yrs? Really? That's all??

      If what's on the HDD is kiddie-porn, you're WAAAY better off taking the 24 month hit (less with good behaviour?) and getting out with only a "The dude dint give da judge a password" rap than "The dude's a child molester!" ...

      The same rationale only applies moreso if what's on the HDD is (for example) the plans for your attempt to wipe out lots of people w/ IED's or some other similiarly eggregious act...

      -AC

    7. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by MozeeToby · · Score: 1

      Haha, that's even better, just tell the cops that you saw him opening an encrypted file and it came up with kiddie porn. You wouldn't even need to take the risk of downloading the porn yourself, just encrypt any old files and put them on his hard drive. He'll be unable to come up with the key and its off to jail for 2+ years. The risk, and squick factor, of your crime drops off considerably and the result is nearly (if not totally) the same.

    8. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by s0litaire · · Score: 1

      Not really!

      The Judge can still put you on the "Sex Offenders Register" for life.
      You don't need to be convicted of a crime to get on that register in the UK, you just need to be charged with it.

      It usually works out better to plead guilty and you only serve 1/3 of the sentence, so you would be out in 6 months (and on probation for another 1/3) and you'll be off the offenders list in either 5 or 10 years. A bit better than 2 years inside and on the list for life!!

      In the UK any conviction you have served can be taken off your record after 10 years (The person has "paid his debt to society" and is considered "spent") if the custody is less than 2 years.(I think!) so he can still have a "normal" life...

      (IANAL but Scottish law is a bit different that English law in most cases..)

      --
      Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
    9. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Maybe actually read the GP's post?

      but should this kind of shit happen, cops will be unable to decrypt your system.

    10. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by flajann · · Score: 1
      Joy, and I've actually FORGOTTEN the pass phrases to some of my encrypted drives.

      What's worse is that you could dump a random set of bits on someone's computer and claim it's an encrypted drive of kiddie porn. There'd be almost no way to prove otherwise, unless a really bad PRNG was used to generate the sequence.

    11. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      Haha, that's even better, just tell the cops that you saw him opening an encrypted file and it came up with kiddie porn. You wouldn't even need to take the risk of downloading the porn yourself, just encrypt any old files and put them on his hard drive. He'll be unable to come up with the key and its off to jail for 2+ years. The risk, and squick factor, of your crime drops off considerably and the result is nearly (if not totally) the same.

      This is so delightfully evil. Brits should try it with their officials’ computers. Use strong algorithms and encrypt a Rick Roll or something like that.

      That may be the only way to repeal that law.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    12. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't encrypt anything, just create 2 GB big file of random data and name it cake.tc Since it's a TrueCript file extension and because of the random data it looks like encrypted file. And the accused wont' be exonerated of guilt in a few years when some egghead with a quantum computer breaks AES-Twofish-Serpent combo in 5 minutes flat.

    13. Re:Just. Encrypt. Everything. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You better check the facts on Spent Convictions. Spent Convictions are usually not applicable to sex offenses, especially if you ever want to work with children, disabled or elderly people.

  13. How easy? by Kirin+Fenrir · · Score: 5, Informative

    EXTREMELY easy. I'm surprised it hasn't started happening frequently already. As much as we (as a society) demonize people for even being suspected of this crime, I'd hesitantly say it does happen frequently already.

    It would not be easily discovered as everyone in the chain of justice is quick to assume the defendants are guilty, and may not do as thorough a job as they should looking for evidence of a setup. Easier to parade around your captured "predator" and get good press, then to search for the truth.

    I've seen it firsthand; an old buddy of mine admitted one day that when he was 19, he got drunk at a party and slept with a girl who lied about her age by a single year. She was 17, not 18, which is under the legal age in my state. Today, he is a registered sex offender, cannot vote, has trouble finding work, and cannot live in most communities. He has to inform the communities he is allowed to live in, which makes everyone immediately assume he's some kind of monster after their children.

    Was my friend kind of an idiot at 19? Absolutely. But does he deserve to become a lower class of society for the rest of his life over his (ultimately harmless) mistake?

    --
    Caffeine is my anti-drug!

    Duranin - A NWN2 Roleplaying Persistent World
    1. Re:How easy? by digitalsushi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I posit your friend WASNT an idiot, just a normal teenager. I dare to generalize that even most 19 year olds are not monsters for sleeping with 17 year olds.

      --
      slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
    2. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "he got drunk at a party and slept with a girl who lied about her age by a single year."

      that's the thing that pisses me off the most, people lying and getting other people in trouble. did it come out during his trial that the girl lied? if so then he should have been acquitted.

    3. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every time I hear something like this, I always ask myself: Are we at the point where we have to 'card' everyone we sleep with?

    4. Re:How easy? by GooberToo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This stems from the completely broken Christian concept that children are innocent and therefore must be protected at all costs from anything and everything. Many laws are predicated from this concept. And yet, many laws now allow for the prosecution of minors as adults. Accordingly, this means the laws are specifically built to both protect and brutally punish "innocent" children.

      So which is it? Are they innocent or so evil we must prosecute them as bad adults? The fact these conflicting laws exist is more or less proof a legal system is broken. Fix the legal system and you won't have need for completely contradictory laws.

      Just food for thought... according to current laws, as little as 100 years ago, some 30% of the world industrialized population were pedophiles. I would bet that some half the population would be criminals in one way or another if the laws were retroactively applied.

      Its easy to see why prisons are the fastest growing government service in the US and why the US has more prisoners than many industrialized nations have citizens.

      And then there is zero tolerance which is a fancy way of saying, "I'm so dumb, I can't be trusted to perform my job correctly yet I have a gavel or a gun and badge with ultimate control over everyone else's life." Again, zero tolerance is a fancy way of saying the the system is completely broken.

    5. Re:How easy? by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      You will sometimes run up against malicious prosecutors who want to make a name for themselves or use some poor bastard to make an example. Look at the kid being charged with distributing child porn for "sexting". Fortunately that one was eventually quashed, but sometimes these outrageous things will slip through the door.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    6. Re:How easy? by ChefInnocent · · Score: 1

      Prosecutors (District Attorneys) do not get elected for being soft on crime. Judges don't get elected for being soft on crime. They get elected for being tough on crime, facts be damned. Judges rarely get removed for sending innocent people to jail, and District Attorneys don't seem to get disbarred for pressing charges with false accusations.

    7. Re:How easy? by TerranFury · · Score: 1

      Most states in the U.S. now have "Romeo and Juliet" laws for precisely this reason. They are exceptions to the statutory rape laws for consenting people around the age of 18, plus-or-minus maybe two years; it varies by state.

      The laws are comparatively new, however -- most were passed in the '90s and '00s, AFAIK -- and I know of people who got screwed before they were passed. In particular, there was a guy who was 18 or 19; his girlfriend was 16 or 17, and the girl was being abused by her father. When the boyfriend supported the girl and encouraged her to come out about the abuse, the father retaliated by getting the boyfriend convicted on statutory rape charges. And the father never ended up facing any criminal charges himself.

      "Justice."

    8. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      No, it stems from our distorted 20th century concept of who is a child. Hint: Teenagers are not children.

    9. Re:How easy? by Klaruz · · Score: 1

      That's not enough, there are cases where the guy IDs the girl and the ID looks good, if it's a fake, you're still a criminal for life. It's very very risky being male.

      http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/wife-my-husband-isnt-sex-offender

      I've seen a few other cases as well.

    10. Re:How easy? by kj_kabaje · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Correction: Prisons are a government (tax-payer) funded *private* enterprise in the majority of situations now. The fact that for-profit entities may own and operate prisons is still outrageous to me.

    11. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even that wouldn't always work. An old Army buddy was a bouncer in a bar. Girl that was 15 came in to his bar, showing fraudulently obtained STATE ISSUED identification showing she was 21. She flirted with him all night and they ended up having a sexual relationship for several nights.

      Laterthe next week during an argument with her father (a judge) she bragged about how she'd already had sex and he couldn't control her. BAM, my pal was charged and convicted of statutory rape. He's now listed as a sex offender and his life is hell because of it.

      It's a sad perversion of the concept of justice when things like this happen, if you ask me.

      (Anon because I modded above.)

    12. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First, I think you're making up numbers with your 30% figure

      I believe most states have a window of 3-5 years, where as long as both kids are within that many years apart and the sex is consensual, it's a much lesser crime or not a crime at all.

      Even the marriages of old where a 20-something would marry a 14 year old girl and get straight to making babies, it required parental consent and (I believe) also the consent of the girl. That's a far cry from what most people consider to be child porn (pre-adolescent children).

      Without a doubt some of the current laws are too strict and left to voluntary interpretation by law enforcement. Eg. if it's porn of a 16 year old doing something voluntarily, should that really be the same crime as porn of an 8 year old being raped by a horse? Most everyone in society I think would agree the latter is abominable, and the former is unfortunate but probably a mistake on the part of the 16 year old who is already paying for it in embarrassment.

    13. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      This stems from the completely broken Christian concept that children are innocent and therefore must be protected at all costs from anything and everything.

      This is no true Christian concept. The Bible is pretty clear everyone is evil.

      I'd say it is more of the helicopter moms thinking their kid is an angel and can do no wrong.

    14. Re:How easy? by GooberToo · · Score: 1

      Some stats allow prosecution of minors as young as 10 as an adult.

    15. Re:How easy? by biryokumaru · · Score: 1

      For a little perspective, registered prostitutes in Nevada are checked at a minimum of once a month for STDs, always ensure that proper protection is used, and are guaranteed to be of legal age.

      Why risk having sex with someone who isn't a prostitute? It is simply irresponsible.

      --
      When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
    16. Re:How easy? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      I have two problems with the sex offenders lists. The first is that people whose convictions occured before these lists existed are put on them. Many people pled guilty to minor offenses that they were either innocent of, or that they had a decent chance of convincing a jury were not worth punishing them for, to avoid the risk of a jury finding them guilty of a much more serious offense. They did this because the punishment for the crime they pled guilty to was, at the time, minor enough to be not worth facing the risk of the more severe penalty. If the sex offender lists had existed at the time, the calculation would have been different and many of them would have chosen to go to court.
      The second problem is one that someone else mentioned in an earlier post. The sex offender registries rarely make a distinction between someone who urinates in public (and other essentially non-sexual crimes) and is therefore convicted of indecent exposure and pedophiles and rapists. If we are going to have these lists, they should be reserved for people who have committed serious offenses (pedophilia and rape), not minor crimes like indecent exposure. And in cases of conviction of having sex with a minor, there should be a minimum age difference before it results in being on the registry. I'm not sure even under these limitations these lists are a good idea, but as they exist currently they are a bad idea.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    17. Re:How easy? by gorzek · · Score: 1

      It varies by state. In some states, if one party lies about their age, you can use it a defense if there is a reasonable assumption that they weren't lying. Being off by a year, for instance, would most likely be defensible in state of Indiana.

      But many states consider statutory rape a strict liability offense, meaning it doesn't matter if you knew you were committing a crime at all. Neither age ("she told me she was 18!") nor intent ("I had no intention of sleeping with someone underage!") can be used as mitigators in those states.

    18. Re:How easy? by gorzek · · Score: 1

      You ask this as if IDs can't be faked.

    19. Re:How easy? by dcollins · · Score: 1

      "Was my friend kind of an idiot at 19? Absolutely. But does he deserve to become a lower class of society for the rest of his life over his (ultimately harmless) mistake?"

      Just based on that story, I'm not even sure I'd call him an idiot. That just flat-out really shouldn't be illegal. From what I can tell, 17 satisfies the age of consent in most states (44 of 50?).

      --
      We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    20. Re:How easy? by Haffner · · Score: 1

      That happened in a recent court case (I don't think it was US though) and as soon as the judge saw the girl presented fake ID and was in a bar that required said ID to enter, the guy was no longer at fault because he had very good reason to believe she was 21. Citation needed.

      --
      "Going to war without the French is like going deer hunting without your accordion." ~General Norman Schwarzkopf
    21. Re:How easy? by flajann · · Score: 2, Interesting
      We have so many stupid laws today that you can't even step foot outside your house without breaking half a dozen or so. It's really dumb and stupid. But leave it to government to totally control us anyway it can.

      Double-plus good, my brother.

    22. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      malicious prosecutors

      department of redundancy department

    23. Re:How easy? by SAN1701 · · Score: 1

      This stems from the completely broken Christian concept that children are innocent and therefore must be protected at all costs from anything and everything.

      You know what's fun? Try to discover at which age Mary gave birth to Jesus.

      It's ironic in so many levels...

    24. Re:How easy? by gfreeman · · Score: 1

      Why risk having sex with someone who isn't a prostitute? It is simply irresponsible.

      I keep telling my wife this, but she won't listen.

      --
      Ceci n'est pas un sig.
    25. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh. Statutory god-rape!

    26. Re:How easy? by biryokumaru · · Score: 1

      I can't keep my wife away from'em...

      --
      When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
    27. Re:How easy? by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      It varies by state.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    28. Re:How easy? by binkzz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This stems from the completely broken Christian concept

      How do you figure it's a Christian concept? Or are you just inserting a small rant against Christianity?

      These laws aren't created to protect children, they're made to control the people. Children are just the excuse.

      --
      'For we walk by faith, not by sight.' II Corinthians 5:7
    29. Re:How easy? by flajann · · Score: 1

      Prosecutors (District Attorneys) do not get elected for being soft on crime. Judges don't get elected for being soft on crime. They get elected for being tough on crime, facts be damned. Judges rarely get removed for sending innocent people to jail, and District Attorneys don't seem to get disbarred for pressing charges with false accusations.

      True, but how do these guys sleep at night? I mean, knowing you are destroying the lives of innocent people? I've always wondered about that.

    30. Re:How easy? by Evanisincontrol · · Score: 1

      Every time an article comes up involving child pornography I know I'm going to be pissed off by the time I'm done reading the comments. And I was right. Each time I read someone's story like yours (a friend having his life ruined by these laws), part of me dies.

      If I had one wish, it would be that every one of these "think of the children!" fuckers gets a microchip implanted in them. The instant that chip detects the person is sexually aroused by a guy/girl under the age of 18, they are immediately convicted as sex offenders and sent to prison for life. That's the only way we can REALLY protect the children, right?

    31. Re:How easy? by IMightB · · Score: 1

      A) Because they are Sociopaths

    32. Re:How easy? by oudzeeman · · Score: 1

      that seems excessive! What state is this?!

      in my state (Maine), the age of consent is 16, but there is also an age differential test that comes into affect if one of the parties is under the age of 16. For people age 14 and up, they are able to consent as long as the age difference is no more than 5 years. This means a 14 year old can consent to sex with a 19 year old, but not a 20 year old. There are exceptions, such as teachers, employers, etc. E.g. a student that is 16 (someone of this age can consent to sex with anyone aged 14 and up) can not consent to sex with someone in a position of authority over them. People under the age of 14 can not legally consent.

    33. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a retarded way to blame it on Christian morality. Sure Christians might feel adamantly strong opinions on the matter but you're telling me that my atheist/agnostic dad who worked as a parole officer dealing with sex offenders did so out of a completely broken Christian concept? I'm sure he'll be shocked to hear that. Listen, if you haven't had kids that's fine, neither have I. But my understanding is that for most people, their children are more precious to them than anything in their lives and they would go to ridiculous lengths to protect them. The reason why "do it for the kids" is such an effective excuse for bad policy has nothing to do with a religion you dislike.

      If the GPs formerly 19-year-old friend is having such a hassle in his life, why not seek legal clearance of his name? Is his well-being not worth fighting for? I don't care that I'm not a lawyer, I do know that there is precedence in the law for righting the wrongs that misapplied or overly-punitive laws can bring into your life. If you can prove that your punishment has not fit the crime, you're welcome to seek justice for yourself as well. Stop whining that the laws are unfair and blaming them on people you dislike. The more caselaw and the more media coverage applied to people clearing their names and exposing this for what it is and you blunt the sharpness of weaponized sex crime accusations. Suck it up and fight back, dammit.

    34. Re:How easy? by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      In case you haven't noticed women have been using this sort of thing for decades to curry favor in divorce proceedings.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    35. Re:How easy? by hannson · · Score: 1

      It freaks me out that teen sex is illegal, especially while teenagers are so obsessed to become grownups they start smoking, drinking and fucking by their own free will and even lying about their age to be able to do so. Who asks people for ID before sleeping with them?

      And consider this: If you're 17 and sleep with your 17 year old girlfriend it's OK, but the day either one of you becomes 18 they're by US laws "raping".

    36. Re:How easy? by compro01 · · Score: 1

      I believe most states have a window of 3-5 years, where as long as both kids are within that many years apart and the sex is consensual, it's a much lesser crime or not a crime at all.

      No, most have no such thing. 20 states have some degree of a close in age exemption.

      Wikipedia has a full listing of the laws for each state.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America#United_States

      --
      upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
    37. Re:How easy? by darthdavid · · Score: 1

      On top of the pile of hookers and blow that they bought with corporate brib...er...'campaign donations' and misappropriated public funds. Just like 90% (at least) of all politicians...

    38. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is not a Christian concept that children are innocent. The bible says that everyone is born evil, and people can only overcome that natural tendency with God's help.

    39. Re:How easy? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Why is it ironic that some 2 thousand years ago, society did not think of 14 year-olds as children?

    40. Re:How easy? by 5pp000 · · Score: 1

      Just food for thought... according to current laws, as little as 100 years ago, some 30% of the world industrialized population were pedophiles.

      If the definition of a pedophile includes having had sex with a 16- or 17-year-old when one was 18 or 19, I'll bet 30% are pedophiles today -- if not more! Seriously -- I'd bet a good 50% of males have done that.

      --
      Your god may be dead, but mine aren't!
    41. Re:How easy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In some states there has to be more than a 2 year age gap. so 19 can sleep with 17, but not 16. 18 can sleep with 16 but not 15. It gets wonky when a 18 year old has a birthday and suddenly 16 is illegal, but for the most part it works.

    42. Re:How easy? by 5pp000 · · Score: 1

      I don't even think it was the intent of the legislatures or the voters to criminalize that kind of situation. But the laws were written without careful thought, and now grandstanding prosecutors are abusing them.

      There's a lot going on these days that I think violates the Constitutional proscription against cruel and unusual punishment. I wish judges would take that more seriously. This is a fine example. I have no problem with locking up people who have committed real crimes, but when a 19-year-old actually asks the age of the girl he's about to have sex with and she lies to him, you can't tell me there's mens rea there.

      --
      Your god may be dead, but mine aren't!
    43. Re:How easy? by fulldecent · · Score: 1

      There's nothing wrong with your friend. In the vast majority of mankind from monkeys until we all kill each other and across all cultures, only a small number of people will come to think that a man born 19 years prior having sex with a female born between 17 and 18 year prior is morally unacceptable.

      --

      -- I was raised on the command line, bitch

  14. Obvious consequence by riker1384 · · Score: 1

    This guy should get the same sentence that the guy he framed would have gotten. However, this is the obvious consequence of severe punishments for simple possession of something that is easy to obtain, and a commodity as opposed to things like guns which can be identified, traced etc. I'm sure people do this with drugs.

    1. Re:Obvious consequence by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      This guy should get the same sentence that the guy he framed would have gotten.

      Possession of child porn?

      Pretty sure he will get that. In addition to distribution...

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    2. Re:Obvious consequence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Married father-of-two Weiner, 39, of Dagenham, east London, was convicted of perverting the course of justice and two counts of possessing indecent images of children, each by a majority of 10-2. He was placed on the sex offenders' register and remanded in custody, and warned by Judge David Paget that he faced a "substantial custodial sentence" when he returns to the court on September 23.

      It's so easy to RTFA. It is, really.

    3. Re:Obvious consequence by swb · · Score: 1

      He should get a much more severe punishment, including a massive fine payable to the victim.

      Faking this kind of thing should be a 10 year minimum stretch plus a minimum 100,000 dollars payable to the victim.

    4. Re:Obvious consequence by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      He should get much more because he obtained the child porn *and* perverted the cause of justice.

      --
      No sig today...
    5. Re:Obvious consequence by cdrguru · · Score: 1

      Let us assume there were 20 pictures he put on the boss's computer. That means he had possession of 20 pictures. I believe the average is about eight years per picture, so that would be 160 year sentence.

      Hard to get much harser than that. About the only thing worse might be getting paroled after 120 years and your decendents having to take you in. For a year.

    6. Re:Obvious consequence by flajann · · Score: 1

      He should get a much more severe punishment, including a massive fine payable to the victim.

      Faking this kind of thing should be a 10 year minimum stretch plus a minimum 100,000 dollars payable to the victim.

      Or, we should decriminalize the mere possession of bits and bytes on your hard drive. It scares me to think how many may have been nailed for kiddie porn unjustly because someone else planted it -- and was able to keep mouth shut about it.

      Law Enforcement should be spending its efforts going after the perverts that create kiddie porn, where it would actually do the poor kids some good. As far as possessing the bits and bytes on your computer, the only requirement should be to delete it. Not go to jail and have your reputation ruined and have your life f***ed up over it.

      But I know -- that would make too much damned sense.

    7. Re:Obvious consequence by Aphoxema · · Score: 1

      Law Enforcement should be spending its efforts going after the perverts that create kiddie porn, where it would actually do the poor kids some good.

      They'd have a lot less to validate their paychecks if they did that.

      --
      "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
    8. Re:Obvious consequence by Stanislav_J · · Score: 1

      Law Enforcement should be spending its efforts going after the perverts that create kiddie porn, where it would actually do the poor kids some good.

      But they are much harder to find, and might require, I don't know, some effort? Going after the low-hanging fruit is always preferable: it pads your conviction rate; takes less time, money and detective work; and looks great to the "think of the children crowd" at election time (for D.A.s and prosecutors) or budget time (for law enforcement agencies).

      --
      "Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket." -- Eric Hoffer
    9. Re:Obvious consequence by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 1

      And if anyone fakes their death, we'll kill them twice!

      But seriously, minimum sentencing laws are bad. It's just another flavor of three strikes and takes all the thinking out of rehabilitation/punishment.

    10. Re:Obvious consequence by flajann · · Score: 1

      Law Enforcement should be spending its efforts going after the perverts that create kiddie porn, where it would actually do the poor kids some good.

      They'd have a lot less to validate their paychecks if they did that.

      Good.

  15. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Did you both miss the part where this guy was a janitor?

  16. scary... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    More over, how many times have you followed a link, opened a web page, or pulled down a torrent that wasn't what you expected it to be? if you're not super savvy, chances are that you still have some data from those encounters lingering in your cache or elsewhere on your HD. Should such a thing really lead to the destruction of your life?

    1. Re:scary... by hedwards · · Score: 1

      What you do is secure shred it. Torrents are tricky because they could add distribution on to possession, but as a general rule, if you're view pages via HTTP or FTP and it turns out to be child porn, all you have to do is shred the file. Do so immediately. If it isn't visible when they check the computer, assuming they do, they can't charge you for possession. In order for it to be possession it has to be accessible.

      Granted that's not perfect, but it's not likely you'll be charged over a couple images that were immediately and unrecoverably deleted.

    2. Re:scary... by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      If it isn't visible when they check the computer, assuming they do, they can't charge you for possession.

      Yeah, but by the time they decide not to charge you, you've been without your computer for 6 months (while they've been "analyzing" it) and your reputation has long since been murdered by the media.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  17. Hooray! by 986151 · · Score: 0

    Oh great! Another forensics-bashing thread. I predict a well-informed and reasoned discussion of the issues facing law enforcement computer forensics in the UK. No, actually I think a whole load of uninformed rubbish about Truecrypt and forensics folk being completely lost when faced with anything but a Windows box with a directory labelled "CP is here" is far more likely. I wonder how many of Happy as a Monkey's commentard stereotypes will appear.

    1. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you believe all computer forensics done by law enforcement is done in a "perfect" manner and is 100% reliable and interpeted and presented by said law enforcement 100% accurately? Forensic analysis of a computer/network is a small part of the process, people still have to interpret the data, recreate the time line and lay out the events that lead to data being where it is. That process of interpreting the data is far from perfect and the technology and process behind is not understood at the jury or judges level for those people to make a truely informed opinion about reasonable doubt. We have all seen and heard enough stories that show the process CAN BE questionable and many of us know enough about computers and operating systems to point out and understand the potential issues.

    2. Re:Hooray! by hedwards · · Score: 1

      Actually, the FBI tried for an entire year to break into a suspect's Truecrypt encrypted volume. And failed to succeed at it, so the Mexican government had to let him off as there was no other evidence available. At least that's if my memory serves.

    3. Re:Hooray! by 986151 · · Score: 0

      So you believe all computer forensics done by law enforcement is done in a "perfect" manner and is 100% reliable and interpeted and presented by said law enforcement 100% accurately?

      No. That's not what I wrote.

      I fully agree that the system surrounding computer forensics needs some fixing. High-Tech Crime units are typically understaffed and overworked. Members of the legal profession generally have no understanding of the technical issues (although mostly, in my experience, due to lack of interest rather than lack of intelligence), and jury members can be even worse. I'm just sick of the knee-jerk comments that always appear on posts like this which assume that all computer forensics work is done by corrupt idiots. More than half of the members of my local HTCU have Masters degrees in computer forensics and the rest have more than enough "real world" experience to match.

    4. Re:Hooray! by 986151 · · Score: 0

      I read that. It was interesting. However it's definitely the exception rather than the rule.

      Things like Truecrypt are fine and "secure" in isolation, but it's very difficult to clear up all the crap that the operating system leaves behind. Windows is especially bad, but nothing I've seen is immune from it. Typically there's enough evidence left in unencrypted temporary files, or in unallocated space that the content of the encrypted volume doesn't really need to be considered. Of course there are exceptions, but I've never been so troubled by encryption that the job has to be abandoned. Even if an IIoC suspect has fully encrypted a drive (Truecrypt WDE, say) there's usually a few CD/DVDs of images lying around for easy access.

      As with most aspects of computer security, people are the weak link.

    5. Re:Hooray! by MozeeToby · · Score: 1

      It's not really their fault, the real computer forensics people are buried under a mound of work that would take years to work through even if the police agencies stopped sending new stuff. So the police are forced to move to people who are, shall we say, less than optimally qualified? I have no problem with the police using evidence garnered from people who actually know what they're doing, it's just that that doesn't happen as often as it should. And while waiting for the PC to be competently reviewed (8 months in this case) the accused is presumed guilty by everyone from their family, to the workplace, to the police.

    6. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you believe everyone makes knee jerk assumptions and that frustrates you. Odd because I read your post as exactly that, a knee jerk assumptions about how people think. How ironic.

      What motivates you to preemptively and proactively defend yourself and your profession when you were not even the topic?

    7. Re:Hooray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can also say from first-hand experience that the FBI could not break into a truecrypt encrypted volume, no matter how hard they tried, so they had to let him off.

      Posted AC for obvious reasons.

  18. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny


    Did you miss the part where the IT guy got caught, shit for brains?

    Not surprising, the culprit is an MCSE.

  19. Why just that? by ciderbrew · · Score: 1

    Why bother with child porn.
    Judging by the stories that have been posted on here over the last few months, you only need to post some thing like “I’m going to bomb X” on a message board under a false name.
    Before you know it, the target will be held under anti-terror laws that make being prosecuted for the possession of child porn look like a viable and preferable option.

    - - I'm a bit worried about typing bomb and X in a message board as it is. Bye all.... .. .

    1. Re:Why just that? by Aphoxema · · Score: 1

      Why bother with child porn.

      Judging by the stories that have been posted on here over the last few months, you only need to post some thing like “I’m going to bomb X” on a message board under a false name.

      Before you know it, the target will be held under anti-terror laws that make being prosecuted for the possession of child porn look like a viable and preferable option.

      What if I made it so someone looked like they were going to blow something up while engaging in sex with a minor while practicing satanism while preaching communism while not paying taxes while being homosexual while giving away confidential material?

      --
      "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
    2. Re:Why just that? by ciderbrew · · Score: 1

      I'd say that MI6 or the CIA would be calling soon. They need people like you.

      A true "true patriot" and or "God save the Queen."

    3. Re:Why just that? by Aphoxema · · Score: 1

      I'd say that MI6 or the CIA would be calling soon. They need people like you.

        A true "true patriot" and or "God save the Queen."

      I try to do my part. *salutes*

      --
      "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
  20. CmdTaco, watch out... by theNAM666 · · Score: 1, Funny

    VERY easily. In fact, I'm tired of Taco not approving my posts. From here on out, I'm posting k1dd13 p0rn with his alias and cc:ing the Feds. Just you wait. Just you wait. I'll show you now, Taco! HAHAHAHHAHAHHA!

  21. Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Grumbleduke · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Recently there was a big stir caused here over proposed plans to make the defendants in rape cases anonymous. For some reason it was decided that this would be terrible, as anyone accused of rape is obviously guilty and so deserves no protections... Something about this strikes me as simply wrong - and it applies in this case as well.

    The way our society is geared up we don't just have trial by court, but trial by media; if the media decides someone is guilty, then it doesn't matter what the court decides, the defendant is screwed. In my opinion, defendants should have the right to anonymity especially in "socially disgusting" cases such as most sex-based crimes.

    Of course, these days child porn over here could consist of stick figures, so the actual laws themselves could do with a serious overhaul - remind me again why mere viewing of material should be illegal?

    1. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Antony+T+Curtis · · Score: 1

      Don't forget that a false rape allegation practically ruined Craig Charles television career for several years... and forced a hiatus of the popular Red Dwarf series (of which he plays a lead character) for years.

      If victims of rape get anonymity in England, the accused should be given the same consideration.

      --
      No sig. Move along - nothing to see here.
    2. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      "remind me again why mere viewing of material should be illegal?"

      It's not the viewing of the material, per se, that should be illegal, but the creation of the material.

      Most societies assume that children cannot consent to such photography, and so the material must be assumed to be created without their consent. Consider the problems for kids if they are photographed or recorded for any of this stuff and it gets around their friends, family, etc. Even if they agreed, how can they really be expected to understand the potential consequences? And of course, this is an extension of statuatory rape and assault laws, for obvious reasons.

      Since children are assumed to be incapable of consent, then the mere existence of the material is now, under most law, prima facie evidence of unlawful conduct. No defense. And distribution is generally held, ot seems, to encourage this material in a way that is unacceptable to society. Therefore, even possession is illegal, you don't even seem to need to know you have it. Even entirely contrived (animated or digitally/otherwise artificially created) child porn is illegal, as it is assumed to both inspire creating 'real' material, and being indistinguishable from 'real' material, the law intends to punish it in the same fashion in many jurisdictions.

      In the balance between protecting children and the rights of the accused, the children are held to be so important that the accused is denied many rights. Right or wrong, this is where we are.

      Privacy laws are the first to be trampled when child porn is involved. Since there is no defense, there is no tolerance for possession, and it doesn;t seem to matter how the evidence was obtained. I suspect we will see Supreme Court decisions on both legality of certain searches and lifelong restrictions on convicted offenders.

      So, to answer your question, it is not only illegal to merely view the material, to discourage its creation, but mere possession, even unknowingly, is being punished to further discourage the act of creating the material. It's all about the children, for better or worse.

      I happen to agree, though reluctantly, that the extreme reaction to child porn is correct. I'm only reluctant because of the potential of incidents such as the OP describes.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    3. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by TheTurtlesMoves · · Score: 1

      The way our society is geared up we don't just have trial by court, but trial by media;

      While I agree. But its not the media.... its the mob. The media would have no one to sell a story too if there was no mob to lap it up.

      --
      The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
    4. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 1

      In Norway, not only are both anonymous, but if the police find they were mislead the accuser faces a year or two in jail.

      Comes up in the news all the time, stories of women who e.g. reported a rape to cover up infidelity... and then ended up with one year prison sentence.

      --
      - These characters were randomly selected.
    5. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Grumbleduke · · Score: 1

      Caution: massive generalisation - do not take too seriously

      The two are intricately linked, though. The Mob are pushed on by the Media who write to please the Mob. Mob-behaviour is part of human nature (it seems), so the only want to stop it is to discourage the Media from egging them on.

      When there's a mob, there's usually a guy at the back encouraging everyone, shouting out how evil whatever is - but as soon as anything goes wrong he steps back and says "nothing to do with me, I didn't touch anything" - that's the (bad) Media, in my opinion.

    6. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by flajann · · Score: 1

      Hell, we may as well go back to having Salem Witch Trials. Same level of inanity.

    7. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Part of the reason for making defendants in rape cases not anonymous is that the publication of their name has often brought to light other cases of rape that the accused may have committed. It's a difficult situation.

    8. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by AhabTheArab · · Score: 1

      And the media will usually keep the alleged victim's identity anonymous at their request. It should go both ways, at least until a verdict is in. Our society is too anxious to label everyone as a criminal.

    9. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Grumbleduke · · Score: 1

      I think you may have misunderstood my question - I know what is illegal (or at least the relevant laws) and why it is (we have reactionary politicians with media- rather than logic-driven policies) illegal - I want to know why it should be illegal.

      It's not the viewing of the material, per se, that should be illegal, but the creation of the material.

      And I agree with this - in most cases. But that doesn't explain why possession (in some cases, even accidentally) should be illegal.

      I also agree that there are consent issues with children; although it is for society to decide. Obviously when someone turns 18 they don't magically become capable of giving consent (after all, in the UK one can get married at 16... but not publish nude photos until 18... how does that make sense?) so like all age-based laws, it is completely arbitrary.

      It isn't just a consent issue, though, it is an informed consent thing. The most obvious example of this is with EULAs, where people will consent to handing over their souls - the problem isn't that they weren't old enough to consent but that they weren't informed.

      Moving on from consent - it isn't illegal to take pictures of children. It isn't even illegal to take nude pictures (in most places). It is usually considered appropriate (although decreasingly) for parents to take baby photos - or even young-child photos. Going back to the marriage thing, in the UK it is fine to possess pornographic pictures of someone aged 16 or 17 provided you are married to or in a long-term relationship with them - so really this whole area of law is a bit confused and messed up.

      The next question is "what harm does it do?" - and this is a tricky one - partly because taboos make it very hard to do unbiased scientific research on the issue. Now, I want to make one thing very clear I am fully against any sort of abuse of children (or anyone else, for that matter). No compromises there. But how exactly does possessing a picture (or drawing) count as abuse?

      This is where the change in definition comes in: In some circles some child porn is now being referred to as "child abuse images" to make the distinction between "images of children being abused, or who were abused to obtain them" and "images (including drawings) of children taken innocently but being used in a sexual context". The trouble is that it can be hard to tell these apart some time.

      It is also worth remembering that some images of naked children are perfectly acceptable - particularly in art (a classic example being this - although it is worth noting that apparently female equivalents have caused issues) - so what if someone takes such art and uses it for sexual purposes, is that ok? Do we have to ban all art involving nudity of anyone who might be under 18?

      Now, those are just some thoughts that I felt like throwing out there - but I hope it makes it clear that this issue is very complicated and not thought through by most people, including politicians. Unfortunately, (as you pointed out) it is very hard to fight against it without being demonised because "think of the children" is a very powerful motivator. I'm not saying we should legalise all child porn or CAIs, but I am saying that we shouldn't pretend that the issue has been properly thought through and is anything other than a reactionary impulse.

      One last thought;

      distribution is generally held, it seems, to encourage this material

      It always amuses me when the anti-piracy lobby, when campaigning for Internet filters to block access to copyrighted material, hold up the success of the filters already being used to block child porn. According to them, the distribution of their content (for free) discourages the production of material, but in the case of child porn the distribution (potentially for free) enc

    10. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by TheTurtlesMoves · · Score: 1

      Again while i don't disagree, this problem cannot be fixed from the media end of things. Every attempt at fixing things via the media just changes the person pulling the strings. Even worse, its puts one singular group/view in charge of all the media (ie government). This never turns out better than "free" press with a bunch of different idiots tring to get a mob vote.

      The answer is to educate the mob to the point it sees through the media. Good luck with that however.

      --
      The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
    11. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Grumbleduke · · Score: 1

      But then there's an argument that naming them could lead to more false accusations as well, so it all gets confused again. Of course, in the case of possession of child porn (I hate that phrase; much rather use child abuse images, but sadly that is but a small subset of child porn) this should not be an issue.

      It is also worth noting that, in general (although the laws in the UK are getting more relaxed about it these days) a Court is not supposed to be informed of any previous accusations or convictions of a defendant - so why should the "court of public opinion" be any different?

    12. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      I did not make my point sufficiently clear;

      - The only consent that matters is informed consent. Children cannot provide this.

      - We choose an age limit as a convenience. What it is can be of some concern, but the debate is never that children are not too young and inexperienced, underdeveloped in social and ethical skills, and uninformed to give informed consent for any number of different activities, it is just an argument over age. In the U.S., I wonder how nude photos of your wife, if legally married under the age of majority (which is possible somewhere over here), would be handled. But common sense should prevail. We are not discussing those cases, are we?

      - U.S. law has taken the position that the potential for abuse is so great and the interest in the child's safety is so overriding that we will take an unusually strong stance against the practice, and so will punish even possession, in an effort to make the creation of the material less and less practical, with an eye to eventually destroying the market for this. It may or may not work, but we are trying that.

      - U.S. law also seems to presume that a child is harmed by the act of involving them in creating this material. Period. Harm is assumed, rightly or wrongly. Again, to further suppress the market.

      - And yes, some of this is reactionary. Remember, all legislation is someone's morality.

      But an interesting, somewhat unrelated point you make at the end:

      "It always amuses me when the anti-piracy lobby, when campaigning for Internet filters to block access to copyrighted material, hold up the success of the filters already being used to block child porn."

      Yes, they do.

      "According to them, the distribution of their content (for free) discourages the production of material"

      No, I am unware of ANY media group claiming that piracy discourages production. It discourages PURCHASE, but the material is still very desireable, and there is a continuing market for the material, just diminished by the presence of pirated or 'free' copies.

      "but in the case of child porn the distribution (potentially for free) encourages it."

      Yes, it must. Actually, the distribution fundamentally makes it possible to exist. Ipso facto, I think. Since there is a genuine legal market for music, movies, etc., the piracy issue is one of revenue and loss. For child porn, the legal market is nonexistant. So the issue is that distribution, by definition, must be illegal also. As is possession. I can have an MP3 file on mhy computer and not have a presumption that it is an illegal copy. For CAI, there is no such presumption.

      "or they are encouraging the production of child porn (by supporting the blocking) for their own goals"

      That is a twisted logic I assume you came to as justification for your logic otherwise. Clearly, the RIAA etc. could not do any such thing, and cannot intend to. Their mere existence would bge threatened otherwise.

      Again, we in the U.S. have largely decided that this stuff is so dangerous that it cannot be allowed to exist, and we go out of our way to destroy the ability, motivation, and methods to do so. We trample rights in an effort to offer protection for other, even more basic and important rights. Right or wrong, that's the environment now.

      The 'it's for the children' gambit has been played in other issues in the U.S. Drunk driving legislation, for example, and education. We can expect to see this in healthcare and food as well. Rational debate goes out the window when it comes to your kids.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    13. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      remind me again why mere viewing of material should be illegal?

      Because of Wikileaks.

    14. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Grumbleduke · · Score: 1

      The only consent that matters is informed consent. Children cannot provide this.

      Now define "children". In many places it is (in this context) "under 18". I'm sorry, but I think some people under 18 can make informed decisions about certain issues (often part of the problem is that they are not given all the relevant information, because gods help us if under 18s are told about one of the fundamental principles of life... but that's another issue). Again, in some places, the age for child porn is higher than the age for marriage. Do you think that someone can make an informed choice about sex and marriage but not about taking their top off in front of a camera?

      We are not discussing those cases, are we?

      But I think we are; we have to discuss all possibilities that the law could lead to in order to prevent absurdities. And yes, common sense should prevail, but it doesn't (see the infamous Twitter joke trial for one obvious example). In particular with child porn it seems that common sense is sacrificed for the sake of "protecting children". And yes, it can become a case of arguing over age; but again, people don't magically change overnight on their birthdays - nor are all people the same, so one must acknowledge that any age limit in law is arbitrary (one only has to look at the wide range in sex-consent laws now to see this; ranging from 21 to 13 - or in some cases, there is no limit - or historically when it could be even lower).

      U.S. law also seems to presume that a child is harmed by the act of involving them in creating this material.

      And that is an assumption. It should be backed by logic and science (as should all laws). Otherwise the law becomes meaningless and arbitrary. We could assume that standing on one leg causes earthquakes and use that to justify executing anyone with only one leg... it doesn't make it right. Whether or not you think that is right, it still must be recognised as an assumption.

      Remember, all legislation is someone's morality.

      This is a sad truth; ideally law should be based on logic, reason and science. Possibly based around a few fundamental rights that could be considered a "moral" issue.

      Yes, it must. Actually, the distribution fundamentally makes it possible to exist

      Existence is required for distribution, but the desire for distribution does not logically prove existence. Nor does it necessarily encourage. It may do so, but I don't think we can go as far as to say it "must".

      In terms of presumptions of legality, there is a subtle distinction you have missed. CAI are defined to be illegal, but not all pictures of children are CAI. Therefore your comparison should be between MP3 files and pictures of under 18s, or between unlicensed MP3s and CAIs. But yes, in the case I brought up, the most likely explanation is "loss of revenue". I would argue that piracy may lead to a decrease in revenue for copyright owners, not (as some claim) that it discourages creativity itself.

      That is a twisted logic I assume you came to as justification for your logic otherwise.

      It is twisted logic, but logic nonetheless:

      1. We assume that the free (as in freedom) distribution of material discourages creativity
        - this comes from the argument that copyright infringement discourages creativity - something I think is hard to justify, but is an argument that has been used.
      2. child abuse images require the abuse of children to produce.
      3. the purpose of blocking is to prevent the free distribution of material
      4. the [anti-piracy group] support the blocking of CAI to help justify the blocking of copyrighted material (see
    15. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      (I hate that phrase ["child porn"]; much rather use child abuse images, but sadly that is but a small subset of child porn)

      Wait, so you'd rather a higher proportion of images be maximally harmful (i.e., you'd rather more child porn images depict actual abuse)?

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    16. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [...] remind me again why mere viewing of material should be illegal?

      Because, obviously, the viewing of material makes you want more of that material. This has been scientifically analysed and shown to be TRUE. At least with
      #define TRUE false
      .

    17. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by Grumbleduke · · Score: 1

      Ah, perhaps I wasn't as clear there as I could have been.

      I'm saying that I'd rather that there was less stuff classified as child porn (and so illegal to possess, or come across even accidentally) that doesn't involve any abuse in its creation and is relatively harmless.

      This way, the actual "abuse images" would be a larger subset of "child porn", but because the set of "child porn" would be smaller, not because there were more "abuse images".

    18. Re:Anonymous prosecutions/defendants. by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Your arguments vary from well-reasoned to, IMHO, mistaken...

      We, as a society, define 'children' by an arbitrary age. Please, offer a different definiton that can be universally applied and offers a better result. I'm all ears. BTW, this is not MY choice. I would prefer to define children by criteria including their ability to provide for their own support and expenses. (Ability, not necessarily current status. Unemployemt by itself should not negate ability.)

      In the U.S., we permit the States to set some of their own standards, and defining maturity is a classic case of that. Your argument over inconsistency is a Constitutional one, and one to fight 51 times. I wish you luck. the argument that inconsistency shows some flaw in the system is incorrect. The system is designed to be inconsistent. Perhaps you should stick to the argument that allowing marriage at a younger age than posing for lascivious images is genuinely inappropriate, and should be reconsidered. I'm with you on that.

      I do, however, agree with the law's premise that at least SOME children cannot grant consent to certain acts. I hope we can agree that children under the age of 10 can rarely, if ever, give consent to sexual acts, much less to being photographed doing so. Certainly there is some lower age limit where we can agree that such acts are reprehensible. And that leads to the next point.

      If you permit possession of such reprehensible images, you encourage distribution, whether for profit or not. the example of claiming that free distribution discourages creativity is specious and immaterial. If you permit it, it will be done. In fact, the law does NOT permit it, and it is done anyways. Some images depict what should, again IMHO, be universally understood as unacceptable behavior. If you're not inclined to agree with this, you need not read any further.

      Repeating myself, I do not agree that "the free (as in freedom) distribution of material discourages creativity".

      You wrote:

      "and We in the ROW don't really appreciate having your views pushed onto us. But anyway. How far do you go then, to protect children? Which rights get trampled (such as right to a fair trial, right to life - although you don't have that in the US, of course)?"

      First, my discussion was intended to explore the law, the intent, and its consequences. Don't think that I agree with the motiviations or the legislation that resulted. I do believe CAI should be generally banned, but the specifics of how we do that aren't entirely acceptable to me. For instance, the mere possession should not be prima facie evidence of anything else. Punishing distribution would be appropriate. Sadly, this is the model of laws against marijuana, marginally successful in controlling the trade in the U.S. Well, ok, a failure. But we will never entirely end the trade in either, so the law at best keeps it minimized. Is it worth it? Time will tell, perhaps.

      Second, you are entirely correct that 'right to life' in the U.S. is not very well protected. Now we need to define how YOUNG a child needs to be to be considered a human being, and derserving of protection. A moment old? Conceived? Fingers and toes? This is a complex debate we have not yet given an honest hearing to.

      We also had this exchange:

      "Rational debate goes out the window when it comes to your kids.

      And this sums up the problem. Rational debate should never go out the window when discussing law (or anything else really). It may seem cold and dispassionate, but that is what I think."

      Well, yes, paternal love and care may be rational, but the expression may not be. If you are asking for humans to be rational in all things, you do not yet understand the human condition in any useful way. I know you are not asking that. So this is an area where irrational responses will be common. It is not the only one.

      And last:

      "Remember, all legislation is someone's morality.

      This is a sad truth; ideally law should be based on logic

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  22. Why privacy laws matter by gurps_npc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This kind of stuff is exactly why we need to care about privacy even "if you have nothing to hide". The law is not perfect. We need to build in safeguards to prevent it being abused, not just to catch the criminals.

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
    1. Re:Why privacy laws matter by flajann · · Score: 1

      We all have something to hide. That's what privacy is all about -- our right to hide what we don't want the world to know about.

    2. Re:Why privacy laws matter by gurps_npc · · Score: 1

      and even if we didn't have something to hide - our friends, children, room-mates, lovers, parents, might. Often when we give up our own right to privacy, we give up theirs as well. (Case in point the new practice of doing familia DNA searches - where they use your DNA to prove that your relative did the crime.)

      --
      excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
  23. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's probably why he didn't get away with it. As the old saying goes: Do not meddle in the affairs of Admins, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

  24. jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of tha by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 1

    jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of that.

    We need smarter jurys on computers or some to say in the jury room that any one of your can be in the same place for just 1 pron or other pop up.

  25. We take great pains by SolarStorm · · Score: 1

    To protect minors when accused of a crime. Yet the public has NO understanding of a charge and a conviction. This all too easy to accomplish. And what is worse is that it is so easy. At least with drugs, the "planter" still has to purchase and carry them. With the internet "Doing it with Goats" will provide lots of ammo for the would be planter. With the way people guard their passwords the planter doesn't even have to hack in or carry the material at all, nearly 0 risk. With Remote desktops, you don't event need to physically be at the computer.

    So now when someone is accused, they are plastered all over the news without being convicted. The public paints them as guilty, and the accused, innocent or not, is ostracized.

    It makes me wonder if we should protect the names of accused in cases like this until a conviction. Then again, a lot of the people charge are often in a position where I would really like to limit their access to our youth. A tough call either way.

    It would be hard to even go after the guy alerting the police to the charge. It could simply be the IT admin doing a routine audit finding something that was "planted" by the janitor.

    I think the only real defense is not to p!ss people off enough to go to these lengths.

    1. Re:We take great pains by ajrs · · Score: 1

      I think the only real defense is not to p!ss people off enough to go to these lengths.

      Then there is no defense; some people are just crazy.

    2. Re:We take great pains by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The public paints them as guilty, and the accused, innocent or not, is ostracized.

      It makes me wonder if we should protect the names of accused in cases like this until a conviction.

      ...

      Then again, a lot of the people charge are often in a position where I would really like to limit their access to our youth.

      I added some space to emphasize your hypocrisy and to demonstrate exactly why we have 'trial by media'. Until you yourself are sitting in the defendant's chair, you will continue to think that there are situations in which it is 'ok' to destroy a life without reason. See you in court!

    3. Re:We take great pains by hedwards · · Score: 1

      That's the UK, here in the US, anybody that's been charged gets named and shamed. I'm not sure that's right, in fact I'm pretty sure it's not, but it's the way we do things over here. From what I gather in the UK, minors aren't named even when convicted. I hope I'm not correct about that.

  26. Do not..... by Beer_Smurf · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Look, the people you are after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not... fuck with us. "

  27. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    There's a difference between an IT monkey and a janitor? Since when?

  28. ask Julie Amero about this and that was over softw by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 1

    ask Julie Amero about this and that was over software that the school failed to pay on time to keep it up to date.

  29. Julian Assange, and others similarly situated by timothy · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Julian Assange might be a bad example, precisely because such a dirty trick would I think look just one shade too obvious.

    But ... Character assassination, or coercion with that as a threat, is all too big a threat, either as a means to smear a person generally, or to coerce a confession (regardless of its truth).

    I suspect there are a lot of things I would / one would / you might confess to, if the alternative was unshakable opinion by everyone you meet that you *actually* raped a 4-year-old last year, and that your computer is loaded with pictures of that, and that the FBI can prove it, because, after all, they're the good guys with smart forensics teams. Arson? Yeah, sure, I did that, if you say so -- that's probably one you can eventually get past. Embezzlement? I needed the money! But having child porn? No way -- not me.

    (Deny it? Of course you do, you sicko. People like you make me sick to my bones. You ought to be castrated, and put in jail, where they'll treat you like you deserve, you evil freak.)

    Ahem.

    timothy

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
    1. Re:Julian Assange, and others similarly situated by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      This comment is about as coherant as the typical Timothy-posted story. Explains a lot.

      I suspect there are a lot of things I would / one would / you might confess to, if the alternative was unshakable opinion by everyone you meet that you *actually* raped a 4-year-old last year,

      I might be having trouble threading my way through the 47 commas in this sentence, but are you seriously suggesting that you would confess to owning child porn, just because the FBI says they have evidence of it? Even though it would almost certainly ruin your life?

      You seriously have that much of an unshakable belief that the FBI couldn't possibly be wrong that you doubt your own memory?

    2. Re:Julian Assange, and others similarly situated by timothy · · Score: 0

      Hi! No, you've misinterpreted.

      A threat of unwarranted prosecution for child-porn could certainly be used as a threat by the government to keep someone quiet (as with someone in a position to embarrass the government).

      That's even more pernicious than the threat "you might get raped if you want to spend tonight in the lockup" is used to extract easier confessions.

      timothy

      --
      jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
  30. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 0, Troll

    Says the person who can barely write sentences more intelligible than a 3 year old.

  31. Here come the kiddie bombs. by elucido · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Remember email bombing? Thousands of anonymous emails with gibberish. How about spam? Now we have kiddie bombing.

    It's time we treat child porn as an internet virus and create antivirus scanners which detect child porn and automatically delete, wipe, and report any image saved in the backround with limited user interaction. I don't want to and should not have to risk being prosecuted for possession of something which was sent to me by mistake, uploaded to me, or otherwise infiltrated by trickery, hacking, or anything of that sort.

    If we treated child porn as a virus then the only people left who would have large collections of child porn would be the individuals who actually like child porn.

    1. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or... we could just not consider having images saved on your computer as a legal offence since its so incredibly ambiguous?

    2. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      create antivirus scanners which detect child porn and automatically delete, wipe, and report

      First, drop "report". The worst thing you can do is report to anybody you found something like that. Second, nobody could develop such software, as they'd need test data; possession of which is illegal.

    3. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by Devoidoid · · Score: 1

      create antivirus scanners which detect child porn

      In the US, this would include images that could have the following attributes:fully clothed; adult models; computer generated or hand-drawn. Good luck with that, intrepid programmer!

    4. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by flajann · · Score: 1
      Why is it that there seems to be no focus on going after those who actually CREATE the child porn? Nailing people for possession of bits and bytes does nothing to save the children. Oh, we can pretend it does, but we're supposed to be able to THINK.

      Sorry, I expect too much of the human race...

    5. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 1

      Why is it that there seems to be no focus on going after those who actually CREATE the child porn? Nailing people for possession of bits and bytes does nothing to save the children. Oh, we can pretend it does, but we're supposed to be able to THINK.

      Sorry, I expect too much of the human race...

      They're either completely anonymous losers (abusive father/uncle only with a webcam) or making big bucks in parts of the world where that's all that matters and they can buy immunity. It also hard and costly.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    6. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by AhabTheArab · · Score: 1

      If we treated child porn as a virus then the only people left who would have large collections of child porn would be the individuals who actually like child porn.

      Poor logic. I've seen plenty of people with large collections of viruses, despite having anti-virus software.

    7. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First, drop "report". The worst thing you can do is report to anybody you found something like that. Second, nobody could develop such software, as they'd need test data; possession of which is illegal.

      There exist groups which have been given permission to view and store child porn for investigative purposes, if the software was being created with government approval it could work, but tbh I wouldn't want such software on my machine, just because I think anyone organising this would be a fucking retard who couldn't tell child porn from my music collection. (Internet Watch Foundation is one of these groups I think, they're the ones responsible for getting imgur.com blocked on several ISPs a while ago because "THINK OF THE FUCKING CHILDREN ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT FFFFFFUUUUU- COMICS FROM REDDIT IS A KIDDIE RAPIST").

    8. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're kidding right?

      In order to do that, you have to accomplish 1 of two things:
      * Create a database of all child pornography images
      * create an algorithm that can, above a reasonable level of doubt, auto-scan an image and determine its contents.

      The second has eluded us for a long time, so I will dwell on the first:
      This would require finding all images and putting them into a database and be able to compare all scanned images to the originals, compensating for image cropping or other editing procedures and work across all image formats. This would also require installation compliance, the program wouldn't work on machines where it wasn't installed - if someone has an interest in downloading the material, why would they install it? And no, keeping that little feature secret isn't an option, how would you know the software wasn't designed to plant the images on command to incriminate someone?

      I'm reminded of a quote, though I forget who it's by: For each person hacking at the root of evil, there are hundreds hacking at its branches.

    9. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by dbIII · · Score: 1

      So how exactly do we do that Mr Conroy?

    10. Re:Here come the kiddie bombs. by flajann · · Score: 1

      Why is it that there seems to be no focus on going after those who actually CREATE the child porn? Nailing people for possession of bits and bytes does nothing to save the children. Oh, we can pretend it does, but we're supposed to be able to THINK.

      Sorry, I expect too much of the human race...

      They're either completely anonymous losers (abusive father/uncle only with a webcam) or making big bucks in parts of the world where that's all that matters and they can buy immunity. It also hard and costly.

      And so beating up people in our country who happen to have it on their hard drives does NOTHING to stop the production of kiddie porn in those areas of the world it's coming from.

  32. Frightening indeed! by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    All it would have taken is for the villain NOT to talk about it. That's all! In other words, any psychopath would have pulled this off and utterly ruined the poor bastard's life.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    1. Re:Frightening indeed! by PIBM · · Score: 1

      What's worst is that it's totally possible that the guru had to perform maintenance duty on his superior computer and really found out the pictures there, and reported him anonymously.

      But, because of the anonimisity, he's automatically found guilty.

      When in high school, 12-15 years ago, some friends and I were discussing about planting kid porn on the director computer and report him. What if they found some kid porn on it, or that without even planting it we found some and wanted to report him ?

      That's a really dangerous area..

  33. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I am skeptical of the claim that voluntarily pedophilia harms children. The arguments that it causes harm seem to be based on cases which aren't voluntary, which are then stretched by parents who are horrified by the idea that their little baby is maturing.

  34. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  35. It's all bits and bytes... by flajann · · Score: 4, Insightful
    If you know what you are doing, all bets are off. You can finger anyone with kiddie porn and leave no obvious trail behind. All you need is physical access to the computer. Unless the hard drives are encrypted, they are open and vulnerable. And even if they are encrypted, they are still vulnerable if the computer is left running unattended.

    This is primarily why it should not be illegal just to possess a certain set of bits and bytes on your machine. You can make it so you can fool the best of forensics experts. And most law enforcement who does the analysis simply use lame-brain software to scan for the kiddie porn files.

    It would be easy, for instance, to write a virus that would spread to your machine, download kiddie porn, create fake tracks that would fool forensics, and then delete itself without a trace. Can you imagine if something like that got out and infected millions of computers with kiddie porn?

    Well, for one, it would probably end this nonsense of destroying people's lives simply because they had the "wrong" files on their computer!

    Not to mention nailing people for files on their computer does NOTHING to stop the production of kiddie porn. As always, law enforcement is focusing on the wrong end of the problem. They should be going after the guys who pervert children in making the kiddie porn. Why don't they do this? Oh, I get it -- too much work. Poor kids. Too much bother for Law Enforcement to go after the REAL perverts. Sorry, kiddies.

    1. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by blueg3 · · Score: 1

      Quite a lot of the CP investigations are actually in conjunction with either molestation or production of child pornography (i.e., the "real perverts").

      Creating fake tracks that fools forensics isn't as easy as it sounds. For example, if someone did just as you described and wrote malware that downloaded kiddie porn and created fake tracks, and that malware spread to millions of machines, the whole security and forensics community would hear of it. People would study the malware, determine what false tracks it made, and then it would be easy to demonstrate whether the files on your computer were the result of that malware. (Hell, you'd have to do this -- otherwise every single person caught with CP would say, "Oh, that malware downloaded it," and you'd need to prove otherwise in court.)

    2. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by cdrguru · · Score: 1
      1. If there was no consumption, there would be no production. The fact that there is a market and a rather lucrative one at that means children will be bribed, baboozled, coerced and forced into child porn. If someone will pay $100 for a single picture and $100 will pay the rent for six months there are people that will do this.
      2. Child porn isn't something you would use a studio for. It is something that is a home-based business. To stop it you need to have eyes in every third-world hovel in the world because that is where a lot of it is made. It is made there because it is lucrative and these people will do just about anything for the kind of money that child porn brings in.

      I guess it is like drugs - maybe some folks think we should just tax it and allow lives to be destroyed. After all, they are going to be destroyed anyway, why not let the government get in on it?

      There is no simple answer with child porn because it is so pervasive. In societies where children are viewed as having little or no value until they can work it is easy to convince people to use their children in this manner in exchange for enough money to live on.

      And then you have the "believers" that have deluded themselves so completely they think they are loving the little boys and want to show off their love to the rest of their community.

      I can at least understand the 15-year-old girl. I can't understand the four-year-old boys, or even younger which is where the real money is at. And for an idea where this gets started look up where the proverb "A woman for duty, A boy for pleasure, But a melon for ecstasy." comes from. This isn't something your neighbors are doing for a little extra cash.

    3. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by QCompson · · Score: 1

      Your entire argument accepts at face value that child porn is universally produced for profit, yet if you look at a sample of recent arrest reports for child porn possession seldom few appear to have any financial exchange involved. People are arrested every day for downloading child porn for free off of P2P networks. And of course when people use P2P to download movies and games it is harmful to their respective industries, but when P2P is used to download child porn it supposedly supports the industry.

    4. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > They should be going after the guys who pervert children in making the kiddie porn. Why don't they do this?

      Citation needed.

    5. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by AhabTheArab · · Score: 1

      Not to mention nailing people for files on their computer does NOTHING to stop the production of kiddie porn. As always, law enforcement is focusing on the wrong end of the problem. They should be going after the guys who pervert children in making the kiddie porn. Why don't they do this? Oh, I get it -- too much work. Poor kids. Too much bother for Law Enforcement to go after the REAL perverts. Sorry, kiddies.

      Indeed. Kiddie porn does not have a supply/demand. People will produce it regardless if anyone else wants it.

    6. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by davidwr · · Score: 1

      It would be easy, for instance, to write a virus that would spread to your machine, download kiddie porn, create fake tracks that would fool forensics, and then delete itself without a trace.

      If you say so....

      j/k

      You make a very good point though. Just because it's on your computer doesn't mean you put it there.

      --
      Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    7. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by radtea · · Score: 1

      It would be easy, for instance, to write a virus...

      Even easier: steganography could be used to hide "offending" images in innocent ones. Get just one of those on CuteOverload or similar and you'd have millions of "infected" computers.

      The world is also full of people who will happily forward funny/cute/stupid images to everyone in their address book. Get an image into the hands of a few of those people and it wouldn't be a question of browser cache anymore.

      The idea that bits that happen to be on my hard drive are in any sense in my "possession" is insane. Like drug laws--if we have to have them at all--this is a case where intent really needs to be embedded in the law: unless a person can be proven to have had intent to possess a particular pattern of bits, I don't see how throwing them in jail resembles anything like justice.

      --
      Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
    8. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember hearing about the FBI seeding fake child-porn images that would somehow call home when they were loaded by a computer. This was, of course, to catch people seeking out and downloading the images. However, some person(s) got the idea that it would be funny to take the image (or rather the image link) and place it on a website's background somewhere as a 1x1 pixel image. Thus, people physically unable to even SEE the image were nevertheless downloading the image.

    9. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can finger anyone with kiddie porn.

      No you can't. Only kiddies. Otherwise it's not kiddie porn, it's normal, adult porn.

    10. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or just locate and download it manually while you have physical access.

    11. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by flajann · · Score: 1

      Quite a lot of the CP investigations are actually in conjunction with either molestation or production of child pornography (i.e., the "real perverts").

      Not most of the stories I hear about. But then it may be in the way they are reported. If there's an actual child molestation case, then the computers are taken to find more evidence as a part of the bigger investigation, and are probably not even mentioned in the news story.

      The noted ones are those where there is no real molestation or exploitation -- just bits and bytes discovered on someone's hard drive.

      Creating fake tracks that fools forensics isn't as easy as it sounds. For example, if someone did just as you described and wrote malware that downloaded kiddie porn and created fake tracks, and that malware spread to millions of machines, the whole security and forensics community would hear of it. People would study the malware, determine what false tracks it made, and then it would be easy to demonstrate whether the files on your computer were the result of that malware. (Hell, you'd have to do this -- otherwise every single person caught with CP would say, "Oh, that malware downloaded it," and you'd need to prove otherwise in court.)

      If I were to write such a beast (which I would not, of course!) I would have that in mind as I were writing the code, and would make sure it would lay down differently-patterned tracks each time so that it would fool all but the most astute of forensics investigators.

      And it wouldn't even be a challenge to fool the point-and-click software most of the lackeys use, in any case.

      Probably the biggest headache would be getting past all the different malware detectors out there. That would actually be a much bigger challenge than fooling the forensics investigations.

      It can be fun contemplating how to fool the idiot investigators and the virus scanners alike, but I would never DO such a horrid thing, and I hope no one ever does. I am very big on the rights of innocent people.

    12. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by flajann · · Score: 1

      If there was no consumption, there would be no production.

      This is wrong in every respect (with the exception of paid for consumption, of course). If someone downloads kiddie porn for free that consumption is largely invisible. I think only true idiots would post the stuff on a website, which would get taken down quickly anyway (and be highly trackable). So the vast majority of the consumption will be by less visible means, such as Usenet, P2P, and the like.

      If there is no money incentive, why go through the risks of recording the illicit acts? It doesn't make sense. If one is predisposed to do it anyway just for the hell of it, it is obvious such a person will not be deterred by lack of consumption, so the kid is violated anyway. 1 download or 1000000 downloads would make no difference, since the perpetrator would not ever know about them.

      Child porn isn't something you would use a studio for. It is something that is a home-based business.

      My point exactly. It's hard to make a profit at your business if people are getting their copies for free.

      So again you prove my point -- it's the *paid for* consumption that drives it, not the free consumption. And most likely, the "third-world hovels", as you put it, make their money locally anyway. They will probably not be able to put together the resources to charge for this stuff online, and if they did, would make themselves easy targets to track down. At which point Law Enforcement will actually have some worthwhile work to do -- finally.

      And the "third world" people have a tough problem -- sell your kids and eat; don't sell your kids and starve. And it's not just porn -- it's for "terrorist" operations as well. We here in the Rich West have the luxury of being able to moralize about such things, but if you are in their shoes, what would you do? I often find that one's morality is almost always one of convenience. It's always someone else that's "amoral", never oneself. Funny how that works.

      Want to end child porn? Want to end the recruitment of kids turning them into human bombs? Then you have to end the conditions that causes people to have to make the choice between their kids and their food. It's just that simple -- and that complicated.

    13. Re:It's all bits and bytes... by flajann · · Score: 1

      I remember hearing about the FBI seeding fake child-porn images that would somehow call home when they were loaded by a computer. This was, of course, to catch people seeking out and downloading the images. However, some person(s) got the idea that it would be funny to take the image (or rather the image link) and place it on a website's background somewhere as a 1x1 pixel image. Thus, people physically unable to even SEE the image were nevertheless downloading the image.

      Nice little trick. And then all you'd need is some Flash or JavaScript to copy the images to some place else on the computer.

  36. The idea of this is sick by tamvunb · · Score: 1

    the obligatory Weiner name. Moving on. The idea of this is sick...it's no different than accusing a teacher you don't like of rape. Even if you are found innocent, there is still a stigma attached to you that will never fully dissipate within your community. People around you will always have this accusation in the back of their minds. Whatever happend to using a whoopie cusion, or putting a flaming bag of poo on someone's doorstep?

  37. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1, Informative

    Groucho Marx and The Three Stooges used the line long before that show ever existed. Though it's speculated to be a pretty old vaudeville joke.

  38. Guilty 'till proven innocent by kjshark · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As someone who has worked in child protective services. I can tell you, as mentioned in the article; the mere accusation of being involved in child sex will ruin your life. I'm not commenting on his guilt or innocence, but look how many people were willing to believe the worst about Michael Jackson before any facts got out. I mean "the guy's successful and weird, so he must like little boys”!

    --
    The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to be plausible.
    1. Re:Guilty 'till proven innocent by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Well, the $50 million settlement sort of helped convince most people, despite the fact that the lawyers claim that "this is not an admission of guilt".

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    2. Re:Guilty 'till proven innocent by flajann · · Score: 1
      Our entire system of jurisprudence works on the principle of guilty until "proven" innocent. And you are never really proven innocent. That's why the call it "not guilty" when they can't make the guilt charge stick. You are never ever declared "innocent".

      See, we've all been lied to in Civics class. We'd like to think we're "innocent" until proven "guilty", but that's not how the system works.

    3. Re:Guilty 'till proven innocent by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 1

      "An innocent prisoner will become more angry by the hour due to the injustice suffered. He will shout and rage. A guilty prisoner becomes more calm and quiet. Or he cries. He knows he's there for a reason." From Das Leben der Anderen Of course it's a member of the Stasi speaking but generally people do assume that the innocent get angry and fight as opposed to settling.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    4. Re:Guilty 'till proven innocent by davidwr · · Score: 1

      the mere accusation of being involved in child sex will ruin your life.

      This is why I am very careful what children I spend more than a few minutes alone with outside of "public view." If I haven't known them and their parents for years and know that the child in question is extremely unlikely to make up a false story about me.

      Some adults are irrationally (?) fearful of false allegations. They won't even go into a public restroom alone if they think a child is in there by himself.

      I've known several adults that in times past would've gladly coached little league or done other worthy volunteer work with children or youth but they shy away because they don't want to risk any false allegations. The "two adult" rule most child- and youth- organizations have isn't just to protect the children, it's to protect the adults.

      The cumulative price paid for hyper-vigilance and fear of false allegation is borne by the children who have fewer coaches and mentors. Spread out over an entire country and an entire generation suffers. Whether this offsets the actual benefit of having fewer creepy coaches and other adults taking illegal liberties with young people depends on how you weigh the "small amount of harm spread over everyone" from fewer adult role models against "extremely traumatic harm suffered by the additional victims" who would be abused absent today's hyper-precautionary society. This is a decision every society and every generation has to make for itself, and there is no right or wrong answer.

      --
      Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  39. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by jgagnon · · Score: 3, Funny

    IT folks deal with a LOT more shit.

    --
    Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
  40. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I smell old 4chan copypasta.

  41. Sex Offenders Register by VoiceOfDoom · · Score: 4, Interesting

    According to The Independent, the judge has added Weiner to the Sex Offenders Register for the specific purpose of causing the general prison population to identify him as a pervert and make him suffer, even though there is no indication that Weiner possessed this material for any purpose other than to screw up Thomson's life.

    I think Weiner is a scumbag who deserves to go to prison, but he is *not* a sex offender and does not need to be kept away from children's playgrounds when he is released. I certainly don't agree with this tactic by the judge - surely placing people who are not sex offenders on a list of sex offenders renders the list meaningless for any monitoring or preventative purpose? And since when was justice about eye-for-eye revenge in this civilised society?!

    --
    "Life is pain Highness. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something"

    Westly, The Princess Bride

    1. Re:Sex Offenders Register by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > According to The Independent, the judge has added Weiner to the Sex Offenders Register for the specific purpose of causing the general prison population to identify him as a pervert

      You are seeing something which isn't there. The fact that the judge made a point of informing him that he would be considered a sex offender says nothing about the judge's motivation.

      Although it's not mentioned in the article, the reason the judge placed him on the register is because the law *requires* that anyone convicted of this particular offence is placed on the register; judges don't actually have any discretion. The law which created the register provides a list of offences which are considered sex offences, and anyone convicted of one of those offences is automatically placed on the register.

    2. Re:Sex Offenders Register by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 1

      the judge has added Weiner to the Sex Offenders Register for the specific purpose of causing the general prison population to identify him as a pervert and make him suffer

      I for one say good! He was trying to fuck up someones life in a permanent way. He deserves to be punished in the same way.

      --
      If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
    3. Re:Sex Offenders Register by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      I agree with your point. But, as far as I'm concerned, the Sex Offender List is already worthless. Weiner deserves to be on the list more than the guy who "watered" the bushes, or the 18 y/o kid who celebrated his GFs birthday 2 hours too soon.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    4. Re:Sex Offenders Register by shentino · · Score: 1

      The judge should be charged as an accessory to any prison rape that happens as a result.

    5. Re:Sex Offenders Register by MozeeToby · · Score: 1

      You mean weekly beatings and anal rape is cruel and unusual punishment?! Hopefully someday our great grandchildren will look back on today's society and be appalled at the things we did, all the while thinking ourselves so enlightened.

    6. Re:Sex Offenders Register by joebagodonuts · · Score: 1

      Since always. English law is no stranger to the eye-for-eye world view. Seems almost poetic. The correct term isn't "revenge" - its "balancing". Think "the scales of justice" and you'll understand the principle better.

      --
      "Give a woman two glasses of wine and some pad thai, and they'll agree to just about anything." the Sports Guy
    7. Re:Sex Offenders Register by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

      That is a really weird part of the Judge's opinion -- he makes it very clear that he does not think Weiner is a pedophile but that he wants people to wrongly think he is a pedophile in order to justify mistreating him, his wife, and his children. If I was Weiner's lawyer I would think I'd have a strong case for appeal.

  42. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by jgagnon · · Score: 1

    Even if a 6 year old gives you permission to photograph them naked doesn't mean it is right or socially acceptable.

    --
    Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
  43. Related news by magus_melchior · · Score: 1

    There's a big shitstorm over political news submission skewing over at Digg, but the related bit is the online actions of one of the alleged co-conspirators-- namely, falsely accusing those involved in a Youtube youth group of being pedophiles.

    --
    "We are Microsoft. You shall be assimilated. Competition is futile."
  44. Bloody USians. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Here in UKia (not the most sexually liberated country in Europe I have to say) whenever I participate in an organized race they have men urinals in the open, any passerby can see what is going on.

    In Barcelona women that sunbathe topless in the beach are as many as the ones that don't, and it is not uncommon that both men and women use the showers in the beach (no curtains, so you are in full view of everybody) fully naked.

    And so on and so forth.

    When did you guys lost all sense of proportion?

    1. Re:Bloody USians. by AndersOSU · · Score: 4, Informative

      When you sent your damn puritans over here.

    2. Re:Bloody USians. by bsDaemon · · Score: 1

      Please note that there is a difference between a beach, where everyone is wearing fewer clothes in the first place, and where it is generally accepted that nudity is permissible, and some creep on a bus with nothing under his trench coat flashing unsuspecting girls on their way home from school.

      It's not the content so much as it is the context. That's the difference between art and pornography.

    3. Re:Bloody USians. by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      When you kicked the fundies out and they ended up here.

    4. Re:Bloody USians. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When they switched continents.

    5. Re:Bloody USians. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, but they were sucking all the fun out of being poor, illiterate piss-artists - someone had to be sent, either us or them.

      Which would you have preferred? :D

  45. Interesting that you mention teachers by msobkow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A friend of mine is a high school teacher, and has been accused of abuse 3 times in 10 years. No truth to the charges, just vindictive kids trying to get revenge for imagined injuries, but each time was extremely stressful for him.

    It's amazing how many people will believe the worst of someone they don't know just because some a-hole has laid false charges.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by drewhk · · Score: 1

      Exactly this is why we are very careful when dealing with students, and always make sure we are never alone with one of them when we discuss, say, exam results. If there are other people around then it is much harder to accuse of abuse. Of course this is not perfect, but helps to avoid many dangerous situations.

    2. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A friend of mine is a high school teacher, and has been accused of abuse 3 times in 10 years. No truth to the charges, just vindictive kids trying to get revenge for imagined injuries, but each time was extremely stressful for him.

      Said friend isn't a quick learner, is he? Here are some things that a smart male high school teacher does/doesn't do that you might want to pass on to your friend:

      1. Never meet with a single student in a classroom with the door closed. In fact, it's probably a good idea to never meet with even a couple of students with the door closed.

      2. Don't initiate hugs or other body contact. Be careful about returning hugs, and never do this alone.

      3. Maintain personal boundaries. High school students often don't recognize personal boundaries. It's up to the teacher to do so. Make it clear to your students that you have a "large" personal bubble, and would prefer that it be kept intact.

      4. Don't fraternize with students outside of school (i.e., party with them, hang out with them, etc.).

      5. Female students often have "crushes" on male teachers. Keep your head on your shoulders and in your pants. There is nothing more public than a secret between a teacher and a student.

      I've been teaching over 10 years now, and haven't receive a single sexual harrassment complaint. True, these steps won't make you the most popular teacher. But the teachers that try to "befriend" their students are usually the ones who get in trouble.

    3. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      AC:

      There's something wrong with society when you have to fear your own students.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    4. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Er, Commodore... I usually don't have anything bad to say about you, but you're getting kind of obsessive with this one.

      - w

    5. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by msobkow · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My friend isn't a "quick learner"? How is he supposed to "learn" how to keep kids from bald-face lying about where he was and what happened while he was supposedly there?

      You're right about the crushes, though -- all three accusations were from girls who had a crush on him and wanted revenge for him "rejecting" them.

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    6. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Makes you wonder why any man would ever want to be a teacher in this country.

    7. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by TruthSauce · · Score: 1

      This is absurd.

      The pillars of being a good teacher in the past were

      1) Establishing mentoring relationships with students
      2) Physical contact such a hand on the shoulder, is clearly shown through many studies and many generations, one of the best ways to establish a bond wit ha student
      3) The American "bubble" is absurd to most of the rest of the world and would be considered rude
      4) See 1
      5) That's probably true, but the other 4 suck

      Of course you've never been accused of sexual harassment, You've also never won teacher of the year.

      It's sad that we dilute everything to the point of non-existence out of fear... sad sad sad.

    8. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can top that one. A friend of mine was a school teacher for many years. He is gay - and his behaviour reflects it (ie. he is very effeminate, but not campy)

      He was at a toilet in a shopping centre when a man threatened him. My friend walked into a shop and asked the girl to call the police. The police arrived and my friend was detained. The charge was that he allegedly looked under the cubicle wall into another cubicle - to look at this guy's son. My friend was convicted, but appealed.

      Here was the outcome of the re-trial,
      1. The guy was a drug dealer with a long criminal record (inadmissable in court)
      2. The new lawyer bothered to ask for video evidence. The video evidence showed that there was no son that walked into, or out of the toilet!!!!
      3. The new lawyer bothered to inspect the toilet walls in question. The gap underneath the toilet wall was so tiny that it was not possible to peek under, even if there was a son

      Needless to say, he lost his job and credibility was in ruins after a false conviction. Even after a perfect track record for more than 20 years as a teacher (ie. zero complaints).
      My friend has never been the same since.

      My reading of the tea leaves? Society throws logic and decency out the window when certain topics are pushed (eg. rape/child porn/wife bashing), whether or not the accusations are true. It's like the old witch hunts ... I sometimes wonder if we are any more civilised than our previous generations, who we often look back and laugh at (why would they burn someone at the stake? Idiots!).

      Now for the real question. Would I trust my friend with my own kids? The answer is YES. I've asked him to baby sit my two young children several times. My wife and I have NEVER had a doubt about my friend with our children.

      AC

    9. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by celesteh · · Score: 1

      A friend of mine is a lesbian and a high school teacher. She's not out to her students, but it's easy enough to guess. She gets false accusations a few times a year from homophobic students. It's stressful, but the school administration understands the source of it and is as supportive as they can be, almost. They don't go so far as to try to educate the kids about homophobia.

    10. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by Dahan · · Score: 1

      No, we just think you're lying. And that you need some counseling.

    11. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by the+phantom · · Score: 1

      I agree that it is absurd, but the advice is still valid and useful in the litigious society in which we live. Students often make bogus claims, and administrators are all to quick to suspend teachers. As a teacher, I have to ask, what would you have me do?

    12. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is why there are so few males taking up teaching as a profession. I know of one m ale teacher who will not teach his class unless a camera is rolling for the entire lesson (he has been a victim of accusations due to his attempts to control his classes). It's easy to ruin a male teachers entire life. Just get two or more girls together to make up some sexual style claim and he is destroyed and possibly gaoled for years

    13. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by TruthSauce · · Score: 1

      Personally, the advice stands.

      However, in your situation, I would not hesitate to gripe about it, even while I followed it.

      Perhaps I reacted more to the fact that you presented this advice without any commentary on that situation at all.

      I think it's one of the fundamental problems of urban living... the lack of community. When Mr Teacher was seen by every student when he visisted the barber and the butcher and the blacksmith, it would be absurd to say "don't fraternize with students", but today that seems reasonable because we live in these huge anonymous conglomerations.

      Ugh. I find it somewhat gross to think of. Personally, when i was young, I had a number of teachers I saw on a regular basis outside of school, including one who's house I visited often and another who was a friend's parent and would take us camping in the summers. As a result of those two, other teachers would be over for barbecue or whatever and I knew 8 or 10 on a friendly level outside of school.

      School was much easier for me, even as a nerd, when the teachers all saw me in a more personal light.

      Our culture is sick and broken that this is "inappropriate". :-)

    14. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by the+phantom · · Score: 1

      Perhaps I reacted more to the fact that you presented this advice without any commentary on that situation at all.

      Please check the IDs of the posters. I did not originally present the advice. I agree with it, but I did not present it.

      I think it's one of the fundamental problems of urban living... the lack of community. When Mr Teacher was seen by every student when he visisted the barber and the butcher and the blacksmith, it would be absurd to say "don't fraternize with students", but today that seems reasonable because we live in these huge anonymous conglomerations.

      There is a difference between fraternizing with students, and being a member of their community. I see students all the time at the grocery store. I will say hello, perhaps give them a hard time about getting homework in, and, if their parents are there, take a moment to check in with them. This is very different from going to a party with the students---it is far more public, and avoids the he said/she said problem, because there are a lot of unbiased witnesses.

      I also make a fair number of home visits each year, especially with students whose parents habitually fail to make it to conferences at the school, but I try to get to the homes of most of my students over the year, just to check in and introduce myself to the parents. Again, this is different from fraternization.

    15. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I've been teaching over 10 years now, and haven't receive a single sexual harrassment complaint.

      I somehow suspect that GP's teacher friend is in UK. His description sounds very familiar to a lot of other stories coming out of there - apparently, British kids have quickly picked up the idea that accusing an adult of being a "pedo perv" is a very serious threat, and use it whenever they need leverage; teachers suffering especially because of closer and more frequent contact with children, and also one that is often likely to breed discontent.

    16. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by Chowderbags · · Score: 1

      4. Don't fraternize with students outside of school (i.e., party with them, hang out with them, etc.).

      This one burned a high school teacher I knew. He was meeting a student outside of school and having conversations late in the night on the internet that were less than fully appropriate. As far as I (and the school district) know, he never got physical with her, but the writing was on the wall as soon as it all came out. It's a shame too, because he was probably the only English teacher that I had that I actually liked.

    17. Re:Interesting that you mention teachers by couchslug · · Score: 1

      "2. Don't initiate hugs or other body contact. Be careful about returning hugs, and never do this alone."

      I don't hug, don't touch, and explain that professionals don't do that. There is no reason to hug anyone.

      "3. Maintain personal boundaries. High school students often don't recognize personal boundaries. It's up to the teacher to do so. Make it clear to your students that you have a "large" personal bubble, and would prefer that it be kept intact."

      Make it clear that professional conduct requires a lot of space, that is an order expected to be obeyed, and not up for discussion.

      "5. Female students often have "crushes" on male teachers. Keep your head on your shoulders and in your pants. There is nothing more public than a secret between a teacher and a student."

      I don't speak to female students unless it's business, and keep a very polite distance at all times. Move at a pace that discourages conversation.
      They are here for skills training, nothing else.

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  46. Child porn as a weapon by countertrolling · · Score: 1

    Would this put it under some type of a munitions export restriction?

    --
    For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    1. Re:Child porn as a weapon by denzacar · · Score: 1

      Only if it is produced by Apple.

      --
      Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  47. My Experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I work in private sector digital forensics, I'd say about 30% of the criminal work I see, in regards to child pornography, was probably planted or probably not belonging to the suspect but because I can't objectively prove it I can't say that when I act as an expert witness. Technology incompetence of all parties (defense, prosecution, the defendant etc.) prevents the right questions from being asked and answered. It's stuff like that which makes me lose faith in the adversarial court system.

    1. Re:My Experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I work in private sector digital forensics, I'd say about 30% of the criminal work I see, in regards to child pornography, was probably planted or probably not belonging to the suspect but because I can't objectively prove it I can't say that when I act as an expert witness. Technology incompetence of all parties (defense, prosecution, the defendant etc.) prevents the right questions from being asked and answered. It's stuff like that which makes me lose faith in the adversarial court system.

      Just curious... but are they not allowed to ask you "in your expert opinion, can you say that it is certain that the defendant placed those files on his computer? Can you say for certain that he was aware of their presence?"

    2. Re:My Experience by Baby+Duck · · Score: 1

      The other side could argue his "area of expertise" cannot authoritatively ascertain the defendant's mental awareness. A more bulletproof question is "What evidence, if any, is on the computer that can lend weight to the possibility the defendant put those files on the computer himself? What evidence, if any, is on the computer that can lend weight to the possibility someone else put those files on his computer. What limitations do computers in general have, or this computer in particular have, that disallows even an expert, to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, the identity of the creator of a file?"

      --

      "Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins

    3. Re:My Experience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I said "Technology incompetence" I was referring to the defense's unwillingness or inability to ask the right questions so I could give that answer, and in regards to the prosecutor they aren't going to ask questions which would jeopardise their case even if they understood why they should ask in the first place. I can only give answers to questions asked and within limited scope, it's very frustrating.

    4. Re:My Experience by whereisjustice · · Score: 1

      Amen. My son was convicted a few years ago of possessing child porn on his computer after his ex-wife bragged of planting it there. Still fighting five years later, trying to overturn a 30-year sentence. All it takes is the accusation, and when it actually turns up on your computer, the whole community swears they knew you were a pervert all along and break their necks to make up stories to put you away for life. There's no fighting it - it's like trying to prove a negative. It doesn't matter that files were downloaded when he was not home, that they were downloaded at rates impossible for his computer, the files were never accessed, etc., etc., etc.

  48. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

    Are you one of those people who wrongfully conflates all nudity with pornography? The Supreme Court in the US has already ruled that pictures of kids naked, such as those in nudist families, do not automatically constitute child porn.

  49. You think that's bad? by Firethorn · · Score: 5, Informative

    So the guy was killed for taking a leak outside.

    There was another man who was killed because the previous occupant of the apartment was a registered sex offender and had moved out six months earlier. The killers didn't check that hard.

    I understand they're now very sorry that they aren't around to protect their children anymore...

    Personally, I think sex offender lists are a bad thing - if they're still dangerous, don't release them. As has been mentioned before, most offenders that target children go after kids whose parent's know and trust them.

    You also get the problem that the list is contaminated - bad addresses, drunk pissers, slightly too-young girlfriends, non-pedophiles, etc...

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
    1. Re:You think that's bad? by jmcvetta · · Score: 1

      You also get the problem that the list is contaminated - bad addresses, drunk pissers, slightly too-young girlfriends, non-pedophiles, etc...

      Given the prevalence of these mundane and harmless offenses compared with that of actual child molestation, I think it's pretty safe to assume that the majority of names on these witch lists are probably there for bogus reasons. Unfortunately I do not have hard numbers on this.

  50. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amen brother.

  51. Possession should never be illegal by selven · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not for drugs, not for explosives, not for child porn. Sorry, but it's just too easy to exploit (and there's the slight moral problem that possession is technically harmless). Distribution, sure. That would actually have a slight chance of working, and it's a lot harder to frame someone for it. But not possession.

    1. Re:Possession should never be illegal by scharkalvin · · Score: 1

      There are some things that possession of SHOULD be a serious crime. Like plutonium, anthrax, and unregistered nuclear accelerators.

    2. Re:Possession should never be illegal by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      His point is that possession of anything doesn't harm anything. Plutonium, Anthrax, and nuclear accelerators are harmless in possession, but upon their use they are dangerous.

      That's why possession of Marijuana/Childporn/explosives shouldn't be illegal. Having MJ in my pocket is not a danger to anyone, not even myself. Hell, in some countries, it grows as a WEED - hence the slang term for it. Just like having childporn on a computer does no harm to anyone, its the production, distribution, and use of such items that are detrimental to society.

    3. Re:Possession should never be illegal by TheTurtlesMoves · · Score: 1

      There is nothing wrong with nuclear accelerator... whatever that is.

      --
      The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
    4. Re:Possession should never be illegal by Tangentc · · Score: 1

      It is probably a bit harder to frame for distrbution, but I wouldn't say too hard. Just upload a torrent of a file (or even download it from one) and you've distributed it.

      Also, I think you're overreaching a bit saying that possession should NEVER be illegal. I can definitely agree that possession of information shouldn't be, because in the digital age it's far too easy for anyone to plant files on a computer, but for things like explosives possession laws serve a real purpose. If someone illegally has enough dynamite to blow up New York City, and there is some evidence to give reasonable certainty that they intend to do exactly that, it may not be possible to convict them of conspiracy or whatever, but police would at least have the power to confiscate all of the explosives. I'm not saying they should be allowed to imprison anyone for simple possession, but if possession of everything and anything were totally legal it would kind of render police impotent.

      --
      Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
    5. Re:Possession should never be illegal by broken_chaos · · Score: 1

      Distribution, sure.

      Make sure that it's distribution to others, not distribution from others.

      And, y'know, make sure that innocent until proven guilty thing still applies.

    6. Re:Possession should never be illegal by tmosley · · Score: 1

      That's a Ghostbusters joke. The containment system they used was classified as an unregistered nuclear accelerator.

    7. Re:Possession should never be illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so it should be ok to go to the New Year's Party at Times Square wearing a bomb vest? And get arrested only after using it?

      You did say 'never'.

    8. Re:Possession should never be illegal by Capt.DrumkenBum · · Score: 1

      You can have my nuclear accelerator. When you pry it from my cold dead hands!

      --
      If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
    9. Re:Possession should never be illegal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Make possession of stolen property legal? "I found it."

      That wouldn't work very well.

    10. Re:Possession should never be illegal by stdarg · · Score: 1

      If you have a bunch of radioactive material, it's harmful to people in the vicinity whether you distribute it or not (in the classical sense, not counting the radiation itself as distributing it). Silly corner case though. In general I agree with the point.

    11. Re:Possession should never be illegal by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 1

      Radioactive materials is a very specialized and odd situation. Keep in mind naturally occuring radioactive minerals and materials have been around for ages, it's only the last few centuries that we've noticed they have a radioactive effect. I think it was a discovery by accident, actually, someone had placed Uranium or Plutonium on some film in a dark drawer, and when he found that his film was already developed and ruined he was quite upset, and that sparked the interesting idea that the paperweight he used to hold his film down was developing the film.

      But even spring water has a naturally occuring radioactive effect. Nothing to be lethal or anything but it IS radioactive.

      So, I mean, your neighbour is housing some weapons grade plutonium in his back shed? You're actually probably still okay - that stuff is pretty stable. It's when you set it off in a Nuke or have it go through a nuclear reaction at a plant that it becomes terribly cancer inducing.

      However, possessing it still wouldn't be considered the illegal part, it'd be where he was storing it. If he were possessing it in a deep underground lead lined bunker, it would be no harm to anyone. If he were possessing it right along your fence, he probably would be. It's kind of like how you can't park your car anywhere you want to - but owning the car itself isn't illegal, its where you leave it.

    12. Re:Possession should never be illegal by scharkalvin · · Score: 1

      tmosley wins the brass figlagee with bronze oak leaf palm!

    13. Re:Possession should never be illegal by Baby+Duck · · Score: 1

      There's lots of reasons you could be detained and have the bomb vest confiscated without having to actually criminalize possession. You could be slapped with lots of civil suits for violating safety and zoning codes since you willingly and knowingly transported the explosives sans protective measures.

      If a paper trail showed up lending evidence you had a "guilty mind" and intended to inflict mass harm with it, then you should also be criminally prosecuted, without having to actually trigger it.

      --

      "Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins

    14. Re:Possession should never be illegal by TheTurtlesMoves · · Score: 1

      I did in fact know that.

      --
      The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
    15. Re:Possession should never be illegal by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_of_stolen_goods

      In the U.S. and most other countries, if the individual knew the goods were stolen then it is usually prosecuted as a misdemeanor or felony, depending on value of stolen goods. If an individual knows about themselves having possession of stolen goods from another state, then, according to numerous federal laws, it is prosecuted as a federal crime. If the individual didn't know the goods were stolen, then the goods are returned to the owner and the individual is not prosecuted. Though there are often exceptions, because it is not easy to prove or disprove simple knowledge.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    16. Re:Possession should never be illegal by tmosley · · Score: 1

      Ok. Call me Buzz Killington.

  52. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by jgagnon · · Score: 0, Troll

    No, I'm not one of those people. But there is a huge difference between taking a picture of little Sally in the bathtub for the home photo album than there is posting that same picture on your open-to-everyone Facebook page. Or are you one of those people that can't see a difference?

    --
    Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
  53. People? What about companies? by gmuslera · · Score: 1

    I remember the good ol' times when the way to scare people to use secure software was arguing that if their machine/web site was unsafe, someone that could want to harm them could put there things about terrorism, drugs, or child porn (and link google to that to put the engine in motion). Botnets are now a bit more real scare tactic.

  54. Because of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps the news media should only report on stories like that only after the jury has given their verdict.

    The new of a person being found not guilty needs to be even bigger than the news that a person was accused.

    1. Re:Because of that by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The news of a person being found not guilty needs to be even bigger than the news that a person was accused.

      O.J.?

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    2. Re:Because of that by Tanktalus · · Score: 1

      As is often the case with knee-jerk solutions, this one isn't completely perfect, either. Reporting after a verdict is a great idea that will never happen for political reasons (the cops need to be seen to be doing their job in order to procure exceedingly larger budgets from their city officials). Reporting not-guilty, though, isn't perfect, if only because large swaths of the populace have bought into the cop propaganda: if they were arrested, it's because they did it, and if they were found not guilty it's due to some technicality, not because they didn't actually do it.

      I'm not saying that I have the perfect solution - I don't. But if someone can solve these sociological issues, I'm pretty sure I could really get behind it. Because what we have now doesn't merely suck, it's misleading.

    3. Re:Because of that by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Perhaps the news media should only report on stories like that only after the jury has given their verdict.

      But that doesn't make for good sweeps week stories or a way to drive millions of hits to your site.

    4. Re:Because of that by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1

      Step 1: News reports "An arrest was made today in a $CRIME_DUJOUR case."

      Step 2: Trial happens.

      Step 3: If guilty, news reports "Mr. X, who was arrested for $CRIME_DUJOUR 5 weeks ago, was today convicted and sentenced to $TERM years."

      If not guilty, news reports nothing, optimally, or that "The suspect arrested for $CRIME_DUJOUR was not convicted."

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    5. Re:Because of that by sjames · · Score: 1

      The not guilty news needs to be big even if you aren't a rich and infamous former football star who actually has more money than the prosecutor's office.

    6. Re:Because of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The news of a person being found not guilty needs to be even bigger than the news that a person was accused.

      O.J.?

      Wow, one whole example out of the many thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people that are counter to your point.

      That sure convinces me!

    7. Re:Because of that by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      That was only news because he did do it.

    8. Re:Because of that by yendis · · Score: 1

      O.J? yes! The five cops?! Yes!

      --
      Freedom: the only end.
    9. Re:Because of that by st0nes · · Score: 1

      O.J.?

      Orange juice?

      --
      Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis
    10. Re:Because of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh c'mon....OJ did it!

    11. Re:Because of that by yuri+benjamin · · Score: 1

      Perhaps the news media should only report on stories like that only after the jury has given their verdict.

      The new of a person being found not guilty needs to be even bigger than the news that a person was accused.

      Don't know how it works in other countries, but here in NZ the accused are usually given name suppression (the media can report the story but not the names of those involved) until more facts start emerging - often name suppression is not lifted until the verdict at the end of the trial.

      --
      You make the mistake of thinking you can educate the fundamental stupidity out of people. You can't.
  55. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Posting anon so my mods aren't wiped.

    In cases like that where there's an emotional element that may cause a jury to overlook the facts, one would be well advised to waive one's right to a jury trial.

    A bench trial (judge only, no jury) works best in these cases because the judges are less likely to overlook the facts and the law for simple emotional arguments.

  56. More to come. by genfail · · Score: 1

    Sadly as the general public get's better at using computers we will see more of these cases come up. It's was inevitable.

  57. Commie Pinko, Gay, Terrorist, Pedophile, Witch by davidwr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Calling your enemy a witch or whatever and making it stick has always been a way to ruin his life.

    In the 1990s calling your spouse a child- or wife-beater or a child molester was a too-common* ploy in divorce cases.

    1600s and earlier, and today in some 3rd world areas - witch
    1950s - gay or commie
    1980s and later - pedophile
    2001 and later - terrorist
    Throughout history - traitor

    *I don't mean to imply that it was numerically common or anywhere a close to a majority of the divorce child-custody cases, only that there was a spike during that time.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  58. Like there's massive Prior Art on this one.... by cbelt3 · · Score: 1

    The Film "The Net".
    SouthPark's Wacky Molestation Adventure...

    etc. etc. etc.

    The problem of course is the assumption of guilt, which is a complete reverse of normal American law (Innocent until Proven Guilty). I recall my Dad (Professor at a major University) got hit with a few 'sexual harassment' complaints. Fortunately he had good notes. In both cases the young lady had actually offered sexual favors in exchange for grades, and he turned them down. And they then claimed it was his idea. Meetings with the Dean, hassle, etc... He and my Mom laughed about it.
     

  59. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by DaTroof · · Score: 1

    It's a c/p of something Stallman said a few years ago.

  60. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by TheCarp · · Score: 3, Funny

    Stating that a difference exists and claiming that is is big proves nothing. Would you like to elaborate on that difference, particularly on where the moral difference is. Why can a family photo album not be public on facebook?

    I am not against child rape or anything like that but... seriously.... ambiguity is all fine and good most of the time, but we are talking about whats "socially acceptable" which seems to translate to "when its ok to send armed thugs out to 'modify' your behavior" then, I think it behooves us to spell out, in detail, exactly where the line is drawn and be absolutely clear about WHY it is being drawn where it is (and the convenience of police or prosecutors is NEVER an acceptable answer in my book; if their job is hard it is because it should be hard to divorce a person from his otherwise inalienable rights).

    -Steve

    --
    "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  61. Donnie Darko by Demoknight · · Score: 1

    Amazed that I didn't see a Donnie Darko post in here. Clearly the thing to do is to ban that movie so nobody gets any crazy ideas.

    Not the same but the same.

  62. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by TheCarp · · Score: 4, Funny

    Er um s/not against child rape/not in favor of/

    I seriously need an editor.
    (talk about the situations where that 1 minute between postings rule really blows)

    -Steve

    --
    "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  63. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 4, Informative

    But there is a huge difference between taking a picture of little Sally in the bathtub for the home photo album than there is posting that same picture on your open-to-everyone Facebook page.

    In what way? Apparently many people disagree with you as I've seen exactly such pictures on people's Facebook pages.

  64. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    He said we needed smarter juries. He didn't say anything about whether he should be on them.

  65. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

    That just makes Stallman seem even creepier than he already comes across.

  66. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by morari · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thousands upon thousands of crimes go unsolved every day. If you do it correctly, no one ever even thinks to investigate it in the first place. The number of crimes that are solved are definitely in the minority, and usually only come about byway of accident. Shows like CSI are little more than propaganda, fooling the masses into believing that the police will find you no matter what.

    --
    "He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
  67. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I seriously need an editor.

    Don't hire the ones that work for Slashdot.

  68. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

    It is not the job of the jury to think of that, or anything else. It is the job of the solicitor for the defence to think of it, the job of the barrister for the defence to present it, and the jury to decide whether it is plausible.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  69. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I am not against child rape or anything like that

    I don't think that's what you meant to say.

  70. Picture board? You mean like /.? by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Have you seen some of those icons in the "idle" articles? My eyes! They burn!

    j/k.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  71. Don't blame Christianity for any of this by MikeRT · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This stems from the completely broken Christian concept that children are innocent and therefore must be protected at all costs from anything and everything.

    No, that is a Victorian Era concept. Christian theology and philosophy hold that no one is born innocent and hold that no good can be achieved through evil means (which is what happens when innocent people are sacrificed "for the children.") This is basic theology 101 stuff.

    1. Re:Don't blame Christianity for any of this by Dexter+Herbivore · · Score: 1

      Tell the Christians that.

    2. Re:Don't blame Christianity for any of this by melikamp · · Score: 1

      You are right about the original sin, but "no good can be achieved through evil means" is debatable, with Jesus having to suffer and die in order for his people to be saved and all that (see St. Paul).

      IMHO, the party that tries to censor things like child pornography is driven largely by the spirit of the American Puritanism. Not to single out protestants, Catholics are not at all better. The whole lot of them would like to see nothing less than complete censorship of all topics relating to sex, except for when their pastors preach that sex obtains meaning only in the context of "marriage", as they define it, and only through procreation. In short, contemporary Christians and their theology are the principal force behind this witch-hunt, and it stands to reason that their beliefs are largely incompatible with the ethics of early Christians as well as the modern secular principles such as the right to free expression and the separation of church and state.

    3. Re:Don't blame Christianity for any of this by jewishbaconzombies · · Score: 0, Troll

      Actually, Basic Theology holds that there's a magical man in the sky who can see and judge everything you do your entire life.

      Which makes him a Pedophile-o-pervmaster supreme since he's watching an entire planet of children all at once, and sees all that child porn that's being produced every day.

      Which explains the Vatican controversies when you think about it.

    4. Re:Don't blame Christianity for any of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is true, except that some of the more fundamentalist "Christians" actually ascribe to the belief that the GP stated. It is sad that this vocal minority needs to taint the very essence of their religion. I find it quite ironic that I am culturally Jewish and I'm still more Christian than the fundamentalists.

      Oh, and back on topic. It is my belief that if a person is framed or wrongfully accused of any crime related to child pornography, then whoever perpetrated the false charge should be punished as severely as their target would have been had the charges been true. Also, the victim of the frame-job should get something similar to the witness protection treatment; since their old name is irreparably damaged, set them up with a new identity and let them transfer all their degrees and certifications over. Inform their previous employers that they are under penalty of law required to vouch for the person's new identity for five to ten years, about as long as it would take for that work history to fall of the person's resume. If the victim still has a family that trusts him (a BIG if) offer the same treatment to them so they can continue to be a family if they so choose. It's a bit extreme and I doubt it's feasible, but it's one form of justice that should remind people how absolutely serious this charge is.

  72. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by ushering05401 · · Score: 1

    You are automatically condemning millions of ignorant people. Posting something on FB that is legal for personal possession and not restricted by a license or copyright should be fine.

    This becomes a major pain in the ass for enforcement, because once a legal photo has been bundled or torrented with illegal content by a third party the feds will identify the original legal poster as a target for inquiry.

    Pain in the asses must be tolerated if we are going to move our country forward in a sane manner.

  73. NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginable by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Someone finds child porn on you computer and you are instantly and forever labeled as the most disgusting form of human being imaginable.

    I think people would rate you worse if they found similar pictures of you and your children in the same frame on someone else's computer.

    But I get your point.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  74. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by flajann · · Score: 1

    jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of that.

    We need smarter jurys on computers or some to say in the jury room that any one of your can be in the same place for just 1 pron or other pop up.

    Smarter juries? Good luck with that.

  75. much like the german V rockets. by Roskolnikov · · Score: 1

    This weapon does more harm to those 'making' it then those it is deployed on. Truly a bad idea though, now this chump is going to be brought up on the charges he intended for his victim.

    --
    Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
  76. Pa school webcam poeple should get the same child by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 1

    Pa school web cam people should get the same child porn changes as this guy got and in this case they seem to be covering it up and maybe even have someone picked out to dump it all on who may of had little to do with the overall case and or only had a part in it and the top people want to get off.

  77. It's not too late to correct your action by davidwr · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Assuming the firm still exists in some way, shape, or form, a letter to its HR department apologizing and explaining what you saw may get this guy off of their "not eligible for rehire" list.

    These days, with past-employers not willing to give out anything other than the dates of employment and a yes/no to eligible for rehire, removing this black mark from this guy's work history will help him.

    If you know how to reach the guy a letter of apology to him would also be helpful.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:It's not too late to correct your action by ashkar · · Score: 1

      For sure, you at least owe this guy that much. I bet it would ease your conscience quite a bit as well.

    2. Re:It's not too late to correct your action by Optic7 · · Score: 1

      Not to mention that it would probably flag the person that planted it as not eligible for rehire. Unfortunately, I wonder if the HR department would really take any action after all this time.

  78. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by vigilandy · · Score: 1

    That why shows like Dexter are so great. Forensics is a powerful tool, but it has to be pointed in the right direction.

  79. Law enfrocement by NetNed · · Score: 1

    I don't want to give pedophiles, molesters or child porn sickos a free pass, but it's a crazy that law enforcement can seek a conviction on something that is so open to outside tampering as a computer in a place of work or in a public situation. Anyone could hide a file 10 or 20 folders deep and the user would have no idea. It's just way to subject to let prosecutors use this as the only means to obtain conviction. I'm sure if a person really is in to child porn, pictures on their computer is one of many things that could bring a conviction against them. Does law enforcement really need less to seek conviction in cases because of the moral wrongness of the crime, regardless of if the person is guilty or not? It almost seems like the salem witch trials all over again.

  80. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by lgw · · Score: 1

    Wow, that makes it one of the most clever troll copypastas I've seen. It's like a GNAA post, except almost on-topic!

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  81. falsifying crimes by alphatel · · Score: 1

    Anything that can be used as a weapon, will eventually be used as a weapon.

    --
    When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
  82. This link goes straight to Google.com! by CeruleanDragon · · Score: 1

    Now they know who I am and that I read an article with "child porn" in the title, aw man, they're coming to get me as we speak. >.

    --
    ad astra per alia porci
  83. Too easily!!! by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

    >how easily might this trick have succeeded if Weiner had been a little more intelligent about it
    That is an awesome plan, but how would you call the cops with an anonymous tip, they can not go and get a warrant to search your place based on a tip without confirmation...and to get confirmation you need to get int the house, catch22...so whether he did or not have the p0rn, I do not understand how this was able to proceed further...being the one to call the cops on the guy automatically places you under assumption of either assist to the crime (you saw it yourself) or may have been trying to plant it on him...so they would keep you around to question just in case, so that being the case, I assumed he would have placed the call anonymously, no?

    Then again I not RTFA

  84. i think not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only private citizens need to worry about this from other citizens. Police will never plant child porn on their computers. They will simply taze you, run you over then plant a gun on you. http://www.thisis50.com/profiles/blogs/caught-on-tape-florida-cop
    Awesome stuff.

  85. Not much different by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    than sprinkling a crime scene with DNA from folks who earlier donated (willingly or otherwise) samples to solve an earlier heinous crime, or comply with some other regulation. No more stone-cold whodunnits for the coppers! Coming soon to law enforcement near you.

  86. Idiot and "normal teenager" not mutually exclusive by davidwr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I would say the overlap is higher in the years starting with "1" than almost any other decade in a person's life.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  87. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by CeruleanDragon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I disagree. I've worked in both industries. As an IT admin, I have yet to be slapped or had a plateful of food thrown my face. I've never been punched in the junk by a child while leaning over a table to deliver food, then yelled at by the parents for almost dropping the food without a word to the giggling child who's winding up to do it again. You really want to compare having to go into work at 2am for a downed server once in a while or putting up with an idiot PHB to working 16hr shifts on your feet with no break and a screeching boss?

    I also make at least 4-5 times more than I did in the restaurant business. In an air conditioned office. With actual benefits like health insurance and vacation days (not that I get to use my vacation days much, but at least I *have* them...) Generally sitting on my butt too. At my busiest I'm still just sitting on my butt. I might be busy tapping away at a computer and having users calling me and whining about their slow connections or stupid problems, but it's still heavenly compared to working in a restaurant.

    I dare you to quit your IT job and go work in a restaurant for a few months. Then feel free to come back and say that again with a straight face.

    --
    ad astra per alia porci
  88. Re:NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginabl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I actually think that many people don't comprehend the distinction you are making unless it is forced upon them to realize it, insane as that is. The people with pointed opinions on this easily get so rabidly fixated on child porn that they become unable or unwilling to distinguish between people who through no fault of their own are sexually attracted to children, the subset of those that look at pictures of children, and the subset of those that actually molest children. Next time you have the misfortune of overhearing a rant against child porn, observe that (most probably) there will be no distinction between "pedophiles", "possessors of an illegal photograph" and "child molesters". They are all just "pedophiles" and equally blameworthy. This is the real and insane reason for opposition to pornographic drawings of imagined children - anyone who would like to look at such a thing is at the level of a child molester, and we don't want to do anything the benefits child molesters. I can't recommend trying to bring sanity to this topic anywhere but in an anonymous arena such as this, by the way, because sanity would benefit the (non-child molesting) pedophiles, and that raises the question of why you are talking the case of child molesters if you are not one yourself - that is how this particular insanity survives.

  89. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by cp.tar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not surprising, the culprit is an MCSE.

    That’s Microsoft Certified Solitaire Expert, right?

    --
    Ignore this signature. By order.
  90. Oblig. Simpsons... by A+L+1+E+N · · Score: 2, Funny

    Kent Brockman: Now, here are some results from our phone-in poll: 95% of people believe Homer Simpson is guilty. Of course, this is just a television poll which is not legally binding. Unless proposition 304 passes, and we all pray it will.

    1. Re:Oblig. Simpsons... by jewishbaconzombies · · Score: 1

      Funny, but - I've never heard of a legally binding poll - outside of the Federal Census. Where can I get a job as a legally binding pollster?

      TV writer fail.

    2. Re:Oblig. Simpsons... by owski · · Score: 1

      Reading comprehension fail.

    3. Re:Oblig. Simpsons... by jewishbaconzombies · · Score: 1

      Try again english failure major. It implies a(nother) poll can be legally binding. To WHAT?

  91. RTA... "Allegations were made in 2006" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, it's a fun topic to kick around horror stories, but jeez, this is a very old story.

    1. Re:RTA... "Allegations were made in 2006" by KarmaMB84 · · Score: 1

      The original allegations were made in 2006. It is now 2010 and the guy that framed him is finally being convicted and sentenced.

  92. State of Computer Forensics by dhickman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If any of you seen what is required to be a law enforcement forensics investigator in the US, you would be pissed.

    In most departments the forensics investigator is the poor bastard who has some computer skills.

    He gets selected to take a couple of encase or ftk classes and then they use a confiscated computer, add a write block to it and there you go.

    Now lets say you get a CS degree, work for a while and decided that you want to do forensics. The odds of you getting a job is next to impossible.

    In fact you will be specifically told that they do not want you around. There is a hatred of "nerds" in the law enforcement community.

    Not only will you have to go back to school to get an associates in criminal justice, you will have to go through the police academy
    and then work as a beat officer for several years before you will even get a chance to touch a computer.

    Now lets look at requirements for other kinds of forensics. All of the other forensics fields have lab type people who are specifically trained in their field of expertise. for example, an dna specialist will have at least a masters in biology, a forensic pathologist, has an MD, a ballistics specialist usually has a degree in physics, or engineering. But a computer forensics specialist usually has a high school degree, maybe an associates degree in CJS, and must meet all of the active physical requirements as a patrol officer.

    Note. I work in infosec and perform forensic investigations for private, defense cases, and the university level.

    Every time I go to a continuing education class, encase/ftk, or other. There will be several leos in there that have no clue on even the basics on how a computer works. As a result the majority of the training is "point and click" as mentioned in the article.
    In the days when everyone ran dos, this was doable.

    At these classes I will point out the above issues and ask why computer forensics is differnet than any other forensics field.

    I will point out that computers have gotten much more complex and standard procedure for most law enforcement agencies if they run into anything but a standard unencrypted windows computer is hand the case to the state police, or the feds, since they lack the skills to even process a linux box running reiserfs. Hell, what am I saying, most of them can not process a macintosh since the tools out there are windoze based and have very limited mac capability. So in order to investigate a mac, one must have core unix skills and treat the case as they would treat any other unix system. Yes there are newer tools to macs, but they suck. So be prepared to go through plists and file system attributes.

    Their usual comment, you have to pay your dues son.

    1. Re:State of Computer Forensics by flajann · · Score: 1
      And they call that "Justice". Just imagine.

      That being the case, these morons would be totally lost with a computer like mine running Linux. I'm using XFS in most places, and have files I mount as encrypted drives for stuff I want to keep private. They probably wouldn't even recognize those files as mountable drives nor know what to do with the Bash scripts I've written to mount and unmount them. Not to mention the several virtual Windows installations.

      And yes, they do hate geeks. The local cops have certainty given me enough hell in the past. I should've sued them for their efforts, but didn't have time. If they screw with me again,this time I'm prepared. They WILL be sued.

      I guess it's just not easy being a cop. ;-)

    2. Re:State of Computer Forensics by dhickman · · Score: 1

      I once got a steak dinner by betting that I can create a floppy to hide data on that Encase could not read and still be used by windows.

      The instructor and a fbi agent called bs.

      I simply used fdformat to format 1.44 meg floppy to 1.9 megs or was it 2 megs.. Anyway it worked and to this day, encase can not read non standard floppy formats.

    3. Re:State of Computer Forensics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      maybe poor IT skills but good detective skills which is required for making a case in law.

      Most IT are quasi "I will sue you" lawyer know it all types :)

    4. Re:State of Computer Forensics by slashdotard · · Score: 1

      Law enforcement will look for evidence to win a case. They will NOT look for evidence that may lose their case. It will not be considered. In this context, anything goes, even cached stuff that you might not even have ever seen, which put there by malicious links or by prefetch. You are presumed guilty by law enforcement and it's their job to create evidence to support that presumption.

      Evidence extraction can be destructive or, at best, may only alter the original evidence. There have been plenty of cases where collecting evidence has altered the original data or destroyed it. In some cases, the evidence did not exist until it was created by buggy or amateurishly designed analysis or forensics software, or by incompetent or just plain malicious people. Too often, law enforcement believes that "an exact copy or image" of the original data is all that is necessary. There is only their word that it is an "exact copy or image" of the original. That means that the defendant, or victim in such a case, has no way to refute the "evidence" collected.

      It is too easy to plant stuff on any PC. Absolutely no password or login of any kind is required and it can be done easily without leaving any trace. People are too naive to imagine that it's possible for anyone to have access to your PC or put crap on it without your knowledge. Fortunately, the vast majority of people are also far too naive to think about planting stuff on someone's PC. That will change as such cases become more frequent, more public, and more people become more savvy about computers.

      By the way, with regard to "creating evidence", there are training programs and seminars for law enforcement, forensics people and prosecutors that are all about creating evidence and selling it to a court and jury. "Evidence Creation". Scary, no?

      --
      me. --a by-product of public education
    5. Re:State of Computer Forensics by nege · · Score: 1

      I worked in infosec for a fortune 100 bank. That is exactly how their program was run as well. Not that they specifically discriminated against people with CS degrees, but they just didn't care enough to hire that way. I got into the department through various re-orgs and when I ended up on that particular team they asked me if I wanted to do forensics. I said sure and I got wisked away to encase training where I learned how to point and click my way through the app and use a hardware write blocker. I do have a solid background in computers with programming and Unix knowledge, but I certainly don't have the hardware level knowledge that a real forensic investigator needs. It sure was fun though.

      I did some looking around to see what kinds of things "real" forensics investigators reccommend for credentials and yes CS is one of them, but I'm too old to start over again in undergrad. It looks like with a few certs and a decent resume you can get hired in the public sector.

    6. Re:State of Computer Forensics by JumpDrive · · Score: 1

      I'd reiterate the same thing. I have been told that to work for local law enforcement I would either have to be a police officer and or ex-military.
      I've taken some courses in computer security and forensic at a local well known University. During that time I was told that to work with local police I would have to go this route and it was re-iterated when I talked with people in local law enforcement who did the forensics. They were a scary bunch of clowns. Some had plugged their computers openly to the network during a class and another was showing all the open wireless connections you could see going to and from his house. The funny thing was that close to the end of his log, was a fully open wireless connection with a SID possessing his last name.

      So to do my part for justice, I would prefer to work for the defense.

    7. Re:State of Computer Forensics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "In most departments the forensics investigator is the poor bastard who has some computer skills."

      Oh, it can be far worse than that. I once did some "forensics" work for the secret service. My qualifications? I happened to be visiting my cousin, the agent was her husband, and found out that I knew more about computers than anyone in his office. That didn't mean much: I was a college student studying EE, who happened to have programming as a hobby. So would I do him a favor, etc, etc...

  93. Could have bveen worse by Combatso · · Score: 1

    Imagine how much trouble the administrator would have been in had it been 'Illegaly obtained MP3's' instead of illegal pictures..

  94. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Schadrach · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Despite creepiness, it does raise an interesting question: To what extent and in what ways is a child harmed by "pedophilia" (in quotes so as to include pubescent minors) in which they are honestly a voluntary participant? How much of that harm is due to either reaction of others towards the scenario or treatment for it?

  95. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by cp.tar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    About a decade ago, before the peak of current paedophile hysteria, I had a pen pal from Poland. A real pen pal. A girl, too. Yes, I know it sounds incredible, but there you go.
    Anyway, we joked around about nude photos, so she sent me one of herself. When she was about four.

    Nowadays, that kind of letter could land me in prison, given a hysterical enough judge.

    Yet I don’t see the big deal anyway. I grew up in a nudist family. I am certain a number of people own my nude photos. Nude child photos, at that. I am even well aware of the risk that some paedophile, somewhere, wanks looking at my picture. And I cannot see any evil in it. In fact, if that helped that person defuse their urges, thus making them less prone to actually molest a child, good for them. And for the children left unmolested.

    --
    Ignore this signature. By order.
  96. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by vm146j2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am not against child rape or anything like that

    I don't think that's what you meant to say.

    No?

    The Dr. begs to differ.

    --
    "Lost time is not found again."
  97. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by davester666 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, you need to know who is guilty first, then gather the evidence that proves it.

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  98. At least one state had no limit in the '90s by davidwr · · Score: 1

    I think for capital murder and the most violent rapes, at least one state had no numerical limit. As a practical limit though even the smartest, most emotionally mature kids under 11 or 12 would not pass an adult-competency hearing under that state's pre-trial rules.

    However, if you had a hypothetical 6 year old child genius who was emotionally similar to a typical young-adult murderer, they could put him behind bars for life.

    I don't know if that state ever put in a hard limit or not.

    On a more rational note, some states don't allow kids under a certain age - typically 7-ish but sometimes older - to be prosecuted as juveniles. A 6 year old could kill someone then do it again at age 8 and the 2nd crime would be a "first offense."

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  99. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by binarylarry · · Score: 1, Funny

    Stallman does resemble pedo bear a bit, doesn't he?

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  100. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Those questions can be answered once the pedo apologists can provide a legitimate case of a child completely on their own seeking out to have a sexual relationship with an adult (cases of a 14 year old having sex with say a 16 or 17 year old don't count). The problem is that they can never provide such an example and thus always make up these bullshit "No true scotsman" cop outs.

  101. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by jahudabudy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The point is that legally speaking, there is no such thing as an underaged person voluntarily participating in a sexual act. They are legally too young to have the capacity to consent. A 15 year old consenting to a 40 year old is seen (legally) as impossible. The generally accepted theory being that a 15 year old is going to be so naive and manipulable by a person of much greater experience that there can not be true consent. Is this always true? No. Can this also be true with people of legal age? Yes. But the law has to draw a line somewhere. And while less harmful than physical force, emotionally manipulating someone who is unready for it into sex is still harmful to that person. As a society, we have decided this is a harm from which we wish to legally protect persons under a certain age (who are seen as being more vulnerable to this).

    --
    ...sometimes, in order to hurt someone very badly, you have to tell that person terrible lies. - PA
  102. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by computational+super · · Score: 1
    doesn't mean it is right or socially acceptable.

    And if you do something non-socially acceptable, you deserve to rot in PMITA prison for the rest of your life.

    --
    Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
  103. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Xaositecte · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How did you go from reading "Janitor" to equating that with the time you worked at a restaraunt, presumably as a waiter?

    Yeah, food service sucks. That's why you got a degree and a better job. All us IT guys are just making jokes, not personally attacking your history.

  104. History repeating itself again, I see. by Gaian-Orlanthii · · Score: 1

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_crucible/If you don't learn from the mistakes of the past, you risk repeating them. Although I think that Norman Mailer alone can't change millennia of basic human cognitive dissonance. If you're not a witch, you must be a communist. If you're not a communist, you must be gay, or a paedophile. You must be those things because the mob demands something to beat down so it can reinforce its model of 'normal' and 'right'.

  105. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Certainly explains your username, hmmmmmm.

  106. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I agree. But... whoosh?

  107. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But there is a huge difference between taking a picture of little Sally in the bathtub for the home photo album than there is posting that same picture on your open-to-everyone Facebook page.

    In what way? Apparently many people disagree with you as I've seen exactly such pictures on people's Facebook pages.

    Because people are idiots. I have had to deal with way too many people who either don't realize that ANYONE can see these photos ("privacy settings? what are those?") or people who were so interested in sharing with SPECIFIC people that they didn't consider the fact that the Internet shares with everyone (not just the people you are thinking about).

  108. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 1

    This question can not be answered without pinning down the definition of "child".

    In some legal jurisdictions an 18 year old person having sex with a 17 year old person is considered a pedophile while in others an 80 year old could have sex with a 14 year old without any legal problems whatsoever.

    There's a stronger case for asserting that a prepubescent individual can not give informed consent than there is for asserting that someone 15 years, 364 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes can not give informed consent.

  109. DNA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Planting DNA evidence is even easier, with better results. Keep this in mind when reading about convictions based solely on a couple stray strands of hair.

  110. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Groucho Marx and The Three Stooges used "micropenis boy"? Man, I guess I don't watch enough vaudeville.

  111. You make some good points by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Not only are the Romeo and Juliet laws too narrow or non-existent as your friend found out the hard way, the penalties go from "not a crime" to "felony sex offender" over the difference of a single day: If she's 15, it's a felony, if she's 16, she's legal. If you are 18 and she is 16 and you are 2 years apart less one day, it's legal, if you are 2 years apart exactly, it's a felony.

    America needs to have some common sense. People who date teenagers 3, 4, or 5 years apart from them or who trade pornographic pictures of themselves with their boy- or girlfriends who are age-peers are typically NOT the same guys who are going to molest children or grow up to have sex with teens more than 5 or 6 years their junior, ever. They are not the same guys who will look at kiddie porn or under-18 porn of people more than a few years younger than themselves once the normal-teen-curiosity and its-forbidden-I-want-to-see-it novelty wears off. Yes, the 19 year old dating a 16 year old should be subject to restraining orders and even misdemeanor charges if he's been warned before, and yes, the teen-sexters (all of them - the subject, photographer, sender, and receiver) should be warned and if it happens again with willing age-peers face misdemeanor charges, but they should not face punishment that will stay on their records for more than a few years nor should they face punishment that will keep them out of college or have career-blacklisting effects.

    Now

    *the 25 year old sleeping with a 15 year old who is not in a public marriage or marriage-like relationship (i.e. they would be married with the parents' blessing if the law allowed it)
    *the 18 year old having intercourse with an 8 year old whether or not physical force is used, or
    *anyone over about 13 or 14 violently raping anyone

    are who sex crime laws were primarily written for.

    They were arguably also written for people who exhibit personality traits that show that if unchecked, the person would likely do these things in the future. I have not looked at the studies (are there any good ones?) so I don't know if being a 14 year old fondling your 8 year old sister or using child pornography over an extended period of time is an indicator of the "harder" crimes listed above, but it's obvious many lawmakers and many in the general public believe it is. For better or for worse, what lawmakers believe and what they think the public believes translates into policy far more often than the results of good academic studies.

    Obcynicalstatement: Get tough on crime laws are almost always written and passed in part to ensure re-election.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  112. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by ZeRu · · Score: 1

    But age of consent isn't the same as adulthood, at least not in most countries. For example, in my country age of consent is 14. So an adult have the right to have consentual sex with 14-year old. However, pornography featuring someone who is 14 years is still illegal.

    --
    If you post as an AC, don't expect me to spend a mod point on you.
  113. Re:NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginabl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can't look at them if they aren't taken genius.

    So those people that 'can't help it' and 'just look', are very much dependent on those that actually molest children, and take photos of it.

    There is no distinction, you can't just look without perpetuating the other.

  114. a question for those in the UK by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Are defendants in other, similar-prison-sentence crimes anonymous before conviction?

    Anonymity of criminal defendants makes sense in the following cases:

    *Innocent people such as the person's family, neighbors, (former) employer, etc. would face irrational negative consequences.
    *If acquitted, whether due to a technicality, lack of evidence, or proven innocence, the defendant would suffer irrational negative consequences.

    To put in another way:
    Those who live in societies that actually presume "innocent until proven guilty" have a lower moral claim to need anonymity than people who live in societies that don't.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:a question for those in the UK by Grumbleduke · · Score: 1

      No.

      Apparently "defendants lost the right to anonymity in 1988" (source) but I don't have a Statutory or Case law reference for that. Nor does that explicitly state that it applies to all cases. I would imagine, however, that it does.

      Also, skimming through case law records (on Bailii), I can't see any anonymised cases after 1988.

      I could be wrong, however - I'm not a lawyer.

  115. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

    Columbo did it first.

  116. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

    These people were sharing them voluntarily and there was no one who could see them shouting about pedophilia and child porn.

  117. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by cp.tar · · Score: 1

    It is said for a reason: if you are innocent, go for a bench trial; if you are guilty as hell, go for the jury and try to get their sympathy.

    --
    Ignore this signature. By order.
  118. True Story by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was working at HP as a consultant. One of the machines in my cubicle was running the officially approved HP Linux distro, which was set up to cycle through all the available screen savers, one of which put up quotes from the fortune files, one of which was the Zippy the Pinhead fortune file which contained the quote "I want to kill everyone here with a cute colorful Hydrogen Bomb!" I never saw it on my machine, but months later, a security guard walking through at 3am sees this come up, immediately goes on point, and reports me as a terrorist. I'm called into a meeting, told "It was on YOUR machine, so it's obviously YOUR responsibility!" and suspended from work (with pay, which is stupid for a contractor). A week later, I'm called back in; due to my coworkers efforts, they have finally discovered that ALL the Linux machines were configured to do that. No apology offered, but I'm allowed to come back to work, and my project that I was on the critical path for is behind a week. Of course, I spent that week off applying for other positions, and a month later I got an offer for a better job closer to home, and said "bye-bye!" to HP.

    The point is, shit can show up on your computer completely by accident through no fault of your own. Telling people "It's on your computer, therefore it's your fault!" is a pretty naive reaction.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:True Story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Makes me think of the WebCollage screensaver and what trouble that one can accidentally cause.

  119. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by ElKry · · Score: 2, Informative

    You mods are wiped anyway, it just doesn't tell you.

  120. how do implanters get it if it is so toxic? by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Its pretty hard for the average joe to be trailess on the net these days. And dangerous to create your own.

  121. Really? THAT would solve the problem? by denzacar · · Score: 1

    If we treated child porn as a virus then the only people left who would have large collections of child porn would be the individuals who actually like child porn.

    Obviously, you have never been asked by a friend/colleague/distant relative/person you've just met in the supermarket/someone who knows someone you've went to elementary school with/a guy that just happens to speak the same language as you (sort of)/someone claiming to be an actual human being on an internet forum somewhere - to "fix their computer" or "clean the viruses from it".

    Just what kind of computer nerd ARE you?

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  122. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

    In some legal jurisdictions an 18 year old person having sex with a 17 year old person is considered a pedophile

    Such as? Most states I've looked at regarding such things have exceptions for cases like that to the statutory rape rules.

  123. Re:NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginabl by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    And modern knowledge of how people freeze to death is very much dependent on Nazis who actually froze people to death and wrote about it.

    Does that mean that you wouldn’t accept modern medical treatment for hypothermia? After all, according to your logic, by so doing you are perpetuating the Nazi’s crimes.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  124. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by jahudabudy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ok, that's just ridiculous. If I am legally allowed to have sex with a person, I should be legally allowed to view them having sex (I'm not really into blindfolds). I have never heard and can not imagine a justification for this legal distinction.

    --
    ...sometimes, in order to hurt someone very badly, you have to tell that person terrible lies. - PA
  125. No surprise by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 1

    Witchcraft, communism and drugs were the older tools government used to get rid of undesirables, now a bit out of fashion. This is just more of the same. As any Russian who survived the Stalinist era just how easily evidence can be manufactured.

    --
    Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
    1. Re:No surprise by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      As any Russian who survived the Stalinist era just how easily evidence can be manufactured.

      They didn't bother much with evidence back then, actually, because admission of guilt was considered solid evidence, and because torture was effectively legal.

  126. Disparity in Sentencing for Actual Crimes by linzeal · · Score: 5, Informative

    CP laws are pretty messed up with the mandatory sentencing in some states being greater than for the actual rape of an adult. Last month here we had two cases come up with police being involved in crimes, one was for CP, and he got 8 years, and one was for rape, and he got 5. I think something is definitely amiss.

  127. Madness by Aphoxema · · Score: 1

    I have a friend in prison because of the witchhunt that's out. He's by no means a saint but the last thing he would do is molest children... in fact, he was one of the witch hunters.

    He, like many people I'm sure, set up a fserve on IRC in CP rooms to send viruses to people. One thing he wrote would email the FBI from the computer of whoever downloaded it and say exactly that the email was generated by a virus that was downloaded from a CP sharing channel.

    The problem with these channels is some bots that crawl fserves for things will randomly send images to people to try to get their ratio up. So my friend ended up getting quite a bit of this and deleted it.

    Many months later the FBI woke him up with a gun to his face. They took the computer and anything else they saw as relevant. They told him not to go anywhere, but he did. Only problem is the dumb shit went back.

    Being that the filesystem was probably FAT32 since he was running 98, undelete would be trivial assuming nothing needed those tables again. Knowing how the law works when it comes to child porn, however, they probably wouldn't need anything other than that IP showing up in that channel on IRC.

    I'm sure if he exercised his right to allocute he could have explained the mess and maybe changed things around, but he listened to his lawyer and played the marionette. Now he's in prison and I think he's got like 8 years left and when he gets out he'll be a "sex offender", all because someone thought he looked at some pictures.

    It won't change, people are going to continue with this madness, this guilty until proven innocent that occurs with rape or child molestation. I'm afraid to be near children or to have any of my own lest someone dare cry witch on me.

    --
    "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
  128. Hasn't this been tried already? by KriticKill · · Score: 1

    I thought of doing this about five years ago, but ultimately decided the target just wasn't worth it. I just didn't hate the guy that much, but also: First off, one would have to acquire kiddie porn, which is first off disgusting, and also highly illegal. The second part involves not only covering the tracks you leave, but also laying a convincing trail of evidence suggesting that the target in fact did it himself. Doing that takes a lot of time and work, and just isn't something that any asshole can successfully do.

  129. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 1

    Such as?

    California
    North Dakota
    Virginia
    Wisconsin

  130. Sanity would benefit the general public by davidwr · · Score: 1

    because sanity would benefit the (non-child molesting) pedophiles

    Sanity would benefit us all in not spending taxpayer money prosecuting and locking up or officially monitoring people who aren't worth locking up.

    It would improve the economy by not taking away employment options from people who do not need to have their careers restricted.

    It would, well, I could go on but I'm sure everyone reading this can add their own reasons why sanity helps the general public.

    The insanity benefits those who are employed by the prison and probation and sex-offender-tracking industry.
    It benefits non-sex criminals who are more likely to get away with crimes or suffer less punishment as scarce taxpayer money is diverted to pay to prosecute, house, and track sex offenders.

    Remember that the next time a repeat burglar-offender breaks into your house and it turns out he was paroled early due to overcrowding and the sex offender who was deemed not a risk of reoffending and who was closer to finishing his sentence was kept behind bars for political reasons.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  131. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by shentino · · Score: 1

    Prosecutors hate smart jurors. This is why intellectuals are often booted during voir dire.

  132. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

    That's Microsoft Certified Solitaire Expert, right?

    Almost, but not quite.

    MCSE is actually Mine Sweeper Consultant / Solitaire Expert.

    --
    This space unintentionally left blank.
  133. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by 1s44c · · Score: 1

    It's really easy to forget that lots of people have a harder working life than us office drones.

    Thanks for the wake up call.

  134. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by clone53421 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Everywhere in the US, the minimum age to model or act in pornographic material is 18. Below that and it is considered child porn, and to make matters more ridiculous there’s no legal distinction between “child” porn where the girl is 17 and child porn where she’s 7.

    Only a dozen states set the age of consent at 18, however. Most of them have the age of consent set at 16, and in the rest it is 17 [list]. Additionally, many states have Romeo-and-Juliet-type laws so that if the two people were close in age they aren’t guilty of a crime, or might be guilty of a misdemeanor instead of a felony. However, all of the states in which you can legally sleep with your 16- or 17-year-old girlfriend will still charge you with possession of child pornography if you get caught with a nude picture of her (and possibly charge her with production of it, and – absurd as it sounds – teens have actually been charged with distributing child porn on the mere rationale that they could be hacked and the hacker might gain access to the photos!).

    It makes absolutely no rational sense and needs to be fixed, but politicians aren’t about to make child porn laws less strict. That would be political suicide when their enemies use that to claim that they are soft on pedophiles.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  135. Not new, but glad he's caught! by WheelDweller · · Score: 0

    There's a guy here in Indiana, a teacher, exposed for child porn on the computer in the teacher's lounge in 1994. No one ever asked the question why anyone would use porn in such a public place...and he's been jailed for a long time. I'm not sure he's out YET.

    Putting a person in jail isn't a joke, a trick or prank. It's a kind of misery that causes some to kill themselves inside. It also causes people who aren't flushed with cash to lose their homes, families, cars....anything with a loan payment...to go away or divorce you.

    I'm happy to see this bastard caught red-handed.

    --
    --- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
  136. That's what you get for owning a computer by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    We open ourselves up to a great deal of risk by owning and operating computers. It would probably be best if we quit using them. I'm thinking of going to a text-only terminal for my internets, because as far as I know you cannot be prosecuted for ASCII art.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  137. I wondered about this-- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A while back I saw a small blurb in the city paper about how the chair of the computational biology department was fired and arrested for having child porn on his work computer. Since I work closely with people in that department, I was surprised that I hadn't heard even a whisper about it. I didn't even realize he was gone. He just disappeared, and all I could think was that the case really didn't fit:

    -As a computer expert, he didn't encrypt the files?
    -As the department chair, he didn't realize that the university keeps logs of network use?
    -Above all else, he stored these files on his work computer, in his office, which has huge glass windows that anyone walking by in the hallway could easily look into? When, exactly, would he have the privacy to consume said material?

    It still doesn't make any sense at all, and no one batted an eye when he was purged from the department and fed to the dogs in the legal system. It's really scary that this could happen to anyone. All it takes is one disgruntled colleague to dump some files on your computer and wait for your victim's life to be destroyed.

  138. Re:NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginabl by Yuan-Lung · · Score: 1

    You can't look at them if they aren't taken genius.

    So those people that 'can't help it' and 'just look', are very much dependent on those that actually molest children, and take photos of it.

    There is no distinction, you can't just look without perpetuating the other.

    That is sound if all we are talking about are actual photos taken from molested subjects. However, when you start factoring animations, drawings, or literature, as in, written words, it starts to become beyond absurd.

    Writing about murders in crime dramas certainly doesn't land the writers in jail, nor does it convict the producers with actual murder, so why should writing/drawing about underage sex be any different?

  139. It's time for anonymity for sex-crime suspects! by BobSutan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is exactly why sex-crime suspects need to have their identities shielded until convicted. Even if exonerated tons of damage can and usually does get inflicted by public perception, of which the lingering effects can be extremely destructive.

    Glenn Sacks talked about this subject just this morning:

    http://glennsacks.com/blog/?p=4954

    --
    "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
  140. Idiotic laws and how to get around them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hmm.

    In the event that you get raided on "suspicion" of having CP on your PC, always confess to being a terrorist and concoct a plausible sounding cover story, because that almost always gets the "right" team on the case that will do a good job and find out that the files were planted by someone as a malicious act.

    May as well use the system against itself, eh?

  141. Surprise!? by HiThere · · Score: 1

    The question this should raise is "How often is this done without being detected?"

    The extant laws are designed to be abused. That may, or may not, have been the intention, but that's the design. If it wasn't the intention, that just proves what kind of idiots passed the laws, and signed them into law. If it was the intention, then you need to wonder why laws were passed designed to make it easy to fraudulently convict people.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  142. No no he's not dead, he's 2152! by davidwr · · Score: 1

    C: Look, matey, I know a DEAD parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

    O: No no he's not DEAD, he's, 2152! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  143. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    Tennessee.

    A few others would charge the 18-year-old with a misdemeanor instead of a felony.

    And all would consider the 18-year-old to be a pedophile if you follow that statement with “...and has a nude picture of the 17-year-old”.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  144. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by davidwr · · Score: 1

    What would you have said it it was rm.tar?

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  145. Re:NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginabl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    people who through no fault of their own are sexually attracted to children, the subset of those that look at pictures of children, and the subset of those that actually molest children

    You list those who molest as a subset of those who look at pictures. I don't know if this is substantiated. While there is clearly overlap, I think a conclusion that everyone who molests children first or also looks at pictures is unsupported.

  146. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by compro01 · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you just check the anonymous box, yeah, but not if you log out.

    --
    upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
  147. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    dude, I'm sorry you had to go through that.

  148. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by tophermeyer · · Score: 1

    Everywhere in the US, the minimum age to model or act in pornographic material is 18.

    I can't speak for all states, but Rhode Island allows girls as young as 16 to work as exotic dancers so long as they work less than 20 hours during a school week.

  149. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by hawguy · · Score: 1

    How did you go from reading "Janitor" to equating that with the time you worked at a restaraunt, presumably as a waiter?

    Yeah, food service sucks. That's why you got a degree and a better job. All us IT guys are just making jokes, not personally attacking your history.

    He was just pointing out that it's not true that IT folks deal with more shit. Neither literally nor figuratively. When the toilet overflows and seeps into the server room, IT isn't called in to mop it up. When someone pukes on their keyboard, IT's role is to walk down with a new keyboard after the janitors clean up the mess.

    Granted, the janitor isn't going to get called at 3am because Exchange is down, but I'd rather log on at 3am to clean out the porno-spam that filled up my disks than clean up the disgusting mess someone left on the bathroom floor. Besides, at least IT has control in building a reliable solution that won't go down, but Janitorial staff can't do anything to keep an 8 year old kid from puking all over the carpet.

  150. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the bigger question is, why did you have a four year old pen pal, and why were you joking about nude photos with a 4 year old? I'm not saying it's pornography, but i don't know any 4 year old that even understands the concept of joking about nudity let alone has a pen pal overseas...

  151. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    That is cookie-based, not IP-based. Just FYI...

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  152. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess that's why women don't want to fuck with me.

  153. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Curien · · Score: 1

    From just a day or two ago:
        http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/crime/Stupid-Crimes-1007644-100078474.html

    A more infamous incident:
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kay_Letourneau#Relationship_with_Vili_Fualaau

    Note that in the latter example, the couple have been married for the past five years. Sounds like you're the one with the "bullshit ... cop outs".

    --
    It's always a long day... 86400 doesn't fit into a short.
  154. How Easy is it really? Too Easy..... by jrouleau · · Score: 0

    The problem is blackmail of this nature is even easier for any half baked idiot who knows a thing or two about computers. The ability to disprove is also not hat hard for a computer geek as well. However, you are dealing with the general public who knows very little to nothing about computers so anything like this gives them ample reason to doubt that a frame up or black mail could be taking place. Its there on his PC - therefore he must have done it. Oh well when the majority of people catch up in basic understanding of how computers functions maybe justice will one day be available and people will understand just because something is "on yor pc" doesnt necessarily mean that the person who owns it did it. Just my 2 cents that will never be read - lol

  155. Calgary Police does this a lot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Calgary Police Service does often. They also protect those who are a part of Calgary Police Service, until the media or another Police Service investigates or reports on it.

    http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Calgary+police+officer+pleads+guilty+child+porn+charges/3038539/story.html

    http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20090612/calgary_police_090612/

    http://www2.canada.com/story.html?id=1859477

    Most of the crime in Calgary is performed by the Calgary Police Service. Assaults, Rape, Robbery, Child Porn, Selling of illegal Firearms, are just small list of crimes which they have been investigated for over the past five years.

    The CPS used to be a good Police Service in Canada, however over the past five or more years, the service has turned into a Street Gang hired to protect those who are making money from CPS actions.

    We need world wide exposure on the issues in Calgary caused by the Calgary Police service. Those who speak up locally are thrown in to jail, beaten, lose their jobs, bank accounts frozen and have their family threaten.

    1. Re:Calgary Police does this a lot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?text=calgary+police+herald&language=en&searchTitle=Alberta&path=/en/ab/abqb/doc/2010/2010abqb82/2010abqb82.html

      Calgary Police protect themselves

  156. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by drsmithy · · Score: 1

    Those questions can be answered once the pedo apologists can provide a legitimate case of a child completely on their own seeking out to have a sexual relationship with an adult (cases of a 14 year old having sex with say a 16 or 17 year old don't count).

    How about an 18, 19 or 20 year old ? Not exactly an uncommon scenario, especially if the younger party lies about their age.

  157. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by nine-times · · Score: 1

    Nowadays, that kind of letter could land me in prison, given a hysterical enough judge.

    Yeah, there have even been cases recently where teenage girls had to register as sex offenders for possessing/distributing nude photos of themselves. Yeesh.

    But the crazy thing about pictures of nude children-- if you're not a pedophile, it doesn't necessarily occur to you that there's anything sexual about the photos.

  158. Where's the HOWTO? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So where is the Kiddie-Porn-Subterfuge HOWTO located? Is there a Wiki?

  159. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    That’s hard to believe. Citation?

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  160. Re:NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginabl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Similarly, people enjoy watching violent movies. This is clearly dependent on real violence in the world.

    There is no distinction. You can't just look at an action thriller without perpetuating war and violence.

  161. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Grishnakh · · Score: 0, Redundant

    It's true. Someone who's 15 is simply too young to make such a decision. Even at 17, they're simply not mature enough. Even at 17 years and 364 days old, a person is too young and naive to have the capacity to consent to sex. However, one day later, the day they turn 18, they are magically mature enough to make that decision. It's amazing how, with the passing of a single second, someone's brain instantly changes from being naive and impressionable to being mature and capable of adult decisions, but that's just the way it is, and we must accept it.

  162. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by tophermeyer · · Score: 1

    But the point is valid. Because Juries are pulled from the public we need a smarter public. Or at least a literate public.

  163. Unless you are a teenager perhaps? by davidwr · · Score: 1

    But the crazy thing about pictures of nude children-- if you're not a pedophile, it doesn't necessarily occur to you that there's anything sexual about the photos.

    If you are 15 and you are trading self-xxx-pics with your 15 year old boyfriend, I don't think there is any doubt that you both consider the photos sexual, in the same way two adults trading similar self-pics would.

    Remember, for the purposes of child pornography in the United States, 17 = 7 = 0.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  164. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

    He didn't jump from janitors to waiters.
    The parent of the post he replied to said "Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you don't f* with the people who handle your food!" and the post he replied to said "IT folks deal with a LOT more shit." His post refuted that idea since he's worked in a restaurant and IT and can attest to the fact that IT folks deal with a lot less shit than waiters do.

  165. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is why you should read Raw and Uncut. There were definitely about 3 posts in between totally changing topics over to janitors.

  166. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Drantin · · Score: 1

    Or disproves it. They're allowed to do that too...

    --
    Actio personalis moritur cum persona. (Dead men don't sue)
  167. the wheels of justice by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

    run surprisingly quickly in old blighty. If it happened in the US the poor fucker would have been in and out of court for a couple of years.

    --
    http://www.acetonestudio.com
  168. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Did YOU miss the part where the moron blabbed about it at a BBQ? I hate to say it, but the poor bastard he set up got lucky. The "point n' click" thing is right on the money, especially with smaller PDs. I have had to deal with the police, both local and state, several times over the years at my shop, and while there are a few of them that really know their foo, sadly many are "clicky clicky next next next" types I wouldn't trust to install WinXP without fucking it up.

    Sadly this is what happens when you have a witchhunt. CP has become the new "red scare" and you are guilty until proven innocent. Sorry I can't find the link but I remember reading last year about a guy losing his job, house, and spending several months looking at 50+ years, and the whole time it turned out the IT dept had disabled the AV and left the firewall off the laptop so it has a hole big enough to drive a semi through. IIRC the ONLY thing that saved the guy was some forensic guy HE HIRED showed that the files were being downloaded by batch files slamming the network and several IP addresses were accessing this machine from outside the network.

    So I'm afraid we'll be seeing this a whole lot more, only we won't know about it. It will be "dirty perv caught with cp, says he's innocent" because someone who ISN'T a total moron will decide to get rid of them by pointing and saying WITCH! and if they don't have a REAL forensic team they'll go up.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  169. Not necessarilly true. by westlake · · Score: 1

    In most states, you'll be a registered sex offender for taking a leak in public

    Slashdot loves the anecdote.

    Facts tend to be more elusive.

    I thought it would be a useful reality check to call up the sex registry of my home county.

    It was not an easy read.

    You do not make the list by pissing on the sidewalk.

    You make the list after being convicted for the rape and abuse of young girls and teens - girls three years old, five year-old, nine years-old.

    You make it by being good with your fists.

    When pornography is a factor, it is often because you have been taking pictures of your victims.

     

  170. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by tophermeyer · · Score: 1

    I originally learned this from an acquaintance that has worked in RI in the Industry. If you want something more concrete than that, Google it.

  171. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Rhaban · · Score: 1

    I am even well aware of the risk that some paedophile, somewhere, wanks looking at my picture. And I cannot see any evil in it. In fact, if that helped that person defuse their urges, thus making them less prone to actually molest a child, good for them. And for the children left unmolested.

    Without going so far as to say that such a person having a picture to wank to might be enough to make him not prone to molest a child (a real paedophile would not have enough with a picture, and the step from child porn wanker to raper is not small), but I think that if he can find such pictures on the web and it's enough for him,at least he won't inject money into the actual child porn industry.

  172. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Problem: Kids cannot concent.

    There are situations where kids have to be naked. (bathing, changing) And young kids are very not ashamed of their bodies and will run around naked if you turn around long enough for them to wiggle out of their clothes. Children being kids and snapping a picture of ordinary kid stuff is okay.

    But, setting something up where a child *thinks* its okay, where something adult is going on is wrong (stuff that is unquestionably illegal). It doesn't matter, end of story.

    Children when they get older look back on events and the narrative changes. Something wrong becomes 'wrong' and the emotions attached to the memory change. So, its a delayed reaction.

  173. "Tell the Christians that" by MikeRT · · Score: 1

    I am one. So are about half of the people I associate with, most of whom believe similar along doctrinal lines.

    Thanks for playing...

  174. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by phoenix321 · · Score: 1

    Child porn if the girl is 17, and allowed porn if she is 18.

    Nice.

    On her birthday, it's acceptable and legal, one day before, it is a major, pound-me-in-the-ass prison felony.

    Yeah. Girls just magically turn into women on their birthday at midnight.

  175. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LOL, born under a rock? How about yesterday? You do know that blanket statements are impossible to stand by, right?

  176. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by AdamWeeden · · Score: 1
    --
    I was quoted out of context in my autobiography...
  177. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    The age of consent in RI is 16, and as long as nobody snaps a picture there isn’t any child porn per se. Although most people would consider strip-clubs to be “pornographic”, a live woman stripping is not pornography in the legal sense. Actually I’m surprised that situation hasn’t arisen in more states.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  178. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by RabbitWho · · Score: 1

    WTF!? Voluntary participant? How the hell can you be a voluntary participant under the age of consent? Like if they traded with you for a really awesome pokemon card?

    A huge percentage of the kids in child porn are kidnapped and eventually murdered or sold as slaves.

  179. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by cp.tar · · Score: 1

    I think the bigger question is, why did you have a four year old pen pal, and why were you joking about nude photos with a 4 year old? I'm not saying it's pornography, but i don't know any 4 year old that even understands the concept of joking about nudity let alone has a pen pal overseas...

    Overseas? No no, we were on the same continent. It’s only overseas to you.

    --
    Ignore this signature. By order.
  180. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    +5 insightful?

    A four year old joking about, and then exchanging nude photos with a 4 year old girl.

    A 40 year old joking about, and then exchanging nude photos with a 4 year old girl.

    Did anybody even think to ask which of these was the case before assigning mod points?

    And how is the world a worse place if 4 year olds can't send nude photos through the mail, anyway? By that theory espoused above (if that helped that person defuse their urges, thus making them less prone to actually molest a child, good for them), the plethora of violence on TV should stop real life violence. It doesn't.

     

  181. meh. by cablepuller · · Score: 1

    "Do not play computer games. That's a complete waste of time. Make computer games: then the guys around you are occupied, and you can work quietly." - Volker Claus http://www.fmi.uni-stuttgart.de/fk/menschen/claus/

  182. The first rule of committing a crime is... by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 1

    ... don't talk about committing the crime.

    --
    That is all.
  183. To place the files on his system ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't use the OS that he runs daily to place the incriminating files on his system. If he uses Windows, use a tiny, bootable Linux to mount the NTFS drive and copy the files over to a place buried under his personal account. Set the create time to a few days prior, but be certain he was in the office. Don't name the files in a way that would raise any suspicions. "Sister's Graduation.jpg" works.

    A few days or months later, when he is away from his desk, but still at work, access those files using the normal Windows way, then close them. Most people never look for files in places they don't know about on their systems. While you are at it, drop a 500MB truecrypt encrypted file with a 40+ character, completely random, passphrase on the system. It doesn't matter than he doesn't know the passphrase. That isn't the point. Heck, you don't need to know it either.

    Anonymously ask a question about the pornography policy on company systems of your IT security team from a different company building and using a different phone than you normally would - perhaps in a conference room location during lunch. If your company uses VoIP, don't do this, since many will record 7 days worth of calls automatically. That should be enough to cause them to search all systems for image files.

    Never let the images touch any of your home or work systems except under virtual machines on encrypted file systems. Be certain to delete and safely wipe the encrypted file systems later.

    I don't know where you'd find incriminating images, you are on your own for that, but definitely don't use your own ISP or account to find them. Even using TOR may not be enough since your system can be fingerprinted. Find a open wifi in a coffee shop and sit in a corner to do your search. Spoof your MAC address, use TOR, and use a freshly loaded VM with a generic OS and browser setup just like billions of other people use. Validate that your browser isn't anything special on the EFF browser fingerprint page.

    Wow, doing this is harder than I would have thought. It seems to me that you could get him/her fired for sexual harassment much easier.

  184. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stay put, special agents will be at your residence promptly to help you sort out this mess.

  185. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by ultranova · · Score: 1

    Those questions can be answered once the pedo apologists can provide a legitimate case of a child completely on their own seeking out to have a sexual relationship with an adult (cases of a 14 year old having sex with say a 16 or 17 year old don't count).

    As long as people insist on charging said 16 or 17 year olds with pedophilia, they count.

    Also, if a 14 year old isn't harmed by sex with a 17 year old, I find it hard to believe she would be devastated by an 18+ year old either.

    The problem is that they can never provide such an example and thus always make up these bullshit "No true scotsman" cop outs.

    Since any case that comes out inevitably draws hysterical reactions, it's impossible to prove that any perceived harm was caused by sex rather than said reactions.

    It should also be noticed that many countries have age of consent far lower than the USA, yet this doesn't seem to result in traumatized populations; for example, Finland has 16 and Japan has 13 - okay, bad example ;).

    Basically, "pedophilia" has been extended from fucking kids to fucking teenagers, which is ridiculous and harms said teenagers since they get labeled sex offenders for fucking each other. Grow up, America, and get over this twisted obsession with sexuality you have. Even catholics are less neurotic about it than you.

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  186. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Pluvius · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There are actually a whole load of reasons for the distinction.

    1. When an underaged person consents to non-televised sex with someone, that person usually does it because he or she enjoys the act. When an underaged person does porn, there are usually one of two reasons for it: either to make money or because that person wants to make his or her partner happy, but with the expressed condition that the porn be kept private. Either way, creating and distributing such porn is considered more degrading to the person than simply having sex with that person.

    2. In a number of jurisdictions, it's not legal for everyone to have sex with an underaged person. In some places, for example, you're only allowed to have sex with a 16-year-old if you're under 19. But pornography can be viewed by anyone once it's out in the open, which makes your "if it's legal to do one then it should be legal to do the other" argument moot.

    3. Pornography is an international concern due to the ease of distribution, so most countries have the same laws about child pornography, much like how most countries have accepted the Berne Convention. Age of consent is always considered an internal concern, on the other hand. Therefore, there are many different sets of laws concerning sexual consent but only one concerning consent to taking part in pornography. It should come as no surprise that these don't always agree, and in fact they do agree in some cases.

    That said, some prosecutors go too far and completely ignore the spirit of the laws. There have been cases where a young man has been charged for having porn of his underaged girlfriend even though he's never shown it to anyone. Then they charge the girl for making and distributing child porn. Of herself. That sort of thing is completely absurd, but has nothing to do with the general validity of the laws.

    Rob

  187. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by cp.tar · · Score: 1

    OK, I see you are not the Anonymous Coward with the family brain cell today.

    We were both about 16 at the time. She sent me her old nude photo, taken when she was about four.

    I’d thought that much was clear and one of the earlier posters seemed rather tongue-in-cheek about it all, but please try using your brain before lashing out.
    See, people? Like that xkcd about IQ dropping as distance to cat decreases: whenever you mention children, it seems knee-jerk reactions also abound.

    --
    Ignore this signature. By order.
  188. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by soupforare · · Score: 1

    Teen strippers, 'gansett, coffee milk... man, I gotta move to RI.

    --
    --- Do you believe in the day?
  189. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by xaositects · · Score: 1

    uh.. i do believe the girl wasn't 4 at the time she sent the picture... she just sent a picture of herself *taken when she was four years old*

    well, least i thought that was obvious

  190. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by stephanruby · · Score: 1

    Nowadays, that kind of letter could land me in prison, given a hysterical enough judge.

    You've waited this long, you can wait a little more. Even given a smart enough little genius, by most standards 14 is still way too young.

  191. Re:NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginabl by ultranova · · Score: 1

    Writing about murders in crime dramas certainly doesn't land the writers in jail, nor does it convict the producers with actual murder, so why should writing/drawing about underage sex be any different?

    Because it's writing/drawing about sex, and America was found by witch-hunting puritans and is still plagued by Born-Again Christian assholes. It's very difficult to be rational when you confuse your personal likes and dislikes with those of God. Just ask Bin Laden.

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  192. Fair justice system by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First of all: those that really download and spread child porn could go to Sing Sing for all I care. They deserve anything they can get (and then some).

    *However*, the potential for fraud leading to miscarriage of justice is just very, very great, as this case shows. Most people do not realize how easy it is to frame someone for this. Therefore, a fair justice system must proceed with uttermost caution in cases like these, which also means using highly competent computer forensics people that can establish beyond reasonable doubt that fraud did not occur.

  193. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by stephanruby · · Score: 1

    Thankfully, Weiner didn't cover his tracks quite well enough to avoid being found out

    Also that summary should really have read: "Thankfully, Weiner was a complete moron and just slightly more incompetent than the UK police who arrested and continuously harassed the wrong guy for seven months, since Weiner bragged about his devious plan to others before executing it, and thought that calling the police hotline from his own cell phone with the caller id blocked would really keep him anonymous."

    Which begs the question, do only idiots and incompetents frame others? And what happens if the person doing the framing is smart enough, or semi-paranoid enough, not to use his own phone to call the cops? What will the UK police ever do should the super villains ever reach such a high level of sophistication and big picture cunningness?

  194. Mental age by jd · · Score: 1

    That is why courts sometimes (but not always) considers the mental age of the person as well as the physical age. It might be better if there were rules mandating that mental age always be considered in all legal matters (regardless of what the legal matter is) and it might be better if psychologists and neurologists could produce a sufficiently clear description of how to identify said mental age so that a judge or jury could actually evaluate any such claim. Then there's the question of whether a person's emotional age is necessarily the same as their mental age and how significant that would be if it is different.

    In short, the situation is certainly a mess and the science is nowhere near evolved enough to offer any useful solution. I don't see the legal situation even being fixable until the science is fixed, simply because there has to be a foundation built on something and you've got to have some measure of confidence in that something - or at least more confidence than in what exists at the moment.

    Politically, there's never going to be any interest in investing in the research needed. Way too great of a risk of a backlash of being "soft on crime", as there's bound to be more adults before the courts with a retarded mental age than there are children before the courts with an advanced mental age. Psychologists will never take the risk of doing the research on their own, as politics drives the professional boards. No businessman is likely to take a gamble on investing in something that will have no payback for them and puts them at serious risk of scandal. And nobody else has the resources or the qualifications. Which means you won't see a change until society itself wants to change. Historically, that's usually a hundred or so years after the problem is first noted, so 2110 is really the earliest any reform is likely to start.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  195. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Baseclass · · Score: 1

    Actually I miss working in a restaurant. Bartending was a lot less stressful than my current situation. Dealing with management who feel they're better equipped to realign your priorities because some whiny end user doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. Not to mention all of the forms, testing, approvals, and meetings I have to attend for something as simple as adding a missing semi-colon to a misbehaving program.

    Now don't get me wrong, I make more money, have access to health/dental/vision/life insurance, pension, stock, and a 401k. I get paid when I'm sick and have several weeks of paid vacation.
    I'm not about to trade all of that in, but when it really comes down to which job was more fun and less stressful, bartending wins hands down.
    (They never made me login and bartend remotely after my shift was done)

    I've become a slave to the almighty dollar just like the rest you.

    --
    ^^vv<><>BA
  196. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by ultranova · · Score: 1

    Says the person who can barely write sentences more intelligible than a 3 year old.

    And even he considers jury members dumb :(.

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  197. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by dangitman · · Score: 1

    Don't hire the ones that work for Slashdot.

    Slashdot has editors??

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  198. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by ZeRu · · Score: 1

    Ok, that's just ridiculous. If I am legally allowed to have sex with a person, I should be legally allowed to view them having sex (I'm not really into blindfolds). I have never heard and can not imagine a justification for this legal distinction.

    Sure, that sounds somewhat hypocritical but there's also some sense into it. You can say that pornography with minors would be sexual exploatation of them, which isn't the case when they have sex with anothor person merely for pleasure and without being recorded.

    Also, people who make porn movies are usually paid for it, and minors aren't allowed to work. So that obviously includes doing porn.

    I could probably come up with a couple more both pro's and con's if I think about it while...

    --
    If you post as an AC, don't expect me to spend a mod point on you.
  199. BOFH anyone? by mcneely.mike · · Score: 1

    Sounds like a classic BOFH maneuver.

    --
    soylentnews.org Go there to enjoy the people!
  200. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by cp.tar · · Score: 1

    Nowadays, that kind of letter could land me in prison, given a hysterical enough judge.

    You've waited this long, you can wait a little more. Even given a smart enough little genius, by most standards 14 is still way too young.

    I don’t know how exactly you got to 14, but incidentally, that’s the age of consent where I live.

    --
    Ignore this signature. By order.
  201. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by IgnoramusMaximus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Except this has nothing whatsoever to do with "protecting" children but with fucked up Christo-Islamist (that is why they hate each other so much - too alike for comfort) religious bigotry where children are seen as "innocent" victims ready to be corrupted by the evils of "sin", sex being chief amongst them. If they had their way, the religious retards (and all those politicos and "law enforcement" opportunists who see power and money in it) would have the legal age of consent at 50, legal age for alcohol consumption at 60 but would gladly see the legal age to enlist in the armed forces lowered to 10, for fighting religious wars in foreign lands for fun and profit is a sure way to heaven...

    That is the insane mentality that is driving the draconian and inflexible laws (in the US the legal age for having sex with a girl is already higher than that for tossing grenades into houses and then perusing the naked dismembered bodies of the said foreign girls).

    This insane mentality can be further exposed by looking at what happens when children themselves violate the laws meant to ostensibly "protect" them: they are punished, in most draconian ways, for life. That is because instead of "protection" the real, thinly veiled, point of these laws is, and always was, fighting "sin".

  202. Also, most molestors are NOT pedophiles by Baldur_of_Asgard · · Score: 1

    Just one other little point that is usually overlooked: Most child abusers, sexual or otherwise, are NOT pedophiles. That is, they are NOT primarily attracted to children. They have other motives for their crime, or often are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.

    At least, that's what the data from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies shows.

  203. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by dbIII · · Score: 1

    The generally accepted theory being that a 15 year old is going to be so naive and manipulable by a person of much greater experience that there can not be true consent. Is this always true? No.

    However typically it is true. Where it isn't we have a Judge that can reduce a sentence.
    Laws are supposed to be about protecting society and it's not a very nice society if any 50 year old can take advantage of a 12 year old raised on stories of waiting for a prince.

  204. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by dave87656 · · Score: 1

    What I find interesting is that even having cartoons of child porn is illegal. Not sure I understand why that is.

  205. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by h4rm0ny · · Score: 1


    The word pedophillia has been broadened by various interested parties. It means pre-pubescent children. It's wrong. Talking about "voluntary" is not appropriate for a kid of 9 or 10 when being led on by an adult. In any case, it's very fucking horrible.

    Talking about sex with someone who is merely legally underage, is not necessarily pedophillia. A 17 year old is much more capable of making their own decisions generally without being overly-influenced, and is also much more ready for sex. People should be careful to not confuse pedophillia with legal definitions.

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
  206. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If i understood it correctly, the photo was from when she was 4. Basic education in school begins at 6 in most of Europe so 4 years old wouldn't be able to write.

  207. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by h4rm0ny · · Score: 1


    They're not considered a pedophile. They're considered to have committed statutory rape. Don't fall into the trap of conflating the two. Pedophillia is pre-pubescent children only. Calling someone a pedophile because they had sex with a 17 year old diminishes the seriousness of pedophillia.

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
  208. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because cartoon children deserve as much protection as real children.

  209. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Cederic · · Score: 1

    erm. At 14 I was soooo smitten by a 35yo.

    Never was going to get anywhere, she was married with a son the same age as me.

    However, she knew I fancied her. She flirted (gently) with me. Had she been single and interested, I'm fairly confident it wouldn't have harmed me remotely to have had a relationship with her.

    Trust me, 14yo often know what they're up to, and are generally physically more than sufficiently developed. Which is why I don't date girls that look under about 20, because it's just too hard to tell..

    (Who am I kidding. My last two gf were both over 40)

  210. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by EdgeCreeper · · Score: 1

    I refer you to an interesting book.. I haven't read it, but the reviews suggest that the book claims that it is the reaction of others towards the scenario that causes the harm.

    From a review written by a psychotherapist

    Sexual experiences of children, either with peers or in some instances with adults, tend to be harmful to the child more because of the hysterical displays of adult care givers on discovery of the event than from the event itself.

  211. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While deployed I worked for an O-6 that treated a lot of his security team like shit. The idea was this....

    1. install hardware key logger at night
    2. retrieve password at a later date
    3. log in and schedule the e-mailing of racist\porn filled e-mail to certain individuals that would particularly take offense

    Sit back and watch a career be destroyed by an angry soldier. Extra points if done from a SIPRNET machine ;)

    We literally guarded him while he slept. Thank you Tyler.

  212. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

    That is a modern interpretation of a child's ability to make decisions about sex. Originally the statutory rape law in the UK was brought in to prevent parents forcing their daughters into prostitution, the theory being that by age 16 they would be mature and independent enough to resist.

    When the laws were first made they usually set the age limit at 11 or 12. The minimum age for marriage used to be 12 here too, which of course implies having sex with the bride at that age and probably motherhood.

    IANAP (psychologist!) so I don't know how that would affect a 12 year old but it seems obvious that different people would react differently. Maybe you could argue that 90% of people would be okay by age 16 but being older and wiser now I'm sure I would not have been a very good father at that age, or even clued up enough to use contraception properly. Sex education in the UK is not very good.

    In then end I think it's the kind of problem that we need to solve at a societal level rather than legally.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  213. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 1

    They get punished the same way. Under US law every type of "sex offender" gets put on the same list.

  214. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by memnock · · Score: 1

    and it gets easier and easier with stuff like this. sure you can use it for a practical joke, but i see more potential harm than fun with this.

  215. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by TDoerner · · Score: 1

    Here in Indiana the age of consent is 16 and I have a friend whose boyfriend posted nude pictures of her back when they were both 16 onto his MySpace profile. Oddly enough the police investigated and said they couldn't do anything since she had consented to the taking of these pictures (albeit with the understanding that they would remain private) and that since Indiana law sets the AOC at 16 there was no wrongdoing. If I remember correctly they told her that this wasn't a violation of state law. (It was unclear but I'm pretty sure the game would have changed if he'd have made a single penny off of them) IANAL but I'm pretty sure he still violated some federal law but they never ended up pressing charges.

  216. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Transaction7 · · Score: 1

    This poster is either a child molester, a willing aider, abettor and encourager and supporter of the making of child porn, or an ignoramus and an idiot. The Constitutional presumption would be that he is the latter. The post is also wildly off topic as the issue was how easy or hard it might be for someone to frame someone for possession of computerized child porn. It is impossible to make child porn without, among other things, a very real child labor law violation. Those who "only" buy and sell it are, among other things, just like people who knowingly buy and sell stolen tangible property, or maybe at least pirated IT. The poster's argument that distributing child porn on line is a victimless crime, and that the harm to the child victims really arises out of the conduct of their parents and the authorities, are palpably false and deceptive. Either the poster is a child abuser or he is willfully ignorant, but that statement of his and others’ is made either with knowledge of its falsity or with utter and reckless disregard thereof, so that, either way, he is a liar. How many children used in child pornography does he know? How many of them have also been subjected to indecency by contact, and how many aggravated sexual assault, as children? After his conviction and sentence for sexually assaulting and murdering several young women, and having no further motive to lie, Ted Bundy noted that pornography is where he started on this course. The same fact has been proven in the investigation of many, many other violent sex crimes against children and adults, including the very common finding of child pornography on their computers searched under warrants. In my law practice, and certain other privileged and confidential relationships, I very unexpectedly found myself representing and otherwise dealing with a large number of survivors of childhood sexual abuse. I know survivors of physical child sexual abuse who were not used in child pornography, but none of the smaller number I know or know about who were used in child pornography were not only taken improper advantage of in the context of child labor law, but also physically molested by those involved. A lot of child porn could not be made without committing felony sexual offenses. After unexpectedly finding myself deeply involved in such matters professionally, I have taken courses on child sexual abuse from nationally recognized experts who have, for example, explained the symptoms, which I have seen, of a child having been sexually abused [whether in the course of making child porn or by a socially, economically and politically prominent parent] before they were old enough to talk, much less understand the nature of these crimes. Why would anyone but a fellow pervert try to minimize the seriousness of the problems of child pornography, or to defend consumers of this evil and harmful product?

  217. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    You mean... since they were both 16... local authorities decided not to get the feds involved... and ruin his life forever?

    +1 outbreakofcommonsense

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  218. sexting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I liked the Penn & Teller Bullshit episode on Teen Sex, it covered a lot of whats being discussed here, those two comedians know how to really shed light on the situation. Teenagers under 15 are getting put on sex offender lists for "sexting", now that is beyond crazy.

  219. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by commodore64_love · · Score: 0, Troll

    Oh I don't know.....

    A few years ago my boss wanted to get rid of me (two departments merged and she had too many people), but she couldn't do it because of a signed 6-month contract, and only 1 month had passed. So instead she made-up a bunch of lies (you were watching porn) (no I was not), and other nonsense like saying I was eating too much food at lunchtime. She then used these false claims to file for breach of contract and terminated me.

    I would LOVE to sneak into her office, offload some porn from a USB, and then report it. She deserves to get fired for how she treated me.

    Another guy I'd like to get revenge upon is the Motel 6 Manager who kicked me out, because he didn't want to give me the 10% sale price the central Atlanta office had applied to my reservation. He too made-up a bunch of lies about how I was yelling at maids (false) and having sex with one of his clerks (hardly-she was not only fat but also ugly).

    I'd like to fill his work computer with some porn too.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  220. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by havokca · · Score: 1

    I LOVE the fact that this comment was rated (Score:5, Insightful).

  221. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by havokca · · Score: 1

    Wow... I hope you've never done something socially unacceptable... like tailgate... or speed... or run the odd red light (accidentally or not)... or been drunk in public or one of the million other socially unacceptable things that most people do from time to time.

    Child porn is flat out wrong. But the completely and utterly arbitrary line in the sand delineating when a child ceases to be a child and when they become a young adult capable of bearing responsibility for many/all of their actions is set way too high in most places.

    I've seen 15 year old girls get fake ID's so they could go to a bar and pick up guys. Are you seriously trying to tell me that the guy, who brings them home (believing they're of legal age) and has sex with them is guilty of taking advantage of "an innocent minor"?

  222. Re:jurys most of the time are to dumb to think of by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

    Now you only need to make sure the jury understands it, and is willing to actually abide by it. Especially in the face of OMG THINK OF THE CHILDREN. Good luck with that.

  223. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by havokca · · Score: 1

    annnnd *whoosh*

    My sarcasm-meter was malfunctioning... just ignore the havokca in the corner ...

  224. Ignorance aint always bliss by freaker_TuC · · Score: 1

    Apparantly everyone, including the security guard, seems to be blind and ignorant, not knowing that quote(s) shows up on other machines too...

    --
    --- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
  225. Don't murder or bear false witness by Buddy+the+WIld+Geek · · Score: 1

    It's always been as easy as pie to plausibly slander or libel someone, just as it's always been relatively easy to murder someone. An intelligently done murder ought to be as easy to do as an intelligently done character assassination. I don't know...how far do we have to go before people will accept restraints without a "sez who?" response. (The short answer to "sez who?" is first one's own guilty conscience and second is God. Not necessarily in that order.)

  226. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And what exactly does this copypasta have to do with the post you were responding to?

  227. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, I'm a day late, but at least I read the subject of this thread. Evidently many did not.

  228. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

    WTF!? Voluntary participant? How the hell can you be a voluntary participant under the age of consent?

    Err, by consenting?
    Oh, sorry, are you one of those people that think that because the mores and legal opinions of your society say one thing, then every other society in the world, and the millions of people who have lived in the past under different rules in what is ostensibly "your" society, are of necessity wrong. Most western societies had an "age of consent" (if they had one at all) in the early to mid-teens until around a century ago.

    A huge percentage of the kids in child porn are kidnapped and eventually murdered or sold as slaves.

    Very unlikely. Most of them are being fucked etc where most children have always been fucked : in their own family homes, at the hands of their close relatives, and with or without the active co-operation of their parents.
    Oh, sorry, is that a little uncomfortable for you? Sorry, I'll get you some coarse sandpaper for your piles to make you more comfortable.
    Check out the statistics - the most dangerous people for any child are now and always have been it's parents. It's a little thing called opportunity, y'know.

    (This isn't denying that there is trafficking of children, kidnapping, etc ; just that the numbers are against your assertion.)

    --
    Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  229. This was not the first case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A person from Montreal who was in charge of summer camps for kids, though that person never visited the camps while kids were there, as administration of the country camp was done in Montreal, found his computer very very sluggish. Person brought the laptop to the repair store and the store found the kiddy-porn, notified police, and the person was charged. Not yet resolved as Montreal police trying to determine who loaded it to the computer.

  230. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by couchslug · · Score: 1

    "That is the insane mentality that is driving the draconian and inflexible laws (in the US the legal age for having sex with a girl is already higher than that for tossing grenades into houses and then perusing the naked dismembered bodies of the said foreign girls). "

    Nice try but not generally so. Some few enlistees join at 17 with parent/guardian consent, but age of sexual consent varies by state.

    http://www.ageofconsent.us/

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  231. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Schadrach · · Score: 1

    Whoa, now. Presuming you were referring to me (being the person you directly replied to and all), I only proposed that those were interesting questions.

    To what extent and in what ways is a child harmed by "pedophilia" (in quotes so as to include pubescent minors) in which they are honestly a voluntary participant?

    ^^ I would expect the frequency of "voluntary participants" to become more and more rare as you go younger and younger, but since we're talking "pedophilia" and not restricting ourselves to prepubescents here, I'd hazard that there's a lot of *comparatively* harmless "pedophilia" involving those who are in their teens that isn't reported because some people actually can be discrete when it's necessary.

    How much of that harm is due to either reaction of others towards the scenario or treatment for it?

    ^^ This was a question that had never occurred to me before high school (late ninties), and the realization of exactly how many girls go after guys much older than themselves. One of them got busted with their boyfriend. She was seemingly perfectly normal and well adjusted aside from having a boyfriend a decade older than her right up until they were caught and he was prosecuted. After that she was a mess for a long time and got me thinking -- was it her "horrible victimization" at the hands of a "dangerous sexual predator" that caused her problems, or the reaction to the discovery of such?

  232. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    good thing this is marked insightful. had it been marked funny, i would not have taken it seriously and would have hired CmdrTaco.

  233. The harm is meta by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Sometimes the harm from letting someone do something that is typically harmful is at a meta-level.

    It can come in the form of allowing them to think "since it's okay for me, it's okay in general."

    This is the reason we as a society prosecute traffic tickets and drunk drivers even if the only other vehicle on the road was the police car that ambushed them.

    If a 17 year old sends an xxx self-pic to her boyfriend and suffers no consequences when she is caught, not even a warning, she may not realize that in many if not most cases in America, 17-year-olds who pose for porn do so either involuntarily ("white slavery"/captive prostitution), out of economic desperation ("Mom kicked me out, I gotta eat, my friend told me about an adult film producer who gives you a fake id, I think I'll try that rather than going to the homeless shelter"), or from being manipulated by a "boyfriend" who is more interested in her body and the money it can make him than her.

    The problem with current sex laws is that they are designed to punish really bad people and protect society from those same people for the rest of their lives (or at least 10 years post-release, using the minimum time they will be on the sex-offender registry under federal blackmail) but they sweep in many others whose convictions look similar on paper but who are psychologically very different and whose recidivism risk is practically zero.

    Sensible offender laws that provided reasonable punishments based on the actual harm done followed by adequate mental health care and supervision to protect society in those cases where it was needed would be less expensive, more humanitarian, and much more just than what we have now.

    A mental-health approach to people who were a threat to society would also allow people who had not yet harmed a child or looked at pornography to be placed under supervision under the same guidelines as anyone else arrested on a mental health warrant and placed under supervision by a mental health court. The standards for a mental health warrant and for continuing supervision very strongly favor the individual's rights and they provide a high degree of confidentiality, but they can provide for involuntary commitment and hospitalization or involuntary outpatient treatment at any time if the evidence that this person is a current and imminent threat (or something very close to it) to others or himself warrants it.

    Using a mental-health approach does have one downside: It's easy for the state to abuse this without any "sunshine." Unfortunately, America is rife with abuses by the mental health system to quietly remove "undesirables" from society or at least remove them from having any voice in society. This must be guarded against.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  234. You are not required to testify for the DA by davidwr · · Score: 1

    You could hang out your shingle as a defense expert, and do training seminars for defense lawyers on how to ask the right questions.

    Of course, getting access to the computer may be a trick, since you'll have to do it at a place and time of the DA's choosing. Yes, I know the deck is stacked in that regard.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  235. Hey jackoff!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have cost you six points of karma. Like it?
     
    You don't belong here.

  236. Nice out of the box thinking by davidwr · · Score: 1

    Well done good sir.

    Although you really did violate the spirit of the bet.

    I'm glad they were honorable enough to pay off.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:Nice out of the box thinking by dhickman · · Score: 1

      How did I violate the spirit?

      The floppy was useable r/w in windows, it was even formatted in windows.

      I even copied data on it.

      Encase is hard coded for the standard floppy formats. Although windows as of NT 4 could handle non-standard formats.

      This is an old trick that we used in the early 1990s to get an extra 500k or so out of the floppy. It was first used in linux and then later the format trick was extended to windows/dos fat.

      The data was hidden from Encase. That was my first encase class around 2004.

      I was the only person in there from the private sector and to be honest I was getting tired of how elite the people in the class and instructor thought they were.

      So I started to point out ways to defeat the system. Their answer was that there are plenty of idiots downloading child porn to keep them in business. People smart enough to defeat encase, can get real jobs and are not their concern.

      I pointed out that if our economy ever starts to look like Japan's economy we are going to have alot of unemployed smart people.

  237. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by IgnoramusMaximus · · Score: 1

    Err, minimum enlistment age is 16. Many of the states on that list have age of consent at 18. My point stands.

  238. Way easier than you think! by whereisjustice · · Score: 1

    I've spent the last five years helping my son fight child porn charges. His ex-wife didn't like the fact that she was going to have to share custody of their two daughters and threatend to plant child porn on his computer. When he laughed at her, she went to the FBI. Lo and behold, they found tons of kiddie porn on his computer. It didn't matter that it was downloaded when he wasn't home, downloaded at rates impossible for his computer, none of it was ever accessed, etc., etc., etc. After the FBI got thru "investigating", the whole community was convinced that he was guilty of child molestation in addition to child porn. Kids who were at his house for a birthday party with a dozen other kids (and parents) told ridiculous stories, which were taken as gospel despite contrary testimony. The fact is, this is one of the easiest crimes to get a conviction. The FBI is well-aware that all they have to do is show a couple hours of the nastiest, sickest, most perverted child porn to a jury, and they would convict Jesus Christ. God help you if you're ever accused. Just ask my son.

  239. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Strange, the subject is still "Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you" according to my browser.

  240. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by clone53421 · · Score: 1

    The CIA says you’re wrong.

    18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (Navy), 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines) (2008)

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  241. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MCSE: "Must Consult Someone Else."

  242. Re:NOT the most disgusting form of human imaginabl by xiong.chiamiov · · Score: 1

    Next time you have the misfortune of overhearing a rant against child porn, observe that (most probably) there will be no distinction between "pedophiles", "possessors of an illegal photograph" and "child molesters". They are all just "pedophiles" and equally blameworthy.

    You will also find an unfortunate lack of distinction between pedophiles, hebephiles, and ephebophiles. Preferring high school girls does not make you a pedophile, despite what the common person says.

  243. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by IgnoramusMaximus · · Score: 1

    Well even if it is 17, it is still lower then the drinking or "statutory rape" age. Btw, I said "16" because that is the age here in Canada and I thought that NATO members were harmonizing this stuff.

  244. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by hamvil · · Score: 0

    below a certain age children are sexually developed so they would not involve themselves in any sexual act. The opposite would happens only as a result of an external coercion and as such would make the child non consenting.

  245. Re:Don't f* with the IT guy like at restaurant you by ps2os2 · · Score: 0

    Not to go off on too much of a tangent here but it is relevant. Victimless crimes (like porn, prostitution etc) are *NEVER* victimless. Ask any policemen who has been on the street for more than a few years. There is a pattern that becomes too clear of people that were victims of say their parents are harmed mentally and they end up repeating (in some form) of what their parents (or relatives or who ever). Children of prostitutes become prostitutes in later life. Just like gang bangers had parents that were gangsters (or at least major law breakers). Sure there are the odd few that do not fit into the above but the majority do. *IF* you really want crime to go down you need to get the people out of the contact and put them in a stable area and this is not a short term thing you need 20-50 years of no contact so the cycle can be broken. In other words there is no quick fix and will only work in a LONG term solution.