People who view child pornography are NOT IDIOTS. Stop treating them like it.
We've certainly seen a large number of those people who are idiots. And borrowing from the wisdom of George Carlin, "they are like any other group of people: a few winners, a whole lot of losers." We just hear about the losers. Why? Because the winners don't get caught. There is clearly a Darwinian process going on here. Every time I read about some guy getting 20 years for possession of child pornography in the clear on his disk, having paid for with his credit card, I am thrilled to see him taken off the streets by virtue of being a moron.
(Forgive my use of the word "winners" in a way that will displease most of you.)
I have a collection of child pornography that measures in tens of gigabytes (mostly videos by the way, photos are boring, and I doubt my opinion is unique, so this database doesn't really solve much of the problem). Aside from this little factoid, I am otherwise one of you: a fellow geek. I've read Applied Cryptography (and understood it). I read bugtraq. I've submitted patches to software you either use or have heard of. I understand computer security and forensics. I have been paid for my abilities in this field.
I also understand the psychological and sociological issues of what I'm doing. I understand my paraphilia. My sexual fantasies may involve children -- and I truly wish it weren't so that I was sexually interested in that which I can never have -- but such thoughts stay in my head. I understand the realities of abuse and won't be responsible for hurting a kid. I will not acquire child pornography in a manner that fuels a demand for it. (Which means there are no monetary transactions, nor anything which may inflate the ego of those who make it available. My acquisition is completely passive.) I realize it may sound absurd to many of you that someone who has a huge collection of child porn also has a moral stance on it. And as an incidental, it's also good for security.
I go through incredible effort to ensure my safety. If the cops busted down my door right now, they would find nothing. I have plausible deniability. And I'm certainly not the only one.
We've certainly seen a large number of those people who are idiots. And borrowing from the wisdom of George Carlin, "they are like any other group of people: a few winners, a whole lot of losers." We just hear about the losers. Why? Because the winners don't get caught. There is clearly a Darwinian process going on here. Every time I read about some guy getting 20 years for possession of child pornography in the clear on his disk, having paid for with his credit card, I am thrilled to see him taken off the streets by virtue of being a moron.
(Forgive my use of the word "winners" in a way that will displease most of you.)
I have a collection of child pornography that measures in tens of gigabytes (mostly videos by the way, photos are boring, and I doubt my opinion is unique, so this database doesn't really solve much of the problem). Aside from this little factoid, I am otherwise one of you: a fellow geek. I've read Applied Cryptography (and understood it). I read bugtraq. I've submitted patches to software you either use or have heard of. I understand computer security and forensics. I have been paid for my abilities in this field.
I also understand the psychological and sociological issues of what I'm doing. I understand my paraphilia. My sexual fantasies may involve children -- and I truly wish it weren't so that I was sexually interested in that which I can never have -- but such thoughts stay in my head. I understand the realities of abuse and won't be responsible for hurting a kid. I will not acquire child pornography in a manner that fuels a demand for it. (Which means there are no monetary transactions, nor anything which may inflate the ego of those who make it available. My acquisition is completely passive.) I realize it may sound absurd to many of you that someone who has a huge collection of child porn also has a moral stance on it. And as an incidental, it's also good for security.
I go through incredible effort to ensure my safety. If the cops busted down my door right now, they would find nothing. I have plausible deniability. And I'm certainly not the only one.