Child Pornography—Ring Broken

Pornography featuring minors almost always has a transnational component,^[1] and yesterday’s announcement that an “international, Internet-based” child pornography syndicate was broken up is no different.^[2] According to international authorities, a “private Internet ‘chat room’ used worldwide to facilitate the trading of thousands of images of child pornography—including streaming videos of live molestations—was infiltrated in an undercover investigation, resulting in charges against 27 individuals to date in the United States, Canada, Australia and Great Britain.”^[3] 13 of the individuals are Americans, 9 are Canadian, 3 are Australian, and 2 are British.^[4]

The alleged chat-room in question was titled “Kiddypics & Kiddyvids,” and users and administrators of the site used “handles,” or pseudonyms to mask their identities which were nonetheless able to be discovered by investigators.^[5]

The indictments and criminal complaints in the United States have been filed in nine different federal judicial districts in Illinois, Tennessee, Michigan, Nevada, Florida, New York, Arizona, and Hawaii, as well as one in state court in North Carolina.^[6]

One of the ways the investigation was conducted was through a sting operation, with an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement [hereinafter ICE] agent taking the role of a chat room participant.^[7] One of the individuals allegedly sent the ICE agent two video images of child pornography.^[8] This is an increasingly common way for law enforcement authorities to investigate allegations of child pornography and child molestation.

The other way the investigation was conducted was through yet another example of the increasing role of public-private partnerships in cyber-investigations. As we mentioned in January and August, Microsoft has been aggressive in providing investigators with tools to track down counterfeiters and virus writers. Now the company can add “tracking down purveyors and customers of child pornography” to its list. A decade ago, Toronto’s sex crime squad “would seize about hundreds of photos a year. Last year, they seized more than 3 million pictures and videos, approximately 90 per cent of them from western nations.”^[9] A Toronto detective “says much of that is thanks to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who helped Canada develop a specialized tracking system” by “pumping $4.5 million Cdn into creating the Child Exploitation Tracking System, which was instrumental in dismantling the ring.”^[10] In addition to providing the funding, Microsoft Canada “went to work creating CETS by applying some of its best software engineers to the task.”^[11]

The tracking system “contains data gathered from international sources, allowing authorities to plug in an email address, credit card number or even an Internet nickname and see what information may pop up.”^[12]

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[1] See Child Porn Sites Growing Worldwide, Sky News (via Yahoo!), Mar. 8, 2006 (of more than 6,000 sites known to have illegal content, 40% are from the US, 28% from Russia, 17% from Asia, and 13% from mainland Europe).
[2] See US DOJ, Dozens Charged in International, Internet-Based Child Pornography Investigation, Mar. 15, 2006.
[3] Id. See also, Canadians Among 27 Charged in Web Child-Porn Ring, CTV.ca, Mar. 16, 2006; Australians Charged in Global Child Porn Case, ABC (Australia), Mar. 16, 2006.
[4] US DOJ, supra note 2.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] CTV.ca, supra note 3.
[10] Id.
[11] Tool Thwarts Online Child Predators, Microsoft, Apr. 7, 2005.
[12] CTV.ca, supra note 3.