CyberLaw Blog

Archive for August, 2010

Media Release: Global investigation cracks child exploitation network – Australian Federal Police: “Media Release: Global investigation cracks child exploitation network

Release Date: August 27, 2010

International law enforcement agencies have combined to dismantle an alleged organised child exploitation network that had been operating via the social networking site Facebook.

A total of eleven people have been arrested as part of a coordinated operation across Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Law enforcement has made six arrests in relation to child abuse image offences in the United Kingdom, including the alleged head of the network. Three arrests have been made in Australia and two in Canada. Investigations are ongoing with the operation currently spanning four continents.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) began the investigation in March this year and has operated in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) in the United Kingdom and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The investigation began when a covert AFP Internet Policing Team member established an online identity on Facebook and was approached by one of the network members. Upon further investigation into the network, referrals were made to overseas counterparts leading to the arrests across the globe.

AFP National Manager High Tech Crime Operations Neil Gaughan heralded the successful operation as a clear demonstration of co-operation between international law enforcement agencies.

‘Criminal activity of this type is often described as a borderless crime because there’s no geographical restriction on where offenders may try to target their victims,’ Assistant Commissioner Gaughan said.

‘Policing in this social networking environment is a challenge, but the cooperation during this operation demonstrates that international law enforcement is united in a global fight against online child exploitation material.

‘The investigation should serve as a warning to both social networking providers and users.

‘In this case, Facebook deactivated the online accounts of the initial suspects but there were indications that, within hours, the groups were reforming again under new accounts.

‘It is important that content service providers including Facebook constantly scan for child exploitation material, and then inform law enforcement of their findings.’

CEOP Chief Executive Jim Gamble said, ‘This network was made up of people who share an interest in viewing extremely disturbing images of children suffering horrific abuse.’

‘All the officers working on this investigation – both in the UK and in Australia, America, Canada and elsewhere – shared a steely determination to safeguard children wherever they were and to bring those involved to justice,’ Mr Gamble said.

‘Offenders are not limited by their geography and neither are we. We have worked side by side with the Australian Federal Police, the FBI, the RCMP and colleagues in a number of other countries to ensure that no stone is left unturned and no child is left unprotected.

‘Project Ocean should send a clear message to others who think that online environments offer them anonymity in their offending. Everything you do leaves a digital footprint and, working together, we will stop at nothing to protect children suffering abuse.’

FBI Assistant Director Gordon M. Snow, Cyber Division, said: ‘The sexual exploitation of children is a heinous offense, and the FBI is committed to identifying and thwarting online predators, no matter where they live.’

‘We work side-by-side with our law enforcement partners around the world to identify and pursue those who produce, possess and distribute sexually explicit images and videos of children.’

RCMP Superintendent John Bilinski, Officer in Charge of the Canadian Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children said: ‘The RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre is committed to working with its international policing partners. Project Ocean is a clear demonstration of how international co-operation can help ensure that child sexual offenders are brought to justice.’

‘One of our most effective strategies against Internet-facilitated child sexual abuse is cooperation. No single agency can deal with this crime in isolation. We continually work together with our partners to ensure the safety and security of children, regardless of where they live.’

Media enquiries
AFP National Media Team +61 (2) 6131 6333
CEOP Media +44 (0) 870 000 3434
RCMP Media +1 613 993-2999
FBI Media +1 202-324-3691

FACTS & STATS

Background:

The operation began in March 2010 when an AFP Internet Policing Team member established a covert online identity in Facebook.

The profile was approached by numerous Facebook users to become ‘friends’ and commenced engagement with these friends.

The engagement identified the network exchanging child exploiting material using Facebook to host the images. Members of the network were identified and referrals were made to the countries they were identified to live in.

Australia

* On 2 June 2010, a 33-year-old Victorian man was charged with two counts of using a carriage service to access child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth); two counts of using a carriage service to make available child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(iv), of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth); and possessing child pornography, contrary to section 70(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic). The man will appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on 6 October 2010.
* On 2 June 2010, a 18-year-old Victorian man was charged with two counts of using a carriage service to access child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Code Act 1995; two counts of using a carriage service to make available child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(iv) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) and possessing child pornography, contrary to section 70(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic). The man will appear in Geelong Magistrates Court on 24 September 2010.
* On 15 June 2010, a 27-year-old New South Wales man was charged with using a carriage service to transmit child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19 (1)(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code Act 1995. The man will appear in Wollongong Local Court on 14 October 2010.

United Kingdom

The CEOP have arrested and charged six males in the United Kingdom, one of which is the alleged head of the network.

* The 45-year-old Worthing man has been sentenced to four years in prison and served with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, after pleading guilty overnight at Chichester Crown Court to making (six counts); possessing (one count); distributing (seven counts) and view to distributing (10 counts) child abuse images. He was also found guilty of breaching his requirements on the Sex Offenders Register. The man was arrested by Sussex Police who initiated a specific investigation to gather evidence of his offences. Further police activity lead detectives to identify five additional suspects in the UK and a further nine suspects overseas, with investigations still underway.
* Two UK children have been safeguarded and five further suspected offenders have been arrested in the UK.

Canada

Law enforcement agencies have arrested two males in Canada. One suspect has been charged with four counts relating to child exploitation in Canada.
Regarding the second man, the investigation is still ongoing.”

(Via .)

Pornographic videos flood YouTube: “(BBC News)
Video-sharing website YouTube has removed hundreds of pornographic videos which were uploaded in what is believed to be a planned attack. The material was uploaded under names of famous teenage celebrities such as Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers. Many started with footage of children’s videos before groups of adults performing graphic sex acts appeared on screen. YouTube owner Google said it was aware and addressing the problem.

“

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

Argentine court overturns ruling on search engines’ liability for links: “An appeals court in Argentina has ruled that search engines are not responsible for the content of sites that they index. The court overturned a lower court’s ruling against Google and Yahoo! Argentina.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

High Court considers hyperlinked pages as context in defamation case: “The High Court has examined material on pages linked to from an allegedly defamatory online article to help it decide the meaning of the piece.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Teens appear in court on crime forum charges: “SNIPPET: Their story bore all the hallmarks of a Hollywood caper, but for two teenagers the goings on in a London court last week were all too real. Nicholas Webber and Ryan Thomas appeared in court accused of managing an online crime forum.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

French court orders ISPs to block gambling site: “A French court has told internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to a gambling site that is operated out of Gibraltar and does not have a licence to operate in France, according to news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Department of Justice Releases First National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 2, 2010

Department of Justice Releases First National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction

U.S. Marshals Service to Launch Nationwide Operation Targeting Top 500 Most Dangerous, Non-compliant Sex Offenders

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that the Department of Justice released its first-ever National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. The strategy also provides the first-ever comprehensive threat assessment of the dangers facing children from child pornography, online enticement, child sex tourism, commercial sexual exploitation and sexual exploitation in Indian Country, and outlines a blueprint to strengthen the fight against these crimes. The strategy builds upon the department’s accomplishments in combating child exploitation by establishing specific, aggressive goals and priorities and increasing cooperation and collaboration at all levels of government and the private sector.

As part of the overall strategy, the U.S. Marshals Service is launching a nationwide operation targeting the top 500 most dangerous, non-compliant sex offenders in the nation. Additionally, the department will create a national database to allow federal, state, tribal, local and international law enforcement partners to deconflict their cases with each other, engage in undercover operations from a portal facilitated or hosted by the database, share information and intelligence and conduct analysis on dangerous offenders and future threats and trends. The department also created 38 additional Assistant U.S. Attorney positions to devote to child exploitation cases, and over the coming months will work to fill the vacancies and train the new assistants in this specialized area.

‘Although we’ve made meaningful progress in protecting children across the country, and although we’ve brought a record number of offenders to justice in recent years, it is time to renew our commitment to this work. It is time to intensify our efforts,’ said Attorney General Holder. ‘This new strategy provides the roadmap necessary to do just that – to streamline our education, prevention and prosecution activities; to improve information sharing and collaboration; and to make the most effective use of limited resources. Together, we are sending an important message – that the U.S. government, and our nation’s Department of Justice, has never been more committed to protecting our children and to bringing offenders to justice.’

‘Thanks to law enforcement operations like Operation Nest Egg and Operation Achilles, the department and our law enforcement partners have brought thousands of offenders to justice in the last year. But this progress is only a start,’ said Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler. ‘Tangible steps outlined in the National Strategy will bring our fight to the next level.’

The strategy first analyzed the threat to our nation’s children and described the current efforts at all levels of the government against this threat. Since FY 2006, the Department of Justice has filed 8,464 Project Safe Childhood (PSC) cases against 8,637 defendants. These cases include prosecutions of online enticement of children to engage in sexual activity, interstate transportation of children to engage in sexual activity, production, distribution and possession of child pornography and other offenses.

Despite vigorously fighting all aspects of child exploitation, the department recognized that more work remains to be done. To that end, the department’s strategy lays out goals to increase coordination among the nation’s investigators, better train investigators and prosecutors, advance law enforcement’s technological capabilities and enhance research to inform decisions on deterrence, incarceration and monitoring. The strategy also includes a renewed commitment to public awareness and community outreach.

As part of its public outreach efforts, the department is re-launching ProjectSafeChildhood.gov, PSC’s public website. PSC is a department initiative launched in 2006 that aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information regarding the National Strategy to Combat Child Exploitation, Prevention and Interdiction, please visit: www.projectsafechildhood.gov/docs/natstrategyreport.pdf

So silly that I am also publishing the FBI seal……

FBI to Wikipedia: Remove our seal – CNN.com

By John D. Sutter, CNN
August 3, 2010 — Updated 1632 GMT (0032 HKT)

The FBI’s seal, shown here in a photograph, is the subject of a legal dispute between the bureau and Wikipedia.

* The FBI threatens Wikipedia with legal action over the use of its seal
* Wikipedia says it will not remove the FBI seal from an entry on the federal agency
* FBI claims website duplicated its seal without permission, in violation of federal law.

(CNN) — The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has threatened Wikipedia with legal action if the online encyclopedia doesn’t remove the FBI’s seal from its site.

The seal is featured in an encyclopedia entry about the FBI.

Wikipedia isn’t backing down, however. The online encyclopedia — which is run by a nonprofit group and is edited by the public — sent a chiding letter to the FBI, explaining why, in its view, the FBI is off its legal rocker.

‘In short, then, we are compelled as a matter of law and principle to deny your demand for removal of the FBI Seal from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons,’ the Wikimedia Foundation’s general counsel, Mike Godwin, wrote in a letter to the FBI, which was posted online by the New York Times.

‘We are in contact with outside counsel in this matter, and we are prepared to argue our view in court.’

The whimsically written letter from Wikipedia says the FBI’s reading of relevant law is both ‘idiosyncratic’ and ‘more importantly, incorrect.’ It also notes that the FBI’s seal appears on other websites, including in an online entry from Encyclopedia Britannica.

In a letter dated July 22, and also posted online by the Times, the FBI told Wikipedia it must remove the bureau’s seal because the FBI had not approved use of the image.

‘The FBI has not authorized use of the FBI seal on Wikipedia,’ the letter says. ‘The inclusion of a high quality graphic of the FBI seal on Wikipedia is particularly problematic, because it facilitates both deliberate and unwitting’ copying and reprinting of the seal’s image.

The FBI’s deputy general counsel, David Larson, cities a particular law that says duplicating an official ‘insignia’ is illegal without permission.

But Wikipedia strikes back on that point, saying the FBI redacted the most important part of that U.S. code, which defines an insignia as ‘any badge, identification card, or other insignia.’

‘Badges and identification cards are physical manifestations that may be used by a possessor to invoke the authority of the federal government. An encyclopedia article is not,’ Wikipedia’s letter says. ‘The use of the image on Wikipedia is not for the purpose of deception or falsely to represent anyone as an agent of the federal government.’

The Wikipedia letter also adds:

‘Even if it could be proved that someone, somewhere, found a way to use a Wikipedia article illustration to facilitate a fraudulent representation, that would not render the illustration itself unlawful under the statute.’

It’s unclear if this tussle — which has already made its way into a Wikipedia entry on the FBI’s seal — will be taken to court. For now, the tech press is weighing in, often with amazement.

On the blog BoingBoing, Rob Beschizza writes that this is a no-win situation for the FBI.

‘The part that’s hard to understand is why the FBI would seek to abuse the law in such petulant fashion,’ he writes, ‘knowing that it will be subject to public ridicule for its actions.’

The magazine Vanity Fair posted the FBI’s seal on its website in a symbol of jest. And, as the blog Geekosystem says, an editor on the site aggregator Reddit jokes that maybe the FBI got Wikipedia confused with WikiLeaks — the site that’s been causing a stir lately over leaked war documents.

Cindy Cohn, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the New York Times, which first reported this story, that she found the whole ordeal to be ’silly’ and ‘troubling.’

Police force more suspects to give up crypto keys: “

Password powers practised

Police have expanded their use of powers to force suspects to decrypt files by 50 per cent in the last year, figures released today reveal.…

“

(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

Facebook libel leads to £10,000 payout: “The High Court has ordered a chef to pay £10,000 in libel damages for a Facebook posting in which he called a former friend a homosexual paedophile. Law student Raymond Bryce said he was neither.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)