Ok, read this article and then read what I have to say...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,119984,00.html
65 Arrests Made in Internet Child Porn Probe
Quote:
WASHINGTON — A nationwide inquiry into child pornography trafficking using Internet file-sharing networks (search) has resulted in 1,000 investigations and at least 65 arrests, federal officials announced Friday.
The investigation centers on the growing use of "peer-to-peer," or P2P (search), networks that allow users to connect computers directly with one another to exchange files. That provides greater anonymity than traditional Internet servers that are easier to track.
"There are no free rides on the information highway for traffickers of child pornography," Attorney General John Ashcroft said.
Agents from the Justice Department (search), FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sometimes working undercover, have infiltrated many of the networks in the past few months to identify people involved in distribution of child pornography.
Charges against the 65 people arrested so far have included possession and distribution of child pornography and sexual abuse of children. The 1,000 investigations have involved more than 350 searches of computers and other property, officials said.
Sharman Networks, provider of the Kazaa P2P network, said in a statement that it helped federal investigators identify people who used Kazaa to distribute illicit materials.
"Our No. 1 priority is to help stop the spread of this scourge on Kazaa and to provide our users with technological solutions like our family filter to protect their families," the statements said.
Among the specific cases:
—Jimmy Richard Morrison faces federal pornography distribution charges in Wyoming alleging he was a P2P client named "Pedokiller." Authorities said that Morrison, of Modesto, Calif., used the P2P networks because police were known to be examining Internet chat rooms for child pornography activity.
—Mathew Fling was indicted in New York in February for child pornography in an investigation that also led to allegations that Fling molested two girls, ages 6 and 8, during the past four years. Fling faces state charges in the molestation case.
—A P2P investigation in Lincoln, Neb., led to the arrest of Jeremiah Zalesky on charges that he molested the daughter of a couple with whom he was staying. Child pornography images were later found on his computer, officials said.
The maximum sentence for a federal child pornography distribution conviction is 20 years in prison and first offenders face a minimum mandatory sentence of five years.
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*I* see this as blatant republican propaganda. Why? Well, this is not some genius investigative crackdown on child porn. This is merely pecking at the easy targets who, compared to the REAL criminals, have done very little when it comes to what I consider a crime. In majority, these aren't the criminals who molest kids and have sex with them.
Yes, instead of going to the source of the problem, they see it fit to merely go after a symptom and call it a crackdown. Many of you will be satisfied and happy with these results, but personally I don't bat an eye. I dont intend to argue that looking at child porn isn't wrong - I'd get my ass chewed out - I just see this action as nothing more than political masturbation.