As with sex offenses, child pornography is being defined ever-more widely.
Every expansion of criminal statutes is accompanied by greater government intrusion into the lives of its citizens.
Beware: this cannot end well.
Showing posts with label Child Porn Hysteria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Child Porn Hysteria. Show all posts
"So far, no evidence suggests that children were harmed in the making of the murals".
What a great line!
What is needed, clearly, is a modern-day, sex offender equivalent of the "Malleus Maleficarum", a 15th Century guidebook used to help witch hunters confirm the presence and identity of witches so that they could then be burned at the stake.
Instead, these poor pedo-hunters are left to flail about in their attempt to divine the meaning and significance of individual tiles used in outdoor school mosaics created by a well-known muralist recently arrested for downloading child porn to his computer.
In their vigorous efforts to root out and destroy all bewitched tiles contained within school murals scattered throughout the Bay area, individual tiles are being removed lest they cast their evil spell upon individuals who gaze upon them.
Presumably, possession of some of these tiles will constitute a class 1 felony, much as possession of bibles translated into English were at one time offenses punished by burning at the stake.
" 'Offensive' images found in S.F. school murals
Anthony Josef Norris, a muralist who runs an arts nonprofit for children, in front of a mural he created at Ida B. Wells High School in San Francisco in 2009. Norris has been charged with possession of child pornography.
The head of a children's art organization, arrested three weeks ago for possession of child pornography, placed "offensive" tiles in murals he created at four city schools, San Francisco police said Friday.
Some 100 "inappropriate" tiles have been found in murals at Sunset Elementary School and three other unnamed schools in the city, said Police Chief Greg Suhr.
Anthony Josef Norris, founder and director of Kid Serve Youth Murals,designed and worked on all the projects. The San Francisco man surrendered June 2 to the FBI after agents investigating a website known for child pornography traced the log-on name of "Spanky" to his home computer and discovered 600 pornographic images of children, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in federal court in San Francisco.
Also under investigation were murals Norris worked on at Old Mill Elementary School in Mill Valley, Global Family School in Oakland and Bahia Vista Elementary School in San Rafael.
Police have not found inappropriate tiles at the Global Family School, said Troy Flint, a spokesman for Oakland Unified School District, who said the mural was checked on Friday. Offensive images were also not discovered during inspections at the other two schools.
The confiscated mosaic tiles measure as small as 1-inch-by-1-inch, Suhr said. Many contain photographic negatives, inlaid behind glass. Others are drawings. Some were installed high above normal viewing levels.
"I think as an adult you look at these tiles and see possibly some sort of sexual connotation to them," said Commander Mike Biel,who declined to describe the offensive images in detail.
Authorities began inspecting close to 40 murals, which comprise tens of thousands of individual tiles, when the San Francisco Unified School District notified authorities after Norris' arrest, Suhr said.
So far, no evidence suggests that children were harmed in the making of the murals.
Norris founded Kid Serve Youth Murals about 12 years ago. He said in a 2009 interview with The Chronicle that his goal was to help youths from preschool to high school develop their design talent and create mosaic murals. "
Details emerge about ‘child pornography’ yearbook photo
School officials "demand" that all students return Yearbooks to Avoid Child Porn Charges.
DOJ: FBI digital counterintelligence weakened by focus on child porn
Cyber attacks are at an all time high but FBI spends twice as much effort fighting child porn, according to a scathing criticism by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Despite a dramatic increase in cyber attacks on U.S. public and private infrastructure and networks, and evidence that hostile foreign governments are behind many of these attacks, the F.B.I. has done little to counter these threats, preferring instead to expend twice as many resources in the investigation of online child pornography.
This criticism is being leveled by the Department of Justice itself, which accuses the FBI of incompetence and lack of commitment in countering demonstrated cyber threats while expending excessive resources on child porn.
Specific intelligence pointing to Chinese military attacks on State Department computers has resulted in a massive grab of classified material by China. U.S. corporations are also actively targeted by China and other countries seeking to acquire competitive market intelligence.
Russian and other governments are known to have active programs for penetrating U.S. computer networks with the aim of gaining strategic military and economic advantage over the U.S.
Given these demonstrated threats against the well-being and prosperity of the U.S. and its citizens, it is shocking (although not surprising) that far greater resources are instead allocated to the investigation of child pornography (much of it produced by kids themselves) and to the entrapment of those still foolish enough to fall prey to badge-wearing adults masquerading as minors.
This bizarre mis-allocation of limited tax payer dollars is the result of decades of media, government and busybody-fueled hysteria to all things having to do with kids and sex.
We are finally beginning to realize the terrible consequences which inevitably result from dangerously misguided policies brought about by a distorted perception of reality.
These consequences have become ever more apparent in the dramatic erosion of our liberty as well as in our security and prosperity.
Ironic it is that the shrill voices which proclaim as their greatest priority the protection of children are themselves the enemies of their future. And let us hope that the eventual recognition of this glaring truth will come soon.
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DOJ: FBI digital counterintelligence weakened by focus on child porn
Cyberattacks are at an all time high; FBI spends twice as much effort fighting porn
By Kevin Fogarty
April 29, 2011, 11:35 AM — Despite its growing digital surveillance capabilities and increasing responsibility for investigating and countering cyber attacks on the U.S., the FBI's core cyber security division turns out to be basically incompetent, according to a critical report from the Dept. of Justice. [PDF] http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/FBI/a1122r.pdf
Part of the reason is that the 14 agencies that share some responsibility for online counter-espionage don't share information well. Another contributor is the lack of effective pressure from top managers to get agents trained in national-security intrusion topics and tactics.
Most of the reason is that the FBI spends twice as much effort investigating child porn as it does attempts by foreign governments to attack U.S. facilities or steal information that would damage U.S. national security, the report found.
To put that in perspective, the number of foreign attacks on the U.S. increased 40 percent between 2007 and 2008, according to the report, whose data are pretty old for such a sensitive topic.
An April study from McAfee showed 80 percent of utilities in 14 countries had been attacked during the previous year, an increase of almost 50 percent compared to the year before. Attacks ranged from distributed denial of services to intrusions to remove data to intrusions that attempted to take control of the utility's internal IT systems.
And that's just among civilian-run utility companies.
State Dept. documents released through WikiLeaks this month showed that years-long cyberattacks launched by the Chinese military had netted "terabytes" of sensitive data ranging from names and passwords that would give access to State Department computers, to the design of major weapons systems.
The "Byzantine Hades" attacks – and others coming from Russia and other unfriendly powers – represent a new state of cyberwar the U.S. is not yet prepared to fight.
The attacks have been so successful "we have given up on the idea we can keep our networks pristine," according to Stewart Baker, a former senior cyber-security official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and National Security Agency.
The focus has shifted instead to more sophisticated efforts to detect and counter intrusions as they're made.
Unfortunately, those are exactly the kinds of skills the FBI cyber squads lack and the kind of crime they don't have the time or resources to investigate.
Of 36 agents with cybersecurity responsibilities the DOJ tested – from 10 of the agency's 56 field offices, each of which has at least one "cyber squad" – only 23 told investigators they had the training to investigate national security intrusions.
The other 13 "lacked the networking and counterintelligence expertise to investigate national security intrusion cases." Five said they were completely unqualified to investigate national security intrusions effectively, the report said.
In 2007 the FBI created a separate career path for digital security investigators called the Cyber Career Path, which includes a four-stage training plan covering 12 core courses and a set of elective courses agents can use to develop a specialty.
The agency's habit of moving agents to new offices or new assignments every two or three years to expand their skills or experience makes completing that training difficult, the report concluded. So does a generally inconsistent focus on both online counter-espionage and giving agents either the training or time to build experience in investigating it.
Top FBI managers are much more comfortable with agents trained to track down domestic hackers and breaking down doors than they are investigating or countering serious online attacks from overseas.
The report – some information in which was blacked out to avoid releasing sensitive or top secret information to which the public should not have access – included the total number of agents who had completed all 12 courses as of June, 2010.
The number was the only part of the paragraph explaining the program that was redacted.
Online espionage isn't the FBI cyber squads' only responsibility, however. In 2009, 19 percent of the cyber agents worked on national security intrusion investigations, while 31 percent worked on non-spy-related digital crimes and 41 percent investigated online child porn.
That's not to say child porn and domestic, non-national-security related cybercrime should not be investigated.
When you're losing terabytes of sensitive data to foreign governments who can walk freely through your most secure computer systems, however, maybe it's time to reconsider your priorities.
Maybe shift a few agents away from the wankers and point them toward the enemy?
http://www.itworld.com/security/160701/doj-fbi-cyber-security-largely-incompetent-obsessed-child-porn
Police check nude images on Tunkhannock students' phones
TUNKHANNOCK, Pa. (AP) _ Prosecutors say state police are investigating nude and seminude pictures on five cell phones seized from students in a northeastern Pennsylvania school district.
Wyoming County District Attorney George Skumanick Jr. says one of the phones confiscated from students in the Tunkhannock Area School District contained about 100 pictures.
Skumanick says male students were allegedly trading pictures of female classmates. He says the students with the cell phones ranged in age from 11 to 17.
Skumanick says state police are analyzing the phones to determine whether the pictures are of minors. If they are, he says the youths could face criminal charges including possession of child pornography.
[Ed:
A. Children and adolescents are sexual. Get over it!
B. Children and adolescents, being sexual, gravitate to sexually stimulating images for gratification just as adults do. And what do they find stimulating? In many cases, other children and adolescents!
So does it follow then that we reach the simultaneously absurd and logical conclusion that they should be prosecuted as "child pornographers"? If your own impulse is to charge children and adolescents as "child pornographers" then I would argue that it is YOU who are seriously deranged and possibly in need of institutionization.]
Predator campaign top priority for Fla.
News Press (Florida) Editorial Originally posted on January 05, 2008 THE LAW Here are some features of the state's new Cyber Crimes Against Children law:
• 15-year maximum sentence for contacting a child online and attempting to meet the child for sexual purposes
• Increases from five to 15 years the prison term for possession of more than 10 images of child pornography, and from 15 to 30 years for promotion and distribution of such materials
• New penalties for offenders who misrepresent their ages online
• Requires sex offenders to register all e-mail addresses and instant-message names they use, so social-network sites can block them
The Internet is a marvel for young people, with the potential for vastly enhancing their education and general mental fitness — but it's a jungle out there in cyberspace. Young people online are terribly vulnerable to sexual predators. [Ed: "Cyberspace" is without "space". If one confines oneself to "cyberspace" then one need never worry that a hand (or other body part) will reach through the computer monitor and grab you or your children. The same anonymity which you so greatly fear when enjoyed by a "predator" also affords you a vast physical remove from the physical world, a "moat" which surrounds you and your computer. As long as you don't foolishly divulge important personal information, then your children will be utterly safe. This is the only real knowledge you, or your children, need as protection within "cyberspace". Teach them that, like credit card numbers, personal information, physical address, future locations, etc. are all to be kept confidential. This is your responsibility as a caregiver to your children. It is not society's responsibility to constrain the rights of other children or adults as a means of circumventing all risks or remotely conceivable dangers. Soon, requiring sex offenders to surrender their rights to utilize the internet in their daily lives will seem as ridiculous as forbidding them to use a telephone or take a bus. If those possibilities do not seem absurd to you, then you are on the hysterical side of the divide.]
They must be aggressively educated about the dangers, and monitored by savvy, vigilant parents (and teachers and librarians, too). The other half of the campaign is law enforcement, and in that regard we are happy to see that Florida has torqued up its efforts to catch and punish these villains. At the urging of Attorney General Bill McCollum, the 2007 Legislature increased his cyber-predator unit from six to 56 positions and opened new offices in several cities. It's going to be very important to see that the funding isn't rescinded in the impending state budget crunch. The cyber-pervert campaign is one of those core public safety government functions that has to be shielded from budget-cutting. It has to have top priority. That's because Internet access is becoming a universal part of young people's experience in America, and because tech savvy does not necessarily equal real sophistication. Many young teens are emotionally vulnerable, innocent or foolish. It's one of several downsides to the Internet, including invasion of privacy, identity theft and and child pornography — all of which McCollum is also eager to tackle, to his great credit. The blatant, compulsive nature of sexual predation online makes it crucial to raise the stakes. The new law, for example, provides a 15-year maximum sentence for contacting a child online and attempting to meet the child for sexual purposes. Given the tough penalties and the widespread publicity given to sting operations, one might think predators would be pulling back. One would be very wrong. This is going to be a permanent war over the safety of our children. At last we're starting to fight back hard. [Ed:These people always like to portray themselves as a disadvantaged group having long-suffered at the hands of "liberal" judges and "lenient" laws and exhorting others to join them in "fighting back". The truth, however, is that we now live in the most punitive society of all, with a greater percentage of our citizens incarcerated than any other country on Earth (except possibly for North Korea). As for society being soft on "molesters" we have the most draconian laws with the longest prison sentences of any working democracy. And now we're supposed to "start getting tough?" I think it's time to demand our lost liberties from hysterical fear-mongers like you] Full Story
The Child Porn Hoax
By Susie Bright, SusieBright.com.
Posted October 2, 2007
"...How dare anyone call it a hoax! We know children are being abused. We know some of that abuse is sexual. We know the cameras are everywhere. Isn't it obvious? No, it's not."
"...Once upon a time, there was a very serious reporter for a very serious newspaper, who decided to investigate one of society's scourges: the child pornography ring. Two years after his exposés riveted the nation, it turned out the reporter had gone off the deep end. He'd paid his main source, become a webmaster at the very porn site he was investigating, lied and bullied anyone who questioned him, and had all but ostracized himself out of a reporting career. But it wasn't just him. The witch-hunters, bogeyman blamers, and moral-panic enablers -- were everywhere. Our little reporter might have landed in deep shit, but the hysteria he milked became bigger than ever before."
"Call him one of the most bizarre media offenders in the past two years of fear-mongering: Former New York Times and Portfolio reporter Kurt Eichenwald. He wrote two front-page stories on the subject of sex that won't be forgotten soon: Through His Webcam, a Boy Joins a Sordid Online World, and its followup, Child Sex Sites on the Run. From the get-go, both stories were creepy: the softcore sexy descriptions, the "blame the internet" righteousness, the homophobic ick factor, and the unexplained implication that Eichenwald had looked at piles of this material himself, when by current law, he wouldn't have that right, no matter how well-intentioned his purpose!"
"Why did Kurt portray himself as an elite one-man rescue mission, and why was he so lurid in his crusade? It didn't smell right."
"As [Debbie] Nathan revealed in her latest courtroom coverage in Counterpunch, Eichenwald has just retained a criminal defense lawyer -- and I don't think it's for jaywalking. The courts who've investigated the Berry sting operation found that Kurt himself was one of the webmasters with full access on Justin's web site. He gave large amounts of money to Justin and was in possession of many photographs and videos from Justin's portfolio." Speechless yet?" full story
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