FBI ran active child porn site for two weeks to identify pedophiles

[Jesse]

The FBI seized and ran a child pornography website for two weeks in November 2012, according to a recently filed letter to the court. The site, referred to only as “Website A” in court documents, was confiscated and then run by the Bureau from November 16 through December 2 in an attempt to identify its more than 5,000 customers, reports the Seattle PI.

This marks a departure from the FBI’s normal mode of operation, being the first time a child pornography sting akin to this operation has been executed, according the Seattle PI. Law enforcement agencies typically rely on tips or undercover officers posing as customers to root out pedophiles and producers of child porn.

Agents were unable to identify users solely through service records from the site, so the FBI opted to continue operation of the site to track them down.

At the time “Website A” was shut down, its 5,600 users had shared over 10,000 photos in over 24,000 posts, nearly all of which were related to child pornography, according to an FBI report to the court. The brief summation of the site’s contents revealed the despicable intentions of its users. Forum topics included resources for avoiding detection online through encryption, and threads titled “How to lure a child in my car,” “Meeting other pedos in real life,” and “Do kids LIKE anal sex?”

As charges have not yet been filed in the case, there are no names publicly attached to the investigation. The FBI declined to comment, stating that it remains an open investigation, but details will be a matter of public record once prosecution begins.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/52722-fbi-ran-active-child-porn-site-for-two-weeks-to-identify-pedophiles.html

 

[highlander84]

IMO, great job.

 

[customcarvin]

IMO, great job.

Yea, I'm not too sure about the tactic used, but as a parent myself, I too am very happy with the results.

 

[TomSEA]

I don't have a problem with this. It was only up for two weeks and who knows how many hundreds if not thousands of pedophiles they caught with the site.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Somewhere... in some plain FBI office sits some group of average looking FBI geeks who just successfully busted a whole ton of pedophiles. They probably won't ever be on the news or get any public recognition, but they've got my gratitude.

 

[killeriii]

IMO, great job.

Yea, I'm not too sure about the tactic used, but as a parent myself, I too am very happy with the results.

Agreed, I'm not sure I like the tactics used either.
Child porn sites should be taken down immediately!

 

[davislane1]

Kinda disappointed that this story didn't end with executions, but I guess you can't always have your cake and eat it too. Score one for the FBI!

 

[Guest]

@killeriii

You ever try to catch a mouse with an empty trap?

 

[Guest]

I hate ask, as we can all agree how despicable pedophiles are, but I question the tactic of running an open site like this. Would we all feel the same if the FBI posted an open site with instructions on bomb making, or how to evade taxes, or any other number of illicit activities. Is it a means to an end? is this entrapment? or is it morally corrupt to distribute some illicit material in order to smoke out criminals?

 

[lipe123]

IMO, great job.

Yea, I'm not too sure about the tactic used, but as a parent myself, I too am very happy with the results.

Agreed, I'm not sure I like the tactics used either.
Child porn sites should be taken down immediately!

From what I understand the FBI did not actually upload or 'create' any content, the site was mostly a place where existing sickos could upload/share their nastiness.

In that case its pretty damn smart and this means they have names and evidence to go after the people that used the site.

 

[davislane1]

I hate ask, as we can all agree how despicable pedophiles are, but I question the tactic of running an open site like this. Would we all feel the same if the FBI posted an open site with instructions on bomb making, or how to evade taxes, or any other number of illicit activities. Is it a means to an end? is this entrapment? or is it morally corrupt to distribute some illicit material in order to smoke out criminals?

All of the things you've listed are easily attainable, and that's why FBI sting operations like this are always so successful. The ethics of the situation has to do with how far they allow the crime to persist before slamming down the hammer. A two-week op seems extremely reasonable, seeing as most of the stings that make the news are usually multi-month or multi-year operations.

 

[Guest]

From what I understand the FBI did not actually upload or 'create' any content, the site was mostly a place where existing sickos could upload/share their nastiness.

Yet if you or I were to do the same, we would go to prison...to me that is what crosses the line.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

IMO, great job.

Yea, I'm not too sure about the tactic used, but as a parent myself, I too am very happy with the results.

I don't care what tactics they use, as long as they find 'em, try 'em, find 'em guilty & execute 'em. Sick mofo's. Our world and our children are far better off without them.

 

[TomSEA]

From what I understand the FBI did not actually upload or 'create' any content, the site was mostly a place where existing sickos could upload/share their nastiness.

Yet if you or I were to do the same, we would go to prison...to me that is what crosses the line.

Nope. In most sting operations, all the police do is create what appears to be an opportunity to commit a crime. The suspect would have to intend to commit the crime and taken it upon themselves to attempt it for the trap to work. As such, it is entirely the suspect's choice to do something illegal, and they can be charged with it.

If you host a pedophile site, you are committing a crime. If the police temporarily and without actively managing it host a pedophile site for the purpose of catching pedophiles, they are simply presenting the opportunity for others to commit a crime.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

From what I understand the FBI did not actually upload or 'create' any content, the site was mostly a place where existing sickos could upload/share their nastiness.

Yet if you or I were to do the same, we would go to prison...to me that is what crosses the line.

And everyday cops all over the country taze people, but if you do it you can get in trouble. If you go over the speed limit you can get a ticket, but when a cop or ambulance does it we all get out of the way like it's no big deal... It's not a double standard.. it's a reasonable exception.

 

[Guest]

without actively managing it host a pedophile site

How is that possible if you're hosting it?

Or are you saying if I host a site and don't actively manage it, I'm not breaking the law?

I don't see a difference.

 

[Guest]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,138488,00.html

And everyday cops all over the country taze people,

Yea, I stand corrected, giving our government officials a pass on the law is a good thing.

 

[jetkami]

Kill em all!

 

[lipe123]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,138488,00.html

And everyday cops all over the country taze people,

Yea, I stand corrected, giving our government officials a pass on the law is a good thing.

I'm going to guess you are going for sarcasm here? I read that link and in both cases police did it to ensure the safety of the "victim" in the first case the kid already cut himself and was threatening to end his own life. Second case the drunk minor was running into traffic.
Idk what kinda agenda you have here but it seems to me ignorance has not caught up with reality yet.

How about this, US soldiers went to another country (iraq/afghanistan/etc etc) and shot and killed loads of people. So is that a double standard also? Should just anyone be able to go somewhere and shoot people?

Law enforcement break the law ALL THE TIME because the many outweigh the few. They operate under restrictions as to what laws they can break and how they can do it that was set by the people of the country. If the average person took more interest in the way their own country is being run instead of just looking after themselves things might be a lot different.

 

[VitalyT]

Let me guess... FBI hired/trained a group of professional pedophiles to go undercover?

I recall how many people's reputation was ruined of those falsely convicted of downloading illegal/copyrighted material, based on wrong IP tracking. Many just went to pay all the fines because lawyer expenses would be even higher.

This one could turn into another such pig-f^^k business...

When cops or whatever 3-letter gov enforcement fail to get criminals legally and decide to go illegally, it is just as disgusting as those pedophiles. They seem to do whatever they like, and much more that they won't tell anyone, and people applaud them here because they heard a bad word pedophile, so let's kill them all, don't matter FBI gets arse-probed everyone...

From what I gather in the last few years, the new american notion of freedom became - "Everyone is free to screw each other".

In the meantime, look in the mirror, and then click this link: How to spot a pedophile.http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=spot_the_pedo

 

[TomSEA]

without actively managing it host a pedophile site

How is that possible if you're hosting it?

Or are you saying if I host a site and don't actively manage it, I'm not breaking the law?

I don't see a difference.

That's because you're not paying attention to what I said and just want to argue for arguing sake.

 

[lipe123]

Let me guess... FBI hired/trained a group of professional pedophiles to go undercover?

I recall how many people's reputation was ruined of those falsely convicted of downloading illegal/copyrighted material, based on wrong IP tracking. Many just went to pay all the fines because lawyer expenses would be even higher.

This one could turn into another such pig-f^^k business...

When cops or whatever 3-letter gov enforcement fail to get criminals legally and decide to go illegally, it is just as disgusting as those pedophiles. They seem to do whatever they like, and much more that they won't tell anyone, and people applaud them here because they heard a bad word pedophile, so let's kill them all, don't matter FBI gets arse-probed everyone...

From what I gather in the last few years, the new american notion of freedom became - "Everyone is free to screw each other".

In the meantime, look in the mirror, and then click this link: How to spot a pedophile.http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=spot_the_pedo

Did you actually read the article? holy ****.

How is this different from undercover cops busting drug traffickers?

 

[VitalyT]

How is this different from undercover cops busting drug traffickers?

Cops usually do not open a heroin shop to ensnare drug dealers.

There was a nice theory recently that all lascivious content should move into XXX domain. Looks like porno industry said No to that. If FBI just targeted all the porno content that's still not in XXX, that would be a job worth doing. But nobody is doing anything still...

 

[lipe123]

How is this different from undercover cops busting drug traffickers?

Cops usually do not open a heroin shop to ensnare drug dealers.

No but they join gangs, smuggle drugs and kill other gang members and sell drugs to the public to do so.

 

[ReederOnTheRun]

I hate ask, as we can all agree how despicable pedophiles are, but I question the tactic of running an open site like this. Would we all feel the same if the FBI posted an open site with instructions on bomb making, or how to evade taxes, or any other number of illicit activities. Is it a means to an end? is this entrapment? or is it morally corrupt to distribute some illicit material in order to smoke out criminals?

I don't think it would be the same. I think it is a completely different thing to teach someone to be a criminal than it is to catch a criminal in the act, like this. If someone didn't know how to make a bomb or avoid taxes already, then chances are they weren't bomber nor tax evaders before that website. This is different because they didn't teach the pedophiles to be pedophiles, they just set up a trap to catch them while they did what they normally do. It is perfectly justified, in my eyes at least.