When Can an Internet Search Be Illegal
Belgium is one of the new countries considering such a list. The Minister of
Enterprise and Administrative Reform, Vincent Van Quickenborne, want to ban
child pornography on the Internet through a protocol between ISPs and the
Government. The protocol might extend to other illegal sites, such as hate
and racism websites or Internet fraud.
Lists of allegedly illegal websites always leak
While some European countries block the illegal content (mostly child
pornography websites), other are considering implementing a similar measure
through a hidden list. However the past month has shown, one more time if
necessary, that usually the list of any blocked content will leak and thus
the allegedly blocked content will become widely available.
Belgium is one of the new countries considering such a list. The Minister of
Enterprise and Administrative Reform, Vincent Van Quickenborne, want to ban
child pornography on the Internet through a protocol between ISPs and the
Government. The protocol might extend to other illegal sites, such as hate
and racism websites or Internet fraud.
The federal police special division Federal Computer Crime Unit (FCCU)
confirms that it detects yearly 800 – 1000 child pornography websites hosted
in foreign countries and the court procedure to block those sites is rarely
used since it is too burdensome.
The Flemish League for Human Rights (Liga voor Mensenrechten) has criticized
the project underlining that ” the decision to block websites must remain
under exclusive authority of the judicial branch. It is unacceptable that
the police gets a wild card to block certain websites at will.”
The legal framework already exists in Belgium, but Minister Van
Quickenborne wants a more flexible mechanism that can be used more quickly
to effectively block websites. It seems that the police will get the
authority to compose the blacklists of to be blocked websites, without any
legal safeguards or external oversight mechanisms. The fact that FCCU
admits right away that this practice should also be applicable in other
cases, makes the whole practice very worrisome.
The practice of the hidden lists of illegal websites is not new. But in the
past month, we’ve seen at least 3 major blacklists become public, thus
becoming irrelevant.
The blacklist operated by the Danish child pornography filtering system
(3863 blocked URLs) leaked on 23 December 2008 and is available in full
online.
Only a few days before the Thailand’s blacklist made by the Ministry of
Information and Communication Technology that block access to websites
deemed unsuitable for the Thai people become available on the Internet.
(1203 websites). The list included hundreds of YouTube videos (including
Hillary Clinton’s campaign videos) as well as blogs, cartoons, Charlie
Chaplin videos and an article in the Economist magazine banned for
criticising the Thai king.
In the same period Wikileaks published the Finnish Internet censorship list.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation has requested executive
assistance from United States, but it is not known what precisely has been
requested – whether the concern is only removing the list or whether they
are trying to find out who leaked it. The list still includes the critical
Finnish anti-censorship site lapisporno.info.
Government wants to eliminate sites with child pornography (only in Flemish,
12.01.2009)
http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/991/Multimedia/article/detail/606707/2009/01/12/Overheid-zet-slot-op-sites-met-kinderporno.dhtml
The government wants to block paedophiliac websites (only in French,
12.01.2009)
http://www.datanews.be/fr/news/90-53-21867/le-gouvernement-entend-verrouiller-les-sites-pedophiles.html
Flemish Human Rights League – Minister Van Quickenborne want flexible system
for blocking websites.A form of censorship? (12.01.2008)
http://www.mensenrechten.be/main.php?item_content=7116
List of banned websites in Thailand and Denmark leaked online (23.12.2008)
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,24840506-5014239,00.html
List of Child Porn Sites Leaked to Public (13.01.2009)
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/01/list_of_child_porn_sites_leaked_to_public_477084.html
EDRi-gram: ENDitorial: Finnish web censorship (27.02.2008)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.4/finland-web-censorship
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When Can an Internet Search Be Illegal?
Did you know it can be illegal just to look at something on the Internet, depending on what it is? That’s why it’s important that you know what’s illegal and should be avoided.
One thing, for instance, that’s highly illegal to view on the Internet — even if you don’t download it — is child pornography involving minors aged 17 and younger. Federal and Texas laws against child porn are severe and can lead to many years in prison.
Even a search for child porn on the Web could get you arrested and charged with a crime. That’s because an active search for child porn can indicate an intent to commit the crime of viewing or possessing child pornography.
Also, simply viewing and not downloading child porn on the Internet still can lead to the material being stored in your browser’s cache. Technically, that means you “possess” the illegal material, despite the fact that you didn’t download it.
Many people accidentally see things on the Internet without actively seeking them, and that’s not a crime. Nor is it a crime to view Internet porn featuring consenting adults, which has become one of the largest forms of online adult entertainment.
But make no mistake, if you actively search for child porn online, you could be arrested.
Today, public outrage, vigorous law officers, tough prosecutors, and severe laws can mean you face a difficult legal battle to remain free from prison.
Keep in mind that if you’re charged with possessing child porn on your computer and claim that you didn’t put it there, your previous searches might make it difficult to prove that claim.
For this reason, it’s important to engage an experienced sex crimes defense lawyer at the Neal Davis Law Firm if you need legal help.
Beyond child porn, there are many other sensitive subjects for online searches. And while simply searching some topics may not be a crime, it could raise a red flag for law officers monitoring Internet activity.
Among such subjects are those related to terrorism, illegally modifying weapons, or making explosives at home.
For instance, if you’re a fan of murder mystery novels and run related searches, having “murder” in your search doesn’t make you a suspected murderer. But in other cases, the nature of your search could spark suspicion and an investigation by authorities, depending on the words you use in that search. Authorities can identify you and your computer’s IP address, and follow up with an investigation and even an arrest.
Beyond that, if you use torrent downloading to obtain legally copyrighted material such as a movie or music, that’s illegal. Torrenting in itself is not illegal, provided that the material being downloaded isn’t protected by copyright. But downloading or sharing copyrighted material is illegal under federal law.
If tagged with such a copyright violation, you could lose your Internet service and even face a copyright infringement lawsuit by the holder of the copyrighted material which you downloaded or streamed. (Unofficial streaming services online also may be illegal.)
It also may be illegal to share another person’s pictures and words on a website without their consent. That can be construed as a copyright violation if you own the website, and you could face fines ranging up to $150,000 and possible time in jail.
Many things are perfectly legal to view on the Internet. But many others are not. Be aware of these distinctions and protect your legal rights. Contact the Neal Davis Law Firm to discuss your legal rights if you’ve been charged with a computer crime.
Child porn sites most popular Tor destinations on the shady dark web
It may be best known for its network of shady websites selling guns, drugs and fake ID, but the Tor dark web browser is most commonly used to access child pornography, research has found.
By monitoring dark web activity over six months, it was found that 80% of traffic was to websites hosting images of child abuse, although the most popular category by page volume was the sale of illegal drugs. Such sites include Silk Road, which is now in its third incarnation after twice being shut down by the FBI.
Dark web explained
The dark web is a section of the internet that is not indexed by search engines such as Google, and not easily navigated to using a standard web browser.
Accessing the dark web requires specialised knowledge and software tools. An example of this is content only accessible by using the Tor software and anonymity network, which while protecting privacy, is often associated with illicit activities.
Presented at the annual Chaos Computer Congress in Germany, the study was conducted by Dr Gareth Owen, a computer science researcher at University of Portsmouth.
Owen found that more than four-in-five visits to dark websites were for the purpose of viewing child pornography, accounting for more than fives times as much traffic as any other category received.
“When we found this out we were stunned,” Owen admitted. “This is not what we expected at all.”
The findings, reported by the BBC, will make uncomfortable reading for defenders of the dark web and Tor, the web browser used to visit its sites. Away from child porn and the sale of drugs and guns, dark websites can be used as a means for whistle-blowers to speak anonymously, and for sources to speak to journalists without their identity being known or conversation monitored.
Owen, himself a fan of Tor, said: “Before we did this study, it was certainly my view that the dark net is a good thing. But it’s hampering the rights of children and creating a place where paedophiles can act with impunity.”
Some sites on the dark web, such as the now-closed Silk Road 2, have imposed strict anti-child abuse measures to stop such content being viewed and sold online.
But much of the traffic to these websites, which cannot be indexed by Google or visited by any browser other than Tor, may not be entirely from humans. Owen explained in his report that crawlers set up by the police and other law enforcement agencies could well be responsible for a steady stream of traffic to illegal dark websites. “What proportion are people and which are something else? We simply don’t know.”
Another issue with monitoring dark web activity, as discovered by Owen’s research, is how the sites don’t stay around for long. It was observed that the vast majority of Tor sites exist for only a matter of days or weeks before vanishing. Less than one-in-six of the 80,000 sites monitored by Owen stayed online for the duration of his six-month study.
“Most of the hidden services we only saw once. They do not tend to exist for a very long time,” Owen said.