FBI spends 2 weeks hosting child porn

[Sunshine1868]

http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/19/fbi-reveal-code-lawsuit-dark-web-pedophiles/

 

Quote

"The FBI seized the Tor-based site known as "Playpen" in February 2015 and kept it running via its own servers for two weeks -- during this time, the bureau deployed a hacking tool that identified at least 1,300 IP addresses of visitors to the site worldwide."

Although this article is primarily about the FBI being required to release the code it used to infiltrate the website, I find it extremely disturbing that the FBI did not take down the content; instead they continued to host it for multiple weeks.

 

Does anybody else think this is just plain wrong?

Edited February 20, 2016 by Blade of Grass
Night theme compatibility

[Stuff_]

Click bait title, once again. 

 

No this isn't wrong. It's essentially a honeypot. 

[Dabombinable]

Just now, Sunshine1868 said:

http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/19/fbi-reveal-code-lawsuit-dark-web-pedophiles/

 

Although this article is primarily about the FBI being required to release the code it used to infiltrate the website, I find it extremely disturbing that the FBI did not take down the content; instead they continued to host it for multiple weeks.

 

Does anybody else think this is just plain wrong?

Note that at least 1300 pedophile will be easier to find.

[minibois]

It's a honeypot, so those 1300 pedophiles can be tracked (in theory and about 1300)

[christianled59]

It's a double sided blade. They used it to track peds but at the same time they, themselves, were in possession of child porn. 

[Sunshine1868]

I completely understand the honeypot concept, but its still all a bit f*cked up if you ask me...

[Sunshine1868]

Just now, christianled59 said:

It's a double sided blade. They used it to track peds but at the same time they, themselves, were in possession of child porn. 

possession & distribution (and it was intended to be distributed)

[christianled59]

Just now, Sunshine1868 said:

possession & distribution

Although they shouldn't, the FBI acts above the law with little to no consequences. 

[RuLeZ]

I thought that they couldnt see the IP with TOR, because if connects to 3 servers before it connects the 2 IPS, how they did it?

[samcool55]

Nice that they are hunting them, but this is not the right way.

Owning CP is illegal and you can get into jail because of that. And the FBI has that, and even hosted it. So they should get the same punishments as the people that were keeping the site in the air before them, right?

 

Also, how can they know a guy from the fbi copied some cp to sell it in the underground market? I mean that would be a genius move.

He or she know the places to sell it, and know how to avoid getting caught because well, caching people is their job! Soo... why don't we hear such things?

I mean fbi employees are prepared to do a lot for money, remember the bitcoin theft?

[TidaLWaveZ]

Yes this is absolutely wrong of the FBI to do.  Just because it's a "honeypot" or in literal terms "entrapment", doesn't make it ok.  Yes it is good in the way that it could catch pedophiles, but knowingly hosting a child pornography site pretty much makes you just as bad as the original host.

 

Honestly they are just breaking the law and not being punished and it's a slippery slope.  Soon enough they'll be able to just force companies(Apple) to unlock peoples phones so they can view information on it.

[GeekJump]

If they just kept the site up but not the content I would say "Yay FBI FTW" but if they also kept the content up and available that's a little weird. Did none of the higher ups see any problems with that?

 

Couldn't they achieve the same result hosting a page identical to the site minus the content? Like let the creep-o's visited, poke around trying to find the goods, all the while the FBI is uploading their info to trace.

[Lethal Seraph]

At least well know some shit has being done with these animals lurking the web. It's a dirty job but someone has to do it, I respect that.

[LoreBeast]

3 minutes ago, samcool55 said:

Nice that they are hunting them, but this is not the right way.

Owning CP is illegal and you can get into jail because of that.

 

Agree that is good but not for the sake of owning it. I am studying Psychology an I truly believe that they have Psychological issue's that attract them to CP instead of punishing them for this Realy bad crime they should try to find out why it happens in the first place and then try to kill it at the source. As a general poeple like punishment more than reformation.   

[Stuff_]

17 minutes ago, christianled59 said:

It's a double sided blade. They used it to track peds but at the same time they, themselves, were in possession of child porn. 

Well, what about sting operations? Are all those bad as well? 

 

Come on. This is NOT something new. They took down the origin of the content, and used it to get more users. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

3 minutes ago, GeekJump said:

If they just kept the site up but not the content I would say "Yay FBI FTW" but if they also kept the content up and available that's a little weird. Did none of the higher ups see any problems with that?

 

Couldn't they achieve the same result hosting a page identical to the site minus the content? Like let the creep-o's visited, poke around trying to find the goods, all the while the FBI is uploading their info to trace.

No because as sick as it sounds, attempting to find cp is not illegal for obvious reasons. You can only get them if they actually grab the files. 

[Vanderburg]

11 minutes ago, TidaLWaveZ said:

Just because it's a "honeypot" or in literal terms "entrapment", doesn't make it ok.

That's not how entrapment works. Entrapment is if they coerce you to do something you weren't already going to do.

[samcool55]

6 minutes ago, LoreBeast said:

Agree that is good but not for the sake of owning it. I am studying Psychology an I truly believe that they have Psychological issue's that attract them to CP instead of punishing them for this Realy bad crime they should try to find out why it happens in the first place and then try to kill it at the source. As a general poeple like punishment more than reformation.   

Well i believe it is psychological too, but i don't see it as an issue.

It's what they prefer, and the world forces us to accept it's bad. Which it usually is.

I believe they should given something that satisfies people that want CP, but isn't CP. Like giving smokers an alternative that's harmless.

 

You have people that love boys, or girls, or old people, or children. It's just a preference, and that doesn't mean it's wrong. I believe it's the same stuff like being gay years and years ago... But that's what i think and CP is bad, but people that want it should get an alternative, that's all i want to say.

[Howlingwolf101]

11 minutes ago, GeekJump said:

If they just kept the site up but not the content I would say "Yay FBI FTW" but if they also kept the content up and available that's a little weird. Did none of the higher ups see any problems with that?

 

Couldn't they achieve the same result hosting a page identical to the site minus the content? Like let the creep-o's visited, poke around trying to find the goods, all the while the FBI is uploading their info to trace.

The thing is, I'm sure there are forums that would let others know with like, Oh hey btw don't go to that site, the FBI has taken it over. At least this way they can catch as many of them as they can. or at least as many of the stupid ones as they can.

[LoreBeast]

1 minute ago, samcool55 said:

Well i believe it is psychological too, but i don't see it as an issue.

It's what they prefer, and the world forces us to accept it's bad. Which it usually is.

I believe they should given something that satisfies people that want CP, but isn't CP. Like giving smokers an alternative that's harmless.

 

You have people that love boys, or girls, or old people, or children. It's just a preference, and that doesn't mean it's wrong. I believe it's the same stuff like being gay years and years ago... But that's what i think and CP is bad, but people that want it should get an alternative, that's all i want to say.

Agree with you on this but its like a undercover drug dealer giving out drugs and then the police bust you for taking it. BUST THE PRODUCERS NOT THE USERS 

[Display_Name]

I think the "good" out weights the bad in this situation. 

[Aphilentus]

What the FBI did is justifiable according to the most recent precedent set forth by Jacobson v. United States (1992). In Jacobson v. United States, Jacobson was sent child pornography by postal service investigators, and the investigators were not charged with entrapment. He was convicted at first, but appealed, and the supreme court overturned the conviction not on the grounds of entrapment, but not on the grounds that Jacobson hadn't shown any earlier interest in consuming child pornography and therefore would likely not have done so had he not received mail from the investigators. This means that undercover investigations like this are perfectly legal.

 

So, if sending someone child pornography in order to encourage them to seek out more is legal, then not sending out anything and merely waiting for people to access the content you're hosting is certainly consistent with the law. But each judge interprets case precedent differently, so we'll see how the c. 1,300 accused will do in their trials.

[samcool55]

21 minutes ago, LoreBeast said:

Agree with you on this but its like a undercover drug dealer giving out drugs and then the police bust you for taking it. BUST THE PRODUCERS NOT THE USERS 

Well usually people that make CP probably use it too, i don't think that much people make it and try to sell it as much as possible without "enjoying" it themselves.

They need both in this case, but they have to focus on production. The worst thing is the production in this case because child abuse is needed to get it.

With drugs making it isn't really harmful, using it is a lot more dangerous.

[ChineseChef]

This is an old story isn't it?  From what I have read from other sources, if its the same story, the FBI didn't actually distribute anything.  They took over the site, installed a tracking malware/something, then when users tried to log into the site they got an error, then simply redirected them to the login page.  They never actually distributed any child porn. 

 

Either way, I don't see the issue with running the site for the very short time they did while they used it as a honeypot.  The site was already there, it already had members, and the users were already actively trying to engage in this activity.  They basically just kept the lights on and tracked who showed up.  Totally different than if they had created the site, or something like that. 

 

If you want to clean up the filth, you are going to have to get a little dirty.  I just feel bad for the people that have to look at all of the abuse (mostly by family members), sift through it, categorize it, try to identify victims and suspects, and then go home to their families and try not to be super jaded.

[Howlingwolf101]

3 minutes ago, ChineseChef said:

This is an old story isn't it?  From what I have read from other sources, if its the same story, the FBI didn't actually distribute anything.  They took over the site, installed a tracking malware/something, then when users tried to log into the site they got an error, then simply redirected them to the login page.  They never actually distributed any child porn. 

 

Either way, I don't see the issue with running the site for the very short time they did while they used it as a honeypot.  The site was already there, it already had members, and the users were already actively trying to engage in this activity.  They basically just kept the lights on and tracked who showed up.  Totally different than if they had created the site, or something like that. 

 

If you want to clean up the filth, you are going to have to get a little dirty.  I just feel bad for the people that have to look at all of the abuse (mostly by family members), sift through it, categorize it, try to identify victims and suspects, and then go home to their families and try not to be super jaded.

right? especially if you have kids of your own. That would be horrible