Introduction:
Child pornography is a very large and in many cases touchy subject. This is one of the reasons that it is hard to catch the people perpetrating it. Many people do not want to talk about it because it is such a horrible thing. This silence is one of the things child pornographers count on to keep their business going. In recent months the issue of child pornography has become visible in the media. Talk show hosts like Oprah Winfrey have produced shows exposing some of the information they have found about child pornography and the people who help to make it such a large and profitable industry. Recently, Oprah had a young man on her show who had been doing sex shows at home and on the Internet for money and who is now working with government officials to help bring down the people who prey on children through this medium.
Another thing that keeps these web sites going is the amount of money that can, and is being made with this business. Some reports show that child pornography over the internet is more than a 50 billion dollar a year business. With technology growing faster and faster everyday and the Internet being such an instant source gratification in so many ways it has become easier for people who run child pornography sites to make a lot of money in a short amount of time. Another thing that keeps child pornography sites going is the laws. The United States has laws against child pornography and prostitution, but many other countries do not have the same laws. In some countries prostitution is legal. This link to other places makes it very appealing to people who wish to view and/or promote this type of material. There are, however, people and organizations in some of these countries that are trying to help expose these child pornographers. There are several organizations that have international ties and work with countries outside of the United States to help stop the spread of child pornography on the Internet. There are organizations that work with local and federal agencies in the United States, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to help locate and round up the people running these child pornography rings and put a stop to the people using them. In the past year there have been two major child pornography rings busted. In both cases the people running the rings were spread across more than one country. Both cases included people from the United States and Canada.
The sites listed on the 2005 white paper on this topic are great for information on protecting children from predators as well as informing parents on the issues, dangers, and prevention of child pornography. There are some organizations listed in it that help with these issues. In this addendum I will give some additional sites for that purpose as well as some sites with more recent information. Some of these will be about specific cases and others will be about the laws that are in place to help protect our children. One of the sites of particular interest included help and support from the adult film industry. Some of the people in this industry have gotten together to help stop child pornography and the people who keep it going. This group helps to report and investigate suspected child pornographers and their customers in order to assist the government agencies with their reviews of suspected sites.
Annotated Websites:
Child pornography on the Internet
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/crime/childporn.htm
This site is very similar to the 2005 white paper put together for this class. The layout is almost exactly the same and the information is similar.
International Humanitarian Campaign Against the Exploitation of Children
http://www.helpsavekids.org/
This site offers information and ways of helping to support efforts of deterring the exploitation of children and child pornography. The web site boasts participation from almost 140 countries.
Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection
http://www.asacp.org/index.php
This site is for an organization that is dedicated to helping protect children and stop pornography. This organization fosters communication and cooperation with the online adult industry.
End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes
http://www.ecpat.net/eng/index.asp
ECPAT is a network of organizations and individuals working together to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
http://www.fbi.gov/innocent.htm
This is the FBI website dealing with child pornography and "Innocent Images National Initiative."
Innocence en danger: International Child Protection Movement
http://www.innocenceindanger.org/index.php?id=212
This site contains information on child pornography and some of the frightening statistics. It also provides information on the organization and how it is working to help stop this horrible crime.
Articles About Child Pornography and Catching the Criminals
The following articles give information about child pornography over the Internet and how they are continuing to grow.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=431464
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2064
The following sites document the police action taken against child pornography rings and people found with child pornography on their computers both in the United States and in other countries.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,35684,00.html
http://english.people.com/cn/english/200101/11/eng20010111_60160.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/15/eveningnews/main593548.shtml
Most recent child ring exposed:
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/cnspolitics/story.html?id+ac1b905c-f401-44e0-9b87-ab8b83d22182
http://castlecops.com/t149336-Child_porn_ring_busted.html
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06031603.html
http://wfrv.com/topstories/local_story_144220126.html
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060603/NEWS02/606030406
Child Pornography Cases, Laws, and Statistics
The following sites document cases and laws which pertain to child pornography and in many cases include the use of the Internet.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/childporn/
This site gives some specific cases of child pornography and their outcomes.
http://www.adultweblaw.com/laws/childporn.htm
This site gives the specific laws and statutes that discuss child pornography.
http://www.cyber-rights.org/reports/interdev.htm
This site deals with laws from other countries dealing with child pornography.
http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/news/nr/2002/doc_30529.html
This site shows laws that have been enacted in Canada regarding child pornography.
http://www.icmec.org/en_X1/pdf/ModelLegislationFINAL.pdf
This is a pdf file of a document titled "Child Pornography: Model Legislation and Review." It was put together in 2006 by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html
This site gives Internet pornography statistics for different areas of pornography including child pornography.
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