Wyoming agent develops touted porn tracking software

[R. A. Hettinga]

<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-05-14-cp-program_x.htm>

USA Today




Wyoming agent develops touted porn tracking software
By Sarah Cooke, Associated Press
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A Wyoming law enforcement agent was credited Friday with
developing software that weeds out child pornography in file-sharing
networks, resulting in at least 1,000 investigations and 65 arrests
nationwide.

 The software, written last year by Division of Criminal Investigation
special agent Flint Waters, cracks down on the growing use of
"peer-to-peer" or P2P networks.

 The networks allow users to connect computers directly with one another to
exchange files. Officials say they provide greater anonymity than
traditional Internet servers that are easier to track.

 They can also be much quicker and easier to access.

 "This problem was so widespread that it was clearly easier for a child to
obtain these images than it would be for them to buy a magazine depicting
adult pornography," Attorney General Pat Crank said Friday.

 After testing the software last fall, Waters and other DCI officials
offered it free of charge to local, state, national and even international
law enforcement agencies.

 The results surprised even the most veteran officers.

 Images of children as young as 7 years old were being trafficked worldwide
through file-sharing networks easily accessible to children, such as Kazaa.
Some images took as little as 14 seconds to load.

 "We hit everyone from 13-year-olds to 55-year-olds with active molests on
children," Waters said.

 Charges against the 65 people arrested so far have included possession and
distribution of child pornography and sexual abuse of children. The 1,000
investigations have involved more than 350 searches of computers and other
property, officials said.

 Specific cases include Jimmy Richard Morrison, a California man who faces
federal pornography distribution charges in Wyoming alleging he was a P2P
client named "Pedokiller."

 Morrison, of Modesto, Calif., told authorities he used the P2P networks
because police were known to be examining Internet chat rooms for child
pornography activity, Waters said.

 "This guy had pictures of two of his victims on an ID card around his
neck," Waters said.

 To date, more than 3,100 computers have been identified exchanging child
pornography. Of these, nearly 2,000 were discovered by Wyoming DCI special
agents.

 "Law enforcement has a new tool to combat the targeting of our children
for sexual exploitation," Gov. Dave Freudenthal said. "As a governor, and
even more so as a parent, I am extraordinarily grateful for the work
Special Agent Waters and the Wyoming DCI have done. Their dedication means
that purveyors and users of child pornography might have fewer places to
hide."

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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
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