Paedophiles exploit file-sharing

Paedophiles exploit file-sharing

Millions use file-swapping services

Internet file-sharing services are being used by paedophiles to swap images of children, say police.

Such services are more traditionally associated with downloading music and the legal battle with the music industry, intent on clamping down on the millions of surfers who use such networks.

Pornography, some of it illegal, is also being traded via file-sharing but now the US Congress has officially acknowledged the problem.

In two reports leaked to news service CNET News, investigators found indecent images of children by using keywords associated with child pornography on popular file-sharing networks.

Difficult to trace

The UK police are aware of the problem. But it has been very difficult to judge the scale of the problem or to intervene because files are shared between user's computers with no central server.

"We are aware that paedophilic image are being traded in this way but it is difficult to say what the scale of the problem is. It expands and contracts on a daily basis," said a spokeswoman for the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit.

"It is difficult to track and trace because of the sheer sizes of the networks," she added.

There are ongoing investigations of individuals believed to be using file-swapping services, she said.

The anarchic nature of peer-to-peer services has caused a huge headache for the music industry.

The fact that paedophiles have realised the effectiveness of the networks to trade indecent images will provide fresh ammunition for those intent on ending the peer-to-peer explosion.

Huge problem

It is similar to the idea of paedophiles swapping images in the street and there is nothing that can be done about that

Peter Robbins, IWF

It will however not be an easy task.

"It is a difficult area to deal with," said Peter Robbins, Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Watch Foundation, the UK watchdog charged with clamping down on net porn.

"We have no real handle on how many child abuse images are shared on peer-to-peer networks," he said.

Police and the public have been shocked by the scale of Operation Ore, a UK investigation that has revealed at least 7,000 individuals who have paid for child pornography on the internet.

The investigation is still on-going and 43 more arrests were made in London on Thursday.

But sharing porn through file-swapping services could dwarf such investigations and has the advantage of being far harder to stop.

"It is similar to the idea of paedophiles swapping images in the street and there is nothing that can be done about that," said Mr Robbins, himself an ex-senior policeman.

Privacy issues

"The fact that they are using a public network means it isn't entirely safe. Anything can be intercepted on the way and paedophiles are at risk of being identified and arrested," he warned.

But going to internet service providers who host peer-to-peer networks is not an option because under European law internet service providers are under no legal obligation to monitor such services.

And there is also a strong desire to guard privacy, as was witnessed by the recent public backlash against UK Government proposals to increase the amount of surveillance of e-mail and internet data.