Rickrolled to kiddie porn? You could land in jail…

Brian Ambrozy 23 Mar, 2008 at 4:34pm ET Article published in Tech

Comments

1. 
   23 Mar 2008 ~ 6:25pm shwaip maybe i should stop using stumbleupon...
2. 
   23 Mar 2008 ~ 7:08pm mmonnin Time to start hacking into the wireless of the neighbors and browsing using someone else's IP...
3. 
   23 Mar 2008 ~ 7:51pm Leonardo Although Arstechnica generally has accurate reporting, I am left wondering if they don't have the complete story on this? Have law enforcement agencies stepped over the line before? Well, of course they have. But still, this just has the feeling of being one-sided.
4. 
   23 Mar 2008 ~ 9:32pm primesuspect They link directly to the case files.
5. 
   24 Mar 2008 ~ 11:53am Linc

   primesuspect wrote:

   They link directly to the case files.

   IT'S A TRAP!
6. 
   24 Mar 2008 ~ 12:52pm Thrax

   Keebler wrote:

   IT'S A TRAP!

   
   My lolis... Let me show you them.
7. 
   24 Mar 2008 ~ 7:55pm Nomad I'm feelin' lucky fails again.
8. 
   25 Mar 2008 ~ 1:29pm CB

   primesuspect wrote:

   Ars has an article up about the FBI seeding the internet with kiddie-porn honeypot links.
   
   Apparently if you get tricked into clicking a link that leads to something that could be construed as child pornography or having the appearance of nude minors, you could be arrested and charged. Read on to find out more of what we've decided is a "gross perversion of justice".

   
   But wait... What if the link is your post is one of the traps??!! How can I know, I mean you admit that it's related to 'kiddie-porn'. If I click on it could I be arrested??!
9. 
   25 Mar 2008 ~ 6:28pm Radio91P Good, Trap the pervs
10. 
    25 Mar 2008 ~ 8:01pm Thrax You seem to misunderstand, Radio.
    
    It's not just catching people who are intentionally opening the honeypot, but anyone who may unwittingly stumble across it. There's no way of knowing that what you're clicking on could land you on a federal sex offender list, in jail, as a felon, etc.
    
    That is exactly what happened to the person in question.
11. 
    25 Mar 2008 ~ 8:30pm Harudath It's stupid, the referrer should get investigated, not the person that got misguided.
12. 
    26 Mar 2008 ~ 6:40am mmonnin I doubt the Government is going to investigate itself on this matter.
13. 
    26 Mar 2008 ~ 6:10pm Radio91P Very rarely when searching on google, yahoo, or the like, have had something come up with something that could be misconstrued as sexual in nature. Yahoo has a built in lock for anything that is of a sexual nature. I might see the possibility that someone who is intentionally looking for porn, or something like that, could be bated that does that have the intent to look at kiddy porn. I agree that they need something more in the way of evidence proving that their intent was just that.
14. 
    26 Mar 2008 ~ 6:16pm Radio91P I would also be curious as to what the link actually said. I can't imagine the courts coming to that decision if the link said, " Naked Girls". If the link was something else more obvious like, " Naked Underage Girls" I would agree that their decision was just, clearly there was intent in clicking on the link.
15. 
    27 Mar 2008 ~ 2:39pm airbornflght This is absolutely infuriating. I can't even find anything to equate this to in the physical world, but come on. I don't see how they can possibly live with themselves by prosecuting the act of simply opening a web page.
    
    Now if they had a download link to say 'download video of minors' then I might be able to see the justification, but even then it is a little sketchy. But at least then they could say the person in question downloaded the file with intent of watching child porn.
16. 
    1 Nov 2008 ~ 11:32pm iThink I really think that there should be a more justified system. Just because someone clicked the link doesn't make them a pedophile, they could of easily clicked a misleading link or even be children themselves. So they should find and punish the people who MADE the website, not the probable mislead person who clicked a misleading link to the page.
    
    A problem it is..... or was. Now there are probably none unless they are traps. But if they want to find pedophiles, just look around. There are tons of them. And every day I hear about children being kidnapped and why? Because humans are the most low life scum ever to exist. So full of lust and greed, but, we are all like that. Although some worse then others...... The one's that can't control it...... The ones that want the power..... The ones that rape the helpless..... Friends, we are humans. Made to live, live to kill, our lives end by being killed. And we hurt many along the way.
    
    But not all are bad.... No, most are good. But we all have the moments when the animal instinct takes over, but 10% of us can't hold it or control it.
    
    Aliens coming to Earth? They'll be scared sh*tless when they see us and turn around.