News Roundup: Online paedophiles hit the news
Published: 12 Feb 2001 18:02 GMT
Child pornography on the Net was in the news Monday as seven men appeared in court after being convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography. Each was a member of the notorious "Wonderland Club" -- the international ring that used the Internet to distribute images, sounds and video of child abuse. Sentencing is due Tuesday.
One of the convicted men has claimed that the Net was vital in creating a community for interested parties to trade pictures of children being abused, raising again the question of whether the Web is actually increasing the amount of child abuse happening across the world. Members of the club gained status if they could provide online images of children actually being abused.
In response to fears about the dangers of paedophiles using instant messaging services to contact children online, Internet portal Yahoo! has altered its UK IM chat client so that it blocks access to adult chatrooms. It does not intend to remove the links from the widely used US service. It also emerges that the government's new High-Tech Crime Unit will not be treating the issue of paedophilia on the Net as top priority.
Read the full facts here:
NEWS:
Yahoo!'s paedophile move does not protect children
Tue, 13 Feb Just how effective is Yahoo!'s decision to block US chatrooms?
Wonderland used encryption to swap child abuse pictures
Tue, 13 Feb The Net reveals its dark side as an international lending library of horrific images
Wonderland Club paedophiles to be sentenced
Mon, 12 Feb British men who used Internet to "trade" images and film of children being abused face just three years
Yahoo! blocks adult chat from the UK
Mon, 12 Feb Yahoo! moves to calm fears about paedophiles using the Internet
Exclusive: Government will not prioritise paedophile cases
Mon, 12 Feb Rising number of Internet paedophile cases will not be a priority for new high-tech cybersquad, even if senior ministers think it should be
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