Music and Movie Downloads...

Music and Movie Downloads...
Piracy is more than Yo, Ho, Ho! and Rides in Disneyworld!

All of our young people are wired and wireless, every day, from everywhere. That means they are very good at using the technologies. They are also very good at abusing them.

With all of the MP3 players, iPods and other video and audio-capable devices they are looking for songs and videos and movies to fill them. And with devices that can hold 25,000 and more songs and twenty movies, buying them isn't a viable option, at least for young people. (Do the math, $.99 times 25,000.)

So, what do they do? They do the obvious, using the easiest and cheapest route. They steal music and movies by downloading them illegally from the Internet or from other users, using peer-to-peer software, like Limewire and others.

Sometimes they know they are stealing, sometimes they don't. They may or may not have understood the consequences. They may not realize the difference between being able to download something and being permitted to. They may think that no one can figure out who they are, or what they are doing. But the law doesn't distinguish between those who steal knowing it's illegal and those who steal without knowing it's against the law. The consequences are the same.

In addition, illegal music downloading has destroyed retailers and the business model for the music industry, as we knew it. It threatens to do the same for the motion picture industry, and perhaps the computer software and gaming industries as well.

And, simply speaking, it's wrong.

And parents may find themselves on the losing side of a lawsuit, with the college tuition savings being spent on penalties paid to the industry groups instead of the college their kids hope to attend.

The settlements typically fall between $3000 and $6000 for music piracy, and more for motion picture piracy.

About a year ago, I flew to Wisconsin to hold a presentation on Internet safety and piracy risks for middle schoolers. The real star of that event was a 13-year old boy, named Benjamin. Ben was a soft-spoken gentle respectful young man. He was also scared to death. It wasn't his fear of public speaking that created this, but rather it was his fear of the consequences of his actions from the year before. You see, Benjamin had downloaded four motion pictures which were new releases. He never watched any of them, and one of them wouldn't play at all. But shortly after he downloaded them (having learned how to do that from his older sibling), his beloved grandfather (who looked like he was right out of the "Waltons") was sued for $600,000.

His grandfather was confused about the allegations of the lawsuit. How could he be sued for doing something he didn't even know you could do? Downloading movies? He could barely turn the computer on! So, he ignored the pleadings.

Ben, wanting to be honest with his grandfather (who was raising him), confessed. His grandfather, although disappointed, thought that this was all a big mistake. Clearly everyone was doing this (at least by downloading music). What was the big fuss about? He even called the number on the correspondence and spoke with someone in the offices of the MPAA counsel. They told him he had to pay a hefty settlement amount to avoid the lawsuit and possible damages of $600,000 ($150,000 per motion picture). He explained that he couldn't pay $600, and asked for something more reasonable. When nothing better was offered, he hung up, somehow thinking it was resolved or would go away.

But it didn't go away. (Legal proceedings don't go away very easily.) Sadly, a default judgment (when you don't show up in court, or don't answer the complaint, you lose "by default.") was entered against him. When the action was filed to enforce the judgment, he luckily found legal counsel. His counsel contacted the MPAA, and through caring and creative lawyering, worked out a deal that involved Benjamin explaining the consequences of downloading movies illegally and how his actions could have cost his grandfather everything he had.

The MPAA agreed, conditioned on their getting an expert they trusted to conduct the presentation. The lawyer said that she wanted a particular expert that she trusted. Luckily for Benjamin, I was the one each side had in mind.

So, standing by my side, Ben (tears in his eyes) talked about what had happened to him and why it doesn't pay to download a movie illegally.

That's one story.

But there are others.

A young student from an honors high school in New York was sued for downloading music, several years ago. Her family didn't have very much money, and the settlement amount was about $2000. When the story got out, many others offered to pay the settlement, but her mother refused. Expecting this young teen to become headline news for doing something to change the world, or for her accomplishments as a professional when she grew up, it was shocking to find her famous for stealing music online.

Now, I know that not many people are terribly sympathetic about the music industry's concerns with kids downloading music. For some reason, they tell me that they are more sympathetic about the motion picture industry's concerns about motion picture piracy.
But whether you think Justin Timberlake has enough money that he won't miss your teen's $.99 for the purchase of his track online, or think the music should be free, or that the music industry is greedy or whatever people tell me the reason is that they continue to download or permit their kids to download, it doesn't matter. It's wrong and it's illegal.

And they can and are getting caught.

I'd like to hear from you about this. Do you, as parents, care if your kids are stealing media online? Are you worried only about the possible lawsuits and damages you may have to pay? Why or why not?

One of our teenangels chapters (in Westchester Cty, NY) recently conducted a small survey of fellow teens to find out what they thought about piracy.

What we learned surprised us.

Check out their powerpoint at Teenangels.org, and read what they have to say about what they learned right here on their blog.

my 2 cents.

Parry Aftab
Aftab.com
WiredSafety.org

References to Teenangels.org for parenting advice

Portsmouth Herald Local News: Internet safety My teenangels are the best! :-)

Wired Moms, Parry's new project to get moms wired and help them protect all kids online, especially their own.

want to join? visit wiredsafety.org

Piracy - More than a ride in Disneyworld.

With the giants Google and Viacom battling it out on piracy issues, I thought I'd share our video on piracy...

enjoy.

Dateline's To Catch A Predator - Chris Hansen's new book

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525950095/102-8344313-6380120

Chris Hansen's new book comes out tomorrow. At his book launch on Monday, the room was filled with those featured in his book.

They included extraordinary teens. One group of teens work to keep the memory of their 13 year old friend alive, after she was murdered by someone she met online. Another group (my Teenangels) teach others how to stay safe and be smart online.

The group also included law enforcement officers, from Seattle, Ohio and Virginia, sharing their invesitgations, lives and motives.

They included others you may have not expected. When the show airs, no one thinks about the spouse who received a phone call warning them that their husband was caught in the Dateline sting and will be appearing to huge ratings on national TV. What happens when the cameras stop rolling? Who are these collateral victims? Chris will introduce them to you.

It talks about MySpace and new technologies and how we need to make sure that we don't throw the Internet out with the MySpace bathwater.

And in one chapter, it tells you about me. Perhaps in more granular detail that I would have wanted. But it shares why I do what I do.

This book is real, meaningful and fascinating.

After reading it, I had decided not to write another book for parents on Internet safety. This one does it well enough that I won't have to.

Thanks Chris. Thanks Laura. Thanks to all involved, especially those willing to strip away the makeup and walls we wear and put in place, to share your story and hopefully help keep kids a bit safer because of it.

My 2 cents.
Parry

Billion-dollar battle: Viacom vs. YouTube | Chicago Tribune

Billion-dollar battle: Viacom vs. YouTube Chicago Tribune

"But what is clear is that many YouTube users who often post clips from TV shows, movies and sporting events have few reservations about violating a copyright."Kids don't really care about copyrights," said Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy attorney. "To them, the Internet is another TiVo or on-demand video channel."A lot of kids think if you really weren't allowed to [upload protected content to YouTube], you wouldn't be able to. If everyone else is putting this stuff up on YouTube, it must be OK."Aftab helped Amanda Cimini, a 16-year-old in New York, survey about 100 classmates about copyright issues. The survey, which focused on music downloads, found that 73 percent of students used a file-sharing site to illegally download music, even though 86 percent knew it was illegal.The students were so willing to download illegally because only 3 percent said they knew someone who had been caught, the survey found.Asked about YouTube, Cimini said her classmates "are probably not aware that uploading a video could" violate a copyright."

Amanda is one of our teenangels (teenangels.org) and as her independent research project, with another one of our teenangels, surveyed young people and their attitudes about downloading music.

The one surprise was that they were not aware of the consequences, having forgotten the number of young people who were sued by the music and motion picture industry.

Perhaps we need to tell that story more...

but I also suspect that the best move for Viacom and for Google is to look for a special approach, something innovative, something that will help promote the legal use of content and still allow the posting of some content to promote it.

I stand, as always, along with my volunteers and teenangels, willing to help.

You can view our anti-piracy video at youtube.com.

Parry

9th Circuit decision on Frederick, the off campus school disciplinary case now before the US Supreme Ct

the decision being appealed.

Breif for the US Supreme Ct case dealing with off campus school authority

I expect that for the first time since the Vietnam War protest case, Tinker, the US Supreme Ct will help guide schools on what they can and can't do with off campus school. Having a big impact on myspace bashing sites and cyberbullying, this is the case to watch. This brief was filed by those opposing an expansive reading of the school's authority.

I'll try and find the other briefs.

Yale Daily News - Bill would restrict kids’ MySpace profiles

Yale Daily News - Bill would restrict kids’ MySpace profiles
I am concerned that well-intentioned laws, developed by well-intentioned public officials are missing the mark. I have offered and continue to offer my help and the help of our other experts at WiredSafety.org in identifying safety measures and tools and best practices, as well as educational efforts, all designed to keep young people safer online.

General Blumenthal, I'm here to help. But I don't think requiring authentication of minors and parental consent is the answer, nor do I think it could work.

Let's work together to help frame something that will.

Parry

Connecticut Bill Would Force MySpace Age Check: Top News Stories at Officer.com

Connecticut Bill Would Force MySpace Age Check: Top News Stories at Officer.com
While well-intentioned, I know of no way that social networks can verify ages, or confirm that they are dealing with the custodial parents, and not jeopardize the safety and privacy of kids.

We need to address these concerns and come up with ways to make it work.

This isn't it.
Parry

News & Politics - Turkey ruling blocks access to youtube.com

News & Politics
A Turkish court ruled that access to Google's YouTube.com should be blocked because of content posted about Turkish leaders. This may become a growing trend, as some Australian schools are now banned from allowing access to the site.

N.J.: Sex Offender Internet Use Targeted - Forbes.com

N.J.: Sex Offender Internet Use Targeted - Forbes.com As more and more lawmakers try and regulate cyberabuse, the likelihood of their going too far, and violating constitutional protections, increases. The new NJ bills contain some good protections and some that are not so good. I find it sad that the state where I was born, reside and operate from forgets that I am here.

The best approach is to reach out to community, advocacy and expert groups before the bill is proposed so we can all work together ot make the Internet safer, effectively.

Parry

COPPA Protects Children But Challenges Lie Ahead

COPPA Protects Children But Challenges Lie Ahead
FTC reports on the five year experience on COPPA...

The Technology Curmudgeon: Sunday Driving

The Technology Curmudgeon: Sunday Driving
I love it when someone gets it and can make it look easy. This blogger has done such a great job of laying out the basics that all I can do is link.

Yeh...what HE said. :-)

Parry

toledoblade.com -- Wash. state man held in attempt to meet B.G. girl

toledoblade.com -- Wash. state man held in attempt to meet B.G. girl
This is becoming an epidemic. It has to stop.
If you're a mom and are sick and tired of these kinds of things, join us at WiredSafety.org's new WiredMoms program.
we need you.
You need us.
Together...

Cyberbullying: A New Twist to an Old Plot

Cyberbullying: A New Twist to an Old Plot
Want to learn everything there is to know about cyberbullying? Visit our cyberbullying tutorial at wiredsafety.org.

Cyberbullying: How to fight the new bullies | PARADE Magazine

Cyberbullying: How to fight the new bullies PARADE Magazine
In this last Sunday's Parade, Rosalind Wiseman wrote a great piece on cyberbullying. Read it. You may learn something.

DenverPost.com - Domain group to .xxx-amine a spot for porn

DenverPost.com - Domain group to .xxx-amine a spot for porn
Hopefully people will take the time to understand what this is and what it isn't before reacting. Too many child protection groups think this is a recirculation of the old XXX proposals. It isn't.
This doesn't legitimize porn, doesn't legalize anything that is illegal and isn't designed to create a backdoor censorship law.
It is content-blind.
Anyone who wants to buy a XXX domain name can. They don't have to be a porn site. (Not sure why general interest sites would want one, but they could if they wanted to.) It has nothing to do with their content at all...EXCEPT they could not have child porn or sexually exploit minors. This is an important addition to our arsenal in child protection, since many countries do not criminalize child pornography. A contractual commitment, with the stick of taking their domain name if they do not comply, has the ability to do what the criminal laws cannot.

In addition, many porn sites are involved in shoddy or fraudlent business practices, selling your personal data or not securing your creditcard information. When a charge occurs that needs ot be corrected, you cannot find a real person to talk with and it creates serious problems.

A XXX registered company will have to adopt data security and privacy practices and put their domains at risk if they don't.

Is it the answer to all cyberwrongs? No. But it's a step...

World Wide Web - Judge Dismisses $30 Million MySpace Lawsuit

World Wide Web - Judge Dismisses $30 Million MySpace Lawsuit
To clarify, we don't "consult for" MySpace. We are a charitable watchdog group that works with the industry to help make the Internet safer.

What do we want from MySpace?

Judge says MySpace isn't liable for alleged sexual assault on girl - Los Angeles Times

This is not the first time individuals have sued service providers. In fact, long before the Communications Decency Act was made effective in early 1997, there were two lines of cases. One that held the service providers liable for things that their users did and the one that said they weren't responsible for what their users did. The two most significant cases involved Compuserve and Prodigy.

The issue of liability tipped on the level of control the service provider had over the users. I often explain this using publisher liability law examples (which is where the cases first were developed). When an author writes a defamatory statement for which he or she can be sued, they are not the only ones who may be liable. Their publisher also can be sued (and often is, as the only deep pocket defendant the plaintiff can find). The can be sued and held liable because they have extensive control over the final published product. They often have editorial control, fact check statements and decide what is included or trashed from the book.

Holding them liable in this case makes sense. The book is equally theirs. The liability is too.

Now, look at others who have been sued in the past in under the publisher theories. Often these include booksellers, the local book store. (Lawyers sue everyone they can find in many cases to make sure that the person who is legally liable is included.)

But what kind of control does the local book store owner have over the published work? Do they edit it? Do they review it before ordering it to sell, checking for accuracy? Do they have their teams of lawyers review the work for libelous statements? No. Of course not. They are lucky if they read the cover notes. They have no power over the book,other than to decide whether to order it or not.

So the courts have looked to this and held that those in the chain of a libelous act cannot be held liable unless they have notice or control over the libelous act. It makes sense.

One of the early cases cited this as the line of reasoning they applied in holding the service provider not liable for what their users did. But the other case said that because the service provider reserved the right to delete inappropriate posts and had a terms of service policy, that they had the power to control the content, and could be held liable.

Had this line of reasoning continued, no service provider would ever monitor their channels, channles or site, since trying ot make it safer or more appropriate could be grounds for holding them liable. That conflicted with the public interest of making sites more responsible and having them implement safer practices. Punishing the ones who tried to do something didn't make sense.

The CDA included a limitation of liability section to make sure that the service providers who took actions to try to police their site would not be penalized. It provided that a service provider, unless it was in true control of the content (such as being the editor for the content, or sponsoring it), had no liability for what their users did.

When the US Supreme Ct struck down the CDA sections on censorship grounds later that year, this provision survived.

And it should.

We can't expect an service provider to be responsible for what their millions of users do.

Now, in this case, the issues are a bit broader. A young teen girl accessed MySpace. She was under their required minimum age. MySpace initially set the minimum age for their users at 16, and then educed it to fourteen. But this young teen was 13. MySpace has no age verification. There is no technology that would permit a site to verify the age of a minor, for a free site, that would work and be reasonable. (There are strict laws regarding preteens (under 13) having to get verifiable parental consent for any interactive use, but not for teens and older.)

I understand that she put down her age (and birthdate) claiming to be 18. At that time, MySpace had a technology in place to lock out underage preteens and young teens who put in their real age, and when they were denied the ability to register with MySpace, clicked the back button, becoming older in the next screen. That means she had to put 18 in the first time she tried to register.

At that time, also, MySpace had extensive safety tips available from each page on the site. I know. I wrote them for WiredSafety.org, the Internet safety charity. This warned everyone about the risks of offline meetings, people not being who they said they were and protecting yourself online. It linked back to our charity's website, as well. I also suspect that it is unlikely that this young teen didn't know that there were risks in meeting people from the Internet in real life. (I work with thousands of teens each month. They know the rules, but sadly tend to ignore them when the promise of a soul mate or cute 16-year-old boy is involved.)

She then agreed to meet someone offline that she first met on MySpace (based on reports). They went to a movie, had something to eat, and he molested her in a parking lot. (Also based on reports.)

This is unforgiveable, horrible and painful for me to hear. I gave up my law practice to help keep kids safe online. I donate my time running a charity of all unpaid volunteers devoted to this mission. I awaken every morning to this and fall asleep at night in front of my computer doing this.

I am so sorry for this young girl and her family. I understand their pain. I have held many young people in my arms after they were victimized by people the met from the Internet. Our new site, Katiesplace.org is devoted to helping.

But, bottomline, it's not a website's fault when a teen lies about their age (after being advised of the rules of the site and safety). It's not their fault when the teen arranges to meet someone in real life. It is certainly not their fault when an adult rapes a teen.

It's so easy to lash out, looking for the one entity to blame. It's easy to blame MySpace, or any other site where this could have happened. (I suspect that she also used an instant messaging program, and perhaps the phone to set up this meeting...but I wasn't aware that other tech companies or the phone company was sued.)

MySpace has become everyone's punching bag. For the first time parents can see the stupid things many of their kids are doing and posting online. For the first time future employers, college recruiters and law school deans can access information posted by their applicants after a drunken binge on a Saturday night. Or police can see which kids are hosting a beer party when their parents are out of town. And it's easy to make friends online, to meet people with similar interests (or at least those who say they do).

We are all who we want to be online.

And it's not all bad. It's also valuable. These new technologies allow teens to raise awareness and organize support for important issues, share expertise, learn about what others are doing, be creative, network with kids from their old camp, school or town.

So, when parents are looking for someone to blame, they need to look more closely in the mirror. Not bringing lawsuits against a website. But, if we can't make parents responsibel for their teens, what hope do we have?

I always get parents to raise their right hand at my presentations and repeat after me "I am the parent!" "Because I said so" "While you live under my roof..." (See a trend here?)

Attentive and involved parents can still face the pain of their teens and preteens acting out, being hurt and in some cases being killed or taking their own lives. But, they don't want MySpace raising their kids. That's their job.

The judge in this case realized this. The holding was good law and right.

Now, let's focus on the pain this young teen is facing. We need ot find ways ot support her and her family. We also need to find ways to stop thirteen year olds from lying about their age and meeting people offline.

That doesn't come from a court...it comes from education, supervision and common sense.

So, what do I want from MySpace?

More help in spreading education and awareness, and their law enforcement cooperation, school cooperation and finding ways of helping parents understand how to keep their kids safe.

Since I first met the people at the top of MySpace, I realized that they sincerely care. That's what I want. I can't ask for more.

My 2 cents.

Parry

New York Times articles on cyberbashing and smashing

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/13/nyregion/13video.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The New York Times today quoted me on the issues of cyberbashing and smashing...where kids and teens are beating each other up on video and posting it online for everyone to see. It is happening in huge numbers...after having started years ago on cell phones in the UK, these attacks are real, staged in advance or faked...all to one purpose, making cyberstars out of the kids/teens. But their fifteen megs of fame may land them in jail. A young boy who held the video camera in a recent attacks on Long Island was cirminally charged last week.
this is serious and kids and teens are doing outrageous things on videos to become famous.
Google's YouTube has been very responsive, as has google , on safety and works closely with WiredSafety and me. But until we catch it at the source and kids realize that beating someone up is just a criminal whether your desire is to be famous or just shed blood, assualt is assualt and not excused becasue your camera shots are well lighted, we're only looking for more trouble.

To the teens I can only say "don't be stupid!" ThinkB4uClick and remember, what you post online stays online - forever!

Why make the job of the police easier? Taking a video is evidence, admissible in court...

what were they thinking?

I teach police how to find criminal activity on the social networks and YouTube. It's so easy, now.

Violence isn't something to play with. This is not a reality show. This is your life.
think about it!

Parry

KRT Wire | 02/12/2007 | Consent program sought for MySpace

KRT Wire 02/12/2007 Consent program sought for MySpace

I want to help here. While there is no child age verifier that (IMHO) is available or would work or not put kids in greater risks of being broadcast to potential predators or marketers, there are some good ideas that we have, and would welcome AG Cooper's help with and offer our help in exchange.

That's what we're here for.

Parry

North Carolina AG proposes a package of new laws...

Protecting Children from Sexual Predators
Attorney General Roy Cooper
Feb. 12, 2007

Protecting children from sexual predators requires an aggressive and comprehensive strategy. Attorney General Roy Cooper proposes to:

Strengthen criminal penalties for possession, dissemination and production of child pornography
Require computer technicians and photo development companies to report incidences of child pornography to local law enforcement in North Carolina
Require social networking websites like MySpace to get parents’ permission before children can join
Enhance the criminal penalty for solicitation of minors for sex over the Internet when the child predator shows up at a meeting place to carry out the sexual assault on the child
Expand North Carolina law regarding child pornography to include indecent child exposure as federal law does
Make lying to a State Bureau of Investigation agent a felony
Allow state prosecutors to use an investigative grand jury to uncover and prosecute child sexual exploitation and child pornography

Summary: The Internet provides children a window to the world, but also allows child predators to search for victims easily and anonymously, around the clock. They seek their next victim undercover by lurking in online chat rooms, reading Instant Messaging profiles and viewing online photographs.
Already Attorney General Roy Cooper has created a special unit at the SBI to find and catch Internet predators, and it leads North Carolina's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. A recent case highlights the challenge:
In Eastern North Carolina, a middle-aged sexual predator told a young girl online that he was 17. He found out where she lived, and went to her home and introduced himself, saying he was the 17-year-old’s father. To get close to the girl, he tried to date her mother. The masquerade lasted for months. Eventually the 13-year-old girl discovered that her online boyfriend and the predator were the same person, but continued to talk with him. The predator begged the girl to run away from home. He was arrested by SBI agents and local law enforcement one early morning while trying to pick up a decoy SBI agent posing as the girl. Police found tape and rope in the predator’s truck. During a search of his computer, agents found child pornography.
These criminals live and prey across the state. Recently, the task force, led by the SBI, served 58 search warrants on suspects in Wilmington, Greenville, Rocky Mount, Fayetteville, Raleigh, Cary, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Boone, Asheville and other cities. The operation began with SBI investigations that resulted in a statewide sweep to stop file sharing programs which allow criminals to trade and distribute child pornography directly with each other. Tips come from out of state and across the world:

A Kansas ICAC Agent with undercover SBI agents found a suspect in Clayton, NC after the suspect sent a video of himself to an officer posing as a 12-year-old. A decoy officer arrested him at a park after the predator arrived thinking he would be meeting a 12-year-old child to have sex. When the SBI went to the predator’s house, they found more than 30 downloads of child pornography running simultaneously. The computer also revealed video and pictures of the man molesting his stepdaughter. Without the undercover operation, law enforcement would not have caught him as the girl was too fearful to come forward. He subsequently pleaded guilty to 1st Degree Statutory Rape and 1st Degree Sexual Exploitation of a minor.

Despite these successful prosecutions, predators’ use of the Internet to hunt for new child victims continues. To better protect our children, Attorney General Roy Cooper makes the following recommendations:

I. Strengthen criminal penalties for possession, dissemination and production of child pornography

Incidents of child sexual exploitation reported in North Carolina continue to rise. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which tracks online and telephone reports of child solicitations and exploitation, had 11 incidents reported in 2001; in 2005, 252 were reported and in 2006 the number topped 400 (NCMEC, Dec. 7, 2006 YTD).

Law enforcement officers report and a study has shown that child predators often use and distribute child pornography as well. Federal law imposes stronger criminal penalties for the possession, dissemination and production of child pornography than North Carolina currently provides. Possession of child pornography under federal law provides up to 10 years active prison time. Under North Carolina law, possession of child pornography for first-time offenders carries no active prison time.

II. Require computer technicians and photo development companies to report incidences of child pornography to local law enforcement

Federal law requires Internet Service Providers to report incidences of the electronic communication of child pornography to the Cyber Tip Line at the NCMEC, which forwards it to law enforcement. Likewise, North Carolina should require computer technicians and photo developers to report child pornography to law enforcement and provide civil immunity for such reports made in good faith. A recent example shows how this information can help:

In 2006, law enforcement in the Triangle arrested an offender for possession of child pornography. He had printed explicit pictures of an 8-year-old girl at a Target store using a false identity at a self-service machine. Target notified police, who arrested him when he printed pictures at another Target store. During a search of his home, police found video footage of the man molesting the child from the pictures. Child pornography peddlers are most likely to develop pictures at stores or online photo sites. These predators often produce child porn by documenting molestation of a child, and then developing the images. If these incidents are reported, law enforcement can find these predators quickly, protect the children who are being harmed, and prevent these offenders from finding their next victim.

III. Require social networking websites to get parents’ permission before children can join

Websites that encourage children to share personal information like photos and talk online with each other give predators easy targets. Last fall the SBI arrested a North Carolina police officer for raping a 14-year-old girl he had lured through MySpace, a site that hosts detailed profiles of millions of children and adults. Few safeguards keep the children away from adult users, so child users are exposed to adults seeking sex as well as lewd pictures and words inappropriate for kids.

Many dozens of children report sexual abuse by predators who used social networking sites to find their victims. This proposal requires that these websites get parents’ OK before minors join and post personal information, and give parents the chance to see what their children post.

IV. Enhance the criminal penalty for solicitation of minors for sex over the Internet when the child predator shows up at a meeting place to carry out the sexual assault on the child

The SBI and local law enforcement have had success using Cooper’s new law that makes it a felony for an Internet predator to solicit a child for sex, including an undercover officer he or she believes to be a child. This law also requires convicted online predators to be added to the state’s Sex Offender Registry and to provide DNA samples for the state’s convicted offender database.

However, North Carolina should enact a tougher criminal penalty for a predator who solicits a child over the Internet and then follows through by showing up at the meeting place. An example:

In August of this year, a longtime middle school teacher who also worked as a coach was charged with electronically soliciting a child for sex. The defendant communicated by instant messages with a 15-year-old boy inviting him for a sexual encounter. The boy’s father found out and told law enforcement, and a deputy posed as the boy to set up a meeting. The offender arrived with lubricant, two condoms and a digital camera. Investigators later found thousands of child porn videos and photos and charged him with 20 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

V. Expand North Carolina law regarding child pornography to include indecent child exposure as federal law does

North Carolina’s child pornography statute currently makes it a crime to produce, distribute, or possess material containing “a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexual activity” (NCGS §§ 14-190.16 through 17A). Sexual activity is defined in section 14-190.13, but does not include the suggestive display of the genital area of the minor. Federal law includes the state definition, but also the “lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person” (18 USCS § 2256) and provides a broader definition thus providing greater protection for our children against those who attempt to sexually exploit them.

VI. Make lying to an SBI agent a felony

More than 10,000 convicted sex offenders currently live in North Carolina. Many share pornographic images of children with each other, and those who do often know who the child is and where they live. Making lying to an SBI Agent a felony would provide a critical incentive for sex offenders to tell investigators where the child is so that the SBI can rescue the child and prevent further exploitation.

SBI agents know witnesses withhold information or lie outright. When an FBI agent is present, a dishonest witness can be charged with a crime, since federal law makes it a felony to lie to federal agents.

The SBI handles the state’s most complex and challenging felony criminal investigations in North Carolina. This new provision will provide the SBI with a critical investigative tool to compel witnesses to tell the truth. Whether it is a crime of murder, rape, child sexual exploitation, child pornography, or the embezzlement of private or public funds this strong investigative tool will help apprehend perpetrators and provide real penalties for those who deceive.

VII. Allow state prosecutors to use an investigative grand jury to uncover and prosecute child sexual exploitation and child pornography

Under this new law, state prosecutors could convene a grand jury to question witnesses under oath, subpoena records and deliberate evidence of child pornography and child sexual exploitation. A grand jury allows prosecutors to subpoena witnesses who otherwise might refuse to cooperate. Federal authorities have the power to convene a grand jury in child pornography and child sexual exploitation cases, but state prosecutors don’t. This new authority is a tool that law enforcement and prosecutors can use to identify those who produced and disseminated the child pornography and prevent further victimization of children.

AD SCAM: Marketers pose as online ‘friends’ to sell products to teens

AD SCAM: Marketers pose as online ‘friends’ to sell products to teens
Add one more risk to those you already know about on social networks. Ads targeting our kids.

Kids, porn and cell phones...do you know what YOUR kids are surfing?

7Online.com: New York City and Tri-State News from WABC-TV
a new prepaid cell phone offers adult-themed screen savers. Most parents don't think about what their kids can access on their cell phone, especially with prepaid phones like this. Walmart sells then. Surprising since I understand that at least one of their preloaded screen savers is labelled by parents as "soft porn." Parents really need to think before they plunk down their hard earned money.

It's not just the computer that can access the Internet.

Behind every picture there's pain....our PSA to stop child pornography!

Somedays....like today, it gets hard, it gets old.

I never really thought I would blog about how I felt. I blog about safety, law and kids and families online. I blog as a public service and information outlet. But, I'm a mother of two, a woman and someone who has seen (sadly) more than I ever wanted to see about the horrors online and in life.

I posted the intro to my new book, explaining why I gave up my practice of law, sold everything I owned and donate my time running WiredSafety. It's a story I am asked to repeat often, for TV, magazines and other people's books. I can tell it quickly and no longer feel like I have to vomit when doing so. It has become a practiced speech.

I often cut out the more graphic details about how she was forced to be positioned, or the pain on her face. How her eyes were squeezed shut and her hair was plastered with sweat, and her face drenched in tears.

But, it's there. Like a hot branding iron applied to your brain. It is deeply burned into my mind and my heart. I tried searching for her for years. It became a mission. I needed to hold her and tell her that it would be okay, that someone would help her.

But I failed.

Her image is the last I see before falling asleep, and the reason I awake in the middle of the night.

I wish I had a magic wand to stop this torture of children. But I don't.

While I applaude arrests like these, and pray for more - soon! I think about all of the thousands upon thousands of children who continue to be raped for the pleasure of those willing ot pay for those images. For all those being raped on demand, by text and IM requests to the molesters, in real time...to those whos pain will be used to fill the coffers of the animals who do this and support it.

Today I am happy that some children's pain will be over, and saddened that so many more need to be saved.

Today I feel how little I have been able to accomplish in this, no matter how much time I devote to it and how hard I work and how much money I donated to this effort.

Today I thanks my thousands of volunteers...and hope for thousands more.

Today I ask anyone reading this post to think a mooment about what you can do to help stop the pain of these children. Do something, even a simple prayer for them would help.

Do something.
Please

When child pornography arrests are announced, I relive that moment...why I do this. It's because of a little 3-1/2 yr old I saw being raped online...

I hadn’t planned on becoming an international leader in Internet child protection. I began as a mother and lawyer. Protecting other people’s children came later.

My Internet safety career started a few years after the Web was launched, when I was asked to appear on CNN and talk about Internet censorship and law. Miles O’Brien (a CNN host) asked me about what parents could do to protect their children online. As a result of my interview, thousands of parents and grandparents called me asking me how to keep their children safe. I explained that I protected corporations in cyberspace, not children. But they kept calling anyway. So I called my sister, a pediatrician, and asked her to recommend a book for these parents to read.

Unfortunately, we were surprised to learn that there were no books at that time on this topic. So, she asked me to write one. I refused, pleading that I was too busy as a lawyer to write for parents. She told me that if I didn’t write the book, she would refer this to a higher authority – our mother! She did. And my first book was published six months later, in 1997.

But what really changed my life is the image of a little 3-1/2 year old girl I discovered in 1998. I had just started running WiredSafety.org (under its former name), when someone from Argentina sent me an e-mail reporting a child pornography website, and asking me to shut it down and help bring the pedophiles to justice. I clicked on the link to the website and saw a picture of this little girl being raped. I was devastated by what I saw, and devoted many years trying to find her and save her from this horrible torture. I was never able to find and save her, but I was able to find and save others.

I shut down my law firm and sold my house to help fund our programs, and never looked back. I realized that out of everything I do, protecting children and helping parents understand how to keep them safe, is the most important. I now donate most of my time to protecting children and their families in cyberspace and on mobile technologies. I founded and donate my time to running the world’s largest and oldest Internet safety group, WiredSafety.org. Through its thousands of unpaid volunteers operating from their home and office computers around the world, WiredSafety.org provides a helping hand to everyone who needs one online. We work closely with law enforcement agencies around the world to help bring cyber-criminals to justice and protect all children, not just our own. And we teach parents what they need to know to take an active role in protecting their children online.

What started gradually and unplanned, has become my life. And it is a richer and more fulfilling life than I would have had running an international law firm and living in a big house in the United States. I now count my successes one child at a time.

Child Pornography...behind every picture there's pain!

Once again international law enforcement have worked together to help bring down rings of child pornographers and molesters online. Today a series of major arrests were conducted simultaneously around the world of people involved in selling, producing and buying child porn online. Many are from the US.

In the past, when massive arrests were announced, many of those being charged elected to commit suicide before facing jail. They were humiliated and concerned about the effect this would have on their families.

The time ot think about that is before you put your creditcard on the line to subscribe to a child pornography website, not after.

While we may not be able to stop diehard pedophiles from doing this, we have to stop those who do is recreationally. The more people willing to pay for these images ad videos, the more children will be raped producing them. It's a simple supply and demand issue.

With law enforcement catching up on technology, and the child pornographers and molesters getting brazen, more arrests will follow.

This isn't a ame or a fifteen year old posing in a sexy swimsuit. These are 2, 3, 4 year olds, sometimes even younger, being raped for YOUR pleasure.

It has to stop.

My congratulations to all of those involved. God bless.

To those buying, producing and distributing this horrible stuff...they'll find you. If not today, someday. Think about that. Now.

Parry

Taking Another Look At That "Ambush Porn" Story - Public Eye

Taking Another Look At That "Ambush Porn" Story - Public Eye

The blogger here criticized the study results, for many of the same reasons I did. Parents had to give consent, and it was done on the phone about a controversial issue that kids may not want their parents to now about. But our reasons for ciricizing the results are as far apart as they can be.

He believes that kids will claim that they saw porn by accident, not that they were searching for it. I think that almost all kids have been exposed to unwanted porn online.

The blogger might be right had the parents uncovered their kids surfing porn and the kids needed to claim innocence. That they had been sent it without their involvement. Unintended exposure.

But these were kids who risked the Internet being taken away because they admitted to any exposure to porn. I was amazed that ANY kids said they had been exposed to porn by accident or on purpose.

the blogger said he uses the Internet and hadn't been exposed to undesired porn online. But adults use it differently from the way kids do. No adult knows what it si really like to surf like a kid.

I have posted a section of our whitepaper on unscrupulous marketing techniques by some pornographers. Read it. It may teach us all something.

Parry

Teen Girls are having a blast on the new Flip....

CondeNet Launches Flip, New Online Outlet for Teen Girls' CreativityTuesday February 6, 11:58 am ET
NEW YORK, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- CondeNet today announces the launch of Flip (http://www.flip.com/), a new site for teen girls. Flip.com provides teens with an innovative way to express themselves and connect with each other online. More than just another social network, Flip offers its users powerful but easy-to-use interactive tools, inspiration from experts and editors to spark their imagination, and a stage on which to showcase their talents.
ADVERTISEMENT
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window.yzq_d['xad9AdibyhQ-']='&U=13ar93thd%2fN%3dxad9AdibyhQ-%2fC%3d569350.9807531.10816518.1383221%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d4399088';
At the heart of Flip are Flipbooks -- customizable, multimedia scrapbooks/zines/journals that Flip members make and share. Users can upload their own photos, songs, and videos as well as choose from a large collection of stickers, wallpaper, animations, and music provided on the site. Flip members can draw, write, add a sound track, rotate and size elements, add pages, and even choose page transitions. The result is a more powerful and personal way for girls to express themselves than anything else currently online.
"Flip combines social networking with online scrapbooking, and it's clearly an addictive mix," said Jamie Pallot, Editorial Director, CondeNet. "The results so far are amazing -- girls have made beautiful, funny, moving Flipbooks about everything from Barack Obama to their favorite indie rock bands. The level of creativity and ingenuity we're seeing is really impressive."
While the majority of the Flip experience is created by its users, CondeNet has developed four channels that reflect key areas of teen girls' lives and interests. These are: My Life; Entertainment; Style; and The World. Each section highlights editorial content, members, Flipbooks, and clubs specific to that category. Another special section of Flip, titled Projects & Contests, gives members ideas, inspiration, and incentives to create Flipbooks and offers the chance to be recognized for their work.
Additional Flip features include:
-- My Media -- Users upload their photos, videos, or audio files for use
in their Flipbooks. No storage limits are imposed.
-- Flip Media -- Flip provides access to hundreds of backgrounds,
stickers, animations, and more that girls can use in their Flipbooks.
eMusic, the world's largest retailer of independent music, will provide
more than 100 free tracks that can be used by Flip members as sound
tracks to their Flipbooks.
-- Clubs -- Users start or join groups organized around shared interests.
Clubs can be about anything the users choose and are creative
environments that encourage the making of Flipbooks.
-- Profiles -- Profiles are the user's "face" on Flip. They can say a
little about themselves as well as list their Flipbooks, friends, and
clubs.
-- Friends -- Users can invite friends to join their network and can
designate certain Flipbooks for viewing only by friends. Users can
explore their friends' profiles and their friends' friends' profiles.
A Collaborative Approach to Advertising
Flip is free to members, with a focused group of advertisers participating as sponsors. Like those involved in the creation of Flip, these sponsors are interested in forging a deeper connection and conversation with teen girls. While there will be no advertising content within or around Flipbooks themselves, each sponsor is offering a range of assets related to their brands (i.e., graphics, logos, photography) in Flip Media, so girls can use them as further fodder for Flipbook creation.
"The site was created to meet the needs of both teen girls and marketers, without compromising the product for either," said Sarah Chubb, President, CondeNet. "Our advertising approach allows teens to connect with marketers in a very natural way, where the ads are truly a desirable part of the content of the site."
Advertisers currently partnering with Flip include Clean & Clear®, Nike, Nordstrom, PacSun, and Vera Wang Princess. In addition to the editorial project ideas that CondeNet will frequently post in the Projects & Contests section, special featured contests will also be sponsored by site advertisers.
The Technology Behind Flip
To provide a unique experience for users, Flip uses some of the most current technologies available to create and manipulate content online. The site was built on Java/J2EE, Flash, and OpenSource Technologies/Frameworks. In addition, the site uses advanced Flash technologies such as Flex to enhance the interactive experience and bring the "feel" of scrapbook pages to life.
Safety and Security for Teens Using Flip Safety is a top priority for Flip. The site is taking a number of approaches to safety, including:
-- Clear Messaging: Internet safety tips for users, Community Rules, and a
Note to Parents and Guardians will be accessible from all site pages.
-- Security Features: Email verification is required for registration,
and Flip does not ask for or require detailed personal information.
Flip also uses sophisticated scanning technology to help identify
potentially inappropriate images, videos, and text.
-- Moderation: A Community Manager and staff of moderators are responsible
for overseeing the content on Flip as well as for determining
moderation policies, procedures, and best practices.
In addition, Flip has partnered with WiredSafety.org, the largest online safety, education, and help group in the world, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, to provide tools and resources for members so they can have a safer experience online.
About Flip
Flip, a new site for teen girls from CondeNet, provides girls with an innovative way to be creative, express themselves, and connect with each other online. The heart of Flip is the Flipbook -- customizable, multimedia scrapbooks/zines/journals that girls make and share. Users can upload their own photos, songs, and videos as well as choose from a large collection of stickers, wallpaper, animations, and music that Flip provides them. Through the use of a set of interactive tools, Flipbooks can be designed however members choose. They can draw, write, add a sound track, rotate and size elements, add pages, choose page transitions, and more. In addition to making Flipbooks, girls can also create profiles; start and join clubs; send and receive messages; share and comment on each other's stuff; and chat on message boards. Find Flip on the Web at http://www.flip.com/.
Press Contacts:
Lesley Weiner Jennifer Miller
CooperKatz for CondeNet CondeNet
212.455.8079 212.790.5198
lweiner@cooperkatz.com jmiller@condenet.com

MySA.com: Metro | State

MySA.com: Metro State
Gangs online...they are working online to recruit suburban kids.

Kids and Porn Online- it's far worse than you think!

Kids and Porn Online...It's Far Worse Than You Think
Almost 50% of Young People Between 10 and 17 Have Admitted to Being Exposed to Porn Online According to a Recent Report.

But our polls of thousands and thousands of young people show that 90% of these young people have been exposed to porn online, and the only reason the other 10% haven't is because they have parental controls still installed. Why the discrepancy? The report was conducted from a survey of young people after their parents were asked for their consent, and on the phone. How many young people would admit to porn exposures? It's amazing that as many admitted it as did.
by Parry Aftab, copyright 2007, all rights reserved

Parents need to realize that if their kids are online and unfiltered, most if not all have been exposed to porn.

I recently spoke at a school in Atlanta. It was a very elite private school, with bright and terrific students. I was doing a presentation to 4th graders. My presentations to students are very interactive with lots of questions and answers. I asked them how many had seen "bad stuff" online (which one of the students defined as "naked people"). Almost all of the hands went up.

The parents, standing in the back of the room, gasped and in some cases burst into tears. They were shocked that their 8 year olds had seen these kinds of things. They were devastated to learn that their children hadn't come to them for help. These were caring parents, relatively tech-savvy, well-educated and affluent. If they didn't know, what kind of a chance do less tech-savvy, less educated parents have?

Our kids, all our kids, will have been exposed to some pretty disgusting stuff. The Internet porn is not our parents' tame Playboy magazine. Our children are not prepared for this. Frankly, I don't know many adults who are. So, what do we do?

An Overview of the Porn Problem

Open your e-mail box or conduct a search for anything online and you are likely to run into graphic sexual images or content whether you like it or not. And our children are often more likely to be targeted by pornographic images or messages than we are, because of how they communicate online and how easy they are for the marketers to find.

Most Internet users are unhappy about the continued growth of marketing abuses and questionable advertising practices by many members of the pornography industry. What used to be just an annoyance and considered part of the price of using the Internet is now becoming a more serious problem. It is also becoming one that parents increasingly are insisting something be done to address.[1]

When anyone searches for information online, or mistypes or misspells a domain name (“typo-squatting”), they may find themselves at a pornography site.

When they open their e-mail boxes or instant messaging programs they may find themselves targeted by unscrupulous ads including those for “young teens,” “preteens” and “little girls or boys” sex (often mere fraudulent advertising), or sites promising child pornography and “lolitas.”

They seek images for school reports, using innocent topic names, such as "toys," "japanese dolls," and "american girl" only to encounter pornographic images. Many of these images show graphic sexual activities which can be frightening and hurtful to children and preteens, as well as many teens.

To compound the problem, when they stumble upon a pornography site, they may find themselves locked in an avalanche of new pornography windows, unable to escape without having to shut down their computers (“mousetrapping”).

And sometimes when they type in the URL of their favorite site, they end up at a pornography site instead, either because traffic for that site had been redirected by a pornography site (“hijacking”) or because the siteowner had forgotten to renew their domain name registration (“porn-napping”).

As competition among the pornography sites increases, these marketing abuses increase. Unintended exposure is a serious and growing problem. These marketing abuses and questionable practices currently include:

· Child pornography (real and virtual)
· Sexual exploitation of children (including false advertising of child pornography and use of terms implying child pornography, such as “preteens,” “little boys” and “lolitas”)
· SPAM/SPIM[2]
· Fraudulent headers in promotional e-mails
· Fraudulent or misleading metatags, keywords, descriptions and listings with search engines
· Typo-squatting[3], particularly those intended to attract children
· Misleading domain names or keywords, particularly those intended to attract children
· The use of terms to attract those seeking child pornography
· Intellectual property violations, piracy and counterfeiting
· Browser hijacking/ Mousetrapping
· Slammed home page changes
· Spyware and adware, pop-ups and pop-unders[4]
· Graphic images on the non-subscriber front pages
· Graphic images in unsolicited e-mail and instant messaging links
· Spoofing and phishing practices[5]
· Domain-napping/ Porn-napping[6]
· Criminal re-dialers and similar schemes[7]
· Page-jacking[8]
· Malicious code, criminal intrusions and Trojan horses

To quote so many parents, “something has to be done.” And while some of them may support an eventual total ban on all pornography and some others support an unrestricted right for adults to view pornography, all of them support an immediate solution to the issue of unintended exposure.

What is the solution? It actually has several components.

The first is education- of parents, teachers and the kids themselves. They need to understand how unscrupulous websites can target young people by "tricking them into clicking" and what technologies and tools exist to help block access to these sites and marketing tactics.

The second is creating laws that will fill any loopholes for unscrupulous marketing tactics, where the pornography sites pretend to be kid-friendly sites to draw Internet users of all ages to their site, using metatags, misleading domain names, typos, TLDs designed to confuse users (.com for a favorite .gov sites, for example whitehouse.com) etc.

The third is providing sufficient funding of law enforcement and prosecutorial groups to take on the bad guys and put those who are breaking the laws into jail where they belong.

The fourth is teaching everyone where to report sites they find are violating the law and where to find safe and fun sites for kids.

And fifth is reminding the adult sites that preying on kids is bad business and finding ways to identify those who have adopted responsible marketing and security practices.

Until then, surveys that demonstrate that only 42% of young people between 10 and 17 have been exposed to sexually explicit content online under-estimate the problem by 1/2.

If our kids are online and are not fully filtered, they have been exposed to porn. Sadly, because they are afraid of their parents' reactions, embarrassed and worried that they might have done something wrong, kids won't tell their parents.

So, once again, parents will be the last to know.

[1] The pornography marketing complaints received from parents and children themselves by WiredSafety.org and its family of sites has increased substantially over the last several months. From approximately 30 daily complaints from parents/grandparents and teachers about unintended exposure to online pornography, the number has increased to hundreds a day. Sixty-five percent of these same parents/grandparents have indicated that they either support an adult’s right to access legal pornography or recognize their legal right to do so. They have also, until now, been unhappy with (but haven’t lodged any formal complaints against) the onslaught of online marketing, misleading practices and sexually-graphic images they have encountered. They largely believed that nothing could be done to stop it. That has now changed. Now they are looking for ways to make it stop. More than mere technical tools, they want help, either from their ISPs or the government. They want someone to do something to help prevent their children from being confronted with pornography when searching for innocent sites, playing games and even using their computer in an “always on” environment, when pop-ups will appear on screen unexpectedly.
[2] “SPIM” is the new name for unsolicited bulk instant messages. “Spam” is the e-mail equivalent (no relation to Hormel’s luncheon meat).
[3] When someone, generally a pornographic website operator, registers the common misspellings of a popular site, especially one aimed at children.
[4]“The websites that attract children and teens in droves are the ones most often targeted by some in the porn industry via pesky pop-up ads… A pop-up is an advertisement that comes up when you first click onto a website… Designed to draw your attention to an aspect of the site you're visiting or to sell you a product or service, most are harmless. But as many parents have discovered a large number of pop-ups include offensive photos of sex acts not suitable for young eyes. To see these hardcore pop-ups you usually have to come across a porn site, says Cathy Wing, director of community programming for Media Awareness Network. `Once you stumble on a porn site or go to one purposely it will trigger these,’ she said from her office in Ottawa. Even worse is when sites aimed at teens _ skateboarding, music, video games _ trigger pop-ups with questionable content, Wing said. ‘Tons of these sites that teens like to go to will eventually lead them to porn. That's the problem,’ she said. ‘It's the kind of sites that kids go to that they target.’” The-Cyberfile, Bgt , BY ANGELA PACIENZA, 25 February 2004, The Canadian Press.
[5] Pretending to be another website, often to trick people into providing their financial information and creditcard details for criminal purposes.
[6] WiredKids.org’s teen site, WiredTeens.com was recently grabbed by a pornographic website operator. It previously pointed to the WiredTeens.org main site. WiredSafety’s executive director, cyberlawyer Parry Aftab, is contemplating bringing criminal charges unless the site is returned.
[7] “Modem Hijacking: The Commission has used its training and tools to stop some of the most egregious and technically sophisticated schemes seen on the Internet. For example, the FTC's lawsuit against Verity International, Ltd., was prompted by the influx of hundreds of complaints in the last week of September 2000 through the CRC and logged in Consumer Sentinel. Investigation showed that high charges on consumers' phone lines were being initiated by ‘dialer’ software downloaded from teaser adult web sites. Many line subscribers had no idea why they received bills for these charges. Others discovered that a minor in their household -- or another person who did not have the line subscriber's authorization – accessed the Web sites and downloaded the dialer software. The dialer program allowed users to access the ‘videotext’ adult content without any means of verifying that the user was the line subscriber, or was authorized by the line subscriber to incur charges on the line for such service. Once downloaded and executed, however, the program actually hijacked the consumer's computer modem by surreptitiously disconnecting the modem from the consumer's local Internet Service Provider, dialing a high-priced international long distance call to Madagascar, and reconnecting the consumer's modem to the Internet from some overseas location, opening at an adult web site. The line subscriber -- the consumer responsible for paying phone charges on the line -- then began incurring charges on his or her phone lines for the remote connection to the Internet at the rate of $3.99 per minute.” (Prepared Witness Testimony ,The Committee on Energy and Commerce, W.J. "Billy Tauzin" Chairman, On-line Fraud and Crime: Are Consumers Safe?" Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection , May 23, 2001, Ms. Eileen Harrington, Associate Director of Marketing Practices Bureau of Competition Federal Trade Commission.)
[8] "Pagejacking" and "Mousetrapping": “Earlier, in FTC v. Carlos Pereira d/b/a atariz.com, the Commission attacked a world-wide, high-tech scheme that allegedly ‘pagejacked’ consumers and then ‘mousetrapped’ them at adult pornography sites. ‘Pagejacking’ is making exact copies of someone else's Web page, including the imbedded text that informs search engines about the subject matter of the site. The defendants allegedly made unauthorized copies of 25 million pages from other Web sites, including those of Paine Webber and the Harvard Law Review. The defendants made one change on each copied page that was hidden from view: they inserted a command to ‘redirect’ any surfer coming to the site to another Web site that contained sexually-explicit, adult-oriented material. Internet surfers searching for subjects as innocuous as ‘Oklahoma tornadoes’ or ‘child car seats’ would type those terms into a search engine and the search results would list a variety of related sites, including the bogus, copycat site of the defendants. Surfers assumed from the listings that the defendants' sites contained the information they were seeking and clicked on the listing. The "redirect" command imbedded in the copycat site immediately rerouted the consumer to an adult site hosted by the defendants. Once there, defendants ‘mousetrapped’ consumers by incapacitating their Internet browser's ‘back’ and ‘close’ buttons, so that while they were trying to exit the defendants' site, they were sent to additional adult sites in an unavoidable, seemingly endless loop.” (Id.)

Kids being exposed to porn online

Today a new study was released, discussing how often kids are exposed to pornography online. While I deeply respect the researchers in this study, you will note that the kids were asked if they had been exposed to porn after their parents were asked for their consent. They were also asked on the phone.

In my own studies, almost 100% of the kids ten and over have been exposed to porn online. they just don't tell their parents becasue they are either embarassed or frightened of their reaction.

so how many kids are exposed to unwanted porn online? all of them.

Parry

Beware of the most common cyber crime - cyber stalking « My Writings

Beware of the most common cyber crime - cyber stalking « My Writings
This is a great blog posting about cyberstalking in India. Thought I would share it with you.

The New Age Examiner - Moms check out 'toxic' Internet

The New Age Examiner - Moms check out 'toxic' Internet
Local groups are setting up programs for thedir community on online safety.

thedesertsun.com | Online predators target of bill

thedesertsun.com Online predators target of bill

thedesertsun.com | Online predators target of bill

thedesertsun.com Online predators target of billOnline predators target of billMySpace, Congress team to keep sites free of sex offenders

Taya Lynn Gray, The Desert SunKatilyn Corl, of Cathedral City has her profile posted on the popular MySpace.com site on the internet. Her father, Rick Corl, has strict rules for his daughter when she uses MySpace to keep her safe.
TIPS FOR PARENTS
Tell kids not to share such personal information as names, addresses and the school they attend.
Review your child’s profile often for inappropriate messages or images.
You can find your child’s profile on MySpace by clicking on the "search" mode and entering your child’s name, e-mail address or school.
Parents can have a child’s profile removed by contacting MySpace’s parental help staff, www.WiredSafety.org or www.WiredKids.org.
Parents can install software that can record what kids say and post online. WiredSafety.org recommends programs such as those made by Spectorsoft, which can be found at www.software4parents.com or www.spectorsoft.com.
more online

January 31, 2007
January 31, 2007
WASHINGTON - In this technology savvy world, requiring sex offenders to register just their physical address is just not good enough, several members of Congress said Tuesday.
The lawmakers joined with MySpace.com in unveiling bipartisan legislation that would require sex offenders to also register their online identity - e-mail addresses and instant message user names - with federal officials.
"We have to plug the online loophole. Sex offenders have no business joining social networking communities, especially those popular among teens," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
The Justice Department would make the e-mail addresses of sex offenders available to social networking sites, upon request, so they could compare the data with their user profiles. Failure to register new e-mail addresses or IM names would result in fines and/or up to 10 years in prison, under the proposed legislation.
The bill also would make it illegal for someone to misrepresent his or her age on a social networking profile for the purposes of engaging in sexual activity with a minor.
"Our kids are pretty astute when it comes to cruising around on the Internet and it can be very scary," said Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, who is co-sponsoring the bill in the House with Reps. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio.
"It's long overdue that we pass this kind of legislation," Chabot said.
MySpace, one of a growing number of popular social networking Web sites, boasts 150 million registered users of which 21 million are children under age 18. Other social networking sites include Friendster.com, Facebook.com and Classmates.com.
User safety tipsThe Web site, increasingly concerned about stories related to the site’s safety, has numerous tips on how to safely navigate it. MySpace executives have teamed with WiredSafety.org to offer these tips:MySpace limits the use to users who are at least 14 years old. But the site has no way of knowing when users lie and give wrong ages.The pages of those under 16 cannot be accessed by persons they do not know or have accepted as friends.Inappropriate images, including those of nudity, are not allowed on the site. Violators have their accounts closed.Never publicly post any personally identifiable information that could be used to find or identify you in real life.What should never be posted: Your real name, address, telephone number, cell number, sports team, health club, or links to Web sites or other profiles that might give this information away.Why this is important: Identify theft. Information can be misused to steal your identity, guess your passwords, cyberstalk or harass you or by predators who really want to hurt you.Don’t reply to spam. At best, they go into a black hole and never get to the sender. At worst, you find yourself now on many more lists because they figured out you read the junk e-mail.Always use a disposable free e-mail address, like yahoo, hotmail or msn. If you run into problems, you can just stop using it and no one can follow you back to your real address - assuming you followed the tips about not sharing too much personal info.Being online does not make you completely anonymous. There are ways that people can discover real life information about the people they meet online.Some hacking programs and Spyware can grab your passwords and credit card information. Use a firewall and anti-virus program and update them automatically. Visit WiredSafety.org or the FTC.gov site for more information.Keep your password a secret. Sharing it can cause huge problems. And don’t use one that’s easy for someone to guess.Have a secret code word with your real life friends that you chat with online. If you are chatting with someone you think you know, but are suspicious if the person on the other side is really them or not, ask them for the password.ThinkB4UClick: Never reply to any attempt to gain personal or banking information from an e-mail that you did not originate.Fake MySpace Logins. It’s possible that someone could redirect you to a page that looks like a MySpace Login page, but really isn’t. When logging into MySpace, always check the URL bar at the top of your browser and make sure you see the MySpace.com domain in the first part of the URL.Treat others with respect, and expect the same from them. Don’t be obnoxious. Online arguments are known as "flaming." These incidents can escalate into off-line harassment. Do not harass others online. If you do it, can get your service revoked.If you ever feel like you’re in real danger from someone online, tell someone you trust and then go directly to your local law enforcement agency. Don’t delete the message. Also, a printout won’t be enough. The police will need the live communication to check out the headers and other coding to trace the sender or poster.Source: MySpace safety tips prepared in collaboration with WiredSafety.org

16 year old charged in videotaping attack of another student

Long Island
Teen who taped North Babylon fight is chargedBY ZACHARY R. DOWDYNewsday Staff WriterJanuary 29, 2007, 10:17 PM EST
The North Babylon teenager who Suffolk police said videotaped the attack by three girls on a 13-year-old girl -- a four-minute film that was posted on the Internet and became a worldwide symbol of cyberbullying -- was arrested Monday after turning himself in.Police charged Bryan Alomar, 16, of North Babylon, with unlawful assembly, a Class B misdemeanor.

Alomar was released on $100 stationhouse bail and is due in First District Court in Central Islip on March 22."He was there and videotaped the whole thing," said Lt. Robert Edwards, commander of the First Precinct's Crime Section. "We're not sure who posted it on the Internet, but he was the recorder."The arrest is the latest development in a case that received worldwide media attention because the attack was boldly posted on the Internet.That deed, many observers said, was an act of information age-bullying because it further humiliated the victim in the attack by displaying the beating to the world."I sincerely hope that the message is getting out to young people all around the county and the country that bullying or physically abusing peers is serious and unacceptable, not entertainment fodder for a Web site," said Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, reacting to the arrest.The video in question features three girls attacking another girl with considerable anger, knocking her down and, at times, pulling her hair and kicking her repeatedly in the head.Her father appeared on a national news show and said his daughter had expected to meet and talk with one girl, but that she was ambushed by three. The father said his daughter was able to cover up her hurt places and that he and his wife were not aware of the attack at the time.The attack was Dec. 18 outside Woods Road Elementary School in North Babylon.The three girls, all first-year students at North Babylon High School, were arrested earlier this month and charged with juvenile delinquency with an underlying charge of third-degree assault. They have been released to their parents' custody and have been suspended from school.The fight, investigators have said, stemmed from a dispute over a boy. The victim and one of the girls seen attacking her had both dated the same boy, police have said.The video that documents the attack was posted on several Web sites, including YouTube.com and MySpace.com, prompting school officials to alert police and discipline the teenagers.It was unclear Monday whether the boy over whom the girls were said to be fighting would also face charges. He was believed to have been present during the fight, too."Not as of now," Edwards said Monday of any charges against the boyfriend.Alomar also was suspended for five days from North Babylon High. Neither his parents nor his attorney could be reached for comment Monday night.

Wired News: MySpace Predator Caught by Code

Wired News: MySpace Predator Caught by Code
the wired news report on how they found registered sex offenders on myspace.

MySpace announces donation of sexual predator database to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

CHILD PROTECTION DATABASE -- MySpace.com and SentinelTech will announce today that they are donating their Sentinel Safedatabase technology to the National Center for Missing & ExploitedChildren. (NCMEC). Sentinel Safe is a new database developed byMySpace and Sentinel Tech that enables Web sites and other thirdparties to effectively identify, remove, and block convicted sexoffenders from online communities.

While I am happy to see any technology that helps protect kids from sexual exploitation being used to its fullest capacity, I still don't see how this will have a serious impact on child's safety. How many registered sex offenders will continue to use their real names and pictures (that can be paired with mugshots) on myspace?

Wired ran a great story on this months ago. The journalist worked for months on pairing registered sex offenders (not just of kids, though) with members on myspace. He had many false positives. For example every "Ned Smith" profile may not be the same "Ned Smith" who is a sex offender. But he found about 700 who apparently matched up.

Several other media outlets followed this lead and ran the same search for their locale. Lots of registered sex offenders were outted on myspace and other sites. So did many law enforcement agencies.

But each of these searches had to be done laboriously and manually. Matching up sex offender registries with zipcodes and names, one by one.

MySpace has been trying to help protect their users (really) for two years now. They started by asking WiredSafety for guidance in early 2005. Our safety tips resided there for more than a year. Later, they joined forces with NCMEC and other groups as well. This software announcement is a repeat of an announcement made months ago about the alliance between MySpace and Sentinel. The software allows an easy pairing of the registry databases with the registration info at myspace. That will help identify the sex offenders who are stupid enough to continue to use their real names and locations and pictures on myspace.

(Actually, even if they take those down, the search descriptions on myspace continue to list the information after the changes are made on the profile itself. We have spotted this as a problem with teens who have now set their profiles to "private" while the descriptions continue to share too much info. So, the sex offenders (happily) might get caught even after they make changes.)

The Virginia Attorney General has proposed adding a requirement that registered sex offenders be required to share their e-mail addresses with the authorities. This can have a big impact. Not, as many think, because the sex offenders will disclose their addresses, but more (IMHO) because when they don't, their parole/probation terms will be violated and they can go back to jail.

That I support!

I just don't see how donating this technology is newsworthy. But perhaps, every little bit helps when kids and predators are involved.

The Internet brings out the best and the worst in people

I've been doing this a very long time. I have protected kids, adults and celebrities online. I have worked with everyone in the industry to help create a safer and more responsible Net.

I started fighting this fight in 1997. Before then I protected corporations in cyberspace. (moving form protecting corporations at hefty hourly legal rates, to working for free to protect kids wasn't necessarily a great business move. :-))

While I understand how kids and young teens may act out online, and do things they shouldn't, I am always amazed at the outrageous things adults will do online.

Cyberbashing....something short of cyberstalking, akin to cyberharassment, is something businesses do to their competitors and people with way too much time on their hands do online to bother others.

I wish we had a law against rudeness and immaturity online. It's such a waste of time and bandwidth.

my 2 cents.

Putting Your Best Foot Forward

We're seeing more and more prospective employers deciding not to hire teens and college students because of what they have posted online....

it's time to teach our kids to put their best foot forward online, just as they would in public offline.

what they post online counts!

I always say that what you post online stays online...forever!

Gang News

gangs are using video and social networks to recruit suburban kids.Gang News

Teenagers find expresssion online - Newsday.com

Teenagers find expresssion online - Newsday.com

Hattiesburg American - www.hattiesburgamerican.com - Hattiesburg, Miss.

Not sure that all points, especially about facebook, are accurate, but here's a recent article.Hattiesburg American - www.hattiesburgamerican.com - Hattiesburg, Miss.

CJOnline Blogs - Why teens risk online exposure, and how parents can help

Myspace safety? it's more than just safety tips....CJOnline Blogs - Why teens risk online exposure, and how parents can help

ARTICLE: Enter the world of live, unfiltered webcams, where anything goes ( - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)

ARTICLE: Enter the world of live, unfiltered webcams, where anything goes ( - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)

Unlike Vegas, what happens online goes all over

think twice before doing anything online that you don't want a future employer to read...Unlike Vegas, what happens online goes all over

Technology News: Legal: School Safety: Technology Outpacing the Law

Technology News: Legal: School Safety: Technology Outpacing the Law

violent videos online

Jan 20, 2007 4:27 pm US/Central

Violent Videos Come Under Fire On The Web

Frank Vascellaro
Reporting

(WCCO) This week, Web sites like YouTube and MySpace came under attack for hosting violent videos like the video of three 9th grade girls from Long Island taking turns pulling hair, punching and even stomping on an 8th grade girl.

The attack was taped and posted on the web and safety experts say many parents have no idea videos like that even exist out in cyberspace.

Playground fights are nothing new, but posting them on video websites is.

The parents of one 13-year old beating victim did not want to press charges until it ended up on the Internet.

"By putting these images up on the Internet, you get attention. You get fame. It's a culture in which kids are looking to be famous," said psychologist James Garbarino.

Police and other law enforcement agencies have started monitoring popular websites for violent videos. Once the clips are out in the open it can become the perfect evidence because the act of posting it becomes an admission of guilt.

"They don't say, 'I'm putting on a picture of a fight which is against the law.' It's, 'I'm putting on a picture of a fight. I will have 15 minutes of fame.' They don't see it as a criminal act," said Roni Benson an anti-bullying advocate.

Even if your kids never get involved in any violence, experts worry about another risk. Parry Aftab with wiredsafety.org says the videos make gang life seem exciting and cool to lure kids in.

"It's allowing gangs to recruit beyond where they used to. So, we have a lot of kids who are bored in upper middle class suburban neighborhoods who are now finding that it might be kind of fun to hang out with the Bloods," said Aftab.

YouTube said it pulls any flagged video that shows someone being "hurt, attacked or humiliated."

MySpace said it removes flagged videos with "offensive content, hate speech and violence."

Policies aside, the videos are posted and advocates are concerned that most parents have no idea and need to be warned.

"What we need to let parents know is your kids can stumble on it. You have to talk to them ahead of time about what they may find," said Aftab.

In recent weeks, the video Web sites have added safety teams that also monitor and remove inappropriate content as it's discovered.

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Cyberbullies face few consequences

I would like to beef up legal protections...but I disagree with the journalist here. I think there are more laws in the legal arsenal that work here. Cyberbullies face few consequences

Lawsuits Against MySpace.com Mounting - News

Lawsuits Against MySpace.com Mounting - News

Lawsuits Against MySpace.com Mounting - News

new lawsuits by families of cyber sexual predator victims plague myspace. Lawsuits Against MySpace.com Mounting - News

The realities of myspace and teens online - keeping them safer on myspace

Why teens risk online exposure, and how parents can help
Posted by
Daily Dose - News in News2 Topeka Kansas, January 12, 2007


Kevin smokes pot and drinks alcohol on a monthly basis. Damisha, who never has kissed more than one person in the same day, thinks Jazmyne flirts more than anyone she knows. Laci works at a day care and has no idea what she wants to do with her life, but she would like to get engaged before the year ends.

Kevin, Damisha and Laci, who identify themselves as teenagers living in Topeka, posted this information to their Myspace Web pages.
And there are many others who have much more to say. As teens look online to develop social connections, they often divulge too much information, putting themselves at risk with parents, employers, police and predators.

“It’s the future of the Net,” said Parry Aftab, a privacy lawyer and executive director of wiredsafety.org, an online resource for teaching teens and parents the dos and don’ts of social networking.

Because it’s the future, she said, we have a responsibility to embrace the technology and use it wisely — even if you’re not comfortable with it.

Last month, local parents expressed outrage following a story in the Topeka West student newspaper that included blurred images posted to Myspace. The photos showed teens drinking.

Ron Harbaugh, spokesman for Topeka Unified School District 501, said 501 schools provide students with information about the dangers of social networking. Sites like Myspace, he said, are blocked on school computers.

But what students do at home is up to them, he said.

“They’re aware of the dangers, especially after recent incidents, but that’s their decision,” Harbaugh said.

That’s the wrong approach, according to Aftab. Teens are told about risks by parents, friends, teachers and media, but they aren’t listening, she said.

“They can tell you the words, but they don’t believe it,” Aftab said. “They think it can be risky, but only for stupid kids. They think it can be a problem, but only for kids who don’t get it. Not them. It doesn’t apply to them.”

Aftab — who says she talks to thousands of teens and parents on a monthly basis — described an exercise in which she asks students to raise their hands if they feel safe online. Invariably, they all raise their hands. Then she asks them to raise their hands if they think their friends are safe online. No students raise their hands.

This indicates that teens understand that bad things can happen. They just aren’t realistic about their own vulnerability, she said.

To get through to teens, Aftab uses several tactics.

First, she tells them to have what she calls “a wired buddy,” someone you trust to talk to about the content you’re putting online. Friends are more protective than we are of ourselves, Aftab said.

She also suggests teens protect their Web pages with passwords. If they feel the need to give out an e-mail address, they should set up a secondary one through a service like Hotmail.

Most important, she said, is to tell kids to think before they click.

“Don’t post anything that you think might embarrass you in a few years,” Aftab said. “Don’t post when you’re out at a slumber party and you’re goofing around. Don’t post when you’re at a frat party and you’re drunk. What you put online stays on forever.”

In addition to getting through to teens, though, Aftab said someone needs to get through to parents. Instead of being outraged, they should make sure their kids “know how to use the technology and are responsible when they do it,” she said.

Aftab compared online social networking to teaching kids about sex and drugs. Instead of telling them not to have sex before they’re married or not to drink before they’re 21, she said, it’s more effective to tell teach them to have safe sex and not to drink and drive.

Which is why Aftab said the worst thing a parent can do is to bar a son or daughter from going to Myspace or a similar site at all. She instead asks parents to “take a breath” and “remember what it was like being 15.”

And remember that kids lie. If your daughter writes that she was drunk at a party on Saturday night, there’s a chance she was really at home in bed.

“They want to sound cooler than they are in real life,” Aftab said.

Finding missing and abducted kids online

We spend a great deal of time teaching kids not to share too much personal information online. But sometimes when they ignore us, the Internet can be used as a tool to find them. Parental abductions, stranger abductions and runaway cases can easily be often solved by searching for that kid on popular websites and social networks.

While the abductor may convince the child to change their last name, the child may still want to frequent their favorite sites and networks. Even if they understand or have been convinced of the risks of disclosing their true identity to anyone, they may be reluctant to give up those points they earned on their favorite game sites or end longterm online friendships.

Recently a missing/runaway children's group contacted me seeking help in locating a runaway they had spotted on myspace. The group informed me that the leading missing and runaway children groups had failed to take any action. I pointed them to the right people at myspace and the child was recovered.

Recently the young teen who had been abducted years ago was found, only to discover that he had a posting online, using his real first name and the assumed last name of his abductor.

When seeking someone online, try their real first name and interests. Nicknames may be continued to be used as well. Look for birthdates, birthplaces and favorite websites and games.

If you find them online, do not reach out to communicate with them until law enforcement has been contacted and has the information they need to locate them offline. If they need help reaching the right person at the site, have them contact me.

This is one time that kids sharing too much info online can be a good thing.

Parry