FBI ran massive child porn website to catch pedophiles

[Suzanimal]

The FBI took over and ran one of the internet’s largest child porn sites in a bid to catch thousands of pedophiles. One such pedophile is now suing the government on the grounds that the agency enabled him to access the site.

The Department of Justice recently acknowledged in court filings that the FBI had been running the website, known as “Playpen”, as part of a largely secret operation on the dark web. On February 20, 2015, instead of shutting down the website that they had seized, the FBI continued to run it until May 4 and infect users with software that revealed their identities.

The website had more than 215,000 registered users, and it had links to more than 23,000 sexually explicit images and videos of children, including 9,000 files that could be downloaded directly from the FBI’s servers in suburban Washington. Some of the children depicted in the illicit files were below kindergarten age.

Authorities were able to capture the identifying computer information of 1,300 users, 137 of whom they managed to bring criminal charges against.

One of the 137 charged, however, says that it’s really the FBI that’s to blame. In a court filing, a lawyer for Jay Michaud, a former middle school who was arrested in the sting, arguing that “what the government did in this case is comparable to flooding a neighborhood with heroin in the hope of snatching an assortment of low-level drug users.” The lawyer, Colin Fieman, asked a federal judge to dismiss child pornography charges against his client. The judge is set to hear arguments related to that that request on Friday.

The clandestine operation is a relatively recent strategy in the FBI’s fight against online child pornography, according to USA Today. Agents had previously prioritized keeping the images of children out of the public’s reach, due to the Justice Department’s reasoning that every time someone views the images a child is harmed.

However, the FBI acknowledged that their choice to provide the illicit material was one of the only options they had to bring criminals to justice.

“We had a window of opportunity to get into one of the darkest places on Earth, and not a lot of other options except to not do it,” former FBI official Ron Hosko, who took part in the first operation of this kind, according to USA Today. “There was no other way we could identify as many players.”

In addition to being criticized for violating the rights of people charged with accessing the materials, the FBI has drawn fire for distributing more of the illicit materials for more people to see.

“At some point, the government investigation becomes indistinguishable from the crime, and we should ask whether that’s OK,” said Elizabeth Joh, a law professor at the University of California who has studied undercover operations, according to USA Today.

“What’s crazy about it is who’s making the cost/benefit analysis on this? Who decides that this is the best method of identifying these people?”

The FBI first carried out an operation involving a secret takeover of a child porn site in 2012, and it resulted in 25 users being charged with possessing child pornography by infecting their computers with malware that exposed their information. However, authorities may have had trouble actually pinpointing the real life identities of many of those charged, as is indicated by nine of them being named “John Doe” in court filings.

https://www.rt.com/usa/329863-fbi-child-porn-website/

[TheNewYorker]

Shouldn't the FBI be charged with possession, since it was stored on their servers?

[otherone]

the Justice Department’s reasoning that every time someone views the images a child is harmed.

WE DECIDE WHAT YOU SEE

[timosman]

Entrapment?

[fisharmor]

Man this is the feds... we already determined here in Prince William County that police can actively make NEW kiddie port if it's part of an investigation, so the fbi is probably good to go.

[Indy Vidual]

Big Brother has a little friend?

http://orig07.deviantart.net/3380/f/2008/304/8/e/pedo_bear_mask_by_bltsalade.jpg

[01000110]

WTF, so we pay the FBI to distribute child porn?

Can't they just go and bust up the existing sites for it instead of plastering more of it on the internet?

This seems really looney to me.

[01000110]

And Oh... we are all probably on some nasty NSA list now for posting in this thread. Great.

[idiom]

The website had more than 215,000 registered users, and it had links to more than 23,000 sexually explicit images

So basically nobody there was generating the material. That is a tiny ratio of users to content.

[tod evans]

WTF, so we pay the FBI to distribute child porn?

Can't they just go and bust up the existing sites for it instead of plastering more of it on the internet?

This seems really looney to me.

There's no headlines or budget increases in that.....

[Spikender]

All those registered users and only 137 charged.

That's like a less than 1% success rate. Sounds like most Government ventures.

[heavenlyboy34]

WTF, so we pay the FBI to distribute child porn?

Can't they just go and bust up the existing sites for it instead of plastering more of it on the internet?

This seems really looney to me.
All men are created equal before God and The Law, but some are more equal than others. Especially if they have gov'ment costumes.

[dannno]

a former middle school who was arrested in the sting

Wait, they charged a child for looking at child pornography?

[Suzanimal]

Wait, they charged a child for looking at child pornography?

Didn't the cops go after a teen for child porn when the nude photos were of himself? Seems I remember something like that.

[Indy Vidual]

Yes, selfie porn goes on your permanent record.

[tod evans]

Didn't the cops go after a teen for child porn when the nude photos were of himself? Seems I remember something like that.

Yup.

[Dianne]

That's what they say. It's more likely they were running massive child porn website for themselves and arresting the little perverts who happened upon their sites. Much like they were running guns to the Mafia drug cartels under "Fast and Furious", to also benefit themselves.

Once we realize the Federal Government is a mafia, with unimaginable corruption and criminal activity; we can never begin to set ourselves free.

[Working Poor]

I wonder how many government officials were blackmailed by the FBI as a result of this web site.

[Suzanimal]

I wonder how many government officials were blackmailed by the FBI as a result of this web site.


However, authorities may have had trouble actually pinpointing the real life identities of many of those charged, as is indicated by nine of them being named “John Doe” in court filings.

I'm guessing it's the "John Doe's". So that would be 9 out of 25.

Edit:
Never mind read CA's post below. I was reading the wrong numbers.:o

[ChristianAnarchist]

All those registered users and only 137 charged.

That's like a less than 1% success rate. Sounds like most Government ventures.

Yes, 215,000 registered users and only 137 charged. I'm guessing that most of those NOT charged were goonerment officials...

[kpitcher]

And Oh... we are all probably on some nasty NSA list now for posting in this thread. Great.

I'm sure we were all on a list way before this thread

[Mad Raven]

What kind of sickos at the FBI would agree to do this? They had to have people managing the content.


"Agent McDikkin, I want you to run this child pron website for the next 6 months. It--

"OH yes sir!! Yes sir! For the good of the country, sir!"

"McDikkin, you'll be elbow deep in filth. I hope you can handle it. This will be your life now."

"OH YES!! YES!!! JACKPOT! ...I mean, we'll hit the jackpot of criminals, sir. We'll find those poor misunderstood souls."

[idiom]

The biggest child porn ring on the planet is fucking snapchat. That must process 28,000 new child porn images every second.

[alucard13mm]

so how much money they spend on this donkey show?

[Weston White]

Authorities were able to capture the identifying computer information of 1,300 users, 137 of whom they managed to bring criminal charges against.

So, am I correct in presuming the remaining 1,163 came back to Pentagon, U.S. Treasury/IRS, White House, DOJ, and U.S. Representatives/Senate IP addresses?

[AngryCanadian]

Reminds me of the Drug War.

The elites and politicians whom do CP are never arrested with anything. Remember the pentagon story?

[timosman]

so how much money they spend on this donkey show?

This is not about money. ;)

[MelissaWV]

Wait, they charged a child for looking at child pornography?

I am pretty sure the missing word is "official" or "teacher" in that sentence, though it's funnier how it's posted. They arrested the entire school.

[Chester Copperpot]

Yes, 215,000 registered users and only 137 charged. I'm guessing that most of those NOT charged were goonerment officials...

.00063%


1% would have been 21.500 convictions

[jkob]

So wait, the FBI put thousands of images of child pornography into circulation to at least 215,000 people and for that they only arrested 137? Think about the damage they did, this is some Fast and Furious type shit like what the fuck! Where did they even get this stuff? Like evidence from cases? They took over the site but were hosting 9,000 images of it on FBI servers?

[presence]

every time someone views the images a child is harmed


+



instead of shutting down the website that they had seized, the FBI continued to run it



=







http://31.media.tumblr.com/e8c28224ab6283725c89d64617792715/tumblr_inline_nhprr4v1KL1qaohdj.jpg

[ZENemy]

And we funded it.

[pcosmar]

And we funded it.

Some less than others.

The show of arrests was nothing but PR stunt.

Government is Evil,, those attached are tainted. Some fight it,, there have been a few besides Ron Paul. Most embrace it.

We are constantly shown the evils of those that rule over us,,

And they continually, and throughout history are the predators. Not the protectors.

[alucard13mm]

.00063%


1% would have been 21.500 convictions

Wow.. lol so effective they are :p.

[Uriel999]

Shouldn't the FBI be charged with possession, since it was stored on their servers?

And distribution.

Well, our government sure is a full service black market now.

For all your drug needs please place an order with the CIA.

If you want kiddie porn the FBI currently distributes it.

I'm assuming the TSA produces it.

Oh and if you want illegal firearms please see the BATFE and Eric Holder.

[Mani]

This makes about as much sense as the government selling guns to drug cartels. Like the government would ever do something that crazy.

[jonhowe]

.00063%


1% would have been 21.500 convictions

That's 10%.

[Ronin Truth]

How many FBI employees did they catch?

[paleocon1]

It takes Crime to Fight Crime!

You Must Exploit Kids to Save Kids!

[paleocon1]

But hey the FBI has been doing this entrapment thing all the way back to the FBI plants in the KKK sparkplugging the murders of Freedom Summer visitors to the South.

[luctor-et-emergo]

I'm against child porn and entrapment. Both are crimes in my book.

So yeah. IDK.

If I were a figure of authority I'd want to give a good example. But maybe that's the reason why I'm not in government.

[Occam's Banana]

Tricky Dick redux ... "Well, when the president government does it, that means that it is not illegal."

[jbauer]

Yes, 215,000 registered users and only 137 charged. I'm guessing that most of those NOT charged were goonerment officials...

Anonymous would be much more effective in such a sting. All you need to do is generate a list of the 215,000 users and list their name, address, occupation and contact information. The rest of the world would take care of the rest of the problem.

[dannno]

Anonymous would be much more effective in such a sting. All you need to do is generate a list of the 215,000 users and list their name, address, occupation and contact information. The rest of the world would take care of the rest of the problem.

Yep, that sounds like a great idea.. except, wait a minute!! Your name is on the list because the neighbor kid who you are always yelling at to stay off your lawn wanted to look at some and decided to use somebody else's personal info, and guess whose they used!!

Hope you have some baseball bat strength body armor.

[TheTexan]

Shouldn't the FBI be charged with possession, since it was stored on their servers?

As a general rule, and this applies to basically everything, it's not illegal when the government does it.

[djinwa]

137 divided by 215,000 equals .00063 (not percent)

To get percent, move decimal 2 places to the right.

Equals .063%

[Mach]

All government Offices are, markets.

[kcchiefs6465]

137 divided by 215,000 equals .00063 (not percent)

To get percent, move decimal 2 places to the right.

Equals .063%
Oh, well that's good.

The FBI ran a child porn website that captured .063% of the people using said website.

Lucky it wasn't .00063% or that would have been ridiculous.

[kcchiefs6465]

All government Offices are, markets.
Really? How so?

[Mach]

Really? How so?

Markets to themselves.

[Lucille]

every time someone views the images a child is harmed

+


instead of shutting down the website that they had seized, the FBI continued to run it

=



http://31.media.tumblr.com/e8c28224ab6283725c89d64617792715/tumblr_inline_nhprr4v1KL1qaohdj.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ba/ed/07/baed0737fdb04011f93d98d182bd3b72.jpg

[timosman]

https://motherboard.vice.com/read/lawyer-dark-web-child-porn-site-ran-better-when-it-was-taken-over-by-the-fbi


August 23, 2016

In February 2015, the FBI took control of Playpen, the largest dark web child pornography site at the time. But instead of shutting the site down, the agency kept it going for just under two weeks, in order to deliver malware to its visitors in the hope of identifying suspects in its investigation.

Newly filed court exhibits now suggest that the site performed substantially better while under the FBI's control, with users commenting on the improvements. The defense for the man accused of being the original administrator of Playpen claims that these improvements led to the site becoming even more popular.

“The FBI distributed child pornography to viewers and downloaders worldwide for nearly two weeks, until at least March 4, 2015, even working to improve the performance of the website beyond its original capability,” Peter Adolf, an assistant federal defender in the Western District of North Carolina, writes in a motion to have his client’s indictment thrown out.

“As a result, the number of visitors to Playpen while it was under Government control [increased] from an average of 11,000 weekly visitors to approximately 50,000 per week. During those two weeks, the website’s membership grew by over 30%, the number of unique weekly visitors to the site more than quadrupled, and approximately 200 videos, 9,000 images, and 13,000 links to child pornography were posted on the site,” he continues.

According to archived messages on the Playpen site filed alongside Adolf’s motion, users were complaining of Playpen’s sluggish service around the time the site was taken over.

“I’ve been having trouble getting in here all day, took forever just to reply to this so guess there is still some server trouble. Wish all the best in getting in [sic] fixed,” one user called “verycute” wrote on February 21, 2015.

Shortly after, on February 23, someone in control of a Playpen administrator account wrote, “I upgraded the Token Ring to Ethernet about an hour ago and things seem to be working a bit better.” (A Token ring is a particular type network configuration).

It is not totally clear whether the FBI was in control of this account, though this is what Adolf insinuates.

Regardless, users soon noticed the effects of the tweak.

“Yes, it is working much better now!” one user replied.

“Working FAST today :-)” another wrote.

“It now runs everything very smoothly! :D” a third replied. “Hopefully it will remain so! ???”


Adolf’s motion continues, “Indeed, government agents worked hard to upgrade the website’s capability to distribute large amounts of child pornography quickly and efficiently, resulting in more users receiving more child pornography faster than they ever did when the website was running ‘illegally.’”

This is where Adolf’s argument for why his client’s indictment should be thrown out comes in: Echoing the defense team in another case, he says the FBI engaged in “outrageous conduct” by distributing child pornography on a massive scale. Such activity by government agents in an investigation could lead to dismissal of charges if, as Adolf writes, the conduct is “shocking” or “offensive to traditional notions of fundamental fairness.” (A judge previously ruled that the operation did not equate to outrageous conduct.)

What is new here is the defense’s claim that the FBI deliberately improved the site’s functionality for its users, and that this in turn led to more people signing up to Playpen. Adolf does not provide any solid evidence for this apparent causality, but points to the archived Playpen messages which indicate improvements took place.

In July, the Department of Justice wrote in a court document that so far 186 people have been charged as part of this investigation. Motherboard found that the FBI hacked over 4,000 computers, including in countries as far afield as Chile and Austria.

In court documents from other related cases filed on Monday, defense attorneys placed a “conservative estimate” on the number of illegal images distributed by the FBI during its operation of Playpen: 1,000,000.

Christopher Allen, a spokesperson for the FBI, declined to comment on matters pending litigation.

[Suzanimal]

FBI's Disturbing Hacking Powers Challenged in Court Over Child Pornography Case

Arguments were heard in an appeals court on Wednesday involving a controversial government hacking case in which the FBI participated in the distribution of child pornography. This is the most recent legal test of the FBI’s ability to hack any computer, anywhere.

...
At the time of the seizure, Playpen is said to have had roughly 215,000 users worldwide. In August, the FBI was accused by one defendant (a former Playpen administrator) of not only running the website, but improving its performance.

That the FBI did not immediately shut down the forum, but instead kept it running for 13 days, has been deservedly scrutinized by digital rights groups, and in the press. “If the government is going to break the law in order to enforce it, it must justify how any resulting benefits outweigh any harms,” Elizabeth E. Joh, a law school professor, wrote in the New York Times last January. “When the government participates in the distribution of contraband,” she said, “it has little control over who will use those illegal guns, drugs or child pornography, and little ability to protect victims from these harms.”

The subject of Wednesday’s hearing, however, involves a separate issue, but one which has equally far-reaching consequences: the FBI, which targeted as many as 8,000 devices internationally, carried out its entire hacking campaign after obtaining only a single warrant. Should the court determine that the FBI’s actions were lawful, it is likely to repeat this tactic in the future, and perhaps in cases not centered around the distribution of child pornography.

In court Wednesday, attorneys at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) argued that, even taking into consideration the hellish nature of the allegations facing the accused, the FBI, too, violated the law and the US Constitution.

Before the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, EFF Attorney Mark Rumold asserted that the government’s use of malware to remotely attack computers, which were “located in unknown places, in states across the country, in countries across the world,” vastly exceeded the scope of agency’s authority. “No court,” he said, “would seriously consider a comparable warrant in the physical world. A warrant that authorized the search of hundreds or thousands of homes, without identifying specific buildings or specifying where the buildings were located, would be rejected out of hand even if those searches were limited to identifying the person residing there.”

In the EFF’s view, the sheer breadth of the FBI’s cyberattack indicates that it did not meet the “particularity” required of the Fourth Amendment, under which Americans’ rights against unlawful search and seizure are protected. The warrant, “which did not describe any particular person or place,” Rumold wrote, was, therefore, invalid.

What’s more, EFF attorneys argue that the FBI’s warrant is invalidated by the fact that the bureau acted outside its capacity: The malware it spread to identify Playpen’s users is not the same as the installation of a device to track a target’s location—which is what the warrant actually authorized.

In its amicus brief, which was filed alongside the ACLU of Massachusetts, the EFF states that, although the information seized “may ultimately have assisted the FBI in identifying a particular user,” what it obtained offered little in the way of helping the bureau locate the suspects. Even in cases where the FBI was able to assess a user’s IP address, that information alone is not enough to identify the user’s location. “In this investigation,” Rumold said, “it was generally only after the FBI took additional investigative steps that any reliable information related to location was actually obtained.”

Moreover, the EFF takes issue with the fact that the FBI’s malware—what it refers to euphemistically as a network investigative technique (NIT)—was not installed within the jurisdiction of the authorizing court, in the Eastern District of Virginia, but rather in other jurisdictions where the accused actually reside. The government’s argument is that the suspects made a “virtual trip via the Internet to Virginia,” but even if that’s true, the FBI’s malware did not take effect until after it reached the defendants’ homes.

The case also has bearing on international law. Many of the computers hacked by the FBI were located in foreign countries, some of which may have treaties with the US restricting how authorities may collect electronic evidence against its citizens—an issue the appellate may be sensitive to, even if the FBI is not.

...

https://gizmodo.com/fbis-disturbing-hacking-powers-challenged-in-court-over-1794885187

[ChristianAnarchist]

Goons gonna goon naked children...