The software actually analyses the images kinda like facial recognition. I believe Microsoft will be offering it for free to ISPs.... They are on a quest to re-win the world's opinion after several disastrous miss-steps.

A problem I see with the Google/Microsoft Plan is almost all CP is on the Deep Web, where they have no power and ISP's can't see it. This will help imprison idiots, newbies and lurkers, but not stop ANY production or distributing.
Since CP is one of the few crimes where money is not the motivating factor, it can't be controlled. A person willing to commit a heinous crime, videotape it, allow his face to be seen, upload it and then send it to other people, that he doesn't know obviously has some MAJOR issues.
Congress, LE, prosecutors and judges seem to be at least decade behind the reality of this situation.

Hank.. You are correct but if the ISP's can block it BEFORE it gets to the local computer there will be less prosecutions. Even the dark web goes through local ISP's to the end user.

We live in a global world and we cannot impose our values worldwide. There will always be CP out there.

I'm going to touch on the revicitmization topic simply because I don't understand a lot of the technical aspects being discussed.

I am a victim of CP. As a young girl (3-5) I was abused and photographed. I was raped at 15 and it was recorded. I know my pictures and video are out there and they are being looked at.

I am not in any way shape or form revictimized if my pictures are viewed. Why? Because I don't know when or by whom they are viewed. I don't want to know. I don't need to know. I am only victimized again (I will say in my mind because the people viewing the files are not physically abusing me) if I know it is happening.

Do I think the people viewing the pictures of my abuse need to be thrown away? In some aspects yes. In logical and real world aspects, no. They haven't hurt me and most likely aren't going to go out and physically do what was done to me.

Teenagers sending sexy pictures to each other, getting caught and subsequently being locked up or punished severely is ridiculous. I am not a teenager anymore, it is not something I would do, however this is what they do these days. Wrong, maybe...but they are in their own age group.

The people viewing these files are not the problem, like has been said many times before. The problem is the people producing it.

People watch brutal horror movies right? War movies? Illegal activities such as drugs and street racing? Crime dramas? Do a vast majority go out and do said activities? No.

It is sick to me that some find children is sexual situations appealing. However if you step back and look at it from a broader perspective, some find bondage appealing and other sexual activities that are viewed as questionable by a large percentage of the population, yet don't physically partake in it.

I am unsure as to where else I was going with this, but this is my view.

KnowNot, I am truly sorry for what you have been through and thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings. Do you get contacted by prosecutors anytime someone is found to be in possession of pictures involving you? Sexting teenagers has been a huge problem, since cell phone cameras became the norm.
Since (at least in the feds) possession is a direct liability crime, intent doesn't matter. If you are accused, they take your computer and if you can prove it's not your computer or the person is over 18, you have a chance. How it got there or what you did or didn't do with it, doesn't matter. Even if someone honestly has a good defense...it's still not worth taking a chance at trial, since the sentences are so outrageous. And because 95% of cases are pled out, no evidence is ever seen by a judge or jury.

KnowNot, that is a great analogy. Although I am sorry that you had to go through what you have been through in order to see things this way.

@KnowNot I too am truly sorry for what have suffered.

@HankMoody and @Wisconsinrsol I think you both misunderstand how some of this stuff actually works especially when it comes to known imagery.

There's something called error correction woven into every facet of digital data transfer. Error correction works by generating unique hash values for each chunk of data transmitted and these hash values are the digital equivalent Of DNA or fingerprints. (part of the reason Microsoft's package is called PhotoDNA). Whenever data is transferred the hash values have to match at both the point of origin and the destination. If they don't then either a recovery algorithm attempts to recreate the data working backwards from the hash values or the data is transferred again unitl the values match. The thing is the same chunk of data will always generate the same hash values no matter what it's on, what it's called (file names are linked to a file but not actually part of a file) or where it goes. The only way to change the hash value is to modify the core file in some way. This explanation is very simplified but that's the gist of error correction.

Detection of known CP is done by using hash values. The NCMEC maintains the world's largest database of CP and the the corresponding hash values. For years access to even just the hash values has been limited to mainly law enforcement agencies using the data to help locate people possessing and/or distributing CP but recently it has been opened up to the likes of Google and Microsoft. The Google approach will take the data, add to it and then reduce the overhead required to scan for known CP to what amounts to a look up table. Look up tables require very little in the way resources and costs to be extremely effective and will eventually be implemented at the hardware level as a simple network filter appliance. Once that happens it won't matter where the known CP is. Any attempt to transmit it anywhere will result in it being filtered and blocked. As an appliance or an upgrade to existing filter appliances the cost will be minimal, no more than an additional network switch.

That covers known CP but I'm sure you're thinking that since changing the core file generates a new hash all you have to do is resize a photo or adjust the colors etc etc to escape detection. Not so fast! Yes doing something like that does generate an "unknown" hash BUT the new value is predictable. In other words you have a photo but no matter what you do to it, any hash values resulting from the changes will stay within a given range. Not only that but similar images will generate similar hash values. Microsoft's PhotoDNA leverages this behavior to detect new, unknown images. When the hash value is close enough to an existing value the scrutiny level is raised and like FreeToBreathe mentioned something similar to facial recognition is used to make a determination. This is much more resource intensive compared to detection of known CP Microsoft is supposed to be giving it away to service providers just like FreeToBreathe mentioned.

Wisconsin you also mentioned false negatives and wondered how many dance recitals would be filtered. Probably most of them as they are likely illegal CP under the law. The are many. many people sitting in prison right now because of possessing dance recital videos.

Not to mention those "Innocent" baby bath pictures that parents find so cute!

@Hankmoody: I have never been contacted because nothing that has happened to me has been reported.

First of all, I know all about those great cops, especially the one that admitted in court and under oath that he lied to get my case into court. You can't do anything to the thugs because they are protected by congressional immunity (federal agents). That's why the sniper at Ruby Ridge was never charged with his murder of a 12 year old boy. They would have had to remove his congressional immunity and that would have opened all of them to prosecution for their unlawful conduct.

You tell me who you are protecting when you arrest a kid for porn when he downloaded hundreds and in some cases thousands of music files and a porn file was in the download. It doesn't matter that he didn't know it, or that he never even opened the file. Oh yes, lets not forget about the mom or dad, god forbid, that takes a picture of their kid taking a bath.

This country is out of control. It's lawmakers, cops and neighborhood do-good vigilantes. I am sorry I was ever born in this country.

Phillip... I share your concern. The legal system has not caught up with the technology. It's still trying to judge current situations to old laws. I fear that we are hopelessly lost in a draconian system. And I don't feel this in just sex offenses but in many other areas... I guess I glad I'm in the twilight of my years and won't have to experience this very long... and I'm only 59 1/2...

Free...I am 1/2 year older than you and I am right there with you. We have had The War on Drugs, War on Crime, The War on Terror and now The War on Sex. All of these "Wars" have been a complete failure. Apparently there is a real problem with people in this country learning from experience.

You know this country is on the road to hell when a person can go to prison for just clicking a link.

This guy never even looked or accessed a CP image; he just clicked a link PLANTED BY THE FBI.

It seems to me that the FBI would have plenty of CP cases without stooping to this nonsense.

http://tinyurl.com/msb4zfx

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you are correct REW and the thing is (as one of the commenters eluded to) is that humans are just that human ...many would click the link just to see if it is true - or think it was a spoof etc. I have believed for a while that the FBI have used tactics like this to get rid of people that are "a threat" to them. Like the DC aide that was outspoken about the Patriot act and all of the sudden had CP on his computers (at a senators office no less- he eventually committed suicide) or the high ranking FBI official that possessed CP. These were smart and educated men - the aide would have had to have been an idiot to have CP on his work computer and the FBI guy most certainly knew how it was done and yet he also had CP? I just do not buy it and I wonder why the American people are accepting this crap. I am equally shocked that a jury in the USA would convict this guy - seriously? I too find myself no longer proud to be an American. American citizens better wake up soon becasue eventually all will be lost ...

Advocate,

You said, concerning CP and the witch hunt, " I just do not buy it and I wonder why the American people are accepting this crap."

Simple. FEAR. With the media's help, they have been taught that everyone who looks at CP is a future child molester, as it is only a matter of time before they molest a child.

They have been brainwashed that CP is a gateway to more serious sex crimes against children, just as people in the 1970's were erroneously taught that marijuana was a gateway to heroin or harder drugs.

Fear, a simple, tried and true formula. Works every time.

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