or you could say there is one law for the wealthy and another law for people who have to use public defenders.

Well see, what I'm confused about the most is how they showed up a year after he had downloaded it/deleted it. What if that files(s) was over written, or what if that hard drive had been replaced? Going after someone a year after something happens, without any other recent evidence, would seem a bit...outrages/unethical/dangerous on THEIR part. I'm just curious as to how they even got a warrant...If they went there and couldn't find anything in his possession, i don't believe they would have even been able to charge him with anything..however i have seen a case where someone really did get nabbed a year after they downloaded some(3 files), but they were sharing it and an officer downloaded it from them. However, they didnt threaten him with any jail time, or made him register as a sex offender. He just couldnt be around kids alone. They also found 16 other files on his computer after they confiscated it. And this is just my oppinion, but I'm thinking the only reason they went after him a year later was because he was still sharing those files..

Idk..this is confusing..lol

ukbobboy01 said: "I would've thought that the FBI should be out catching terrorist and organised criminals rather than busting a kid, barely out of his teenage years, for downloading porn".

The FBI is no different than any other law enforcement organization. Their agents are promoted and slapped on the back for one thing and one thing only. Arrests. If they can arrest some 16 year old kid for looking at a naked 17 year old kid then they will. Oh they'll claim its in the name of ....bla bla bla... but in fact arrests are the name of their game.

Prosecutors are the same - they are interested in convictions alone - forget common sense.

Why do you think a girl was arrested for SENDING a nude picture of HERSELF to a boy who was ALSO arrested? Ruin a kids life? Who cares as long as the law enforcement officer gets a check mark on their score card.

I, too, question how the FBI knew about the file, and why they took so long. Indeed, they risked not finding anything (young nerds frequently swap out drives).

Then there's no telling who got p'd off after their kid downloaded a nasty, and then called their friend - the Senator, A.G., judge...

Guys

I too find that there are "holes" in this story, for example unless this youngster's Limewire app was secretly communicating with the FBI (which is possible) how could they possibly know he had this objectional material?

Also, usually the authorities and the record industry can only find out if you have something if it is being shared in your "Share and Imcomplete" folders.

Unless told otherwise, I can only believe that this youngster must have inadvertantly shared these dodgy files over a period of time and then deleted them.

Even so I still think that the FBI catching this kid only warrants giving him a caution/warning rather than a conviction.


UK Bob

bobby, I COMPLETELY agree!
he says he deleted it right away...even if he deleted it out of his limewire library, wouldnt it have, at the very least, not been shared anymore? It just seems odd that they would go after him "about a year later"(with out any other occasions of him sharing illegal images), and STILL slap him with jail time and make him register as a sex offender. Whats even weirder to me is, they are charging him with possession...i don't think they could do that if he really couldnt access the files him self..i mean they could have charged him with creating(when the image shows up on your screen) but not possession...and too true, every case i've seen where someone got busted for having these files on the gnutella network, got busted for sharing them. i don't think downloading a few and deleting them asap would really count as sharing, ecspecially when they would have "bigger fish" sharing a ton of files with out any discretion.

Over the past few years many have come here and complained about accidently downloading CP (and often demanding that Limewire do something about it). Indeed, this thread is 34 pages!

Never heard of any of them getting busted. The FBI didn't come after me, and I got a couple of CP files that were mis-named. Another file I downloaded by accident was actually labeled PTHC and turned out to be a Betty Boop cartoon. I changed the name and kept the file.

To the FBI: The disk with the CP crashed so I got a new computer and recycled the old one. And I am certain Ms Boop was over 18 when she made the film.

I've engaged a few people in this thread, including a monitor, in conversation about getting investigated by police and other agencies.

When actually asked for details of past arrests the monitor finally had to admit he fabricated or enhanced stories to scare people away from downloading porn. He actually scared the wits out of some 16 yo who came here for advise on how to permanently get rid of a file and had the kid looking down the block for cop cars.

It's clear that the cops at all levels of government are after the uploaders as that's where the money is. The only guy I heard about being busted for downloading was doing it in a public library.

The only reason I monitor this thread is to make sure more kids don't have the crap scared out of them and fortunately I haven't see any such activity in over a year.

You know OC

As a person that has always favoured education and knowledge over fear and ignorance, which can be used as tools for bullying, I believe that this "monitor" is wrong in his approach.

Using fear to scare youngsters looking for help and reassurance could have all sorts of unforeseen consequences, some of which could be far worse then a kid giving himself up to the cops.


UK Bob

Haha..Betty Boop..that made my day..lol.

Anyways, I really do hope that this kid is full of it..i really do hope they wouldnt go after someone with so little evidence(calling someone a peadophile is a big deal, not something that i would imagine anyone would do so in a manner of assumption)..do you think it's possible that he maybe searched for it out of curiosity, downloaded a few videos, saw them, delelted them, never did it again, but that was all it took? I know they usually catch people sharing the files, but could it be possible that they knew he searched for it and downloaded it? I havent seen any case where they went after someone because they saw they were searching for it, but hey you never know..