Sykes85

You asked:I saw the picture but because that organisation is American there is no way I can know whether it is true or not. However, as American and British law are very similar it is highly unlikely that you can be prosecuted for anything.

You also asked:Nothing, just defrag once a week as advised.


UK Bob

Hi Forum Members

As if to illustrate my point of over a week ago:

http://www.gnutellaforums.com/288638-post128.html

I have come across this BBC article about a photograph that was seized by police from an art gallery:

BBC NEWS | Magazine | What's the difference between art and porn?

The collection of photographs are owned by Elton John and were taken by an eminent photographer Nan Goldin.

The authorities are currently trying to decide whether to prosecute or not.


UK Bob

What i use is CCleaner and set is to the NSA (7 passes) Secure Deletion. Which means that it deletes everything you want it to by first overwriting it with zeros seven times and then deletes it. Most secure way i can think of. Awesome program that i recommend anyone who has had this problem to get.

i am also worried. I am 14, and like that other guy i am normal sh*t i have many freinds and like lots of ppl my age i look at porn. I use limewire every once in a while and i am shocked when i see that weird porn in the serch results, so last night i downloaded one of a 15 yr old and i then deleted it about 1 minute after it finished downloading i only downloaded it to see if it was real and im not sure it was. I also downlaoded one about a girl and a dog and it was real, so after that i googled wierd porn on google and found this thread i was not concerned but after seeing all these posts i am very concerned, so what is the chance that i willget caught over 1 file.

btw i used eraser and erased limewire and itunes, which is where the files are from. do i need to somehow get the actual files in the trash then do it or will deleting limewire also delete the files from limewire?

oh yeah,and what can they actually do to a 14 year old?

I am qualified to respond to these questions, but this will be my sole post. I will try to keep it short and sweet.

As for what they can do to minors, that varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Prosecution of minors is a very gray legal area. But, Just. Stay. Away. It's not worth it.

I did not read the entire thread, but some people on here were giving bad advice. Do. Not. Ever. turn in child porn to the Feds. If you discover child porn you need to let them know the location of it, but not actually give it to them. POSESSING CHILD PORN IS ILLEGAL. By all means, tell them where they can find it, but do not have a whiff of it on you. However, there are many volunteers who turn in locations of child pornography to the police - this is a very good and noble act. Just be really, really careful. People who have turned in tapes of child porn have been busted for posession...digital downloads are the same thing, legally. So point out, but do not touch. Pretend you found a gun on the side of the road. Sure, call the cops - but don't get your fingerprints or DNA on it.

Most, and I emphasize the word most, people get caught by sharing it. It's the same way with illegally obtained music. If you accidentally download child porn, the first thing you need to do is get it out of the shared folder. The second thing you should do is uninstall the file-sharing program (you can reinstall after this is all said and done). Then download an erasing program. Research it to make sure it is what it is. I recommend at least seven passes with a DoD overwriting algorithm. Good erasure programs will have a few options. ERASE the file in question - don't delete it. (Most erasure programs delete and erase at once.)

Once you've erased the file, then go clear all of your history, temporary internet files, cookies, and document history. Then reboot. Then you want to use the erasure program to overwrite ALL of the free space on your hard drives. I would suggest doing this a few times (with different algorithms) - just in case.

At this point you should be good to go. Running a defrag couldn't hurt either. Also make sure you have anti-spyware and anti-virus software up to date and run them weekly. (This should be done anyway.)

At this point, they'd need an electron microscope to get the data off your hard drive, which is way too expensive to use in prosecution for...well, for most things. Even then, them getting data is a maybe, at best.

If you really think the cops are coming and you've done all of this, then you could reformat your hard drive. If you KNOW that there is a warrant out for you (but have not been given an order to preserve data, which is rare), after the re-format you'll want to degausse the hard-drive using electromagnets. Then make the hard drive disappear. At that point you're 99.999999% sure that they won't be able to get anything.

However, sometimes corporations or government organizations are ordered not to destroy data. Obstruction of justice is a serious charge...the chances of that being applied for this reason in a single criminal case is low.

But, for all intents and purposes, clearing out your history and erasing the file, and then all of the free space on your hard drive is the best way to go. You can sleep well and still use your machine again.

However, the best way to do it is just be really selective on what you download. Do not do massive downloads and pay attention to things as they come in. If you catch something, you catch it right away, before it gets shared.

Anyway, be safe, don't search for it, and be moderately paranoid, and you should be ok!

These days i was shocked to find child porn on adult websites. When you search on google 'adult sex', it does have adult content but then there are many that also have under 18's. So if someone clicked on the link that says teens' on the adult website you would expect them to be 18/19 yrs old. So can you still be arrested for this mistake?