What_Has_the_Internet_Come_to

LaShawnna Broadus CISS 472 July 3, 2009 What Has the Internet Come to' Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you no longer had the Internet to rely on' The Internet has made everyone’s life a whole lot easier ever since it has evolved into a place holding the answers to just about any question you may have. The truth is the majority of the people do not want to go back to what it was like before the Internet, nevertheless imagine how they would function in today’s world without it. Although many people use the Internet for business and personal reasons, a large number of people are also using this network community to commit crimes. The question raised by many is why the United States is the country having the biggest problem with online crime. Internet since the Beginning A large majority of people today have either used the Internet or has at least heard of it. How did the Internet come about to be such a necessity anyway' The Internet basically started out with two computers located in two different locations that communicated remotely. This first took place in the 1960’s as a way to serve the needs of researchers and the Pentagon. One computer was located in Cambridge, MA and the other was located at the University of California in Los Angeles. All this seemed to take was over 350 miles of telephone line and a tiny packet switched network called the Advanced Research Projects Agency in the U.S. Department of Defense, which is also known as ARPANET. According to Rosenberg, “They proposed a new concept in system structure: the centerless network” (50). Even though many people use the Internet for entertainment purposes, it was first developed for academic reasons. Many students and professors kept using ARPANET in 1989 even though the government stopped using it. “Since that time, the leftover Internet has been growing by more than 10% per month” (Rosenberg 49). Today the Internet no longer involves just two computers but instead tens of thousands of computers linked by tens of thousands of fiber optic lines. Major companies like AT&T, Sprint, MCI and other companies own the lines used to communicate and they simply sell access to those lines. Companies that need access to these communication lines purchase the access they need and provide services that connect millions of people including businesses, schools, and individual homes and offices. There is not one particular person that owns the entire Internet, but instead each piece of the Internet has its own owner. In turn there is not one piece that is needed for the entire system to operate. How the Internet Works So how exactly does information move from one computer to another across the Internet' Unlike the telephone system, which is a switched network, the Internet is a routed network. Switches create networks and it is the routers that connect the networks. Users can share a connection to the Internet by simply connecting their computer to a router. When it comes to sending information from one computer to the other, there is never one set path that the information travels on. As the information travels and reaches a point where it needs to go it will choose the next best path. When information is sent back, it will go on a totally different path then the path the original information was sent on. It just all depends on how busy the lines are at that time as the information chooses to travel on the least busy path. It is easy to get the Internet confused as being the same thing as the World Wide Web when it is not. According to Electrical Construction and Maintenance, “The Internet refers to the physical connection between computer networks all over the world. The World Wide Web is not a separate set of connections. The Web is simply a special method of sending information over the Internet” (50). The hypertext transfer protocol is a set of rules for the World Wide Web that allows for the transfer of text, graphic, video, sound and other multimedia files. In order to browse through files you must begin all web addresses with http. As the Internet has gone from being used for research or just for entertainment purposes, it is now used to make serious money as well. A lot of business is conducted online on a daily basis and this type of business has become to be known as E-commerce. On top of making a living from using the resources of the Internet, many people are also committing crimes. Some of the crimes that are being committed online are identity theft, child pornography, prostitution, and narcotic sales to name a few. An individual must be knowledgeable about the Internet or know someone who is, in order to engage in any kind of criminal activity. Many criminals think they can use the Internet to conduct their illegal business without being detected but the truth is these criminals can still be tracked down online. “To Catch a Predator” Chat rooms seem to be really popular on the Internet, but people have even taken the use of chat rooms to a whole new level. Dateline NBC has created a show titled “To Catch a Predator” which makes an attempt to get some criminals off the street. The purpose of the show is to combat child predators who attempt to meet underage kids online. Undercover police officers pose online as underage kids, usually ranging from ages 12 – 14, and they communicate with adults in these live chat rooms. The purpose of the undercover officers posing as teens is to catch these men who try to meet these teens face to face. According to the New York Times, “The network discovered that face-to-face conversations with would-be predators did make compelling television” (Stelter 1). Of course the men are not trying to meet these teens in hopes of being a great role model for them but instead in hopes of engaging in sexual acts. Dateline filmed their first sting on Long Island in 2004. The network began to plan additional investigations since their first operation was a success. They were able to lure 18 men to the decoy house that was full of Dateline staff and law enforcement who were ready to take these creeps down. According to The New York Times, “The third sting, in February 2006, was the first to involve a local police force. That year, “Dateline” produced a total of eight multi-day stakeout shows in Ohio, Georgia, Texas, Florida and California” (Stelter 1). Although many people thought the show would be a flop, it actually ended up being a success. “The 2006 – 2007 television season’s 11 episodes of ‘Predator’ have attracted an average of 7 million viewers, compared with 6.2 million for other ‘Dateline’ programs” (Stelter 1). Many people had no idea this kind of behavior was taking place online and on top of that, it was also taking place in their very own backyard. Stelter states, “While remaining popular, the program is also expensive to produce. NBC spent tens of thousands of dollars on each sting, installing hidden cameras and microphones. It has also paid Perverted Justice a consulting fee of roughly $70,000 for each episode” (1). Dateline produced a show that touched many people as a number of individuals have become more involved by cooperating and helping law enforcement. More people are going inside these chat rooms and giving the police leads about potential predators. NBC has also found themselves on the other side of the law as they have been sued by individuals who have been affected by the show. One of the lawsuits involved a former district attorney who killed himself when he was confronted by Dateline. In regards to the former district attorney, Pilkington stated, “His sister, Patricia Conradt, has sued for $105 million, alleging that the TV company took over the duties of police but then failed to protect her brother” (17). The late Louis William Conradt was 56 years old when he was involved in a Texas sting for communicating and arranging to meet a 13 year old boy. He never showed to the decoy house so Dateline decided to go to his house to confront him. When the police and the show arrived at his house he killed himself. His sister ended up winning the lawsuit and the show had been cancelled for the time being even though previously aired episodes continue to play to this day. This has been one of the reasons why a number of people have always questioned the ethical approach of the show. Legal Questions Raised One question that many people may have is whether or not it is actually legal to arrest these men for crimes that they had not committed yet. One of the first defenses that many of these men have is that they were set up and actually entrapped to make the decisions they made. There is a fine line between the question of entrapment and the attempt to engage in sexual activities with a minor. According to the American Journal of Criminal Justice, Relying on previous case law it would appear that entrapment claims related to online sting operations involve consideration of: a.) did the law enforcement officer continuously contact the suspect with the intention of trying to convince the individual to engage in a particular type of behavior, b.) how long was the relationship between the undercover officer and the suspect, and c.) how much, if any, reluctance to commit the criminal act did the suspect provide evidence of' (Hunt 87). Even though entrapment is not a new defense, there are a number of men who use this as a defense when they get caught. This defense was first introduced in the 1930’s. The fact that the use of a computer and the Internet is what makes the entrapment defense a hard one to determine. Of course the first thing that a perpetrator states is that they had no idea that the person they have been communicating with for months was actually a teenager on the other end. It is also not uncommon for these criminals to blame the police for luring them to the house even though they knew it was not right and that the intended victim was a teenager. Law enforcement is very careful to make sure they do not loose the chance to put away a child predator due to an entrapment defense. They make sure they document everything and they generally let the perpetrators lead the conversations just to be on the safe side. Even though there are a few courts who have actually handled entrapment cases that evolved online, the history behind entrapment is what has been used to determine whether entrapment had actually taken place. Another issue dealing with entrapment is whether or not it is legal for law enforcement agencies to establish fake websites in hopes of luring in criminals. These fake websites are known as honey pots. What these websites do is contain items that catch the attention of child pornographers and potential pedophiles. Once these perpetrators try to access the illegal material that is suppose to be on the website, their account information is forwarded to law enforcement. An operation similar to a honey pot was conducted in Louisiana and the court found that law enforcement was not guilty of entrapment. The United Kingdom used a honey pot that they called Operation Pin and it turned out to be a success. Tracking People Online The number one misconception that anyone can have is the idea that it is impossible to track someone down online. That is so false! “While child pornography was a problem that was once believed to be somewhat controllable, the widespread use of the Internet has led to not only a greater level of child pornography but also a greater degree of difficulty in tracking offenders” (Hunt 87). It is actually not hard at all to track someone down on the Internet. When individuals sign up for Internet access through a company, the company assigns everyone their own unique IP address. So when the authorities are communicating with these men they can trace their IP address. There are a number of websites that allow you to look up IP addresses. An individual can find out a few details about a user just from an IP address, like who the Internet Service Provider (ISP) is and the city and state of the ISP. The authorities can then go to that particular ISP and get information on the household with that particular IP address. Using information from the ISP as well as clues these criminals communicate in the chat rooms can easily lead to who the individual perpetrator is. Many individuals seem to think if they erase something off their computer, it will be deleted forever and no one would ever know what it was that was on the computer. Just because you erase something off your computer does not actually erase it off for good. A computer technician can easily retrieve your hard drive and see what all has been done on that particular computer. An individual can see what video and or pictures were downloaded as well as e-mail messages and websites visited. Law enforcement officials all over the world work with one another in order to catch these cyberspace predators. Officials in the United States were given access to the Law Enforcement Data Exchange (LEDX). According to VARbusiness, “LEDX is a document-management-based portal that allows them to share child-pornography and criminal-intelligence information over the Internet” (1). This system finally went live in 2003 and it became available to hundreds of officers from 40 task forces in the United States. Today there are thousands of users and it is available internationally as well. This system makes it possible for them to share information with reporting, calendars, incident tracking and bulletin boards. Officials can also view parole/probation information, booking and incarceration information as well as case reports. The intended use of this software is for law enforcement to save time and have access to information they would not have had access to otherwise. Individual states have the option of saving their own reports and data when they use LEDX. Before this software first became available, everything was done manually. There was also no way law enforcement could store or share data about any pedophiles across the country before this system came about. Officers should not get discouraged or scared of the software as it was designed to be simple and easy for anyone to use. There is also a training session and a user manual available for all users to learn how to navigate through the software. The LEDX application is very broad as it includes information from local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement officials. The software not only provides law enforcement the opportunity to share and store data but it also finds relationships between people, location, vehicles, property and crime characteristics. Even though the software started out being used by only four different task forces, now it is a national system allowing any jurisdiction of any size to join in on the efforts to stop these predators from preying on anyone else. Many individuals get the entire concept of this software confused. It is not intended to be used for intelligence but instead to share related information in order to find suspects and associate information about crimes. The goal of this effort is to be an effective investigative unit as a whole and to get a better handle at identifying and catching these individuals. All the information contributed from every agency must be kept up to date in order to be effective. Study Results According to recent statistics, the problem with child pornography online has actually gotten worse as more sites are providing this illegal material. In 1998 the government passed the Child Protection and Sexual Predator Act. This act is making ISP’s more responsible for what their customers are downloading. Under this act the ISP’s are not required to monitor what is being downloaded over their networks but they are required to contact law enforcement as soon as reasonably possible when child pornography is discovered on one of their sites. According to Hansen, “ISPs can be fined up to $50,000 for the first reporting violation and up to $100,000 for each subsequent infraction” (177). So why does there still seem to be a growing problem with this issue if the ISP’s can get fined so much money' The reason being is because the ISP’s are not abiding by the rules. If they report people that are downloading such graphic videos and pictures, then they will loose their criminal customers as well as the money they pay for their Internet service. This seems like a small price to pay in order to keep the Internet a cleaner and safer place for everyone using it. The ISP’s must be making a lot of money off child pornography in order for them to just sit back and let this type of activity take place along their networks. According to CQ Researcher, “The average child-porn Web site nets up to $3,000 a month for the host ISP, et al. The site operators make money by charging viewers access fees to view and download illicit images. Customers typically pay from $30 to $50 for monthly subscriptions to these sites, or one-time fees of $3 to $5 to download single images. Last fall, law-enforcement agents broke up an online child-porn enterprise in Fort Worth, Texas, that grossed up to $1.4 million per month” (177). What is so alarming about child predators and child pornography are the statistics. According to Hansen, “78 percent of the service’s child-pornography cases involve computers” (171). Not only that, one in every four Internet users in the United States, between the ages of 10 and 17, states they have received unsolicited pornographic materials while online. But what is more disturbing is the fact that nearly one in five teenagers within this age group has received an unwanted solicitation to engage in either cybersex or a real-life sexual encounter. This is a pretty significant number considering the study was conducted by 28 million children within this age group. There is only one acronym that can summarize this, OMG, which is also known as “Oh My God” among these teenagers. The younger the age of the victim, the harder it is for them to deal with such harassing behavior while in cyberspace. Cyber-predators tend to target youth over age 13 but still yet it is the 15 year-olds experiencing the most incidents. Safety Tips The purpose of the show is to not scare anyone but to give parents a heads up about what is occurring online because they are responsible for what their kids are doing online. It can make a parent’s job hard to monitor what their kids are doing when they are on the Internet if they do not know very much about computers themselves. Often times the kids know more than the parents do when it comes to computers. To start, parents should keep the family computer in a family room or some other room that can easily be monitored. Parents should also not assume their kids know what to do and not to do online and actually sit down with them and teach them what is and is not appropriate. It is up to the parents to spend as much time as possible with their kids online in order to teach them proper Internet etiquette. Parents need to figure out what kind of information their computer service offers and block out any material that is not kid friendly. Since it is the responsibility of the parents to keep their kids safe, they need to inform their kids about online predators and teach them to never give out any personal information about themselves or anyone else in the household. Parents should also consider sharing an e-mail account with their kids so they can see what kind of mail their kids are receiving. Another important tip for parents is to never let their kids go into private chat rooms alone. There seems to be a lot of disturbing language as well as images being posted on these types of sites. Parents should also consider using an online service with their own special child accounts with restricted access to chat rooms as well as the Internet altogether. Even though it is the parent’s responsibility to make sure their kids are safe, it is also up to the kids to make sure they are being safe online as well. Kids need to inform their parents when they come across something online they know are not right. This holds true for images as well as bulletin board postings. Kids that come across this should give a copy of these messages to their parents. Parents may have special software to ensure their kids are not on any sites they are not supposed to be on but like everything else, there are those that slip through the cracks. It would also be wise not to download anything from anyone you are not familiar with and this should hold true for everyone in the household. Not only could the download be offensive but it could also infect your computer and give you a virus. Kids also need to be taught to never send any pictures of themselves or any other personal material to anyone else online without the permission of their parents. If parents and kids can follow these simple safety tips then society as a whole will make it hard for these child predators because they will not have as many minors to communicate with. Parents need to stress to their kids over and over how important it is to follow the rules they have set forth when it comes to utilizing the Internet. Software Parents cannot monitor what their kids do on a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week basis. Parents should think about investing in some kind of special software in order to make sure their kids are not exposed to any offensive sites. According to CQ Researcher, “A third of American households currently use software that blocks pornography, according to a recent survey. Five percent of households said they had used such software in the past year” (Hansen, 171). There is a lot of different software available that can help parents ensure their kids are not being exposed to anything online they should not be exposed to. One such software that seems to be really popular is Child Control 2005. According to Software World, “Child Control 2005 helps to implement and apply strict rules automatically and is therefore a useful auxiliary tool in the education of even the most rebellious young computer users” (14). This particular software seems to provide the most advanced parental control on the market. Profiles can be set for each kid individually so the older kids will have a chance to access more than their younger siblings. The software was also made for parents who are not as computer literate as their kids. In many cases children know more about computers than their parents. Parents are able to control what their kids can access with just a point and click of the mouse. Child Control 2005 is favored by parents because they are also able to control how long their kids are able to be on the Internet on any given day. Kids who try to stay on the Internet longer then what was set forth by their parents will end up getting booted off the computer for the time being. Many parents work hectic full-time hours so they are not able to monitor what their kids are doing online while they are away from the home. With this software parents can get a detailed report e-mailed to them on a daily basis detailing how long their kids were on the Internet, what sites they visited as well as the applications they used. It also has a feature where you can key in keywords you do not want your kids to be exposed to. If anyone tries to view a page containing those particular keywords then the page will not load. Parents even have the option of picking what days and times of the week their kids are allowed on the Internet and they will not be able to log on if they try during a time that has not been approved by their parents. Another strong feature of this software is how easy it is for parents to set up the rules and settings. Censorship of the Internet Why is it that the United States has such a growing problem with these child predators compared to other countries' The answer to that is quite simple: censorship. According to Clemmitt, “Sites that help Internet users in non-democratic countries avoid detection and those offering gambling are the most censored – after pornography and political dissent – among nations monitored by the OpenNet Initiative” (413). Many other countries are not able to surf near as much as what people can in the United States. There are fifteen countries that have restrictive Internet policies. China is one of those countries who even block all messages criticizing the government. There are discussion groups who will post events happening in China at that given time, but if you look at that same page a little later you will no longer see that information. The information will eventually be deleted once the censors view these kinds of posts. China is so good at censoring what is viewed over the Internet in their country that other countries like Cuba are trying to mimic what they are doing. In Cuba you are not even allowed to buy a computer or even access the Internet without getting permission from the Communist party. People in Cuba who access the Internet illegally will find a highly censored, government controlled version of the Internet. Another country who has strict rules when it comes to the Internet is Iran. There are hundreds of thousands of blocked sites in this country. The main sites being blocked are ones including sex and independent news. They are so strict that an individual can get prison time if they are caught posting messages insulting the government. Websites including content that violates Islamic principles or social standards are totally blocked in Saudi Arabia. The number of people who are using the Internet continues to increase in these countries despite being strictly censored. There has been much debate going on about whether or not the telephone and cable companies should be allowed to control the Internet. Telephone and cable companies feel they need more control over what kind of data and how data travels in order to improve quality and security. “However, Internet-freedom advocates say the Internet only works when it’s an ‘open pipe,’ with all data treated the same, and when users are free to place whatever software or hardware they want at the ‘pipe ends’ without asking permission” (Clemmitt, 415). This topic was first debated by customers who were upset about their local ISP’s blocking all messages and mail from other competing companies. Even mail mentioning any rival telephone or cable companies were not allowed to be sent across their network. It is just amazing how far the Internet has come since it was first invented. Crime is being committed everywhere, even in cyberspace, and this has just added more to law enforcement’s agendas. Prime time television is also concerned about all the child exploitation occurring online that they have shows dedicated to these types of criminal acts. It seems like it would be safe to say the reason the United States has such a problem with online Child Predators is because the United States does not censor the Internet and anyone is free to search whatever their heart desires. Until this happens, parents will have to keep an extra eye on their kids, as well as teach them online etiquette while they are on the Internet. Perhaps, as the online population continues to increase, so will the awareness and safety of everyone. Works Cited Clemmitt, Marcia. “Controlling the Internet.” CQ Researcher 16.18 (12 May 2006): 409-432. Computer Database. Gale. Columbia College (MO). 10 Jun 2009 . Haber, Lynn. “Protecting the Children-A New Web-Based Portal Links Law Enforcement on The Lookout for Child Predators.” VARbuisness (12 May 2003): NA. Computer Database. Gale. Columbia College (MO). 10 Jun 2009 . Hansen, Brian. “Cyber-Predators.” CQ Researcher 12.8 (1 March 2002): 169-192. Computer Database. Gail. Columbia College (MO). 10 Jun 2009 . Hunt, Robert, Lee, Tina, Moore, Robert. “Entrapped on the Web' Applying the Entrapment Defense to Cases Involving Online Sting Operations.” American Journal of Criminal Justice: AJCJ 32 (Nov 2007): 87. Columbia Database. Gale. Columbia College (MO). 10 Jun 2009 . “IT News: New Child Control 2005 Software Version.” Software World 36.6 (Nov 2005): 14(2). Computer Database. Gale. Columbia College (MO). 10 Jun 2009 . Pilkington, Ed. “Sister Sues NBC After Suspected Pedophile’s Suicide on TV show.” The Guardian (25 July 2007): 17. Computer Database. Gale. Columbia College (MO). 10 Jun 2009 . Rosenberg, Paul. “How Does the Internet Really Work.” Electrical Construction and Maintenance 99.6 (June 2000): 48-50. Computer Database. Gale. Columbia College (MO). 10 Jun 2009. . Stelter, Brian. “‘To Catch a Predator’ Is Falling Prey to Advertisers’ Sensibilities.” The New York Times C1 (27 Aug 2007): 1. Computer Database. Gale. Columbia College (MO). 10 Jun 2009 .