Yeah, That'll Stop Them
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17048
NEW
YORK (AP) -- Five leading online service providers will jointly build a
database of child-pornography images and develop other tools to help network
operators and law enforcement better prevent distribution of the images.
The
companies pledged $1 million among them Tuesday to set up a technology
coalition as part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
They aim to create the database by year's end, though many details remain
unsettled.
The
participating companies are Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, Yahoo Inc., Microsoft
Corp., EarthLink Inc. and United Online Inc., the company behind NetZero and
Juno.
Ernie
Allen, the chief executive of the missing children's center, noted that the
Internet companies already possess many technologies to help protect users from
threats such as viruses and e-mail ''phishing'' scams. ''There's nothing more
insidious and inappropriate'' than child pornography, he said.
The
announcement comes as the U.S. government is pressuring service providers to do
more to help combat child pornography. Top law enforcement officials have told
Internet companies they must retain customer records longer to help in such
cases and have suggested seeking legislation to require it.
AOL
chief counsel John Ryan said the coalition grew out of Attorney General Alberto
R. Gonzales' April speech identifying increases in child-porn cases and chiding
the Internet industry for not doing more about them.
The
creation of the technology coalition does not directly address the preservation
of records but could demonstrate the industry's willingness to cooperate.
Plans
call for the missing children's center to collect known child-porn images and
create a unique mathematical signature for each one based on a common formula.
Each participating company would scan its users' images for matches.
AOL,
for instance, plans to check e-mail attachments that are already being scanned
for viruses. If child porn is detected, AOL would refer the case to the
missing-children's center for further investigation, as service providers are
required to do under federal law.
Each
company will set its own procedures on how it uses the database, but executives
say the partnership will let companies exchange their best ideas -- ultimately
developing tools for preventing child-porn distribution instead of simply
catching violations.
''When
we pool together all our collective know-how and technical tools, we hope to
come up with something more comprehensive along the lines of preventative''
measures, said Tim Cranton, Microsoft's director of Internet safety enforcement
programs.
Ryan
said that although AOL will initially focus on scanning e-mail attachments, the
goal is to ultimately develop techniques for checking other distribution
techniques as well, such as instant messaging or Web uploads.
Representatives
will begin meeting next month to evaluate their technologies, determining, for
instance, whether cropping an image would change its signature and hinder
comparisons. Also to be discussed are ways to ensure that customers' privacy is
protected. Authorities still would need subpoenas to get identifying
information on violators.
The
companies involved said they are talking with other service providers about
joining. But companies that do not participate still are required by law to
report any suspected child-porn images, and many already have their own
techniques for monitoring and identifying them.
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Well...that's
an idea. A bad one, but an idea nonetheless. Why is it stupid? Two reasons:
1)
If you're creating a "unique mathematical signature" of a photo based
on a "common formula", then all you have to do is alter the photo
slightly to change the signature. For example, take this pic of hottie Scarlett
Johansson:
Yowsa.
Now, let's alter the photo slightly removing the head of the douche in the
back:
There.
Different photos, technically. Notice the incredible rack was not altered
during the half-assed 20-second MS Paint session. The urge to masturbate does
not differ between the two, and I guarantee each photo has a different
"signature".
2.
So you're going to create one database of all the child porn that you guys can
get ahold of, right? So now, perverts who want child porn don't have to worry
about where to look for it. No more e-mailing strangers on the internet trying
to find the shit...now all they need to do is pay someone to hack the largest
collection ever of child porn (brought to you by AOL!). Or hell, why not just
pay off an underpaid shifty employee of one of these 5 internet providers to
get it for them?
Why don't the police just put all the drugs,
cash and weapons confiscated in a city in one single room and then tell
everyone where it is? Good call, jackasses.