gizmodo | Last
November, the FBI raided a bulletin board-style site that was known to
be a home of child pornography. But rather than shutting it down, they
decided to keep it running—and see just how many users they could
identify.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports
that Bureau agents posed as child porn dealers, actively distributing
pornography while the site was under their control—just as other
agencies perform sting operations with drugs and prostitution.
It's not yet clear if the technique worked that
well: in the two week period, the FBI attempted to identify 5,600 users
who had shared over 10,000 images of children, but s0 far it's only
known that one suspect's computers have been seized. Still, it might be
too early to judge. The investigation is still, apparently, in its early
stages and, while nobody has yet been prosecuted, charges are believed
to be forthcoming.
What can,
perhaps, be judged, is the ethical position of distributing child
pornography to incriminate suspects. Is it worse than supplying drugs in
a sting? Or is it fair game given the end result? What do you think? [San Francisco Chronicle via Verge]
