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| Andrew Cuomo stands out against Usenet |
It all started when a network was designed with the initial
purpose of exchanging text messages between connected university computers.
When the ability to exchange non-textual files became possible, this network
began to flourish. Today it is known as the Usenet. The dark side of the
immensely popular Usenet is the advantage that enables the users to boldly
distribute illegal images. The problem: distributing these sorts of files can
make contributions to child pornography easy and anonymous. So it is easily understandable that
anonymity serves as the key for such criminals, which they feasibly use as a
protective shell. The catch-22 is that the complete censorship of child
pornography on Usenet cannot be implemented easily since it is somewhat
impossible without banning Usenet completely. Why just strike out a war against
Usenet when the percentage of child pornography is basically small. The cutting
truth is, Child pornography can never be simply rooted out and finished
forever.
Amidst darkness, the scintillating hope is that lately many
Usenet communities have been reported to be curbed after important measures
observed at the government level. Internet Service providers have been forced
to shut down Usenet access at many places in order to cut down the incessant
demand of child porn. Cuomo crackdown is a well-known open was happening
against the erotic newsgroups of Usenet. “NY State attorney Andrew Cuomo has
managed to get two more ISP’s to join his ‘Crusade’ against Usenet child porn.
“(Roettgers, 2008). America Online is among the ISP’s who have agreed to do
something about blocking child pornography and once it denies access to certain
newsgroups, the Usenet is sure to become a less attractive magnet for cyber
criminals. Another fact supporting the rampage against Usenet is that the
Recording Industry Association of America sued Usenet for Millions of dollars,
criticizing it as the network for illicit file sharing. Still saying that cyber
censorship alone can play a vital role in stemming down child pornography is
not actually true, since a large number of new Usenet groups are created daily.
In comparison to all the opponents who suggest the ban of
Usenet, some facts still suggest this mayhem to be a part of hyped criticism
against this network. After all Usenet is not out and out about child
pornography. Sure enough, Usenet hugely became a favored passage for the ones
exchanging illicit material after it was superseded by the popularity of World
Wide Web. Still very few out of the thousands of newsgroups supports child
pornography. The complete banning of a huge network because of some black sheep
is just not fair. There are thousands of useful discussion groups on Usenet,
banning of which would mean a big loss for everyone. Nothing significant can be
done about the criminals posting illegal images. We have to do our part to
strictly avoid promoting child pornography. In the long run, the development of
self-morality is what is needed to discourage the ones trading in child
pornography.
Censorship its self must be initiated at the provider level,
Millions of files are downloaded to the Usenet daily. Without over burdening
the Usenet providers what can be done to deter child pornography?
1.
Only support newsgroups that are on the up and
up. Many providers have lists of hundreds of thousands of newsgroups. What does
it hurt to only have 85,000?
2.
Employ filters that can scan the posts file name
and messages for keywords that pertain to child pornography.
3.
Support anti child pornography groups and let
your members and the world know you are a part of these groups.
4.
Pre view data before it is made available on
your server.
For Usenet to survive in the future, uncensored Usenet will
have to become a thing of the past.
Gregg Fikes is the owns a Usenet website due to open in fall 2008.
Usenet browser
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