Mil Novecientos Once
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3789279.stm
Police around the world are planning to monitor conversations on internet chat rooms so they can stop paedophiles from grooming their victims over the web.
The idea emerged at a two-day summit in London of the Virtual Global Task Force, set up six months ago to make the internet safer for young people.
Police in the UK, US and Australia will make use of the different time zones to monitor the web 24 hours a day.
If a dialogue is potentially dangerous, officers may warn both online parties.
The National Crime Squad in the UK and the FBI in America are heading the effort to set up the full-time surveillance.
If we can get to people who are starting off along this road, then we can work with them before it becomes an ingrained pattern of behaviour
Tink Palmer, Barnardo's
They are both involved in the Virtual Global Task Force, along with US Customs, the FBI, the Canadian Mounted Police, Australian Federal Police and Interpol.
The group, which aims to improve international policing of the internet, will reveal further details of the initiative on Wednesday.
One proposal is that a symbol may appear on computer screens to let chatroom users know that they are being overheard.
BBC crime correspondent Neil Bennett said police may then intervene if, for example, someone is being asked for their name and address.
He says the police are also stepping up efforts to persuade banks to withdraw credit cards from people who use them to pay for child pornography on websites.
Other partnerships
Tink Palmer, policy officer at the children's charity Barnardo's, welcome the idea of monitoring chat rooms to help prevent criminal behaviour.
She said if paedophiles knew their internet conversation was being observed by a police officer it could stop them "in their tracks".
"If we can get to people who are starting off along this road, then we can work with them before it becomes an ingrained pattern of behaviour.
"People say 'what about civil liberties?' but you have a virtual world out there - we have to police that to make it as safe as we can," she said.
The National Crime Squad, which initiated the virtual task force, has worked in partnership with overseas agencies to combat paedophilia before, most notably on Operation Ore.
Police sting
Operation Ore was launched in May 2002 after US investigators found customers around the world were accessing images of child abuse from a Texas-based site.
It has identified over 7,000 suspects and led to more than 1,200 convictions in the UK alone.
The operation also led to the development of the task force's international police sting, known as Operation Pin, last year.
Forces in countries including Britain, Canada and Australia set up sites appearing to offer child pornography.
But instead of finding the images they want, users are told they could face 10 years in jail and may have their details circulated to 180 countries.
__________________________________________
Paedophiles must rot in jail and burn in hell, but not at the expense of my rigths.
Police around the world are planning to monitor conversations on internet chat rooms so they can stop paedophiles from grooming their victims over the web.
The idea emerged at a two-day summit in London of the Virtual Global Task Force, set up six months ago to make the internet safer for young people.
Police in the UK, US and Australia will make use of the different time zones to monitor the web 24 hours a day.
If a dialogue is potentially dangerous, officers may warn both online parties.
The National Crime Squad in the UK and the FBI in America are heading the effort to set up the full-time surveillance.
If we can get to people who are starting off along this road, then we can work with them before it becomes an ingrained pattern of behaviour
Tink Palmer, Barnardo's
They are both involved in the Virtual Global Task Force, along with US Customs, the FBI, the Canadian Mounted Police, Australian Federal Police and Interpol.
The group, which aims to improve international policing of the internet, will reveal further details of the initiative on Wednesday.
One proposal is that a symbol may appear on computer screens to let chatroom users know that they are being overheard.
BBC crime correspondent Neil Bennett said police may then intervene if, for example, someone is being asked for their name and address.
He says the police are also stepping up efforts to persuade banks to withdraw credit cards from people who use them to pay for child pornography on websites.
Other partnerships
Tink Palmer, policy officer at the children's charity Barnardo's, welcome the idea of monitoring chat rooms to help prevent criminal behaviour.
She said if paedophiles knew their internet conversation was being observed by a police officer it could stop them "in their tracks".
"If we can get to people who are starting off along this road, then we can work with them before it becomes an ingrained pattern of behaviour.
"People say 'what about civil liberties?' but you have a virtual world out there - we have to police that to make it as safe as we can," she said.
The National Crime Squad, which initiated the virtual task force, has worked in partnership with overseas agencies to combat paedophilia before, most notably on Operation Ore.
Police sting
Operation Ore was launched in May 2002 after US investigators found customers around the world were accessing images of child abuse from a Texas-based site.
It has identified over 7,000 suspects and led to more than 1,200 convictions in the UK alone.
The operation also led to the development of the task force's international police sting, known as Operation Pin, last year.
Forces in countries including Britain, Canada and Australia set up sites appearing to offer child pornography.
But instead of finding the images they want, users are told they could face 10 years in jail and may have their details circulated to 180 countries.
__________________________________________
Paedophiles must rot in jail and burn in hell, but not at the expense of my rigths.