1st Circuit handles issues of required knowledge and jurisdiction in CP case

In United States v. Salva-Morales, 660 F.3d 72 (2011), released today by the First Circuit, the court analyzed two important issues: (1) whether a defendant must have actual knowledge of child pornography and (2) how to prove interstate or foreign commerce. A total of 176 images of child pornography were found on the defendant's two computers. Salva-Morales did not testify, but several witnesses claimed he was not the sole user of the computer. A fornesics examine testified that "one hard drive indicated that twenty-two different users...

Read More

Verb tense distinctions in exploitation statute

In a recent Ninth Circuit case, United States v. Williams, 659 F.3d 1223 (2011) a defendant made a rather pointless, yet clever, argument. Williams was seeking to show that an individual must personally produce child pornography in order to be convicted of advertising for distribution. Under the federal sexual exploitation of children statute, 18 U.S.C.A. § 2251, "[a]ny person who ... knowingly makes, prints, or publishes ... any notice or...

Read More

Two domains, one folder: Prosecution can bring two charges

The Sixth Circuit recently held that a hosting account having two domain names directed to it allowed the defendant to be charged with two counts of transportation of child pornography (and therefore was not multiplicitous or a violation of double jeopardy). In United States v. Richards, 659 F.3d 527 (6th Cir. 2011), Richards argued that because all of the data was located in the same folder, it was irrelevant whether he had two distinct domain names. The court noted, "the sites could have operated at the same time and drawn different...

Read More

Expert witness ordered to pay victims for creating morphed CP

As part of his expert witness testimony, an Ohio attorney used photos from a stock image website to morph photos that digitally created the illusion of a child engaging in a sexual act. The argument was that if it was skillfully done, it would be difficult to tell if a person was truly in possession of child pornography. Soon thereafter (in 2004), an investigation began, and FBI agents searched the attorney's home and vehicle. Ultimately, he was required to make a public apology in the Cleveland Bar Journal. In 2007, the families of the children...

Read More

French researchers claim to have compromised Tor network

The Onion Router (Tor), which has been providing online anonymity for almost a decade, may soon find its usefulness to be greatly diminished. A French engineering school claims to have found a way to compromise a Tor network. The group claims that one-third of the Tor nodes are not properly secured, and hackers can "easily infect and obtain system privileges." From there, they use DOS attacks and packet spinning to ultimately decrypt...

Read More

Court finds CFAA loss claim without actual damage

An Illinois federal court ruled in Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Auto Club Group, 2011 WL 4888889 (N.D. Ill. 2011) that a claim for damages under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) can be brought for loss incurred as a result of an investigation into the CFAA violation, regardless of whether any actual economic damage occurred (such as destroying a hard drive with a hammer). This is an ongoing split across the country - whether there can be a loss when there is no damage, and the court here thoroughly evaluates both sides. The court...

Read More

Reddit closes "jailbait" section after CP post

Reddit, a popular website where users post links and photos of various content on the Internet, recently shutdown its popular "jailbait" section. It had often been used to post pictures of girls found on Facebook or other social media that did not contain nudity, but were not posted for innocent purposes, either. On Monday, a user posted a clothed picture of a 14-year-old girl he claimed to be his ex-girlfriend. He also mentioned that he had nude...

Read More

Seventh Circuit sets rules for CP evidence

An Indiana man was found guilty of distribution of child pornography. The problem? There was no evidence to demonstrate that he distributed any child pornography. He was a second-level administrator of a website that was used to share child pornography, and he admitted to viewing images on the site. He thanked users for posting, promoted and deleted users, and other administrative tasks. Nearly 100 of the 450 or so users posted images, but no evidence was admitted to show that he was one of them. The prosecution sought to admit photos...

Read More

DHS develops technology to predict illegal acts

Do you remember the feeling you felt watching Minority Report, knowing that our government would one day have a "pre-crime" department? That day might be sooner than you think. In documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) by open-government request, it was learned that the Department of Homeland Security has been developing a program known as Future Attribute Screening Technology, or FAST. While the system could...

Read More

SCA's protections apply to foreign citizens

Just a quick rule: According to a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit, the SCA's application to "all persons ... means any person, including foreign citizens." A party was trying to obtain Hotmail e-mails from an Australian citizen, but Microsoft objected, arguing that the SCA prevents it. (Suzlon Energy Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp., 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 20018 (9th Cir. 2011...

Read More

North Carolina modifies rules for ESI

Effective today, the North Carolina Bar Association has modified their civil procedure rules regarding electronically stored information (ESI). Unlike the federal rules and those adopted by most states, it includes a provision stating that ESI includes metadata that provides information related to "the date sent, date received, author, and recipients." Other metadata is not included without party agreement or court order. Otherwise, the adoption includes the rules of most states (and the federal rules) regarding ESI: Adds...

Read More