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Skriven 2007-03-01 10:31:31 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
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Ärende: German police hack into private computers
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DW staff (kjb) | www.dw-world.de | c Deutsche Welle.

German Police Turn Up the Heat on Internet Sex Offenders

Police in southwestern Germany are stepping up efforts to fight child
porn

As arrests for child pornography have increased, the Office of Criminal
Investigation in Baden-Württemberg says it intends to beef up its
IT-forensics department so no pedophile feels safe or anonymous on the
Internet.

Thousands of suspected pedophiles and child-porn users in Germany and
abroad risk jail time if caught using the Internet to view and trade sex
photos and videos, said the Baden-Württemberg's State Office of Criminal
Investigation on Friday.

Five specialists in the police department in southwestern Germany have
been scouring the Internet since 2005 to uncover sex offenders and
pedophiles, as well as arms dealers and economic criminals.

Auction sites, exchange portals and chat rooms are prime targets,
according to the police officials who would not give details on how the
searches are conducted, saying it would endanger ongoing investigations.

In similar searches last spring, investigators said they found photos and
videos of children in "violent and degrading situations."

Child pornography on the rise

To search the Internet, officers don't need a warrantBildunterschrift:
Groáansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  To search the Internet,
officers don't need a warrant

Additional police specialists would be joining the state's cyber team to
match an increase in Internet-related sex crimes, according to a
Baden-Württemberg police spokesperson.

Some 800 cases involving child pornography passed through the state's
district attorney's office in Stuttgart in 2006. That number represents an
increase from 690 cases in 2005 and 620 cases in 2004.

The suspects come from all parts of society, Achim Traichel, director of
the five-person Internet investigation group, said in an interview with
the Stuttgarter Zeitung. Bankers, doctors, factory workers, and even
fellow police officers have all been investigated, he added.

The team's cyber research led to a high-ranking member of Stuttgart's
police force, whose computer was found to contain some 1,000 examples of
child pornography.

Though the material was discovered in March 2006, the police department
kept the case under wraps until the press became aware of it in
mid-December. The accused officer faces up to five years in prison,
according to the online edition of the Stuttgarter Nachrichten.

Police hacking still undecided

The cyber team has already caught perpetrators from 82 countries

Few cases of child pornography, however, are easy to prosecute, district
attorney spokeswoman Bettina Vetter told the Stuttgarter Zeitung. Only one
third of all child pornography cases are carried through to a court
sentence while many cases are often abandoned for lack of evidence, she
said.

It can be difficult to prove "that the suspects actually viewed the
pictures and didn't just erase them as they claim," said Vetter.

Though police have the technical ability to hack into private computers
while the user is connected to the Internet and view all files on the
hard-drive, lawmakers are still deciding legality of this procedure.

In the meantime, police will be putting pressure on pedophiles by showing
up at their favorite Web sites.

DW staff (kjb)

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2303382,00.html
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And Menno Blom was innocent. Right!

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