New effort against Peer to Peer kiddie porn
 

High-tech companies often deserve more criticism than praise, but
occasionally someone in the industry launches an initiative that
deserves a high-five. The Distributed Computing Industry Association
is on a crusade to drive child pornography out of peer-to-peer
networks.

The trade group that represents P2P companies like Grokster and
Sharman Networks launched on Monday a site called P2P Patrol
(www.p2ppatrol.com) that's meant to help network users recognize and
report child pornography. The site is the latest step taken by the
group since launching its initiative in the spring.

But the best is yet to come. The DCIA plans to make available in
February, software tools that its members could integrate into the
desktop software downloaded by subscribers. If a customer finds what
he thinks is child pornography, he only has to right-click on the
file and select CPHotline.org, which will send the file location and
other information to DCIA. If the group determines that the file
contains illegal images or video, then DCIA will notify law
enforcement.

The DCIA deserves a big pat on the back for taking on the role of
filter between consumers and law enforcement. Rather than overwhelm
police with a lot of files that may not fit the definition of illegal
pornography, the group is willing to screen the submissions first.

The only complaint I have is against the DCIA's slow-moving members.
So far, only two have publicly supported the initiative, while the
others remain actively involved behind the scenes, according to DCIA
Chief Executive Marty Lafferty.

Lafferty expects nearly 100 percent support of the upcoming software
tool once a number of legal and technical issues are worked out.

Let's hope so. A company would have a difficult time explaining why
they opted out of this initiative.

If you want to read more, check out the link under the News section
of the newsletter. In the meantime, it's worth mentioning that
Microsoft has joined the desktop-search race with rivals Google and
Yahoo. Microsoft released a preview of its software on the heels of
Yahoo's announcement that it would have a product available in
January. Google has had a desktop-search tool in beta for two months.

Go to today's Leading Off for more information. Monday's newsletter
also discussed search and the three competitors.

As always, send an email and let me know what you think about the
above topics or anything else on your mind.

Antone Gonsalves, [email protected]
Editor, InternetWeek
http://update.internetweek.com/cgi-b...Zi0G4X0BbSA0Az

hrm, interesting, hopefully it works out

i think people will be scared they will get in trouble if they have it and report it like they are reporting on themselves when they didnt even try to download it.