Framed for Child Porn by a Computer Virus.

[PM Martin]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=9028516

[mcablue]

1. We are very vulnerable these days

When it isn't Criminal-sniffing clueless dogs or bad science, we could get accused of something we didn't do at any time. Let us pray.

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. Believe me, this shit happens all the time.

All it takes is one sick fuck in an office with an agenda, and friends with the technical skills.

[Speck Tater]

3. There may come a time when the risks from having a computer outweigh the benefits of having one.

Then it will be time to throw away the computer and go back to pencil, paper, and postage stamps.

[ThatsMyBarack]

15. Neat.

:thumbsup:

[Toucano]

4. Maybe the mere existence of images shouldn't be enough.

Couldn't courts require proof that the accused actually downloaded or uploaded the porn?

I don't know. Maybe they can't distinguish between what the computer virus does and the user does.

[anonymous171]

5. If cops want your PC, be sure to nuke the hard drive before hand.

http://www.dban.org/ works well for me.

[Sebastian Doyle]

9. Assuming you have time to do so, that is.

dban works very well, and there are others, but they also take a while to run, especially given the size of hard drives in recent years. So if you KNOW, they're investigating you, by all means wipe the drive. But if they just show up at your door with a warrant, that's not going to help.

[truedelphi]

10. He hadn't nuked his hard drive, but he had

Deleted the file. Had no real way to acess that file either - and the FBI have admiktted that. But they still say "The law is the law"!?!

I had some kiddie porn download itself on my computer. I was helping a friend who is a grade school teacher find some photos of horses and ponies for her 4 H gang. And "Smokey Joe" turned out to be a photo of a young, overly developed 14 or 15 yr old who smoked cigs as well as displayed himself.

If this guy in the story gets jail time, I hope there is hell to pay. The state has such a big deficit - we simply cannot afford to hold people in jail for years over a "nothing" issue.

[BadgerKid]

11. Or use TrueCrypt. n/t

[unc70]

12. Can be cracked easier than you might think

I think even the wiki has a relatively accurate summary with links on how difficult it is to hide or erase or encrypt media short of melting it down.

I have been posting for years here at DU about the kiddie porn risk and similar problems. Some posts are saved on my journal.

[retread]

14. A hammer and a handful of nails works best. n/t

[regnaD kciN]

6. It's a double-whammy...

...because nobody, but nobody, in law-enforcement will believe the "a virus did it" explanation.

And, even if you can prove it, kiddie porn is one of those charges for which you're not only "guilty until proven innocent," but "guilty even after being proven innocent." There will always be people who will assume that, by hiring the data experts and legal representation to make your case, you simply "bought your way out of a conviction." You'll always be under a cloud thereafter -- and it's not unknown for self-appointed "crusaders for justice" to come after you later on to exact the revenge that the courts (and their "liberal judges" :eyes: ) failed to mete out.

[greennina]

7. Yet another reason not use to Microsoft garbage!

Why are so many people so stupid? They're just asking for this to happen to them.

[L0oniX]

8. Damn ...do ya still like Winsux?

[depakid]

13. In America, if you don't have the resources to mount a defense....

Ain't nobody gonna buy the SODDI defense unless YOU can prove it.