Could new software help stop child porn online?

Microsoft has come up with a new program that, basically, tracks down child pornography online. Most online searches are based on text. Even when you search for a photo online, you're usually searching for words and captions associated with that text. The new Microsoft program, though, scans images and generates a "mathematical pattern" and finds other instances on the Internet.

Comments

[Wink Dinklemeyer (Pat)]

but is it 100 percent foolproof?

Will someone be wrongly accused?

[aqua]

maybe now is the time to stop surfing for kitty porn ...

[roxorz]

Haha, aqua, try 'bestiality' in the search instead. It's... safer? Sadder? One of those...

[Kevin]

The child porn is a billion dollar industry. They will find ways to circumvent any software produced to limit their activities. They have already been sucessful at hacking into the computers of others unknowingly and storing porn on the hard drive.

In addtion, most porn is produced overseas. It will be very hard to get cooperation from every world government to prosecute individuals.

Like the drug war, the police will only get lucky with arresting the little guy...

[Boogaloo Shrimp]

A lot of people say that kiddie porn is a billion dollar industry, but nobody ever bothers to offer any proof to back up that statement. I seriously doubt that kiddie porn is even a $100,000 a year industry, unless you count all of the websites that are government sting operations.

[cripjak]

"Cha Ching" is the sound of cash registers ringing up new hard drives.

[Unbelievable]

Microsoft has been in bed with law enforcement for some time. Here is a recent clear example of how systems like the one above will be thwarted.(1)

(1) http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/12/protect-yourself-from-cofee-with-some-decaf-1.ars

Similar to drug wars.. or the Music industry trying to stop copyright theft.(2)

(2) http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/05/14/marker_pens_sticky_tape_crack/

[me]

Yeah for Microsoft!

[clive]

ewww,.....