Comment by breppp
16 hours ago
That would work but it is a very risky technique. For the mere mortal in your example this means possible jail time just to get some site closed down.
For law enforcement personnel, at the very least would mean an end of a career if caught (also possible jail time)
The current federal government in the USA actively encourages federal agents to use illegal and unethical methods, and promised them protection and immunity.
State governments too. I heard a state judge once say "Of course police are permitted to break the law if they are investigating criminals."
The current federal government of France? Of the EU? The article is not about the USA.
The FBI is the primary party appearing to be in this investigation, and to the best of my knowledge are both of the US (govt), and are federal. (I'm not a US person so please correct me if I'm wrong.)
> The current federal government of France? Of the EU? The article is not about the USA.
Are you sure ? They say in the article that they were not able to fing out who sent the email. Site was behind Cloudfare (so US).
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This article is specifically an article about an investigation by the FBI- US federal agents.
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Law enforcement has already done such things and I've never heard of consequences for it.
You could use something that is legal in one country, and illegal in another country, for example, an anime-style drawing of a young girl, or a textual description.
You are naive about cops, at least in the US, and what they will or will not do and what consequence they may or may not face.
Indeed, if you're paying attention to local news in Massachusetts, you might be shocked, or not, that cops from Canton, Boston, and the Massachusetts state police, and the county District Attorney, and judges, are all complicit in railroading a woman who was dating a cop who was likely killed by another cop. The web of deceit is so thick, it can't have been just for this one case. It must be long-standing and pervasive and there must be many victims. It's also unlikely that Massachusetts is the worst place in the US in this respect.
Can you provide link at least? I am not sure what railroading a person involves..
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I don't think I am naive, just imagine the repercussions of the headline "FBI collected thousands of child rape photos for blackmail" or "Cop work computer was found filled with child porn"
Anything linked to pedophilia in the US and elsewhere is without remorse, and will continue that way due to parental fears.
Seizing control of criminal websites is literally standard procedure. Three letter agencies are known for hacking their way into criminal platforms and keeping them running for as long as possible. They justify it as an opportunity to catch high value targets. They're quite willing to literally distribute CSAM from their own servers for months, years on end if that's what it takes. They don't just react either, they are very proactive. They start their own CSAM communuties to entrap criminals. So called honeypots.
It's a recurring theme with these authorities. You see, they're special. They get to spread this sort of material with complete impunity. They get to stockpile cyberweapons and use them against the targets of their investigations, or even indiscriminately. If you do it, you're a hacker spreading malware. They're just doing their jobs.
Sometimes those two privileges collide, resulting in truly comical and absurd situations. FBI has allowed cases against child molesters to go down the drain because the judge ordered them to reveal some Firefox exploit they used. They didn't want to invalidate their "network investigative techniques".
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I am imagining the consequences of that headline and there are none. If you disagree maybe you should imagine some of the real headlines that have occurred lately and check your imagination against reality. Federal agents are actively encouraged to violate your civil and constitutional rights. Those consequences live only in your imagination
> I don't think I am naive, just imagine the repercussions of the headline "FBI collected thousands of child rape photos for blackmail"
What were the repercussions of this: "FBI ran website sharing thousands of child porn images" (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/21/fbi-ran-websi...)
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How about "The President was close friends with a known child sexual predator and his entire government spends a significant amount of time covering up their connections because it seems fairly obvious the president fucked teenagers and then fomented a coup and put literal criminals and felons in his cabinet so no one would hold him accountable while destroying the nation's economy and starting wars nobody can even understand"
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