The following article from the June 20 Cincinnati Enquirer was posted by bubba@iac.net to the following newsgroups alt.binaries.pictures.erotica,alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.female, alt.binaries.pictures.tasteless,alt.sex.exhibitionism,alt.sex.voyeurism, alt.binaries.pictures.girlfriends,alt.pantyhose,alt.binaries.pictures.d, alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.fetish,alt.sex.pictures,alt.sex.pictures.female, alt.binaries.pictures.girlfriend,alt.censorship,alt.politics.datahighway, alt.privacy,comp.org.eff.talk,talk.politics.crypto FBI After Electronic Child Porn By Mike Gallagher, The Cincinnati Enquirer The FBI has targeted more than 100 personal computer owners in Greater Cincinnati as part of a nationwide investigation into computerized child pornography, according to FBI and Justice Department records. Nationally, the FBI has identified more than 3.000 people who allegedly have violated federal law by viewing child pornography pictures on their computers and then printing copies of the pictures or storing them in their computer's memory, the FBI records revealed. FBI and Justice Department officials are preparing to execute thousands of search warrants nationwide -- including in Cincinnati -- during a one day sweep of the computer users' homes and businesses to seize child pornography picture printouts or the computers, the FBI records show. While no date has been set for the sweep, a high-level source at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., said Monday. "My understanding is that we are preparing to make our move within the next few weeks. There is a lot of pressure from Justice (Department) to wrap this up." The Justice Department began its investigation after discovering that some customers of America Online were posting electronic-mail pictures of naked children -- some engaged in sex acts with adults, animals, and other children. Thousands of subscribers to America Online have been viewing the illegal pictures and "downloading" them -- making computer copies or print-outs of the photos on their home and business computers -- according to FBI investigative reports reviewed by The Enquirer. U.S. child protection laws make it a crime to create, possess, or disseminate child pornography. Violators can face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. As of Monday, FBI records revealed that 103 Greater Cincinnati home- and business-computer owners have been identified as individuals who during the past 10 months have downloaded the illegal pictures. FBI officials have asked The Enquirer not to identify the computer owners being targeted in this area. "I expect many of those individuals to be involved in the search warrant sweep," the FBI source said. "That number is fluid, as there are new people being identified daily, and the lawyers will make the final decision as to who will be included." Theodore Jackson, special agent in charge of Cincinnati's FBI office was not available to comment Monday. Major Case Status The case is the first major domestic effort the FBI has made into computerized child pornography, the FBI reports show. It also marks the first time federal authorities have targeted not only the individuals posting the child pornography pictures on a computer service, but also the people who make copies of them The case is being run out of FBI headquarters in Washington and its Hyattsville, Md., office, the FBI records show. FBI Special Agent Doris Hepler is one of the lead agents on the case. The FBI probe has been elevated to "major case status" -- the highest level -- by bureau officials, who have given the green light to lead agents to use virtually unlimited staffing and financial support, according to FBI records. FBI financial records reveal the investigation, which began in the fall, so far has cost about $250,000. FBI officials told The Enquirer the final tally is expected to be much higher. Companies Cooperating America Online Inc. employees, including CEO and President Stephen M. Case, have been working with the FBI in the investigation, according to FBI records and America Online officials. "We definitely are cooperating with the FBI in this matter," Pam McGraw, America Online's director of media operations at the Vienna, Va., based corporation, said Monday. America Online, according to FBI records, is giving agents access to the company's customer list and telephone and electronic billing records so agents can identify who has posted and downloaded the child pornography pictures. Jean Villinueva, America Online vice president of corporate communications, said that some subscribers alerted the company to the problem last summer. "Upon receiving the material, and verifying that it was ... in all likelihood illegal, we immediately contacted the FBI and terminated the accounts of the senders," Villinueva said. Both FBI agents and America Online officials that it is America Online subscribers -- and not the computer information service corporation, that are being targeted for prosecution. FBI records show that agents have targeted at least two individuals -- including a man from New Jersey -- who are alleged to be responsible for posting some of the illegal pictures on America Online. As an example of how computer users react to the child pornography pictures, FBI and America Online records revealed that during on 25-minute span when an illegal photograph was made available on the computer service, about 400 people nationwide downloaded the picture to their computers. While America Online has a security team assigned to monitor the service, the system is not monitored 24 hours a day, and customers have found a way around the safeguards, said McGraw, director of media operations. To prevent computer security from discovering the illegal photographs, the purveyors post them on the computer service for others to copy for only short periods, perhaps 20 to 30 minutes, then remove them, McGraw said. 'Unique' Investigation Cincinnati attorney Louis Sirkin, president of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, characterized the FBI's investigation as "unique, interesting and headed for the courts." "I think we're looking at a privacy issue more than a First Amendment issue," Sirkin said Monday. "This case really gets into the home. What we're really talking about here is the government's right to enter people's homes. "There's also the issue of entrapment," Sirkin added. "In this investigation, is the government working a sting operation? Is the FBI luring people into this? We'll have to wait for the answers. This is a very interesting case. Another example of where technology is ahead of the law." The FBI investigation is not related to police pornography raids that occurred in five spots in Greater Cincinnati on Friday. During those raids, the Regional Computer Crimes Task Force of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, working with other law enforcement agencies, conducted the raids in Hamilton and Clermont counties in Ohio and Kenton County in Kentucky. Police seized 25 computers and software valued at about $100,000, and more than 80,000 computer files. The software and files dealt with adult sex videos and programs, and no child pornography was seized. There were no arrests.