It Is Time To Police The Internet.

I know the topic is controversial and the solutions are unclear but it is my personal view that it is time that the internet was policed. How exactly this is to be done I do not know and it is not the intention of this thread to explore the various ways to police the internet rather it is to argue the reasons why I think the internet should be police. So I ask you, please before you respond to the title please read my argument.

The internet offers criminals’ perfect anonymity and protection form the law, they can hide behind the vale of cyberspace with their aliases. The argument that to police the internet is to infringe on the civil liberties of the innocent, whilst true is also the greatest form of protection for the criminal fraternity who seek to use the internet for their lawless acts.

If you were to seal a DVD or a CD form a shop, you would face justice, if you abused your neighbours you might expect a knock on the door from your local copper and if you were to openly put up posters of explicit child abuse you would expect to face justice. Yet the internet provides the perfect cover for these crimes to go unpunished only feeding the criminality.

Its not just the obvious crimes of copyright infringement and sexual abuse but its also its use as a facilitator of other crimes. Take for example childish bullying, it is no longer confide to the parameters of the playground, the internet offers a new way for children to be victimised by their peers. More dangerously it offers evil doers to opportunity to pray on venerable children for their own twisted desires. It is not just children that are caught up in the sexual depravity of the internet but also adults, some forced into the sex trade find themselves as adverts on the internet. It’s sickening.

Then we have the other crime that is fraud, people losing their hard earned money because a clever 14 year old Nigerian sitting in an internet café can hack your accounts or set up a false EBay site. But that is not the only hacking that is a problem, we also have the wider issue of hacking of government databases that comprise our national security.

And let us not forget those who use the internet to coordinate their crimes such as terrorists and other international criminals.

To some the internet is a self-regulating entity, but I think it is time for international cooperation on policing the vastness of the internet. I do not propose as to how this is to be done, all I am saying is that I think we have now reached a point where it has become the unfortunate reality that the internet requires policing.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Internet police? Nah, I don't think so. Crimes committed on the net will attract the real police and/or FBI. In fact, they & other federal agencies are constantly monitoring the net & the dark net. Hackers are working with authories so it's not so easy for Internet criminals to remain Anonymous.

So what Internet crimes inspired you to write this thread? Sexual predators on the net are not safe from the law, or TV, same can be said about pirating copyrighted material, & of course the bullying isnt being it being ignored either, remember the college student who webcammed his gay roommate? He's going to jail for a while. Besides, it's all too easy to ignore bully's on the net. I'm more concerned about the constant bullying goin on in all schools!

So the law is doing just fine policing the net already.

Nah I dont think so either.
I like Tor and these kind of underground markets. I makes me feel free.

No. The internet is the last semi free forum for freedom of speech remaining in the US and much of the world. Keep your totalitarian loving mitts off of it.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Sure. Why not? While your at...make a pitch for the government to control how you raise you children (even more so than they do), how (what) you perform in your bedroom, what you can and can not say, and make sure you ask for permission to go to the store.

More control is bad. It further strips away your liberties.

But...we have to worry about what crimes are being committed on the internet, right?
What about what crimes are being committed by the very people you think should be controllers?

Lets start with them first.

it's time we round up everyone like you and push yall into a volcano

I knew that few would agree with me on this thread I am not expecting the masses of ATS to rally to my call. I just think that it might make for interesting debate.

I ask those who disagree with me what they think should be done with the issues I have raised in this thread how should we prevent crime in the internet?

I am not talking about taking away freedom of speech on the internet, I am talking about policing the internet to take away the ability of criminals to use the internet for their evil deeds.

Except people who commit crimes on the Internet are caught all the time, meaning that the Internet is already policed. Also, crimes happen all the time in the real world and nobody gets caught.

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
I knew that few would agree with me on this thread I am not expecting the masses of ATS to rally to my call. I just think that it might make for interesting debate.

I ask those who disagree with me what they think should be done with the issues I have raised in this thread how should we prevent crime in the internet?

I am not talking about taking away freedom of speech on the internet, I am talking about policing the internet to take away the ability of criminals to use the internet for their evil deeds.

Sometimes the "cure" is worse than the disease. Look at the TSA for example. No, we need more freedom not less. We need more people armed, even on airplanes. We need less government intrusion. We need more people taking personal responsibility not expecting big brother to be there caring for them in every single situation. A government big enough to give you everything is big enough to take it all away.

Originally posted by AnIntellectualRedneck
Except people who commit crimes on the Internet are caught all the time, meaning that the Internet is already policed. Also, crimes happen all the time in the real world and nobody gets caught.

Well then that shows the internet is already being policed, In this thread I would argue that it would be better to have a national or indeed international dedicated cybercrime forces.

I just want to say, just in case it might make a difference this has been written by a UK perspective.

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin

Originally posted by AnIntellectualRedneck
Except people who commit crimes on the Internet are caught all the time, meaning that the Internet is already policed. Also, crimes happen all the time in the real world and nobody gets caught.

Well then that shows the internet is already being policed, In this thread I would argue that it would be better to have a national or indeed international dedicated cybercrime forces.

When will people like you ever learn that more government, more surveillance is not the answer. Leave our freedoms alone. If you want to live in a surveillance society, get yourself sent to prison or something. Leave the rest of us alone.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Currently it is impossible to "Police" the internet completly, it already is policed, Child Porn and the people involved in the manufacture, upload, and, download, have been very much in the sights of the police around the world.
The police do what they can, the FBI have stated, that with the internets sub level domains .onion, and the anonymising software people use to navigate those domains, it is impossible with current technology to achieve identification back to a Name, Mac address, or, home Ip address.
They already do clean up the higher domain criminals, the only way to achieve anything like what you are requesting, would be to make all anonymising software illegal, and, close down the internets basement.
People can be quite safe with software downloaded and installed in a short period of time, the learning of how to use that software, well, you do not need to be a rocket scientist, and, it is freeware.

There is also a willingness of people involved in illegal file transfers to educate others on how to remain safe and the best practices to use in maintaining their anonymity, in many cases, it is a "Ring" of criminals/peadophiles that gets broken after one person begins to get sloppy and doesn't use the software correctly.
Short of the state downloading CP and salting the files with something that compromises a peadophiles system when opened, and makes attempts to drive out actual IP or other uniquely identifying information, i can't see how breaching the inate anonymity of Tor would be possible.

And of course, if everything is done from inside a virtual environment, even something like that would be picked up as soon as it is opened.

People may see in the future a set of domains outlawed, if it is seen that the only reason for those domains existing is for the illegal traffic of the worst aspects of humanity, they may decide, they should be illegal.
People cannot smoke cannabis, but yet, they can get the software that allows them to freely view and download the worst kinds of pornography.
People can say, "Leave my freedoms alone", but if children are being raped, abused, and the content of their misery is being made freely available, your freedom is not a freedom to just view the web, but also, for traffickers of childrens misery, to freely traffic.
Which is it too be?, you may not be breaking the law, there are always some that would ruin a good thing for others.
Children have the right to live free from the predations of adults, having an open market place, available 24/7/365, is causing untold misery for children the world over.
This is not something that can police itself, doing nothing about it is not an option, the police and state governments have to get involved (already are).
People that cannot be trusted around children, cannot be trusted to be anonymous, here and in the states if you are convicted of a sex crime you are made known to the community, why should someone have the ability to use anonymising software to allow them to indulge their criminal behaviour?.

I also understand that people who use the undernet, are not all criminals, and it is unfair to completely remove the system for everyone, their are dissidents the world over relying on Tor to get information in and out.
Leaving it in it's present form, is not an option, i hope the government begins to attack this problem wholeheartedly at some point.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Well in the end it's all 1's and 0's... trying to filter virtual streams of data is ultimately futile. Remember that.

In the case of the internet being policed in the UK we have one very flimsy outfit called the internet watch foundation for reporting child abuse.

I am thinking here in international terms, even the FBI does not have jurisdiction in the likes of South Africa or Peru.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


I believe that the policing of the internet is already happening and has been happening for quite a while. Undercover police and FBI are very active on the internet and are posing as members of various websites.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Few agree with you? No, you will find that no one here will agree with you. Maybe some politicians in DC and elsewhere will agree with you but thats about it.

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin

Originally posted by AnIntellectualRedneck
Except people who commit crimes on the Internet are caught all the time, meaning that the Internet is already policed. Also, crimes happen all the time in the real world and nobody gets caught.

Well then that shows the internet is already being policed, In this thread I would argue that it would be better to have a national or indeed international dedicated cybercrime forces.

Apparently you're not getting it. The USA spends massive amounts of manpower and $$ policing and spying the net.Since you're from the UK here's what I found, besides the UK being Big Brother already, I can't believe you want more Big Brother in your life

Here's a little something I found from 2009

Govt internet monitoring begins today

www.politics.co.uk...

Internet users' emails and online phone calls will be stored for the government to overlook, beginning today.

The changes come in an EC directive requiring all internet service providers (ISPs) to keep the data for 12 months.

The directive already applied to telecoms providers but has now been expanded to ISPs.

The content of the communications will not be retained, but companies will be forced to keep a log of the date, time, duration and recipients on all online communications.

The Home Office will cover the costs.

Civil libertarians are outraged that the change came into force without a debate in parliament, having been brought in by statutory implement.

Some opponents argue the Home Office is now lobbying Europe directly for these changes so as to avoid politically explosive debates back home.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin

Well then that shows the internet is already being policed, In this thread I would argue that it would be better to have a national or indeed international dedicated cybercrime forces.

lol so now you're promoting some sort of globalist internet police force.

Good luck with that.

Originally posted by caladonea
reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin

 

I believe that the policing of the internet is already happening and has been happening for quite a while. Undercover police and FBI are very active on the internet and are posing as members of various websites.

Likely including ATS and possibly the OP.

reply to post by ChaoticOrder


I did say national or international, like I said in the OP I am not debating how this would be done only that I think it needs to be done.

Regardless of those who disagree with me, I maintain that this is necessary.