Skip to main content

Internet Child Pornography, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and the Role of Internet Service Providers

  • Conference paper
Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime (ICDF2C 2011)

Abstract

The following review will provide a historical recap of the United States response to child pornography as it relates to the ever-evolving technological world. Specifically, a review of the child pornography laws, at the federal level, as well as the sentencing guidelines will reveal the delicate balance between criminalizing child pornography and upholding the United States’ constitution. In addition, discussing the role of Internet Service Providers will expose a trend toward using the same technology, which has proliferated the child pornography industry, to identify and censor the illegal content on the Internet. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of the current laws and regulation tactics, as well as, the suggested amendments will be discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Jenkins, P.: Beyond tolerance: Child pornography on the internet. New York University Press, New York (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Duncan, K.: Child pornography and First Amendment standards. Mississippi Law Journal 76, 677–703 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Tate, T.: Child Pornography: An Investigation. Methuen, London (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Michaels, R.: Criminal Law – The insufficiency of possession in prohibition of child pornography statutes: Why viewing a crime scene should be criminal. West New England Law Review 30(3), 817–866 (2008)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. Akdeniz, Y.: Internet child pornography and the law: National and international responses. Ashgate Publishing Company, Burlington (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Adler, A.: The perverse law of child pornography. The Columbia Law Review 101(2), 209–273 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. United States Sentencing Commission. The history of the child pornography guidelines (2009), http://www.ussc.gov/general/20091030_History_Child_Pornography_Guidelines.pdf (retrieved)

  8. Mota, S.A.: The U.S. Supreme Court addresses the Child Pornography Prevention Act and Child Online Protection Act in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition and Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union. Federal Communications Law Journal 55(1), 85–98 (2002)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. Akdeniz, Y.: The regulation of pornography and child pornography on the internet. Journal of Information, Law, and Technology 1 (2002), http://ssrn.com/abstract=41684 (retrieved) or doi:10.2139/ssrn.41684

  10. PROTECT Act, S. 151, 108th Cong. (2003), http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:s151enr.txt.pdf (retrieved)

  11. Protection of Children From Sexual Predators Act of 1998, H.R. 3494, 105th Cong. (1998), http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c105:./temp/~c105xXcSuG (retrieved)

  12. PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, S. 1738, 110th Cong. (2008), http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:s1738enr.txt.pdf (retrieved)

  13. Wortley, R., Smallbone, S.: Child pornography on the internet. Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Problem-Specific Guides Series No. 41. Retrieved from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services website (2006), http://www.cops.usdoj.gov

  14. Sutton, L.: Internet filtering software and its effects. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences 3, 2977–2982 (2010), doi:10.1081/E-ELIS3-120044425

    Google Scholar 

  15. Morris, J.B., Wong, C.M.: Revisiting user control: The emergence and success of a First Amendment theory for the internet age. First Amendment Law Review 8, 109–137 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Bartow, A.: Open access, law, knowledge, copyrights, dominance and subordination. Lewis & Clark Law Review 10(4), 869–884 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Hakim, D. Net providers to block sites with child sex. The New York Times (June 10, 2008), www.nytimes.com (retrieved)

  18. Dedman, B., Sullivan, B.: ISPs are pressed to become child porn cops: New Law, new monitoring technology raise concerns about privacy (October 16, 2008), http://www.msnbc.msn.com (retrieved)

  19. Combating child abuse on the web: Germany resists EU plans to block child porn sites. Spiegel Online (March 3, 2010), http://www.spiegel.de/international (retrieved)

  20. McNamee, J.: Out of sight, out of mind. Index on Censorship 39(1), 108–117 (2010), doi:10.1177/0306422010362320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bowen, K.: Blocking access to child porn doesn’t help victims, expert says. Interview by S. Sinico (August 6, 2009), http://www.dw-world.de (retrieved)

  22. McNamee, J.: Pointless action on child pornography: Blocking websites that show images of child abuse doesn’t work – but EU politicians still think it is a better policy than deletion. The Guardian (March 29, 2010), http://www.guardian.co.uk (retrieved)

  23. Malamuth, N., Huppin, M.: Drawing the line on virtual child pornography: Bringing the law in line with the research evidence. N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change 31, 773–790 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Bourke, M.L., Hernandez, A.E.: The ‘Butner study’ redux: A report of the incidence of hands-on child victimization by child pornography offenders. Journal of Family Violence 24, 183–191 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Basbaum, J.P.: Sentencing for possession of child pornography: A failure to distinguish voyeurs from pederasts. Hastings Law Journal 61, 1–24 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Hessick, C.B.: Disentangling child pornography from child sex abuse. Washington University Law Review 88 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 ICST Institute for Computer Science, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

About this paper

Cite this paper

Seigfried-Spellar, K.C., Bertoline, G.R., Rogers, M.K. (2012). Internet Child Pornography, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and the Role of Internet Service Providers. In: Gladyshev, P., Rogers, M.K. (eds) Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime. ICDF2C 2011. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 88. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35515-8_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35515-8_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-35514-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35515-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics