CrankyJay said:
Unless the person posting images/videos are complete idiots, most CP you find on the internet is part of an "underground" network in which you have to gain access.
Vyer said:
I see hundreds of infected computers a month. The idea that 'oops I clicked on this ad' or "i got that damn Security Center virus' will suddenly load your computer with kiddie porn is simply false. I can agree that some sort of unintentional content and being jailed for it would be an issue, but if this is your position you have to have some numbers to show how this gross injustice is happening at such an alarming rate. Because your position, by default, will greatly benefit one specific group of people in addition to this.
Most CP is actually downloaded through file-sharing networks in plain sight. I don't know what the major networks are now (bittorrent is a little less pedophile friendly) but during the early 2000's it was Limewire, Kazaa, and similar gnutella networks.
As for downloading by accident, that's a fairly simple thing to do if you are using said networks to download any type of porn. Since files were being directly transferred from another users computer, the file could be labeled as one thing but be something else entirely, with no means of file verifications. That, in and of itself, helped in hiding CP files in plain sight. But even putting false labeling aside, doing a video search on limewire for "teen sex" could lead to downloading CP ("teen" in the porn industry is 18/19 (20+ if they can get away with it) but in the real world it's 13-19).
As far as monitoring CP goes, it's actually a lot simpler than people realize. Its a simple matter of searching for the videos/pictures on any given file sharing network, downloading them, and tracking the IP's of the users seeding the file. In the days of Limewire, you could then just type in a persons IP and you could see all the files they are sharing so the file sharing programs themselves did most of the work. All law enforcement has to do is link the IP to and ISP, call them up, and get an address (I'm sure there's a bit more than that, but that's the basic rundown).
Finally, why share it on the internet? Most don't. You do have the "professional" child pornographers that are apart of the human trafficking network but that's less prevalent in highly developed nations. For most, the reason the film it in the first place is usually for a private porn collection (no different than anyone else making a sex tape). Putting those videos/pictures on the internet would be counter-productive to their interest (it being illegal and all) so it typically doesn't happen. When it does, it's usually someone trying to show off their "accomplishments" and unless they're very computer/internet savy, they're the ones that typically get caught. These people are few and far between which is why you don't see many molesters being caught.
To the law itself, the supply and demand argument was originally brought up as a reason to outlaw possession because people used to actually pay for it. The idea being that those who paid for CP were, essentially, paying someone to molest a child. Simple possession was originally not illegal. Originally, possession required there to be an intent to sell/distribute or for there to be a proof of purchase (1987). That was jerry-rigged in three years later (1990) and like with most amendments to child porn laws, done without any empirical evidence (The idea being, those who watched CP were inevitably going to become molestors. To this day, they are still trying to prove this to no avail). This was all back when pedophiles got their CP through the mail and for the most part, it typically wasn't worth the effort to go after the "simple possession" people.
Enter the internet. Even during the internet boom of the mid 90's, simple possession of CP was still not something that law enforcement pursued very heavily. The primary focus was still the molesters themselves but sometime in the late 90's/early 00's, some third-party company released a report that the CP internet "industry" was raking in more money than even the internet adult porn industry ($3B at the time if I recall correctly) and then the shit hit the fan. Since then till today, you've been having amendment after amendment added to the child porn laws and a huge crackdown on possession of CP all because some random internet company (an aggregate review company no less - TopTenReviews) estimated that the CP industry was huge. Seeing as most CP is downloaded through file sharing services though, that number seems highly improbably and based purely on the fact that during the .com boom, thousands of "entrepreneurs" were making CP related websites.
The only reason law enforcement is so heavily going after people in possession of CP is so that they can maintain their high budgets and get good PR. People being thrown in jail for non-violent crimes has been on a steady increase as violent crimes and property crimes have been going down across the board. The same applies to drug possession and statutory rape, all on the rise. Prison sentences are also becoming much longer for these crimes as well as the probationary period afterward. The prison system is a business and they need inmates to run and politicians are always in need of a criminal group they can get "tough on" and "protect your family and children" from.
So there's my disorganized mind farts. Make of it what you will.
). And also, from what I know Ephobophiles/pedophiles aren't generally interested in immature acting kids and more into the sophisticated mature young looking females (either legal or not).