The Dangers of File Sharing on the Internet

Pornography File Sharing 5/17/2004
By Kathryn Hooks

P2P (Peer to Peer) is a widely popular new teen computer activity. P2P means that the computers talk directly with each other. There is no legal or business entity between your computer and the computer it is linking to.

It's happening right under parents' noses, but few know that their teens and young children are targeted in a new battle tactic of the pornography industry. Peer-to-peer file sharing programs represent a widely popular new trend among today's youth.


In the 1990s Napster was forced to shut down to protect copyrighted music, and recently the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced its plans to now sue users trading music files. However, the new "peer-to-peer" or P2P networks like Kazaa, Morpheus, and Grokster pose a new and far greater problem than the illegal trade of music. These P2P networks allow children to easily download videos and images of free pornography and illegal child pornography and create a new arena for pedophiles.


The programs seem innocent enough to kids downloading music, but the apparent innocence of the programs draw porn distributors to this new channel. According to the RIAA, 41 percent of people downloading files through P2P networks are between the ages of 12 and 18, and Kazaa, the most popular P2P file-sharing program, typically has 4 million simultaneous users.


A study conducted in March of 2003 by the Committee on Government Reform and the General Accounting Office revealed: pornography is widely available and accessible on P2P networks; children using P2P networks can easily be exposed to pornography inadvertently; and the filters available to parents to protect their children have severe limitations.


The GAO used 12 keywords associated with porn to search Kazaa, and 76 percent of the returned titles and file names were pornographic with 42 percent representing child pornography. The term "porn" was entered yielding 25,000 pornographic titled files proving the P2P pornographic accessibility. Children can stumble across pornographic images much easier than imagined. The GAO used the popular child search terms –– "Britney," a pop singer, "Olsen twins," teenage actresses, and "Pokemon," a popular cartoon character. Over half the results contained pornographic images.


According to a study done by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation in 2001, 70 percent of online youth between the ages of 15 - 17 say they have stumbled across porn online, and of those exposed to such content, 49 percent were upset by the experience. The study also found that young people agree: "[Stumbling upon pornography] is upsetting to many young people - especially young girls - and most think it is a serious problem."


Parental-control software does not work on the P2P file-sharing programs. None of the parental-control programs tested by the GAO, including the common NetNanny, blocked all pornographic images. Parental control settings within the P2P networks easily allow children to disable them. Penny Nance, President of Kids First Coalition, said she sees the lack of filter ability for parents as a major concern and believes the FTC should force P2P networks to install effective parental controls.


Since tracking child pornography reports on P2P networks in 2001, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found a fourfold increase of reports occurred within a year. The NCMEC also noted that pedophiles show children images of other kids performing sexual acts to convince them of its acceptability.


These P2P networks provide an open field for pedophiles to exchange child porn images and lure in young children. According to Nance, pedophiles enter words such as "Britney" and "Pokeman" to find children downloading these terms. Then through P2P instant messenger they entice kids by acting like another child to provide them with information such as their name, age and where they go after school.


"Pedophiles are able to stalk children through P2P networks. [P2P networks] are the new virtual playground for pedophilia," Nance said.


The threat of pedophilia is a legitimate cause for concern. This May the American Psychiatric Association debated whether or not pedophilia - having sex with a child - constituted a mental disorder. Some experts viewed the debate as an early step in a campaign to normalize child molestation.


The greatest challenges in protecting children from Internet pornography require the government's active enforcement of the law and parental awareness of the danger on-line.


Jan LaRue, legal expert for Concerned Women for America, stated, "The failure of the Department of Justice to vigorously and consistently enforce the federal obscenity laws is the major problem. The ignorance of parents is [another] big factor. Too many allow kids unrestricted Internet access. Many parents fail to educate themselves and their kids about why porn is harmful."


If parents fail to recognize the tactics and consequences of pornography on all children, the porn addicts and pedophiles of the cultural sex war will devour another generation - child by child.


Kathryn Hooks, a recent graduate of Mississippi State University, wrote this as an intern at the Beverly LaHaye Institute, research arm of Concerned Women for America. She was Miss MSU, president of the Panhellenic Council, voted one of 12 “Big Dawgs” (top student leaders) and graduated with highest honors.