Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Men are usually secretive about their exploitation of women and children 08:43
The sex industry has developed many of the ways of doing business over the Internet. Privacy, security, and fast payment transactions are necessary elements for the sex industry to sell over the Internet. Men are usually secretive about their exploitation of women and children and one of the factors in the success of the online sex industry has been men’s ability to download pornography or engage in online prostitution from the privacy of their homes or offices. The pimps of the sex industry also depend on men’s impulse buying, so quick financial transactions are crucial for their profits. Sex industry businesses were on the leading edge of online payment schemes with credit cards. At the beginning of 1995, only a few sites were accepting credit card payments by email. In early 1996, Warshavsky’s Internet Entertainment Group introduced "ecommerce software," which provided buyers with fast, secure, online credit card transactions
"dream job" because any new technology was available for the asking 08:30
The sex industry is among the top five groups buying state-of-the-art computer equipment.
Sex industry businesses were the first to buy and use expensive T3 phone lines that transmit compressed, high-resolution images.
One of the largest Internet companies in the world, Digex, whose largest customer is Microsoft Corporation, has a sex industry site as its second largest customer.
One of the Web site designers who works at a large sex industry Web site, described his work as a "dream job" because any new technology was available for the asking .
In 1998, US$1billion was spent online on "adult content," 69 percent of the total Internet content sales .
Sex industry businesses were the first to buy and use expensive T3 phone lines that transmit compressed, high-resolution images.
One of the largest Internet companies in the world, Digex, whose largest customer is Microsoft Corporation, has a sex industry site as its second largest customer.
One of the Web site designers who works at a large sex industry Web site, described his work as a "dream job" because any new technology was available for the asking .
In 1998, US$1billion was spent online on "adult content," 69 percent of the total Internet content sales .
America On Line chat room called "Cuties." 08:26
Singer allegedly initiated contact with the undercover detective, posing as the mother, in an America On Line chat room called "Cuties." The chat room attracts people who "are known to trade in pornographic images, including child pornography," according to an affidavit filed in the case by a special agent who investigates child pornography and child exploitation for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"On five separate occasions in August 2007, Singer sent several images of child pornography over the Internet to the mother and the daughter, including images depicting sexual acts between minors and adults and images depicting known victims of child exploitation," prosecutors said.
In his communications with the supposed daughter, Singer pretended to be a 15-year-old boy, authorities said. In August 2007, he sent her two images featuring child pornography, according to the affidavit, with the instruction, "just delete it when you are done."
A search of Singer's AOL account activity showed that from July to September, he sent about 80 images featuring child pornography to people including the detective, authorities said in the statement. Also, the search revealed that he had received about 10 images and one video depicting child pornography.
"On five separate occasions in August 2007, Singer sent several images of child pornography over the Internet to the mother and the daughter, including images depicting sexual acts between minors and adults and images depicting known victims of child exploitation," prosecutors said.
In his communications with the supposed daughter, Singer pretended to be a 15-year-old boy, authorities said. In August 2007, he sent her two images featuring child pornography, according to the affidavit, with the instruction, "just delete it when you are done."
A search of Singer's AOL account activity showed that from July to September, he sent about 80 images featuring child pornography to people including the detective, authorities said in the statement. Also, the search revealed that he had received about 10 images and one video depicting child pornography.
The very worst kinds of people on the Internet 07:48
it is extremely important to understand that these people represent a minority of Internet users that teenagers might encounter in an online situation.You may be lucky enough to never meet these kinds of people online but if youdo, or if you have already, you need to know the best ways to handle these sortsof situations. The conversations you will see in this section may shock you and if they makeyou feel uncomfortable, do not read any further. However, they may mirror yourexperiences and if so, please remember that you can to talk to an adult aboutsomething that has upset you online, by calling relevant Child welfareorganisations.We have developed an outline of the typical behaviours of this minority ofindividuals, which will help you to understand their activities and motivations alittle better. It is your right as a young person to have a pleasant online experience andtherefore it is important to remember the following:- Not everyone is who he or she says they are online and youneed to be cautious.- Think twice about the promise of an amazing relationshipand consider that you may be looking for love in the wrongplaces.- Set boundaries for yourself with respect to conversations ofa sexual nature and be strong enough to stick to them.- Avoid giving out personal contact details online that wouldallow individuals to reach you in the real world.
In everyday online interactions it is possible to form wonderful online friendshipsand just like in the real world you may sometimes fall out with online friends orthey may perhaps on occasion be a little nasty to you. These are the typicalprocesses associated with friendships whether online or offline. You and your friends may even enjoy insulting one another online, telling jokesor calling each other names and this may seem acceptable to you because youand your friends have agreed that it is ok for you to communicate with oneanother in this way. Also you know that if you step over the line your friend willtell you and it will be possible for you to apologise.However, there are occasions where an individual may decide to victimise aperson online. They may or may not have actually known this person in the realworld. The victim will certainly not have agreed to be insulted or threatened andtypically will be extremely frightened by the experience. The individual will getenjoyment out of terrorising his/her victim and under UK law if an individualengages in these activities with the same victim on two or more separateoccasions there is legislation in place to tackle what is described as ‘cyberstalking’.11Defining behaviours: Having a laugh cutie-gurl The abuse in scenario 1 continued and became even more targeted and nasty.Reaper boy realised that he had a lot of power and really enjoyed himself. Healso thought that SwApR and angel admired him. cutie-gurl who is 13 years oldtried to respond and became angry and upset but other people thought that shewas just ‘giving as good as she got’ and so it continued. cutie-gurl has a seriouseating disorder which has become a lot worse as this abuse caused herpsychological harm and she feels that everybody who looks at her sees her asfat and ugly. She also feels extremely frightened every weekday afternoon forthe hour or so she spends at home alone waiting for her Mum to return fromwork.Reaper boy’s profile says that he is 16 and that he is into sk8tboarding.Reaper boy’s real name is John Griffith and he is 16 years old. He has beentracking cutie_gurl for some time and he repeatedly targets her. He changes hisuser name regularly so that cutie gurl and his other victims do not recognise him.He often engages in this sort of threatening online behaviour and occasionallyoperates alone but more typically he encourages other people to get involved.He saw from cutie_gurls profile that she is a young gurl and he uses basicguesswork to try to incite fear in his victims. For example, this conversation tookplace at 4.30 pm on a school day and therefore, he simply guessed that hisvictim would be wearing her school uniform.Who:A cyber stalker may have prior knowledge of his/her victim in the real world, forexample an old boyfriend or girlfriend or even a classmate. However, a cyberstalker may never have met their victims in the real world and victims may betargeted simply because they appear vulnerable in some way to the cyberstalker.What:The actions you can take to prevent this happening to you include notresponding to taunts and threats. It is important to alert a moderator to theseactivities whenever possible and to save a copy of the conversation for purposes. If using chat rooms or other similar forums, edit your profile so thatyou remove any information of a personal nature, as this makes it more difficultfor others to gather information about you. Reducing the amount of informationin your profile allows for greater control over the amount of information that youwant to provide, such as when and how, and to whom. If anyone bothers you andwon't go away, put them on block or ignore! Select the individual’s name fromthe list of chatters and hit the ‘Ignore’ button. When: This sort of activity can happen at any time and a cyber stalker is likely to attemptto schedule contact with his/her victim by accessing telephone numbers andusing email.Where:These sorts of activities occur quite frequently in public chat rooms but onoccasion a cyber stalker may lure a victim into a private chat room. Part of thebuzz for a cyber stalker is to find out lots of information about the intended victim,such as address, phone number, etc, so that the threats seem more realistic andhe/she can instil more fear. Be careful about the personal details you give out onthe Internet e.g. information in personal profiles, as this information may makeyou more vulnerable to this sort of attack. Often these threats are simplydesigned to instil fear and are typically empty threats but if the individualmentions information specific to your location or if you are fearful then make sureyou inform an adult.The activities may begin in a chat room but move quickly to other forms ofcommunication e.g, email and mobile phone. The technically sophisticatedstalker may try to hack into your computer in order to monitor your activities.Make sure you have up–to-date anti virus software and a firewall installed onyour computer.Why: The motivation underpinning cyber stalking is to exert power over victimsprimarily through fear. The root of a stalkers power is information about andknowledge of the victim. A stalkers ability to frighten and control a victimincreases with the amount of information that he/she can gather about the victim.Stalkers use information like telephone numbers, addresses and personalpreferences to impinge upon their victim’s personal lives. They learn what sortsof things upset the victim and can use that knowledge to harass victims further Relevant legislation:Protection From Harassment Act 1997 (UK):(1) A person must not pursue a course of conduct-(a) which amounts to harassment of another, and(b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of theother.(2) For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is inquestion ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonableperson in possession of the same information would think the course of conductamounted to harassment of the other.Cybersex: basically means flirting or talking about sex with other chatters. Anumber of teens use chat rooms not only to talk to other people but also to flirtwith other people. Some young people may even dream of meeting their truelove or soul-mate online. Having a crush on somebody you have met online canseem like such an exciting thing and for the most part they probably are the sortsof people you would really like if they were your friends in the real world. But justlike in a real world there are some very ‘iffy’ crushes that you might form withother chatters. Abusive Cyber sex: However, cyber sex that makes one person feeluncomfortable can be described as abusive cyber sex. Abusive cyber sex caninvolve any or all of the following activities where the individual you are talkingto may:- Try to introduce extremely sexually explicit conversations. - Send you pornographic images and make suggestions about you sendingpictures to them.- May become abusive threatening, ridiculing and/or harassing toward you inorder to make sure you do what they say.Being flirty to guys and girls online can seem like fun but there are people outthere who are not who they say they are and are interacting with you for selfishreasons. Typically, the sole purpose of abusive cyber sex conversations isimmediate sexual gratification for the individual. Goodguy1 is a 46 year-old male who enjoys engaging young boys inconversations of a sexual nature. He makes friends with boys, suggests theymove to a private chat room and whilst initially he may seem to be friendly, laterin the conversation he often becomes highly abusive and threatening. The buzzfor this guy is to become sexually aroused by talking in an abusive and sexuallyexplicit way to his victims online. During the conversation he may threaten tolocate his victim off-line if they do not comply with his wishes. His intention is toinstil the maximum amount of fear in his victims so that they are too frightenedto terminate the conversations. Typically he does not intend to meet his victim’soffline after the conversation has terminated.Frazzle is a curious teenager who is a little confused about his sexuality and isprepared to experiment. He doesn’t want people in the real world to find outabout his confusion and so it is easy for Goodguy1 to manipulate.Abusive cyber sex can happen to a young person online and they may be toofrightened to terminate a conversation because the individual may make somevery serious threats, such as finding the young person in the real world orforwarding a copy of the conversation to all of the young persons classmates.These sorts of threats are intended to instil fear and to ensure that the youngperson stays online. If somebody threatens you then you need to save a copy ofthe conversation, terminate the conversation and report this threateningbehaviour. You do not need to feel embarrassed that the conversation was of asexual nature.Who: These individuals aim to attain sexual gratification online through cyber sex.Often these individuals will pose as a few years older than their target victim butthey may in fact be considerably older. Increasingly there are instances of olderteens engaging younger children in conversations of a sexual nature. What: Flirting online may be fun but enacting sexual fantasises and talking about verypersonal issues can be problematic. The actions that you can take to this happening to you include deciding not to engage in conversations of asexually explicit nature. Also, in a very first conversation, hold back and get toknow the person. If their intentions are purely sexual and you explain you wantto spend time to get to know them, then typically they will move onto talking tosomebody else fairly quickly because they don’t want a relationship. Don’t beafraid to say no to cyber sex. If you feel frightened or disturbed by what isoccurring in the conversation, or if a person threatens you, make sure you havesaved a copy of the conversation, terminate the chat and report this person to amoderator or click the ‘report abuse’ link. You will need to talk about thisexperience with another person and don’t feel ashamed to ask for help.Remember it is not your fault that there are some very strange people in theworld and the threats are most likely to be idle ones. Nevertheless, there areactions that can be taken to stop a person behaving like this and if the police getinvolved, equipped with your copy of the conversation, they will be able tocontact the chat service provider, and find out the name and address of theperson who abused you online and ensure that this person is dealt withappropriately.When: This sort of activity can happen at any time and an individual interested inabusive cyber sex is unlikely to attempt to re-schedule contact with his/hervictim. Where:This will happen quite often in teen chat rooms and often at times when youngpeople are most likely to be online, e.g. after school on weekdays and atweekends. On mobile devices these conversations are likely to happen at anytime so be careful. These sorts of conversations often begin in public teen chatrooms and then move quickly to a private chat room or to SMS on mobilephone.Why: The motivation of the abuser is to gain sexual gratification online throughexploiting a young person and then to terminate online contact with thatindividual when they have achieved this.
In everyday online interactions it is possible to form wonderful online friendshipsand just like in the real world you may sometimes fall out with online friends orthey may perhaps on occasion be a little nasty to you. These are the typicalprocesses associated with friendships whether online or offline. You and your friends may even enjoy insulting one another online, telling jokesor calling each other names and this may seem acceptable to you because youand your friends have agreed that it is ok for you to communicate with oneanother in this way. Also you know that if you step over the line your friend willtell you and it will be possible for you to apologise.However, there are occasions where an individual may decide to victimise aperson online. They may or may not have actually known this person in the realworld. The victim will certainly not have agreed to be insulted or threatened andtypically will be extremely frightened by the experience. The individual will getenjoyment out of terrorising his/her victim and under UK law if an individualengages in these activities with the same victim on two or more separateoccasions there is legislation in place to tackle what is described as ‘cyberstalking’.11Defining behaviours: Having a laugh cutie-gurl The abuse in scenario 1 continued and became even more targeted and nasty.Reaper boy realised that he had a lot of power and really enjoyed himself. Healso thought that SwApR and angel admired him. cutie-gurl who is 13 years oldtried to respond and became angry and upset but other people thought that shewas just ‘giving as good as she got’ and so it continued. cutie-gurl has a seriouseating disorder which has become a lot worse as this abuse caused herpsychological harm and she feels that everybody who looks at her sees her asfat and ugly. She also feels extremely frightened every weekday afternoon forthe hour or so she spends at home alone waiting for her Mum to return fromwork.Reaper boy’s profile says that he is 16 and that he is into sk8tboarding.Reaper boy’s real name is John Griffith and he is 16 years old. He has beentracking cutie_gurl for some time and he repeatedly targets her. He changes hisuser name regularly so that cutie gurl and his other victims do not recognise him.He often engages in this sort of threatening online behaviour and occasionallyoperates alone but more typically he encourages other people to get involved.He saw from cutie_gurls profile that she is a young gurl and he uses basicguesswork to try to incite fear in his victims. For example, this conversation tookplace at 4.30 pm on a school day and therefore, he simply guessed that hisvictim would be wearing her school uniform.Who:A cyber stalker may have prior knowledge of his/her victim in the real world, forexample an old boyfriend or girlfriend or even a classmate. However, a cyberstalker may never have met their victims in the real world and victims may betargeted simply because they appear vulnerable in some way to the cyberstalker.What:The actions you can take to prevent this happening to you include notresponding to taunts and threats. It is important to alert a moderator to theseactivities whenever possible and to save a copy of the conversation for purposes. If using chat rooms or other similar forums, edit your profile so thatyou remove any information of a personal nature, as this makes it more difficultfor others to gather information about you. Reducing the amount of informationin your profile allows for greater control over the amount of information that youwant to provide, such as when and how, and to whom. If anyone bothers you andwon't go away, put them on block or ignore! Select the individual’s name fromthe list of chatters and hit the ‘Ignore’ button. When: This sort of activity can happen at any time and a cyber stalker is likely to attemptto schedule contact with his/her victim by accessing telephone numbers andusing email.Where:These sorts of activities occur quite frequently in public chat rooms but onoccasion a cyber stalker may lure a victim into a private chat room. Part of thebuzz for a cyber stalker is to find out lots of information about the intended victim,such as address, phone number, etc, so that the threats seem more realistic andhe/she can instil more fear. Be careful about the personal details you give out onthe Internet e.g. information in personal profiles, as this information may makeyou more vulnerable to this sort of attack. Often these threats are simplydesigned to instil fear and are typically empty threats but if the individualmentions information specific to your location or if you are fearful then make sureyou inform an adult.The activities may begin in a chat room but move quickly to other forms ofcommunication e.g, email and mobile phone. The technically sophisticatedstalker may try to hack into your computer in order to monitor your activities.Make sure you have up–to-date anti virus software and a firewall installed onyour computer.Why: The motivation underpinning cyber stalking is to exert power over victimsprimarily through fear. The root of a stalkers power is information about andknowledge of the victim. A stalkers ability to frighten and control a victimincreases with the amount of information that he/she can gather about the victim.Stalkers use information like telephone numbers, addresses and personalpreferences to impinge upon their victim’s personal lives. They learn what sortsof things upset the victim and can use that knowledge to harass victims further Relevant legislation:Protection From Harassment Act 1997 (UK):(1) A person must not pursue a course of conduct-(a) which amounts to harassment of another, and(b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of theother.(2) For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is inquestion ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonableperson in possession of the same information would think the course of conductamounted to harassment of the other.Cybersex: basically means flirting or talking about sex with other chatters. Anumber of teens use chat rooms not only to talk to other people but also to flirtwith other people. Some young people may even dream of meeting their truelove or soul-mate online. Having a crush on somebody you have met online canseem like such an exciting thing and for the most part they probably are the sortsof people you would really like if they were your friends in the real world. But justlike in a real world there are some very ‘iffy’ crushes that you might form withother chatters. Abusive Cyber sex: However, cyber sex that makes one person feeluncomfortable can be described as abusive cyber sex. Abusive cyber sex caninvolve any or all of the following activities where the individual you are talkingto may:- Try to introduce extremely sexually explicit conversations. - Send you pornographic images and make suggestions about you sendingpictures to them.- May become abusive threatening, ridiculing and/or harassing toward you inorder to make sure you do what they say.Being flirty to guys and girls online can seem like fun but there are people outthere who are not who they say they are and are interacting with you for selfishreasons. Typically, the sole purpose of abusive cyber sex conversations isimmediate sexual gratification for the individual. Goodguy1 is a 46 year-old male who enjoys engaging young boys inconversations of a sexual nature. He makes friends with boys, suggests theymove to a private chat room and whilst initially he may seem to be friendly, laterin the conversation he often becomes highly abusive and threatening. The buzzfor this guy is to become sexually aroused by talking in an abusive and sexuallyexplicit way to his victims online. During the conversation he may threaten tolocate his victim off-line if they do not comply with his wishes. His intention is toinstil the maximum amount of fear in his victims so that they are too frightenedto terminate the conversations. Typically he does not intend to meet his victim’soffline after the conversation has terminated.Frazzle is a curious teenager who is a little confused about his sexuality and isprepared to experiment. He doesn’t want people in the real world to find outabout his confusion and so it is easy for Goodguy1 to manipulate.Abusive cyber sex can happen to a young person online and they may be toofrightened to terminate a conversation because the individual may make somevery serious threats, such as finding the young person in the real world orforwarding a copy of the conversation to all of the young persons classmates.These sorts of threats are intended to instil fear and to ensure that the youngperson stays online. If somebody threatens you then you need to save a copy ofthe conversation, terminate the conversation and report this threateningbehaviour. You do not need to feel embarrassed that the conversation was of asexual nature.Who: These individuals aim to attain sexual gratification online through cyber sex.Often these individuals will pose as a few years older than their target victim butthey may in fact be considerably older. Increasingly there are instances of olderteens engaging younger children in conversations of a sexual nature. What: Flirting online may be fun but enacting sexual fantasises and talking about verypersonal issues can be problematic. The actions that you can take to this happening to you include deciding not to engage in conversations of asexually explicit nature. Also, in a very first conversation, hold back and get toknow the person. If their intentions are purely sexual and you explain you wantto spend time to get to know them, then typically they will move onto talking tosomebody else fairly quickly because they don’t want a relationship. Don’t beafraid to say no to cyber sex. If you feel frightened or disturbed by what isoccurring in the conversation, or if a person threatens you, make sure you havesaved a copy of the conversation, terminate the chat and report this person to amoderator or click the ‘report abuse’ link. You will need to talk about thisexperience with another person and don’t feel ashamed to ask for help.Remember it is not your fault that there are some very strange people in theworld and the threats are most likely to be idle ones. Nevertheless, there areactions that can be taken to stop a person behaving like this and if the police getinvolved, equipped with your copy of the conversation, they will be able tocontact the chat service provider, and find out the name and address of theperson who abused you online and ensure that this person is dealt withappropriately.When: This sort of activity can happen at any time and an individual interested inabusive cyber sex is unlikely to attempt to re-schedule contact with his/hervictim. Where:This will happen quite often in teen chat rooms and often at times when youngpeople are most likely to be online, e.g. after school on weekdays and atweekends. On mobile devices these conversations are likely to happen at anytime so be careful. These sorts of conversations often begin in public teen chatrooms and then move quickly to a private chat room or to SMS on mobilephone.Why: The motivation of the abuser is to gain sexual gratification online throughexploiting a young person and then to terminate online contact with thatindividual when they have achieved this.
There is evidence from a number of sources that children and young peopleencounter and engage in abusive online behaviours, for example, theCyberspace Research Unit (CRU) (2002) in a study entitled ‘Young people’s useof chat rooms: implications for policy strategies and programmes of education’found that 20% of 1369 children aged 9-16 years of age reported that they hadbeen harassed in a chat room and slightly less, 14%, admitted they hadthemselves harassed another chat user. This study was replicated late in 2002using a sample of children aged 8-11 years of age, and the findings wereconsistent, i.e., of 1331 children, 21% reported having been harassed and 14%of respondents reported they had themselves harassed another chat user.Similarly, the findings of the same study conducted again in late 2003, again withan 8-11 year old sample involving 330 children, found that 18% had experiencedharassment, and 18%, of respondents reported they had themselves harassedanother chat user.Finkelhor et al’s (2000) study identified a higher proportion of young peoplereporting having experienced harassment, i.e. 50% of 10-17 year olds (n=1501).Finkelhor et al’s findings indicate that respondents reported that 63% of theharassers alleged to be juveniles. These findings support the view that abusivebehaviours are a relatively common feature of online interactions. Programmesof research into teen-to-teen interactions in teen chat rooms (O’Connell, R. &Bishop, S. in preparation) indicate that flaming and pretence of aggressiveinteractions are common features of online conversations. However, an individual’s distress in response to targeted and specificharassment and threatening behaviour that occurs on more than one occasioncan be termed as cyberstalking.According to the Crown Prosecution Service, a number of offences that can becharacterised as ‘cyber stalking’ can be effectively prosecuted under theProtection From Harassment Act 1997. The Crown Prosecution Service’sdefinition of cyberstalking is as follows:‘Cyber stalking generally takes the form of threatening behaviour or unwantedadvances directed at another using the Internet and other forms of onlinecommunications. Cyber stalkers can target their victims through chat rooms,message boards, discussion forums, and e-mail. Cyber stalking can be carriedout in a variety of ways such as: threatening or obscene e-mail; spamming (inwhich a stalker sends a victim a multitude of junk e-mail);
; leaving improper messages on messageboards or in guest books; sending electronic viruses; sending unsolicited e-mail;and electronic identity theft amongst others.http://www.cps.gov.uk/Home/LegalGuidance/5/5-E.pdfTo date there has not been an in-depth study conducted into children and youngpeople’s experiences of cyberstalking. However Bocij et al (2004) administereda questionnaire on cyberstalking to 169 Internet users aged between 18 and 40years. From the responses Bocij identified important differences between onlinestalking and offline stalking, namely, that online stalking takes place over ashorter period of time and that cyberstalking victims are less likely to know theidentity of their harasser (42% did not know their harasser in this study). Although the nature of cyber stalking is often restricted to online contact, thelevel of distress experienced by the victims in the Bocij study was high - onequarter of victims claimed to have experienced the highest stress level theycould have chosen to express how they felt. Furthermore, while there aresimilarities in the types of harassment online and offline victims suffer, thepotential impact, for example, harming the victim’s reputation, seems to be moreextreme on the Internet as it has a worldwide audience. Interestingly, thefindings of Bocij’s study suggested that respondents with a greater knowledgeand experience of communication technologies were less likely to feeldistressed. This competency bias suggests that perhaps with a betterunderstanding of the nature of abusive online behaviours resulting in importantframes of reference, Internet users will be likely to reduce their experience ofstress, should they be unfortunate enough to experience stalking, and thisfinding may extend to other forms of abusive online behaviours.Research findings also indicate that children experience conversations of asexual nature online. Although, the exact nature of these conversations is notknown, i.e. what proportion constitutes teen-to-teen cyberflirting, the varyingdegrees of cybersex, or possibly how sexually abusive conversations are. TheCRU (2002) found that 53% of chat users aged 8-11 years reported having hadconversations of a sexual nature online. Finkelhor et al (2002) found that out ofthe children who responded positively when asked if they had on-lineconversations with people they didn’t know in person, 7% of these said that theyhad engaged in conversations of a sexual nature, i.e. that they had “talked aboutsex” with them. Of this 7%, 2% reported that they were aware that they weretalking to an adult, and another 2% said that the adult was aware they were (Finkelhor, et al. 2000). 6% of 9-16 year old children in the CRU study in 2002 reported that onlineconversations of a sexual nature were unpleasant or offensive. The SexualOffences Act 2003, sees the introduction of a new offence of causing or incitinga child to engage in sexual activity (s.10 of the 2003 Act), carrying sentences ofup to 14 years for non-contact abuse, which may include activities such as, forexample, persuading children to take their clothes off, causing the child to touchthemselves sexually, sending indecent images of themselves etc. Two separateoffences expand the legal remit to include situations where the behaviour leadsto the child viewing sexual activity; engaging in sexual activity in the presence ofa child (s.11) and causing a child to watch a sexual act (s.12). Both carry themaximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. In an online context it isconceivable that non-contact related offences might involve, for example,activities whereby an adult encourages a child or a young person to sendpictures of themselves either naked or engaged in specific sex acts, or perhapsan individual may send pornographic images to a child. The Sexual Offences Act2003 ensures that this behaviour is covered by domestic law.Research conducted by the CRU in 2002 with two samples of children andyoung people (n=1331, 8-11 years 1369 and 9-16 years) revealed a strikingconsistency despite the disparity in terms of age ranges between the samples.Both samples found that 19% use chat regularly and that 10% of chatters in bothsamples actually reported attending face-to-face meetings. The proportion ofchildren reporting using chat regularly decreased in a different sample ofyounger children (n=330 8-11 year olds) in 2003, which found that only 12%(n=39) of children reported using chat. However, of those that use chat in the2003 sample, a higher proportion than the previous year reported attending aface-to-face meeting, i.e. 26% (n=10) of children. These figures demonstrate therelevance of a programme of education for children.The CRU has found consistently across samples (330, 8-11 year olds in 2003,1331, 8-11 year olds in 2002 and 1369, 9-16 year olds in 2002) that the majorityof children that report attending face-to-face meetings with people they haveonly ever previously met online also report positive experiences of thesemeetings. However, two children from the sample of 8-11 year olds in 2002 andtwo from the sample of 9-16 year olds in 2002, who had attended a face-to-facemeeting.
the meeting. One child from the sample of 9-16 year olds in 2002 reportedexperiencing physical abuse, but to what extent was not ascertained. These findings serve to demonstrate that although children can be exploited onthe Internet and groomed to meet people with ill-intent in the real world, themajority of children surveyed in the last two years report positive experiences offace-to-face meetings and typically children and young people report meeting upwith chatters who are the same ages as themselves +/- 2 years. However, themajority of children reported going unaccompanied to face-to-face meetings andalso typically, these children and young people had low levels of knowledge ofthe relevant chat safety guidelines, for example, always meet in a public place,always bring an adult to a face-to-face meeting.However, as outlined above there are a number of young people who have hadnegative experiences of face-to-face meetings and arguably to appear credibleto a teen audience a programme of education needs to recognise both possibleoutcomes and to provide appropriate guidance designed for young peopleSection 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes it an offence for an adult whohas established contact with a child on at least two occasions to meet, or travelwith the intention of meeting a child, with intent to commit a sexual offenceagainst that child. The offence is punishable by up to ten years imprisonment.The previous contact can occur through, for example, meetings, telephoneconversations or communications on the Internet, and it is designed to tacklebehaviour whereby the adult gains the child's trust and confidence so that he canarrange to meet the child for the purpose of committing a sexual offence.Crucially, the intended sexual offence against the child does not have to takeplace because the legislation allows for the offender to be arrested when he setsoff to meet the child. Alternatively, the offence could be used where an adultdiscovers the behaviour and takes over the contact, leading the offender tobelieve that he is going to meet a child instead of an adult. Here, careful use ofthe Criminal Attempts Act 1981 would ensure that the offence is still committed.Notably, the course of conduct prior to the meeting that triggers the offence mayhave an explicitly sexual content, such as the adult entering into conversationswith the child about the sexual acts he wants to engage her in when they meet,or sending images of adult pornography, in other words abusive cyber sexinteractions. However, the legal system recognises that the prior meetings orcommunication need not have an explicitly sexual content, although when themeeting is arranged or occurs, it must be possible to demonstrate that the7© Rachel O’Connell, Cyberspace Research Unit, University of Central lancashire 06/05/2004
offender has the relevant intention to commit a sexual act against the child. According to Carr (2004) there have been 27 cases of grooming reported in themedia in the last two or three years in which children or young people have metface-to-face with an adult with whom their first point of contact had been in a chatroom. These cases came to the attention of the media largely because theyinvolved serious sexual assaults. The principle author has extensive experienceof researching paedophile activity on the Internet and in particular groomingpractices. A research paper titled ‘A typology of cybersexploitation and onlinegrooming practices’ (O’Connell, 2003) followed on from extensive researchexploring both cybersexploitation and grooming practices employed by adultsand adolescents with a sexual interest in children when operating in chat roomsintended for either children or teenagers. The research findings indicated thatthe behaviours of adults with a sexual interest in children engaged in groomingchildren and young people in teen chat rooms can be categorised according tothe various stages of abusive behaviours, including abusive cyber sex andgrooming. (See www.uclan.ac.uk/cru for this research paper). There is a needto conduct research on the levels of distress experienced by victims particularlyin relation to various possible outcomes of this sort of scenario. There are a great number of sources of Internet safety information available onthe Internet which address a range of Internet safety related issues, for example,www.fkbko.net, www.thinkuknow.com, www.safer-internet.net,www.gridclub.com. Furthermore, a number of children’s charities provideexcellent resources not only for children and young people, but also parents,carers and teachers.However, as knowledge of the complexities, nature and scope of abusive onlinebehaviours increase it is important to ensure that Internet safety advice andprogrammes of education are updated regularly and that the information isdisseminated widely. In this way it will be possible to ensure that key targetaudiences are continually educated regarding requisite critical reasoning and theoptimal proactive and reactive strategies. Definitions of abusive online behaviours currently exist within the legalframework. The question now is how do we translate these legal definitions intomeaningful and accessible programmes of education written in a language thatis easily understood by the target audience.
; leaving improper messages on messageboards or in guest books; sending electronic viruses; sending unsolicited e-mail;and electronic identity theft amongst others.http://www.cps.gov.uk/Home/LegalGuidance/5/5-E.pdfTo date there has not been an in-depth study conducted into children and youngpeople’s experiences of cyberstalking. However Bocij et al (2004) administereda questionnaire on cyberstalking to 169 Internet users aged between 18 and 40years. From the responses Bocij identified important differences between onlinestalking and offline stalking, namely, that online stalking takes place over ashorter period of time and that cyberstalking victims are less likely to know theidentity of their harasser (42% did not know their harasser in this study). Although the nature of cyber stalking is often restricted to online contact, thelevel of distress experienced by the victims in the Bocij study was high - onequarter of victims claimed to have experienced the highest stress level theycould have chosen to express how they felt. Furthermore, while there aresimilarities in the types of harassment online and offline victims suffer, thepotential impact, for example, harming the victim’s reputation, seems to be moreextreme on the Internet as it has a worldwide audience. Interestingly, thefindings of Bocij’s study suggested that respondents with a greater knowledgeand experience of communication technologies were less likely to feeldistressed. This competency bias suggests that perhaps with a betterunderstanding of the nature of abusive online behaviours resulting in importantframes of reference, Internet users will be likely to reduce their experience ofstress, should they be unfortunate enough to experience stalking, and thisfinding may extend to other forms of abusive online behaviours.Research findings also indicate that children experience conversations of asexual nature online. Although, the exact nature of these conversations is notknown, i.e. what proportion constitutes teen-to-teen cyberflirting, the varyingdegrees of cybersex, or possibly how sexually abusive conversations are. TheCRU (2002) found that 53% of chat users aged 8-11 years reported having hadconversations of a sexual nature online. Finkelhor et al (2002) found that out ofthe children who responded positively when asked if they had on-lineconversations with people they didn’t know in person, 7% of these said that theyhad engaged in conversations of a sexual nature, i.e. that they had “talked aboutsex” with them. Of this 7%, 2% reported that they were aware that they weretalking to an adult, and another 2% said that the adult was aware they were (Finkelhor, et al. 2000). 6% of 9-16 year old children in the CRU study in 2002 reported that onlineconversations of a sexual nature were unpleasant or offensive. The SexualOffences Act 2003, sees the introduction of a new offence of causing or incitinga child to engage in sexual activity (s.10 of the 2003 Act), carrying sentences ofup to 14 years for non-contact abuse, which may include activities such as, forexample, persuading children to take their clothes off, causing the child to touchthemselves sexually, sending indecent images of themselves etc. Two separateoffences expand the legal remit to include situations where the behaviour leadsto the child viewing sexual activity; engaging in sexual activity in the presence ofa child (s.11) and causing a child to watch a sexual act (s.12). Both carry themaximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. In an online context it isconceivable that non-contact related offences might involve, for example,activities whereby an adult encourages a child or a young person to sendpictures of themselves either naked or engaged in specific sex acts, or perhapsan individual may send pornographic images to a child. The Sexual Offences Act2003 ensures that this behaviour is covered by domestic law.Research conducted by the CRU in 2002 with two samples of children andyoung people (n=1331, 8-11 years 1369 and 9-16 years) revealed a strikingconsistency despite the disparity in terms of age ranges between the samples.Both samples found that 19% use chat regularly and that 10% of chatters in bothsamples actually reported attending face-to-face meetings. The proportion ofchildren reporting using chat regularly decreased in a different sample ofyounger children (n=330 8-11 year olds) in 2003, which found that only 12%(n=39) of children reported using chat. However, of those that use chat in the2003 sample, a higher proportion than the previous year reported attending aface-to-face meeting, i.e. 26% (n=10) of children. These figures demonstrate therelevance of a programme of education for children.The CRU has found consistently across samples (330, 8-11 year olds in 2003,1331, 8-11 year olds in 2002 and 1369, 9-16 year olds in 2002) that the majorityof children that report attending face-to-face meetings with people they haveonly ever previously met online also report positive experiences of thesemeetings. However, two children from the sample of 8-11 year olds in 2002 andtwo from the sample of 9-16 year olds in 2002, who had attended a face-to-facemeeting.
the meeting. One child from the sample of 9-16 year olds in 2002 reportedexperiencing physical abuse, but to what extent was not ascertained. These findings serve to demonstrate that although children can be exploited onthe Internet and groomed to meet people with ill-intent in the real world, themajority of children surveyed in the last two years report positive experiences offace-to-face meetings and typically children and young people report meeting upwith chatters who are the same ages as themselves +/- 2 years. However, themajority of children reported going unaccompanied to face-to-face meetings andalso typically, these children and young people had low levels of knowledge ofthe relevant chat safety guidelines, for example, always meet in a public place,always bring an adult to a face-to-face meeting.However, as outlined above there are a number of young people who have hadnegative experiences of face-to-face meetings and arguably to appear credibleto a teen audience a programme of education needs to recognise both possibleoutcomes and to provide appropriate guidance designed for young peopleSection 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes it an offence for an adult whohas established contact with a child on at least two occasions to meet, or travelwith the intention of meeting a child, with intent to commit a sexual offenceagainst that child. The offence is punishable by up to ten years imprisonment.The previous contact can occur through, for example, meetings, telephoneconversations or communications on the Internet, and it is designed to tacklebehaviour whereby the adult gains the child's trust and confidence so that he canarrange to meet the child for the purpose of committing a sexual offence.Crucially, the intended sexual offence against the child does not have to takeplace because the legislation allows for the offender to be arrested when he setsoff to meet the child. Alternatively, the offence could be used where an adultdiscovers the behaviour and takes over the contact, leading the offender tobelieve that he is going to meet a child instead of an adult. Here, careful use ofthe Criminal Attempts Act 1981 would ensure that the offence is still committed.Notably, the course of conduct prior to the meeting that triggers the offence mayhave an explicitly sexual content, such as the adult entering into conversationswith the child about the sexual acts he wants to engage her in when they meet,or sending images of adult pornography, in other words abusive cyber sexinteractions. However, the legal system recognises that the prior meetings orcommunication need not have an explicitly sexual content, although when themeeting is arranged or occurs, it must be possible to demonstrate that the7© Rachel O’Connell, Cyberspace Research Unit, University of Central lancashire 06/05/2004
offender has the relevant intention to commit a sexual act against the child. According to Carr (2004) there have been 27 cases of grooming reported in themedia in the last two or three years in which children or young people have metface-to-face with an adult with whom their first point of contact had been in a chatroom. These cases came to the attention of the media largely because theyinvolved serious sexual assaults. The principle author has extensive experienceof researching paedophile activity on the Internet and in particular groomingpractices. A research paper titled ‘A typology of cybersexploitation and onlinegrooming practices’ (O’Connell, 2003) followed on from extensive researchexploring both cybersexploitation and grooming practices employed by adultsand adolescents with a sexual interest in children when operating in chat roomsintended for either children or teenagers. The research findings indicated thatthe behaviours of adults with a sexual interest in children engaged in groomingchildren and young people in teen chat rooms can be categorised according tothe various stages of abusive behaviours, including abusive cyber sex andgrooming. (See www.uclan.ac.uk/cru for this research paper). There is a needto conduct research on the levels of distress experienced by victims particularlyin relation to various possible outcomes of this sort of scenario. There are a great number of sources of Internet safety information available onthe Internet which address a range of Internet safety related issues, for example,www.fkbko.net, www.thinkuknow.com, www.safer-internet.net,www.gridclub.com. Furthermore, a number of children’s charities provideexcellent resources not only for children and young people, but also parents,carers and teachers.However, as knowledge of the complexities, nature and scope of abusive onlinebehaviours increase it is important to ensure that Internet safety advice andprogrammes of education are updated regularly and that the information isdisseminated widely. In this way it will be possible to ensure that key targetaudiences are continually educated regarding requisite critical reasoning and theoptimal proactive and reactive strategies. Definitions of abusive online behaviours currently exist within the legalframework. The question now is how do we translate these legal definitions intomeaningful and accessible programmes of education written in a language thatis easily understood by the target audience.
Latest gaming experience stimulation can trigger an orgasm 07:29
Naughty America: The Game
It's the next step for online dating.
Customize your avatar by going to salons, plastic surgeons, and clothing stores. Then hit the town, hook up, and switch on Sex Mode!
How graphic: Hand-drawn 2-D ?characters and relatively discreet ?depictions of bow-chicka-bow-bow.
Nookie upgrades: Turn on a webcam if you tire of toonsex.
3FEEL
Cruise swinger-friendly environments. Meet. Mate.
How graphic: Eeeeeek! The hi-res character models have very detailed faces and you-know-whats. Animations are motion-captures of South Korea's most famous adult film stars.
Nookie upgrades: Plug in a USB-compatible vibrator and enter the exciting new world of teledildonics.
Sociolotron
In this role-playing game, bumping uglies is a fact of life, just like ?battling monsters and crafting goods. Sex can be consensual or nonconsensual, and there's bondage, prostitution, STDs, and pregnancy.
How graphic: Anatomically correct characters mix it up in a 2-D realm.
Nookie upgrades: Auto-?generated text descriptions of foreplay.
Red Light Center
This "online erotic ?community" places heavy emphasis on commerce. You can cruise 3-D porn malls and shop for pics and vids or set up your own shop to sell real and virtual sex toys. After a hectic day's work, hit a virtual nightclub and join an orgy.
How graphic: 3-D, but not soul-scarring.
Nookie upgrades: You can supplement onscreen action with VoIP chat.
It's the next step for online dating.
Customize your avatar by going to salons, plastic surgeons, and clothing stores. Then hit the town, hook up, and switch on Sex Mode!
How graphic: Hand-drawn 2-D ?characters and relatively discreet ?depictions of bow-chicka-bow-bow.
Nookie upgrades: Turn on a webcam if you tire of toonsex.
3FEEL
Cruise swinger-friendly environments. Meet. Mate.
How graphic: Eeeeeek! The hi-res character models have very detailed faces and you-know-whats. Animations are motion-captures of South Korea's most famous adult film stars.
Nookie upgrades: Plug in a USB-compatible vibrator and enter the exciting new world of teledildonics.
Sociolotron
In this role-playing game, bumping uglies is a fact of life, just like ?battling monsters and crafting goods. Sex can be consensual or nonconsensual, and there's bondage, prostitution, STDs, and pregnancy.
How graphic: Anatomically correct characters mix it up in a 2-D realm.
Nookie upgrades: Auto-?generated text descriptions of foreplay.
Red Light Center
This "online erotic ?community" places heavy emphasis on commerce. You can cruise 3-D porn malls and shop for pics and vids or set up your own shop to sell real and virtual sex toys. After a hectic day's work, hit a virtual nightclub and join an orgy.
How graphic: 3-D, but not soul-scarring.
Nookie upgrades: You can supplement onscreen action with VoIP chat.
Sociolotron features strong adult content 07:25
You must be over 21 to play, no exceptions! Sociolotron features strong adult content, language, and graphics. A game play you don't have anywhere else: No censorship of your game play, except for legal reasons. Game elements that enable you to run around and eliminate monsters (yes we DO have the standard monster treatment also), elements that enable you to blackmail your fellow players, eliminate them, have sex, live out your darkest fantasies, and even establish a lasting dynasty. PK is a reality in this game and you must be prepared to pass on your belongings to a worthy heir!
Half of the Sociolotron players are actually female and the average player in their 30s 07:23
Half of the Sociolotron players are actually female and the average player in their 30s, with some regular players as high as into their 50s. With the game peaking at between 100-200 players at the same time, Lagny believes the surprising ratio has to do with the game's approach to treating both sexes equally, unlike other videogames.
How does the 'sex' work? 07:22
Considering much of the game is text based, it sounds an awful lot like regular cyber sex with some animated avatars.
Lagny: There are different postures you can obtain and postures combine in various ways for example for regular sex there's doggy stile, missionary and a few others, for oral sex, one can stand, the others on all four or 69 position, you get the idea. Like in reality sex then consists of a lot of pumping until orgasm :) but the system gives textual descriptions and the players are encouraged to do their own textual role play. The graphic shows the positions and also the movements during sex, also due to the 2D nature of the graphics there are cover problems in the 3D space. In general the system supports cyber roleplay, that's the original idea.
Lagny: There are different postures you can obtain and postures combine in various ways for example for regular sex there's doggy stile, missionary and a few others, for oral sex, one can stand, the others on all four or 69 position, you get the idea. Like in reality sex then consists of a lot of pumping until orgasm :) but the system gives textual descriptions and the players are encouraged to do their own textual role play. The graphic shows the positions and also the movements during sex, also due to the 2D nature of the graphics there are cover problems in the 3D space. In general the system supports cyber roleplay, that's the original idea.
banning computers for first year students 07:02
According to China.org.cn, several Chinese universities are the taking the radical step of banning computers for first year students, including those taking computer science courses!
The move comes as universities try to tackle what they see as a growing problem in students spending more and more time in MMOs than at lectures or studying.
"At Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Hubei Province, no freshmen including, those who major in computer science, are allowed to own computers. The school shut down the freshmen dormitory network, and, freshmen are not allowed to log onto the Internet without permission.
China is home to 30 million online gamers, many of them college students. Addiction to online games
The move comes as universities try to tackle what they see as a growing problem in students spending more and more time in MMOs than at lectures or studying.
"At Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Hubei Province, no freshmen including, those who major in computer science, are allowed to own computers. The school shut down the freshmen dormitory network, and, freshmen are not allowed to log onto the Internet without permission.
China is home to 30 million online gamers, many of them college students. Addiction to online games
Addiction Interventions Resources (Airblog) 06:39
: Cybersexual Affairs page1 - Cybersex Addiction page2 - Cyberporn Addiction page3 - Chat Room Addiction page 4 - Obsessive Role Play Gaming research - Compulsive Online Gambling research - eBay Addiction page1-4 - Compulsive Surfing, Drugs, Alcohol, co-dependency,sexual dysfunction,sexual obsession.
