Online fight against child porn launched
Date: January 27, 2005Source: yorkregion.com
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Cybertip.ca, an Internet child porn tipline, was launched nationally Monday.
It analyzes tips from the public about potentially illegal material and activities on the Internet, referring them to law enforcement agencies.
There is a link to Cybertip.ca on the York Regional Police website at www.police.york.on.ca and child abuse unit Det. Rob Thomson said it will be a valuable tool.
"If someone gets a spam e-mail advertising a child porn site sent to them, they can go to our website and there's a link to Cybertips where they can report it. But if there are images of child pornography on the e-mail we can also send an officer out to the house to investigate," he said.
There are two officers to follow up on tips and go online to investigate Internet luring. Plans are in place to add a third.
Cybertip.ca began as a pilot project in Manitoba in 2002 and has received more than 2,000 reports of child sexual exploitation since its inception.
The program received federal funding last May.
In July, Bell Canada announced a major three-year contribution agreement.
Det. Thomson said the difficulty comes in trying to find operators of child porn sites because they take advantage of free web hosts, set up a site for a day or two and then vanish.
"If they get 100 customers they're ahead of the game. It cost them nothing to set up the site and nothing for the spam e-mail. When we find it, we can tell (the web host) about it and they'll shut it down, but they've usually already gone and set up another one somewhere else," he said.
Regardless, Det. Thomson still encourages residents to report any Internet child porn through the online form at www.cybertip.ca, by calling a toll-free phone line at 1-866-658-9022, or the child abuse unit at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7075.
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