Microsoft shut down a Swedish language web site hosted on its
servers after being alerted by Swedish police that it contained
hundreds of images of child pornography. Meanwhile, the Observer
newspaper yesterday reported an "epidemic" of internet child porn,
blaming the lack of legal deterrent.
Microsoft’s MSN service operates “community” web sites which
allow users to set up sites on its servers. The service is not
routinely monitored for content and Microsoft, acting only as the
ISP, is not legally required to carry out such monitoring. However,
it is obliged to remove any illegal material on its service to
which it is alerted.
Swedish police advised MSN on 26th December that the site
contained child pornography. The police have subsequently
criticised Microsoft’s delay of eleven days in disabling the site
which the company attributed to Christmas holidays and time
consuming procedures necessary to gather evidence from the site’s
log files. Microsoft is now working with Swedish police to help
track the site’s author.
In the UK, according to an Observer investigation, few people
convicted of crimes relating to internet child pornography are
considered paedophiles by the courts and receive light
sentences.
The newspaper report points to the recent high profile case of
former pop star Gary Glitter whose real name is Paul Gadd. Gadd
received a four month sentence last year for downloading 4,000
images of children, including images depicting the torture of a two
year-old. The Observer claims that a four month sentence is now
seen as “the standard sentence for conspiracy to distribute child
porn.”
