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Something I'm sure is missing from this discussion is that there is a specific legal duty to report anything that constitutes child pornography to the authoriti
by Nrsolis 10y ago
Something I'm sure is missing from this discussion is that there is a specific legal duty to report anything that constitutes child pornography to the authorities.
The NCMEC is the clearinghouse for this sort of information and my former employer had regular training on what our legal responsibilities were with respect to this.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2258A https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2258A
I can't be certain about this case, but I'd suspect that this was somehow wrapped up in the reporting requirement and things went off the rails after that.
- Bartweiss 10y agoThe initial reporting suggests that abandoning this reporting requirement is basically the problem here. Specifically: the (good) reporting requirement holds that discovered content must be reported. The new setup effectively pays bounties for anything discovered, and there's a lot of concern that it will prompt fishing expeditions without cause. It also blurs the lines of private search since it's possible to put bounties on other content without a reporting requirement. And, of course, the FBIs initial filings in the case appear to have systematically tried to hide that this was anything other than normal reporting.
- ensignavenger 10y agoIt also taints the evidence- how can the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the files weren't planted their by the technician in order to collect the bounty?
- mikecb 10y agoBest Buy may not be subject to this particular statute. Do you have a reason to believe they are?
- Nrsolis 10y agoBy my understanding, ANY person who in the course of their work encounters child pornography MUST report it to the NCMEC. IN the past, I know that film developers were obliged to report child pornography to the police and I'm assuming that this applies here as well.
- mikecb 10y agoThe cited statute is not so broad.
- Nrsolis 10y agoOnly one I could find quickly. Also, don't mistake statutory law for case law. There may be relevant case law that significantly expands the concepts contained in a statute.
- mikecb 10y agoIt would be extraordinary case law indeed that could override that specific enumeration of the class subject to the statue. If you're interested in this subject, you might be interested in the canons of statutory interpretation, in particular one called Expressio unius est exclusio alterius ("the express mention of one thing excludes all others").
- DanBC 10y agoThat would cover technicians who stumble across images of child sexual abuse during the course of their work. It doesn't make it okay for the FBI to make payments for these reports, thus incentivising techs to go trawling for it.
- dpark 10y agoOr to plant it. It's not a stretch to believe a man willing to lie under oath about collecting payments from the FBI might plant evidence as well. I doubt that's what actually happened, but reasonable doubt...