There is a downloadable pdf version of this document here.

Internet constitue l’instrument idéal de diffusion de matériel pédopornographique, grâce à son anonymat, sa vitesse, sa disponibilité et les tarifs peu élevés pour y avoir accès. Depuis l’apparition de cette technologie au milieu des années ’90 et le taux élevé de pénétration  des appareils numériques dans les ménages, la quantité de matériel pédopornographique disponible sur le net augmente sans cesse et augmente rapidement. La police n’est pas en mesure de contrôler le réseau Internet en tant que tel; ce travail requiert une vaste coopération dans les différents domaines de l’Internet, comme l’industrie du Net.

Les autorités policières sont confrontées à des obstacles de taille lorsqu’elles enquêtent sur l’exploitation des enfants sur le Net. La production de matériel pédopornographique intervient souvent à l’étranger, dans des pays dépourvus de lois sur le sujet ou aux ressources d’enquête et judiciaires limitées dans cette matière. Les criminels développent des réseaux de distribution afin d’entraver et de retarder les enquêtes, par exemple, en installant les serveurs hébergeant les sites à contenu pédopornographique dans plusieurs pays ou dans des pays aux lois de protection de la vie privée très contraignantes. 

There is a downloadable pdf version of this document here.

The Internet is a perfect vehicle for child sexual abusive material distribution, with its perceived anonymity, high speed, wide availability and cheap entry price. Since the introduction of this technology in the mid 1990s, and with the high penetration of digital imaging devices in the population, the amount of child abuse material available on the Internet is growing, and growing fast. The police cannot control the Internet by itself; there is a need for extensive cooperation on the varied arenas that make up the Internet, like the Internet industry.

Law enforcement faces significant hurdles when investigating online child exploitation.  The production of child exploitation materials is often done in foreign countries with lacking legislation and limited resources for investigation or prosecution of child abuse.  Criminals design distribution networks to hinder and delay investigation, such as by placing servers hosting child abusive material sites in different countries or countries with strident privacy laws.

There are many countries running the CSAADF, and thus preventing the distribution of child sexual abuse material on the Web, as defined in their national law. Since the various National Police forces evaluate the available child sexual abuse material do so according to their national legislation the results differ, and a domain that is blocked in one country may be legal, available and accessible in another.

When an users Internet browser is attempting to access a domain defined as illegal in said country due to content, a so called “stop page” is displayed.  Information about submitting complaints about the specific websites blocking is included on this page. Such complaints will be directed to the police in that specific country and will lead to the domain being re-checked and the blocking lifted or upheld. This functionality will deal with notifications between the Internet users and National Police.

CIRCAMP

In the fall of 2006 the ECPTF (European Police Chief Task Force) accepted the Action Plan for CIRCAMP (COSPOL Internet Related Child Abuse Material Project). CIRCAMP is one of several COSPOL groups on various crime areas, and had worked on other Action Plans since its initiation in 2004. COSPOL is an abbreviation for Comprehensive Operational Strategic Planning for the Police.

CIRCAMP is a law enforcement only thematic network with the following members:

CIRCAMP and other Law enforcement agencies believe it is time to stop the use of the misleading term “Child Pornography” when describing images of the sexual abuse of children, and use a term or title that gives a better understanding of the crime and more respect to the child victims

A sexual image of a child is “abuse” or “exploitation” and should never be described as “pornography”. Pornography is a term used for adults engaging in consensual sexual acts distributed legally to the general public for their sexual pleasure. Child abuse images are not. They involve children who cannot and would not consent and who are victims of a crime. 

The production and distribution of child sexual abuse material is an international problem demanding global and local solutions and cooperation. The overall aim of the CIRCAMP thematic law enforcement network is to stimulate organized and extensive cross-border exchange of best practice between law enforcement agencies in the fight against production, online distribution and access to child sexual abuse material.

To optimize results, CIRCAMP will be established as an alternative and additional mechanism to the already existing Law Enforcement channels.

The CIRCAMP thematic network is a collective attempt initiated by the European Police Chief Task Force (EPCTF) under the Comprehensive Operational Strategic Planning for the Police (COSPOL) umbrella. Under COSPOL there are several Law Enforcement projects, aimed at multinational and cross border crime areas. CIRCAMPs aim is to create a platform between European Law Enforcement Agencies and beyond with the overall objective of reducing the availability of sexually abusive images of children online.

Within this wider aim, the CIRCAMP project will introduce, implement and spread the use of a filtering system, the CSAADF (Child Sexual Abuse Anti Distribution Filter) to participating police enforcing agencies and the countries they represent, as well as to countries and law enforcement jurisdictions outside the CIRCAMP network of participants. The project will initially focus on the implementation of the system in EU Member States, but efforts will also be made to spread the methodology and extend the cooperation with countries outside the European Union. The global nature of the Internet and the availability of illegal material in every country in the world, calls for strong collaboration world wide.