Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Background.
This is the fifth major report of the www.hotline.ie service (The Hotline) since its establishment in November 1999. The report examines activities of the Hotline during 2007, provides analysis of the statistics collected, compares trends with previous reporting periods and offers some observations.
The Hotline is a service run by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) to combat illegal content, particularly child pornography, on the Internet. Its operation relies on the public to submit reports about content they have encountered on the Internet which they suspect may be illegal.
The objective is to have a rapid response system to remove from public access illegal content found to be hosted on, or being distributed from, ISPAI members’ Internet facilities. It also serves to notify An Garda Síochána in such an eventuality, so they may initiate investigations. The Hotline’s existence is also intended as a deterrent to illegal use and to provide a safer Internet environment for all who use it, particularly children.
International dimension.
Due to the global nature of the Internet, national action alone would be largely ineffective. The Hotline cooperates through an international network of partner Hotlines (INHOPE) which are recognised by their governments and operate to best practices developed and appraised collectively by the INHOPE. Members act against the hosting and distribution of child pornography on the Internet irrespective of the originating jurisdiction. Through the INHOPE network, details of illegal content discovered by a Hotline in one member country can be swiftly forwarded for action to the Hotline in another INHOPE member jurisdiction. In 2007, the INHOPE network grew to 30 member Hotlines.
Reporting levels.
In the 12 month period from 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2007 the Hotline processed 2,590 reports. This is a decrease of 3.25% on the 2,677 processed in 2006.
The average number of reports processed per month during 2007 was 216 per month compared to 223 per month in 2006.
A comparison of ComReg’s “Quarterly Key Data Report, March 2008 (08/22)” with that of the previous year (07/17R) shows that total Internet access subscriptions rose from 1,035,800 at the end of 2006 to 1,213,100 in December 2007. At the end of 2007, approximately 73% of subscriptions were broadband.
Given the increase in numbers using the Internet the fall in public reporting, although slight, is of concern. The Hotline has responded by increasing visibility, through events and media opportunities, being referenced in the “Get With IT” Internet safety publications of the Internet Advisory Board and by changing the online reporting component of the website to simplify the reporting task for the public.
Suspicions reported.
Details of all reports received by the Hotline are transferred to a database and the complaint is categorised. Suspected child pornography remains the top reason for report submissions. It was cited or implied in 2,044 reports, which represents 79% of all reports. This is the same percentage as last year.
The Hotline accepts reports of other types of illegal content, the other 21% of reports comprised: 3% queries, 4% computer related (complaints of financial scams, viruses or trojan attacks, denial of service, hacking and similar), 2% racist material or incitement to violence, and 12% other (where insufficient information was given to allow the Hotline to categorise the suspicion).
Assessment process.
When processing a report, every activity carried out by the Hotline Analyst, along with their findings and resulting actions, is recorded in the database. Initially the Analyst tries to access the reported content. In 157 cases the reports were either queries or matters outside the Hotline remit where no content access attempt was undertaken. In a further 202 cases (mainly spam advertising of potentially illegal content, or photo sharing sites) insufficient detail was provided by the reporter to allow the Analyst find the content. 44 sites had already been removed by the ISP by the time the Analysts tried to access them.
In 2007, 395 cases were recorded where the content was either not found or not accessible compared to 397 cases 2006.
In 1,792 cases content was accessible and entered the assessment process. In these cases the Analyst tries to determine whether or not the content presented breaks relevant Irish law. In cases of suspected child pornography, this is decided using the criteria given in the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act (1998). Where the content is assessed as probably illegal, a reference to the material and a concise description of the material are noted in the database.
Determinations.
In 2007, 828 reports were determined as referring to illegal content. 718 of these referred to content determined by the Hotline to be probably illegal child pornography under the 1998 Act. In 2006, that number was 423 from a total of 429 reports assessed as referring to illegal content.
This shows that despite a 3.25% decrease in overall reporting, the number of child pornography determinations rose by 301 reports between 2006 and 2007. When viewed in percentage terms this represents an increase from 15.8% of all reports in 2006 to 28% of all reports made in 2007.
It is extremely important to note that in 2007, not a single report that was confirmed as being illegal child pornography was found to be either hosted in, or distributed from, Ireland. This has been the case since the establishment of the Hotline and is a record of which this country should be very proud.
There were 5 confirmed reports of activities where a person was attempting to lure a child into meeting for sexual purposes and these reports were forwarded to the appropriate channel for action. There was 1 case regarding tourism to engage in sex with children. All of these reports referred to content that originated outside Ireland.
In the remaining 104 cases of illegal content, 10 referred to incitement to racial hatred or violence directed at an individual, 7 were computer related hacking or spreading viruses and 87 were financial scams.
The remaining 964 cases were found to be not illegal. In 35 cases images of children were reported but determined to be outside the definition of child pornography given in the 1998 Act.
Just under 16% of all reports (407) proved to be adult pornography which is not specifically illegal and no further action was taken by the Hotline. A further 522 reports (just over 20%) were assessed as “Other/Not Illegal”.
The Hotline does not retain any illegal content that may be cached or downloaded in the assessment process. Any such material is securely deleted after the report is closed.
Resulting action.
Having determined reported content to be illegal, the Hotline Analyst then attempts to trace the source country and network so the report can be forwarded to the appropriate authorities. After elimination of duplicate reports, there were 684 unique illegal reports in 2007 compared to 421 in 2006, representing an increase of 62% on 2006.
In 21 cases, despite best efforts, the origin of the content was determined to be outside Ireland but the exact origin could not be located with any confidence. In all remaining cases the apparent source was traced.
Where the source country has an INHOPE member Hotline, details of the reported content are forwarded to that Hotline for action in that jurisdiction. In the period 393 reports were forwarded to other INHOPE hotlines.
If the origin is traced to a country where an INHOPE member Hotline does not exist, details of the reported content are forwarded to a designated contact in An Garda Síochána headquarters. In the period 250 reports were forwarded to An Garda Síochána. The reports are then forwarded to Interpol where they can be transmitted to law enforcement in the country where the content appears to be located.
There was one case of a financial scam attempt that was distributed from Ireland. The details were provided to An Garda Síochána.
It should be noted that details of the person/s who first reported the material to Hotline.ie are never revealed in any reports forwarded to other Hotlines or to the Gardaí.
Relationship with Law Enforcement.
It must be emphasised that only An Garda Síochána fulfil the role of law enforcement in the State. The Hotline has support from Government and the Gardaí only to accept reports of content that is hosted or distributed on Internet services. It acts as a filter to ensure that law enforcement receives qualified reports that actually pertain to their jurisdiction. It is the Gardaí who conduct any criminal investigations of the perpetrators behind this illegal content. Once the Hotline has passed its content assessment and the technical information it has gathered on the Internet to law enforcement, the Hotline's role is completed. The Hotline very much appreciates the support it has received from An Garda Síochána in the period who have promoted the Hotline on their website and in the Garda pages of the national telephone directories.
Support from Industry.
The ISPAI is supported by self-regulating members of the Internet industry. It is important that new entrants to the Irish Internet hosting and access market play their part to support the Hotline and thereby contribute to the international efforts to combat the proliferation of illegal Internet content.
In 2007 the ISPAI had 22 members who support the Hotline. These were: Eircom, BT Ireland, O2, Vodafone, Meteor, HEAnet, Irish Broadband, UPC (Chorus/NTL), UTV-internet, Irish Domains, Verizon Business, Perlico, Magnet, Blacknight, Novara, MyHost, Strencom, EuroKom, Protocol Internet, Clearwire, ICE Comms and Bitbuzz.
Conclusions.
Ireland's excellent record continues. In 2007 the Hotline did not receive a single report that referred to illegal child pornography that was found to be located in Ireland. All cases proved to be hosted or distributed from outside the jurisdiction. This is corroborated by the fact that none of the other 29 INHOPE member hotlines around the world notified us of any content reported to them that was traced to Ireland.
The massive increase in Internet usage, not just in Ireland but throughout the world, brings all sections of society to the Internet. Thus cyberspace increasingly contains not just the decent law abiding members of society but also those with disreputable and evil intentions. Therefore there is no room for complacency, particularly as the techniques used by criminals are growing in sophistication. It is important that through cooperation of government, Gardaí and industry, we continue to implement and evolve measures that will dissuade people from using Irish Internet facilities for illegal purposes. The Hotline is central to this and provides a means to allow swift and effective action.
The Internet is a global network where content accessible to Irish Internet users can originate anywhere in the world. Measures taken in Ireland alone are insufficient. International cooperation is required to have effective action across boundaries.
The Hotline service relies on the public to report suspected illegal content, especially to support the fight against child pornography, on the Internet. The Internet is so vast that neither ISPs nor law enforcement can be expected to know about illegal content on the Internet unless it is brought to their attention.
