Analysis > Internet and Reporting Services

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Internet and Reporting Services

Internet Services.

Between 2000 and 2005 unsolicited e-mail (commonly referred to as Spam) has become a major source of reports to the www.hotline.ie service. In recent years over half the reports received by the Hotline are in relation to Spam email. As can be seen from the series of graphs 'Internet service to which reports referred' 2000 to 2005:
> Click here to view graph series [pop-up]

In the previous 24 month reporting period there were 864 reports about Spam. That increased to 2737 in the 30 months from July 2003 to December 2005.

The trend, mentioned in the Second Report of the Hotline, has continued, where increased numbers of spam contain language that can be interpreted as referring to paedophilic activities. In many cases, the actual content, usually on a website, turns out to be adult pornographic material. This however should not deter the public from making a report when the wording of the Spam suggests the content may be child pornography.

The advice of the Hotline is never to follow the links contained in such spams. Report them to the Hotline, using the online report forms and being sure to include the "headers" (instructions on how these are obtained are given on the unsolicited e-mail report form). When you have received an acknowledgement delete the offending spam from your inbox.

Several instances have arisen in more recent times where Spammers have embedded illegal images into emails. This can cause understandable distress for the recipient having to view such material. We would however request that the public use the Hotline to report such e-mails, it can be done anonymously using the 'Report Online' facility on the website.

The next most reported Internet Service are websites with 2082 sites reported in the period. From the Hotline's observations of descriptions provided, the majority of these are triggered in one of two ways:

(a) The URL is found in the result lists generated by a search engine. Occasionally an innocent search can return some unexpected results. Usually this is caused by a word in the search terms having alternative connotations and this unexpected alternative material is listed.

(b) Users notice suspicious links posted on bulletin boards, forums or other websites which suggest they may lead to child pornography.

Internet service to which reports referred Jul 2003 - Dec 2005.

Of the 5102 reports received by the Hotline in this reporting period, 53.6% related to spam email apparently advertising illegal content. Websites are the second most reported Internet service generating 40.8% of reports. While the proportion of websites reported is similar to the previous reporting period, there has been a significant shift in the content assessed. Wording within the sites has generally become more offensive and the level of child abuse displayed in openly accessible images has increased in severity.

The Hotline continues to field general queries, from assistance with computer related issues such as 'Auto-Diallers' and Virus Attacks, to queries outside the remit of the Hotline, such as offering legal advice or dealing with claims of defamation.

Despite the concerns often heard about Internet Chat and problems of children being engaged on them by paedophiles, the level of incidence reported to the Hotline is very low. This may show that the safety messages from IAB and the awareness raising efforts in the classroom are having the desired impact. However, it is imperative that this guidance is repeated constantly to children; never give out names, mobile numbers, addresses and above all, never arrange to meet an internet acquaintance without adult company.

The area of greatest concern is the lack of reporting about suspected illegal content on peer to peer (P2P) file sharing services. It is known from international police sources that increasing amounts of illegal material are being transferred by p2p. The p2p systems are extensively used for downloading music, videos and pictures by many teenagers and young adults. The systems use search engine-like interfaces to find shared content. Searches can lead to suspicious file descriptions being listed and these should be reported to the Hotline.

The Hotline believes that many p2p users fear they may somehow be apprehended for sharing copyrighted music if they were to report other material encountered on p2p to the Hotline. While the ISPAI and Hotline can never condone pirating of copyrighted works, p2p is a perfectly legitimate way of sharing non-copyright material. The Hotline reiterates that the p2p report forms on www.hotline.ie provide a completely anonymous means to report suspected illegal content. The Hotline pleads to the p2p using public never to ignore child pornography they stumble across, because real children are put at risk by paedophile rings sharing material this way.

As spam remains the highest source it is important that the public include as much detail to the Hotline as possible when reporting to the Hotline. Include the 'email headers' and 'email source'. Without the technical information contained in the 'email headers' the Hotline is unable to begin a trace attempt. For this reason the 'Report Online' facility on the www.hotline.ie website is the preferred method for reporting as it includes the steps required to extract the email headers for analysis by the Hotline.

Services used to Report to The Hotline.

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