Pornographers put gadget to criminal use

Not only are the bad guys getting better at digital storage, they are beginning to fragment these awful images in pieces located on different Web sites. People can use special software to scour the Internet for these fragments, then reassemble them on their home computers. These fragments are difficult for law enforcement to detect, but there also is some question as to whether they are covered by current laws.

In the middle of all this, Utah is trying to fend off a lawsuit by a coalition of adult-entertainment interests. These interests want a statewide Child Protection Registry declared illegal. This registry allows parents to register the e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers and instant message names of their children on a list that is declared off-limits for any sort of sexually oriented advertisements, as well as those dealing with alcohol and tobacco products.

The group says the registry violates its free-speech rights.

Several years ago, the state of Utah set up an office officially known as the obscenity and pornography complaints ombudsman. The office was supposed to act as a central clearinghouse for complaints and investigations, as well as for educating parents about threats. Unfortunately, critics derisively labeled the head of this office the "porn czar" and pressured the state to eliminate it.

State prosecutors remain hard at work investigating these crimes, but it would be nice to still have a high-profile office to signal the growing severity of this problem.

It's true that pornographers are taking a lot of the fun out of new toys such as pvps. But that's not the tragedy here. Each obscene piece of child pornography represents a real child being abused in unspeakable ways. The Internet Watch Foundation says 91 percent of these pictures are of kids 12 and under.

Someone needs to take the recent rage generated against Don Imus and direct it toward this problem.

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Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com