Expert answer:Structured Journal Article Review
Expert answer:I have attached the journal article with this question: “Webcam Child Prostitution” (please cite everything) 1) Provide: (a)Title of Journal. (b)Year of publication. (c) Author. (d) Title of Article. (e) Volume, (f) page numbers. 2) Summary (one page) summarize the main points and findings of the article in one page, include what explanation(s) of crime are being tested. 3) Critical Evaluation. (2-3 pages) Critically evaluate the theoretical framework of the article. That is, choose at least one theory that was discussed in the course that the article does not take into account (e.g., biological, personality, personality disorder, family process, learning, control, deterrence, social disorganization, Criminal opportunity/routine activities, anomie, and institutional anomie, general strain, integrated). Do you think (personal opinion) the omission of this theory may have affected the results? Why or why not? Explain.
webcam_child_prostitution.docx
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Webcam Child Prostitution: An Exploration of Current
and Futuristic Methods of Detection
Title: Webcam Child Prostitution: An Exploration of Current and Futuristic Methods of Detection
Author
Kemal Veli Acar
Publication title
Volume
Issue
Pages
Publication year
Publication date
Publisher
International Journal of Cyber Criminology
11
1
98-109
2017
Jan-Jun 2017
International Journal of Cyber Criminology
Abstract
Webcam child prostitution is an emerging form of online child sexual abuse which the victim simply
sells his/her lives sexual images through Voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications. Although it doesn’t
directly create some negative effects of traditional child prostitution like sexually transmitted
diseases, it may provide future offenders and victims to the traditional crimes such as child
prostitution and child sex tourism. Therefore, appropriate and effective prevention strategies for this
heinous act should be introduced accordingly. In this respect, this article discuss the efficiency of
current methods of detection and propose some futuristic methods such as metadata and content
data analysis of VoIP communications by the private sector and the use of fully automated chatbots
for undercover operations. The applicability of such new methods in real life heavily relies on legal
amendments and requires further research on technical aspects in particular.
Full Text
Headnote
Abstract
Webcam child prostitution is an emerging form of online child sexual abuse which the victim simply
sells his/her lives sexual images through Voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications. Although it doesn’t
directly create some negative effects of traditional child prostitution like sexually transmitted
diseases, it may provide future offenders and victims to the traditional crimes such as child
prostitution and child sex tourism. Therefore, appropriate and effective prevention strategies for this
heinous act should be introduced accordingly. In this respect, this article discuss the efficiency of
current methods of detection and propose some futuristic methods such as metadata and content
data analysis of VoIP communications by the private sector and the use of fully automated chatbots
for undercover operations. The applicability of such new methods in real life heavily relies on legal
amendments and requires further research on technical aspects in particular.
Keywords: Online Child Sexual Abuse, Crime Prevention, Law Enforcement, Webcam Child
Prostitution, VoIP, Cyber Crime.
Introduction
The Internet and related technological developments have made the communication between people
faster and cheaper. Voice-over-IP (VoIP) is one of those more efficient ways which users have
greatly benefited since the beginning of the 2000s. In VoIP technology, audio and video
communications are divided into several tiny packets of digital information and transmitted through
IP-based networks (Varshney, Snow, McGivern, & Howard, 2002). Unlike traditional phone services,
particular features such as encrypted communications between parties, distributed and
decentralized structure of some networks and the market dominance of foreign-based popular VoIP
service providers make lawful interception to the illegitimate uses of this technology harder
(Thanthry, Pendse, & Namuduri, 2005; Bellovin et al., 2006). For these reasons, like all
groundbreaking inventions throughout history, VoIP applications are also embraced by malicious
actors such as organized crime syndicates (Dunn, 2009) and online child sexual abusers (Hughes,
2002).
By using the video streaming feature of VoIP applications, live child abuse images are produced and
sometimes also sold for profit. Online grooming (Whittle, Hamilton- Giachritsis, Beech, & Collings,
2013), self-produced child pornography/sexting (Leary, 2009) and sexual extortion (Açar, 2016) are
the prime and most common examples of which VoIP technologies have been used for noncommercial purposes. Non-commercial types of live streaming of child abuse don’t have a deep and
tight relationship with child prostitution. On the other hand, in the commercial version, either abusers
sexually exploit victim(s) or the child exposes himself/herself in a lascivious manner in return for a
payment from the offender/consumer (Crawford, 2014). In essence, webcam child prostitution
(WCP) is not much different from its traditional form as the victim satisfies someone else’s sexual
needs in return for a fee through the internet. The diverse methods of interaction chosen by parties
don’t actually affect the incriminating core of the offense. Therefore, the author prefers the term
webcam child prostitution instead of live streaming of child abuse (Europol, 2015) and webcam child
sex abuse/tourism (Puffer, McDonald, Pross, & Hudson, 2014; Masri, 2015) since the term is more
suitable and exact to define the act.
Although Europol proclaims WCP is not an emerging crime but an established reality (Europol,
2015) and it has ties with child sex tourism (Europol, 2016), publicized cases supporting these
remarks are rare. During Operation Endeavour, the only publicly known example of WCP
investigations, 29 international arrests were made and 15 Filipino children were rescued (CohenAlmagor, 2015). However, this is not even the tip of the iceberg, according to the non-governmental
organization Terre des Hommes (TdH) Netherlands. To show a glimpse of the problem’s true scale,
TdH Netherlands created a 3D model of a 10-year- old Filipino girl and called her “Sweetie”. In a
sting operation conducted by TdH Netherlands in public chat rooms and online dating sites, 1000
potential abusers from 71 different countries offered Sweetie money for sexual acts over 10 weeks
(Crawford, 2013; Lemz, 2014). Hans Guijt, the head of special programs and campaigns of TdH
Netherlands, elaborated on this experiment. Over 20000 individuals sought to get into contact with
Sweetie during the course of the experiment. And, that was more than the four operators could
handle. While two of them were handling the chats, the other two were trying to identify the
individuals with the information rising from the chats (Hans Guijt, personal communication, 16
January, 2017).
Furthermore, it’s believed that the sessions of WCP are shaped with the sexual requests of the
consumer. And thus, intensity and price of the sexual abuse might increase throughout the session.
In addition to the horrific psychological consequences for the victim, this heinous act also makes an
effective, profitable and flexible business model for abusers, particularly compared to the trade of still
images of online child sexual abuse. Since every interaction, even ones with the same victim(s),
creates a unique and unsubstitutable experience for the offender, it becomes rational to pay for the
live images although free child abuse materials are abound in the Internet. Economic aspect of WCP
and the specific determinants of the perceived value of produced live images are an entirely different
concept than this article aims to examine. However, this dark area also should be researched
thoroughly in order to develop actionable strategies for diminishing demand and supply of WCP from
an economic viewpoint.
This article largely ignores socio-psychological aspects while it puts the focus on the detection,
interception and disruption of WCP. The author will analyze and discuss the current and futuristic
methods of detection for WCP. In doing so, the main aim of the article is to start a technical and legal
debate which hopefully leads to new or better practical solutions and also encourage further
research on this matter. Lastly, there are many private sector entities which offer customers VoIPenabled services as a side benefit to their main products such as Google and Facebook, in addition
to the completely VoIPcentered companies like Skype. Since the underlying technology and its
implications for WCP remains the same, the term “VoIP companies” is used to cover the both types
throughout the article as a convenience.
Current Methods of Detection
To communicate in privacy is one of the most important and basic human rights. Therefore, in most
countries, lawful interception of private communications is restricted as much as possible. LEAs
generally need solid evidence and/or probable cause, and only apply this exceptional measure for a
limited number of serious offenses (Gorge, 2007). These legal rules are essentially brought for
traditional communication methods whose content itself is not criminal. However, VoIP chats in WCP
cases are very different from traditional phone calls in terms of criminality. For example, a phone
conversation between two offenders may give away the information of an actual crime before it takes
place or after it was committed. And thus, lawful interception of that particular phone call helps LEAs
for taking preventive measures or collecting evidence. But at any point in the investigation process,
such phone communication itself isn’t considered a separate crime. It only provides a proper
connection between illicit activities and offenders. Conversely, VoIP communications of WCP itself is
criminal despite the fact that it’s just another type of a communication in essence. It takes place
completely within an online chat without leaking a clue to the real world. If the offender and child,
cannot connect with video chat, this offense definitely will not occur.
In WCP, communication and criminal act are inseparable and rarely witnessed by third parties.
Therefore, revealing incidents of this offense heavily relies on the actions of the parties involved,
since the communication between offenders and victims are highly private in nature. Unfortunately,
due to monetary benefits of WCP and strong perception that it is less harmful than the traditional
prostitution, reporting by victims is unlikely (Terre des Hommes Netherlands, 2013b). For these
reasons, only publicized investigation of this severely underreported offense emerged as the result
of a routine visit to a registered sex offender (Leyden, 2014). In addition to the attentive observation
of law enforcement agents, they were also lucky. The computer of the offender or victim can record
video chats, but one should use special third party applications to do that for most VoIP products.
That is the reason, at most times, why the forensic examination of the digital belongings of possible
WCP suspects is bound to be fruitless.
In an unlikely event, the offender and child might be detected while the offense is committed. The
lawful interception of real-time communications between parties can present solid evidence in this
case. However, due to legal and technical limitations, this option is almost impossible at the moment.
To begin with, a company must abide in the legal framework of countries where its headquarters
and/or operational centers are located. To prevent international conflicts, every country has similar
legal safeguards which actually designed to solve jurisdictional problems of traditional crimes
(Brenner, 2006). And in most WCP cases, neither victim nor offender is somehow related to the
country where the VoIP company operates. For example, US legal framework only allows real-time
monitoring of communications in investigations of which either it occurs in US soil or at least one of
the parties is a US citizen. Therefore, lawful interception of a WCP incident between 10-year-old
Filipino and a European adult who use US-based VoIP services in the commission of crime seems
out of jurisdiction for US legal authorities. Possible interpretations of this legal rule by LEAs in such
situations is not clear at the moment, but theoretically, it doesn’t seem feasible to monitor every
WCP incident in real time (Evripidis, 2008).
In addition to the inadequacy of the current legal framework, there are technical problems with the
real-time monitoring of possible WCP cases as well. From a technical viewpoint, VoIP technologies
offer companies flexible schemes for the structure of their services. Besides traditional client/server
models, distributed network based applications like the peer-to-peer structure of Skype are present
(Soares, Neves, & Rodrigues, 2008). Regarding mostly Internet telephony, there are theoretical
frameworks for the lawful interception of some types of these services (Milanovic et al., 2003;
Seedorf, 2008). However, the applicability of these solutions in real life is not clear at the moment.
Furthermore, as the privacy concerns of consumers increased in the Post-Snowden era (Rainie &
Madden, 2015), most VoIP companies have eagerly advertised additional security features such as
encryption and peer-to-peer structure. It is likely that such extra security measures would disrupt the
working of the proposed/further lawful interception schemes. These technical diversities and
complexities make it impossible to apply a onesize- fits-all lawful interception regime for all types of
VoIP technologies.
Undercover agents can also be used for identifying potential offenders and victims before the
offense takes place (Mitchell, Wolak, & Finkelhor, 2005). At the beginning of the internet age, there
were limited online environments where offenders and victims may meet. However, attack surfaces
of website forums and public chat rooms have expanded with the inclusion of new meeting grounds
such as social networking sites, online gaming sites and mobile dating applications. Even though the
traditional online environments are still preferred by abusers, the constant expansion of attack
surface to children remains challenging (Livingstone & Smith, 2014). Furthermore, internet users and
time having spent online have multiplied while the resources of LEAs haven’t kept up with this
unprecedented increase. For every potential offender, an undercover agent should be assigned. In
Sweetie experiment, TdH Netherlands dealt with more than 20000 potential offenders over ten
weeks and even they couldn’t handle all of them even though researchers only focused on a
particular online offense. Therefore, understandably, LEAs prioritize cases and allocate their limited
resources of undercover capabilities to high profile investigations like the takeover of Darknet
websites (Cox, 2016). Limited human resources dedicated to fight against online child sexual abuse
compel them to do such an unfortunate but inevitable preference. In conclusion, LEAs have the legal
authority to fight WCP with undercover operations, yet they completely lack the requisite resources
for a meaningful victory.
In addition to these general restrictions, as a specific requirement for the success of undercover
WCP operations, the victim must show his/her face to the offender so as to convince that he/she is
real. According to the report of TdH Netherlands, as soon as offenders see Sweetie’s face, they are
more willing to expose their real life identity in a short notice (Terre des Hommes Netherlands,
2013b). However, in online grooming and child pornography cases, undercover law enforcement
agents either persuade the targets with childlike written statements or send him/her controlled child
abuse images to persuade he/she is a real child or an abuser (Vendius, 2015). Unless LEAs employ
real children for undercover operations, an ethically and legally unacceptable method, they would
not convince potential offenders in most cases. Therefore, traditional manipulative methods of sting
operations are also bound to be useless for the detection of WCP.
Futuristic Methods of Detection
1. Fully automated chatbots
LEAs should create new crime prevention strategies which rely on emerging technologies as
criminals have always used such developments for their malicious activities. In this vein, Sweetie
experiment of TdH Netherlands is a remarkable example of how this simple principle can be applied
in the fight against WCP. Unfortunately, current Sweetie doesn’t remove traditional obstacles for
effective and cost-friendly undercover operations. The reliance of the researcher/police officer being
present for every potential offender makes it unmanageable to conduct an extensive swoop. If every
human behind Sweetie is replaced by artificial intelligence, this groundbreaking method would be
more effective in terms of creating high productivity from scarce resources.
As stated earlier, most offenders lose their control when they see the 3D modelled face of a child.
The image of Sweetie is so powerful and convincing for them, past suspicions about the identity of a
child give their place to sexual fantasies about further interactions. This cognitively distorted and
sexually aroused situation of potential offenders makes them more vulnerable to be deceived. This
was the main reason why the majority of the offenders almost instantly gave personally identifiable
information about themselves during Sweetie operation. Exploiting this vulnerability in a big scale
can only be made by developing an automated chatbot in which human intervention is minimized.
(Angga et al., 2015) discussed the possibility of a fully automated chatbot which combines several
different technologies. The proposed chatbot would take speech recognition to take input from the
user and then proceed it to chatbot API to receive the chatbot reply in a text form. The reply will be
processed to text-to-speech recognition and created a spoken, audio version of the reply. Lastly, the
computer will render an avatar whose gesture and lips are sync with the audio reply. This is not the
only way of creating a chatbot for the purpose of the detection of WCP. As will be explained
thoroughly later, TdH Netherlands developed the Sweetie 2.0 as a hybrid – not fully automated model of chatbot. In the future, hopefully, as new technological innovations and proof of concepts
arise, there might be several different Sweeties until one rules them all or all work together fine.
Furthermore, there are some particular aspects which make it easier to create such chatbots for this
purpose. Firstly, convincing the people that the bot is a real human has always been a challenge.
However, due to the disturbed psychological situation of potential offenders, they would have a
tendency to accept the grammatical mistakes of a chatbot as the normal communication troubles
between an adult and a 10-year-old Asian child. In a similar vein, the video quality of chats might
also be knowingly manipulated to hide the visual flaws of a computer-generated character. Since the
victims are generally poor and less educated, it would be convincing to make additional excuses for
such deliberate interruptions such as “I am using my neighbor’s internet”, “I am downloading a
movie” or “I think I have virus”. Secondly, since Sweeties would pose as a 10-year-old Filipino girl
who uses a basic and mostly broken English, construction of a chatbot knowledge would be a
relatively easier job compared to other types of chatbots (Jia, 2004; Huang, Zhou, & Yang, 2007). As
an actual example, records of previous Sweetie operation were successfully used in the construction
of the knowledge (Hans Guijt, personal communication, 17 January, 2017). For these reasons, fully
automated chatbots would be a feasible and an effective way for dealing with thousands of potential
offenders simultaneously.
Recently, the legal requirements and implications of a fully automated Sweetie 2.0 are extensively
discussed (Schermer et al., 2016). There are several legal aspects of the subject matter which the
full coverage exceeds the scope and purpose of this article. Therefore, the author focused on the
most important legal aspects of fully automated chatbots: entrapment and the legal conditions of the
undercover agents. The algorithm behind the fully automated chatbots can be developed in a way
that the entrapment defense could be nullified for them. A cold and patient artificial intelligence might
avoid the possibility of entrapmen …
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