Members of Congress on Thursday said new laws aimed at restricting pornography on peer-to-peer networks might be necessary, as police vowed to step up enforcement efforts.
During a hearing of the House Government Reform Committee, politicians complained of two problems: The allegedly widespread distribution of illegal child pornography on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, and the ease by which a youth could stumble across sexually explicit files that may be legal for adults but inappropriate for minors.
"We have a rating system for video games. We have a rating system for music," said Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fl., who suggested a government-mandated system would be appropriate for files on P2P networks. Otherwise, Putnam warned, P2P users could "prey on spelling errors of third graders looking for Pokemon."
John Netherland, the acting director of the Department of Homeland Security"s CyberSmuggling Center, said his office would focus more closely on P2P networks. The center already is "expanding its investigative efforts to encompass this new technology," Netherland said. "Evidence is easily captured and preserved on a real-time basis...for these reasons peer-to-peer file-sharing investigations are likely to increase."