[2018-03-27] Child Porn On Bitcoin? Why This Doesn't Mean What You Think

[data_teks]

"Would you stop running your full node if you found out that there was child porn encoded in the blockchain?"

The question, posed by ethereum developer Vlad Zamfir through a Twitter poll last week, has been discussed before, but it's recently resurfaced after a widely-publicized report from AWTH Aachen University found one graphic image of child porn and 274 links to content depicting child abuse stored within the bitcoin blockchain.

The report goes on to contend that because downloading or transmitting child porn is a sex crime, participating in bitcoin as a miner or node operator could be illegal.

https://www.coindesk.com/child-porn-bitcoin-blockchain-what-it-means/

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[Notcalculator]

It's really sad and very disheartening, but it cant be justified to not use bitcoin because of this. The same evil can be traced to fiat. 90% of US bills carry signs of cocaine (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/14/cocaine.traces.money/) But that doesnt mean we need to stop using usd. The truth is there are lots of creeps in this world, and we cant stop them by stopping bitcoin. bitcoin isnt the root of the problem.

[Qartersa]

"Would you stop running your full node if you found out that there was child porn encoded in the blockchain?"

The question, posed by ethereum developer Vlad Zamfir through a Twitter poll last week, has been discussed before, but it's recently resurfaced after a widely-publicized report from AWTH Aachen University found one graphic image of child porn and 274 links to content depicting child abuse stored within the bitcoin blockchain.

The report goes on to contend that because downloading or transmitting child porn is a sex crime, participating in bitcoin as a miner or node operator could be illegal.

https://www.coindesk.com/child-porn-bitcoin-blockchain-what-it-means/

I think this is a big factor why Bitcoin will be seriously dealt with not only by governments but also by the conservatives, activists, among others. Of course some cannot take it even if they earn well in this business, and we cannot blame them. But one thing I notice is that they singled out Bitcoin once more. Why can't they refer to ICOs instead of Bitcoin alone where child pornography can happen as well? It is just obvious that they are up to something because they only target the strongest link. Had they been impartial, they could have been general about it. This is yet another tactic to pull Bitcoin down.

[richardsNY]

It's disgusting to the absolute core, but these cases shouldn't prevent people from running a full node, because that means those who are responsible for this disgusting practice will get what they want, and that should never happen. It could very well be that this is done by a government in the end, because if there is one entity looking at Bitcoin as a potential threat, while it really shouldn't be, then it's them. Funny thing is that while the media is focusing on this matter, they should know how much disgusting content is stored in datacenters, on Google's and Facebook's servers. As long as the content isn't directly visible, and requires to be 'decoded', no one should even bother getting afraid.

[Gotottack]

I will not stop doing Bitcoin even if there exists child pornography because the usage of Bitcoin is not tantamount to supporting or doing the aforesaid crime. Just like in traditional fiat currency, we all know it IS being used for the longest time to proliferate illegal causes yet the usage of such does not automatically correlate to doing what is prohibited by laws. You see, those two -- the usage of the object and the support for the same object -- does not compose a direct relationship of cause and effect. These two variables are independent of each other. Hence, why should we even stop Bitcoin if there are a few who makes money through it that is wrongful and malicious?

[BitHodler]

Important difference here is that the blockchain doesn't contain any image format, which means that no one is doing anything wrong. You are committing a crime when you take the necessary steps to actually SEE it.

99.9% of the people wouldn't even be able to actually locate the block data. Where do you think sickfucks store their graphic pics and vids, of course, somewhere on the internet, should we now shut down the entire internet?

People should grow a thicker skin and accept that you CAN'T prevent these things from happening. If it was an actual image, things would be different, but we're talking about hash data, damn.........

Only sickfucks knowing where to find this data and have the actual tools for it will get access to it.

[orions.belt19]

Important difference here is that the blockchain doesn't contain any image format, which means that no one is doing anything wrong. You are committing a crime when you take the necessary steps to actually SEE it.

99.9% of the people wouldn't even be able to actually locate the block data. Where do you think sickfucks store their graphic pics and vids, of course, somewhere on the internet, should we now shut down the entire internet?

Exactly. It's a fallacy to think that using bitcoin would mean that you support child pornography and you shouldn't run a full node or bitcoin mining operations should be stopped.  With this kind of logic, then we should stop using fiat as well because illegal activities are being done and transacted with the use of it. It can't be helped for there to be sometimes a dark side to things because they get abused by the wrong people who have bad intentions.

[1Referee]

Only sickfucks knowing where to find this data and have the actual tools for it will get access to it.

Correct. It's all about intent. On top of that, there was also a debate going on about the high number of links, which once again shows how stupid people are. If the links are pointing to main-net sites, they can and should be taken down by authorities. If the links are pointing to deep-net sites, they can't be accessed by average people. In other words, people already don't have access to these links, but in order to gain that access, you also need TOR. In that specific case, low life animals won't even need these links to look at what they want to see, because there is plenty of that easily accessible there already. This once again shows how much of a desperate attempt this is to damage Bitcoin, but it won't work.

Keep in mind that this is only the beginning. When Bitcoin's blockchain enjoys a wider form of usage in the forthcoming years, people will be able to store different types of data on the blockchain much easier, and thus also this low life shit. It's the job of the authorities to track these fuckers down and to let them rot in jail for ever, and not blame the tool that is free and open to use.

[Zicadis]

Sometimes we get to be biased towards these digital currencies because we expect them to solve such problems when real crypto supporters don't use them for such but lets face the facts child porn has been there even before bitcoin and these are not what bitcoin was developed to solve!!

Afaik Bitcoin was developed to simply give people financial freedom which is eliminating middlemen, low cost transactions and the alike, simple as that no where in the whitepaper will you find btc fighting child porn but its a pitty that these things happen right under our noses but maybe bitcoin could in the future be used to get these guys as it leaves a money trail if one is careless, so bitcoin isn't the villain after all.