The Internet and Illegal Activity

THE INTERNET AND ILLEGAL ACTIVITY

Since the advent of the World Wide Web in the early 1990's, numerous problems have arose pertaining to illegal activity on the Internet. Exactly how these problems began is simple to explain-whenever a new type of media becomes popular with the general public, unscrupulous individuals discover ways to manipulate and exploit to their advantage (usually financially) the information that is placed on the Internet in the form of personal data, such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, bank accounts and medical records. For example, with the explosion of chat rooms, blogging and websites like YouTube and Craig's List, pedophiles have been able to access email addresses in order to conduct live chats and discussions with underage boys and girls for the express purpose of meeting them in private for sex. Also, criminals have managed to gain access to bank accounts, credit card numbers and other personal data in order to steal funds for personal use. Spamming is also a big problem, especially when criminals gain access to private email addresses and send fraudulent promises based on financial freedom or a high-paying job with the intent to defraud people of their money and assets. Obviously, this type of theft works relatively well, for there has been a large increase in the number of people ripped off by scam artists within the last five years. The solutions for these and other illegal activities on the Internet is extremely complicated, due to the number of criminals lurking on the Internet and their ability to disguise their true identities and motives. One solution would be to utilize some type of "Internet police" who would monitor certain websites for suspicious illegal activity, especially related to sexual predators and child molesters. A more radical approach would involve shutting down websites that cater to illegal activity and making sure that they do not return to an online status. The best solution is to locate those persons who conduct illegal activities on the web and put them in jail for long periods, thus assuring that they do not repeat their illegal activities.