FTC To Consider New Restrictions On Collecting Data
From Children

Typing technique 'could trap paedophiles'

Researchers believe technology could be used to determine a computer typist's age, sex and culture within 10 keystrokes by monitoring their speed and rhythm.

The murder of Ashleigh Hall, a teenager from Darlington, last year by a predator she met on Facebook has raised fresh calls for extra security to protect young people on the internet.

Mr Butler, who heads Newcastle University's Cybercrime and Computer Security department, said: ''Roy's research has the potential to be a fantastic tool to aid intelligence gathering for crime fighting agencies, in particular serious and organised crime and for those tracking down paedophiles.

''If children are talking to each other on Windows Live or MSN Messenger, we are looking at ways of providing the chat room moderators with the technology to be able to see whether an adult is on there by the way they type.''

Cops probe Craigslist ad offering four-year-old
"Gavin" for $5000

Though it reads like a hoax, Washington cops are investigating a Craigslist ad that recently offered a four-year-old boy for sale, according to court documents filed this week.

The Spokane County Sheriff's Office learned of the online classified after it was spotted late last month by witness Amy Rice, who told a detective that the ad was headlined, "4 Year old boy - $5000 (Spokane)," according to the below March 15 search warrant affidavit.

In response to the warrant, Craigslist has provided investigators with information about the posting of the ad, which offered the sale of a child named "Gavin," who is described as "a great kid" who "always has a smile on his face." The ad, which included a photo of a young boy, was purportedly placed by the child's father,

London hospital to treat Internet-addicted teens

Teenagers who cannot tear themselves away from the Internet, computer games or their mobile phone can get help from a new addiction service, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

A private London hospital has launched Britain's first dedicated technology addiction service for what it dubbed "screenagers", after parents complained their children were flying into a rage when told to turn off their computer.

Help will be offered through intensive in-patient, day care or group therapy to children as young as 12, although it is aimed at 15 to 17-year-olds, amid increasing concern about the amount of time they spend in front of a screen.

"I've been contacted by parents who see their children going into a rage when they're told to turn off their computer," Richard Graham, lead consultant at Capio Nightingale Hospital, told the London Evening Standard.

"Some end up having to call the police."

Court Slaps Prosecutor Who Threatened Child-Porn
Charges Over ‘Sexting’

Pennsylvania appellate court upheld a preliminary injunction on Wednesday barring local prosecutors from filing felony child-porn charges against a teenage girl who took a partially nude photo of herself with her cellphone.

The court said prosecutors were using the threat of charges as retaliation against the teen for exercising her constitutional right to refuse a voluntary reeducation program favored by the district attorney. The court also determined it was likely the girl and her parents will succeed in a civil rights lawsuit they’ve filed against the district attorney’s office.

Last year, District Attorney George P. Skumanick, Jr., threatened to charge three teenage girls with felony child-porn violations over digital photos they took of themselves.