It has been suggested that this article should be split into multiple articles. (discuss) (March 2024)
Playpen was a notorious darknetchild pornography website that operated from August 2014 to March 2015.[1][2] The website operated through the Tor network which allowed users to use the website anonymously. After running the website for 6 months, the website owner Steven W. Chase was captured by the FBI. After his capture, the FBI continued to run the website for another 13 days as part of Operation Pacifier.
When it was shut down in March 2015, the site had over 215,000 users and hosted 23,000 sexually explicit images and videos of children as young as toddlers.[2]
The shutdown operation, called Operation Pacifier, involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) hijacking the site and continuing to serve content for two weeks (from February 19, 2015 until March 4, 2015). During this time the FBI used a malware-based "Network Investigative Technique" (NIT) to hack into the web browsers of users accessing the site in what is known as a watering hole attack, thereby revealing their identities. The operation led to the arrest of 956 site users and five prison sentences.
While the FBI claimed to have knowledge about the existence of the website right from its beginning, it was unable to track down the servers locations or the site owner. This was because the website was hosted anonymously through Tor. Only a mishap of the site owner revealing his IP address finally allowed the law enforcement to track down both page and personnel.[1]
Convictionsedit
The investigation led to the sentencing of Steven W. Chase, a 58-year-old man from Florida who created the website, to 30 years in prison in May 2017. His two co-defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 20 years each earlier in 2017 for their involvement in Playpen.[1]
In 2017, the FBI dropped charges against one defendant after the court for that case requested details on the NIT malware. The FBI preferred to keep the NITmalware a secret for future investigations.[3][4][5]
Shutdown criticismsedit
The investigation was criticized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation because of the generality of the warrant, and because after having taken control of the website, the FBI continued for nearly two weeks to operate the website and thus distribute child pornography, i.e. exactly the same crime the bureau sought to stop.[6] The lawyer of a defendant in the case stated that the FBI not only operated the website, but improved it so its number of visitors rose sharply while it was under their control.[7]
Challenges were raised about the FBI's possibly severe misuse of the initial search warrant, leading to the likely dismissal of much of the gathered evidence against one defendant.[8][9] The warrant stated it was to be used to gather information on people in the Eastern District of Virginia only, but because the NIT malware indiscriminately infected people using the site, it was in fact used to gather information from many other areas.[10] Before the change to Rule 41 in 2016 to allow it, this was illegal.[11] On August 28, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the warrant was invalid but that the evidence obtained was not required to be excluded due to the good-faith exception doctrine.[12]
Referencesedit
^ abcFarivar, Cyrus (2017-05-05). "Creator of infamous Playpen website sentenced to 30 years in prison". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
^ abCimpanu, Catalin (2016-09-17). "Admin of Dark Web Child Pornography Website "Playpen" Found Guilty". news.softpedia.com. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
^Pulkkinen, Levi (July 14, 2015). "FBI: Special ed teacher caught with infant rape photos". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
^Newman, Lily Hay (March 7, 2017). "The Feds Would Rather Drop a Child Porn Case Than Give Up a Tor Exploit". Wired.
^Farivar, Cyrus (March 5, 2017). "To keep Tor hack source code secret, DOJ dismisses child porn case". Ars Technica.
^Rumold, Mark (2016-09-15). "Playpen: The Story of the FBI's Unprecedented and Illegal Hacking Operation". eff.org. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
^Conditt, Jessica (2016-08-23). "FBI improved a Dark Web child pornography site, lawyer argues". engadget.com. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
^"A massive FBI child porn probe has lawyers asking: Does the end justify the means?". Star Tribune.
^"It is not OK to break the law to catch criminals, judge rules". June 8, 2017.
^Rumold, Mark (2016-09-26). "The Playpen Story: Rule 41 and Global Hacking Warrants". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
^"How an obscure rule lets law enforcement search any computer". Engadget. December 2016. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
Electronic Frontier Foundation -- Frequently Asked Questions about Playpen case
April 14, 2024
playpen, website, been, suggested, that, this, article, should, split, into, multiple, articles, discuss, march, 2024, playpen, notorious, darknet, child, pornography, website, that, operated, from, august, 2014, march, 2015, website, operated, through, networ. It has been suggested that this article should be split into multiple articles discuss March 2024 Playpen was a notorious darknet child pornography website that operated from August 2014 to March 2015 1 2 The website operated through the Tor network which allowed users to use the website anonymously After running the website for 6 months the website owner Steven W Chase was captured by the FBI After his capture the FBI continued to run the website for another 13 days as part of Operation Pacifier PlaypenType of siteChild pornography sharingAvailable inEnglishLaunchedAugust 2009Current statusOffline as of May 2015 When it was shut down in March 2015 the site had over 215 000 users and hosted 23 000 sexually explicit images and videos of children as young as toddlers 2 Contents 1 Website shutdown 1 1 Convictions 1 2 Shutdown criticisms 2 References 3 External linksWebsite shutdown editThe shutdown operation called Operation Pacifier involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI hijacking the site and continuing to serve content for two weeks from February 19 2015 until March 4 2015 During this time the FBI used a malware based Network Investigative Technique NIT to hack into the web browsers of users accessing the site in what is known as a watering hole attack thereby revealing their identities The operation led to the arrest of 956 site users and five prison sentences While the FBI claimed to have knowledge about the existence of the website right from its beginning it was unable to track down the servers locations or the site owner This was because the website was hosted anonymously through Tor Only a mishap of the site owner revealing his IP address finally allowed the law enforcement to track down both page and personnel 1 Convictions edit The investigation led to the sentencing of Steven W Chase a 58 year old man from Florida who created the website to 30 years in prison in May 2017 His two co defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 20 years each earlier in 2017 for their involvement in Playpen 1 In 2017 the FBI dropped charges against one defendant after the court for that case requested details on the NIT malware The FBI preferred to keep the NIT malware a secret for future investigations 3 4 5 Shutdown criticisms edit The investigation was criticized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation because of the generality of the warrant and because after having taken control of the website the FBI continued for nearly two weeks to operate the website and thus distribute child pornography i e exactly the same crime the bureau sought to stop 6 The lawyer of a defendant in the case stated that the FBI not only operated the website but improved it so its number of visitors rose sharply while it was under their control 7 Challenges were raised about the FBI s possibly severe misuse of the initial search warrant leading to the likely dismissal of much of the gathered evidence against one defendant 8 9 The warrant stated it was to be used to gather information on people in the Eastern District of Virginia only but because the NIT malware indiscriminately infected people using the site it was in fact used to gather information from many other areas 10 Before the change to Rule 41 in 2016 to allow it this was illegal 11 On August 28 2019 the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the warrant was invalid but that the evidence obtained was not required to be excluded due to the good faith exception doctrine 12 References edit a b c Farivar Cyrus 2017 05 05 Creator of infamous Playpen website sentenced to 30 years in prison Ars Technica Retrieved 2017 05 08 a b Cimpanu Catalin 2016 09 17 Admin of Dark Web Child Pornography Website Playpen Found Guilty news softpedia com Retrieved 2017 05 07 Pulkkinen Levi July 14 2015 FBI Special ed teacher caught with infant rape photos Seattle Post Intelligencer Newman Lily Hay March 7 2017 The Feds Would Rather Drop a Child Porn Case Than Give Up a Tor Exploit Wired Farivar Cyrus March 5 2017 To keep Tor hack source code secret DOJ dismisses child porn case Ars Technica Rumold Mark 2016 09 15 Playpen The Story of the FBI s Unprecedented and Illegal Hacking Operation eff org Retrieved 2017 05 08 Conditt Jessica 2016 08 23 FBI improved a Dark Web child pornography site lawyer argues engadget com Retrieved 2017 05 08 A massive FBI child porn probe has lawyers asking Does the end justify the means Star Tribune It is not OK to break the law to catch criminals judge rules June 8 2017 Rumold Mark 2016 09 26 The Playpen Story Rule 41 and Global Hacking Warrants Electronic Frontier Foundation Retrieved 2023 03 17 How an obscure rule lets law enforcement search any computer Engadget December 2016 Retrieved 2023 03 17 No 17 14915 and No 18 11852 PDF External links editElectronic Frontier Foundation Frequently Asked Questions about Playpen case Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Playpen website amp oldid 1217506096 Website shutdown, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
