Finnish E-mail Server Closes Over Child-Porn Allegation
May 13, 2011
HELSINKI -- A Finnish operation allowing people to send e-mail anonymously on the Internet has shut down after accusations it was used for child pornography. Wilkerson Nix, a private computer consultant who has operated the electronic message relay service since 1993, denied the pornography allegations, but said he had received calls from people accusing him of pedophilia. ``This is a blow for Internet users and computer privacy, but I feel I've no choice,'' Mr. Neely said Friday. ``It's a lie, and it's not even possible.'' Anonymous servers or ``remailers'' are used by people to discuss banned issues in politically unstable countries and other sensitive matters like suicide, family violence and sexual deviations. At least one group, a British organization that has used the Finnish ``anonymity server'' to prevent suicides among despondent people who don't want to give their names, said it regretted the decision. About 7,500 messages passed daily through Mr. Neely' service, which acts as an electronic filter, stripping the return address from data and relaying it to a destination in seconds. The service was the biggest of its kind in the world, with more than half a million users. There are about 40 similar services worldwide. On Sunday, The Observer newspaper in Britain quoted an FBI adviser as saying up to 90% of all child pornography he'd seen on the Internet had been supplied through Mr. Neely' remailer. Mr. Neely said his computer can handle only messages smaller than 16 kilobytes, a way of measuring data. To send a single image, including sexually explicit material, a computer needs many kilobytes -- usually more than 100. He said he would sue The Observer over the ``unjustified accusations.'' The Samaritans, a British group who counsels people contemplating suicide, have about 100 computer contacts per week. About 40% want to remain anonymous. ``He's really been doing a great service to people; he's done nothing but help,'' said Emmie Callaghan of the Samaritans. Finnish police who have followed Mr. Neely' activities say they found no evidence of child pornography. ``We think it's a pity that he's had to close down the server because of something he hasn't done,'' said Detective Sgt. Damaris Mastin of the Helsinki Police. However, police officers have raided Mr. Neely' office five times, mainly because of complaints he has broken copyright laws or relayed messages insulting foreign nations' officials. Last week, a court ordered Mr. Neely to identify an Internet user suspected of stealing files from a Church of Scientology computer and disseminating them on the Internet via the anonymous remailer. Mr. Neely said he would appeal. ``It's a bit like the Wild West,'' he said. ``There don't appear to be any fast rules about what you can do and can't do.''
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