Testimony
of
Barry F. Crimmins


Hearing on
Child Pornography
on the Internet

24 July 1995


Senate Judiciary Committee
104th United States Congress
Table of Contents


I. Summary of Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3 
II. Testimony of Barry F. Crimmins . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 
III. Attachments
A. America Online (AOL) Room Chart. . . . . . . . . . . . .  8 
B. Correspondence Between Barry Crimmins and AOL. . . . . .  9 
C. Questions from Barry Crimmins to AOL . . . . . . . . . .  14 
D. AOL's Response to Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16 
E. Member Room Titles Found on AOL. . . . . . . . . . . . .  18 


Summary of Testimony Barry F. Crimmins

There is a major crime wave taking place on America's computers. The 
proliferation of child pornography trafficking has created an anonymous 
"Pedophile Superstore." As a result, the de facto decriminalization of 
child pornography is taking place. The demand for child pornography is 
also a demand for innocent children to be abused. Child pornography is 
not protected speech. It is crime evidence. The on-line service "America 
OnLine" (AOL) has become an integral link in a network of child 
pornography traffickers. It cannot claim that it is not aware of this. 
If AOL just put a percentage of the effort it makes to spin-doctor away 
its culpability for these problems into solving them, inexpensive and 
effective solutions could be found. AOL has been unresponsive and 
arrogant when approached in a good-faith effort to solve these problems. 
This testimony is the result of over six months of research. It 
documents something the American people need to know: not only are their 
children unsafe on America Online, their children are unsafe because of 
it. 

Testimony Before the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Child 
Pornography on the Internet

24 July, 1995

Barry F. Crimmins

Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee: Thank you for this opportunity 
to use my first amendment right to speak out today about some very 
dangerous criminal activity that is proliferating unabated via computer 
throughout our nation. My name is Barry Crimmins. I am a writer and a 
children's rights and safety activist residing in Ohio. I am also an 
adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Since this is a public 
hearing, I hasten to add that my abuse was not perpetrated by a member 
of my family. 

Last September, I purchased a new computer with a modem in order to 
communicate "on-line." I joined the service America OnLine (AOL) because 
I wanted to be able to quickly access and computerize information that 
was of interest to me.

Among the services available on AOL is something called the "People 
Connection." People Connection is a three-tiered structure. The first 
two tiers or areas are accessible to anyone using the service unless the 
parental control software is utilized to limit a child's access. These 
tiers are the "public" or AOL-sponsored rooms and the "member" rooms 
created by the users of the service. A room is a place where someone who 
has signed-on can meet and interact live with others by exchanging typed 
messages that appear in a large window or screen that everyone else in 
the room can read and respond to. These rooms are listed on a scroll and 
a user may browse the list, select a room to enter, and join a 
discussion or debate with other members. The third tier consists of 
private rooms. These are not publicly listed and are often used to 
rendezvous with other members without providing the rest of AOL's 
members access to the private electronic gathering. For several months, 
I did not discover the member rooms until I was informed that there was 
a regular meeting of Abuse Survivors in this area.

Before I could find the Abuse Survivors' room on the member scroll, I 
came upon numerous atrocious rooms. Many were obviously created by, and 
for, pedophiles. There were rooms promoting rape, incest, the exchange 
of child pornography, hate crimes, and every possible, and in some cases 
impossible, sexual activity. If one could imagine it, it was there. The 
first time I found the Abuse Survivors' room, it was located between a 
room called "DadsNDaughtrs" and another entitled "lilboypix." 

I discovered that people enter these rooms and mainly communicate by 
"Instant (or private) Message" with other people who are in the room 
(there is a constantly updated roster of who is in the room available at 
the push of a button). It is in these private messages that most of the 
trading of graphic image files or "GIFs" (Computerized transmittable 
photographs) is negotiated. It is, however, not unusual for people to 
just send unsolicited GIFs to everyone in the room on the "good faith" 
that they will have similar files returned to them. The rooms that I 
have investigated have been almost exclusively child pornography 
exchanges, but I have followed some of the traders of such material into 
adult porn rooms where they continued to solicit and exchange child 
pornography. When AOL closes one of the particularly egregious rooms, 
they often suggest that the participants re-create the room as a 
"private room." This, for all intents and purposes, says "you may 
continue to conduct your illegal activity on our service, just do it in 
private." 

My first response was to turn to the "service" and demand that they take 
immediate action to prohibit such activities. After several weeks of 
communicating my outrage to them, it became clear that for whatever 
reason, AOL was not going to do anything to remedy the situation. Since 
then, I have sought the assistance of various local, state, and federal 
authorities. As I write this, much of the investigative work I have done 
is in the hands of said authorities. I hope this will result in the 
arrests of numerous traffickers in child pornography. I also hope that 
it establishes that AOL has had a great deal of prior knowledge as to 
how its service is being misused, and therefore, AOL facilitates and 
profiteers on these dastardly crimes. It is not hyperbolic to state that 
AOL is the key link in a network of child pornography traffickers that 
has grown exponentially over the last several months.

Child pornography is easily accessed on AOL. Working both under my own 
name and undercover (often with a profile that clearly stated I was 12 
years old), I have been sent over a thousand pornographic photographs of 
children via AOL. I have seen every possible type of sexual degradation 
of children, from toddlers to teens. I have forwarded all of this 
material to both AOL and the proper authorities. AOL does not suggest 
that such files be forwarded to anyone but its Terms of Service 
department (which may, in and of itself, be a crime). If AOL has not 
sent every single file of child pornography it has received to the 
authorities, then AOL has committed felonies. Because if this is the 
case, AOL is a receiver of child pornography. At one point a 
particularly sick individual sent me (in my guise as a 12-year-old) so 
much child pornography that it took eight and a half hours to download 
it. AOL did not even e-mail me back to acknowledge receipt of it. I 
wrote and asked for a credit to my account for the time it took me to 
gather this astonishing amount of crime evidence. AOL did not respond to 
this either. Ten weeks later this criminal was still on-line and 
actively exchanging child pornography in AOL's member rooms. 

Much of the controversy surrounding the problems of online pedophiles 
centers on "parental controls." This issue completely disregards a 
serious reality: in many cases the parents themselves are the 
perpetrators of these crimes. AOL constantly has rooms entitled "family 
fun," "Nudist families," "Incest is best," "Have hot stepdaughter," and 
so on. In these rooms, child pornography is exchanged, and incest is 
discussed and celebrated. Many of the photos that are exchanged are 
purportedly of people's own children. So, the myth that parents should 
be the sole entity that should protect children on-line, or anywhere 
else, is once again exploded.

This committee also is concerned with children being enabled to access 
pornography on-line. Children accessing pornography is most serious when 
it is used by pedophiles to arouse their curiosity. Once they gain the 
child's attention, he or she is much more vulnerable to exploitation by 
a pedophile. The worst possibility is that pedophiles will use the 
childrens' curiosity and vulnerability to gain physical access to them 
so that they might sexually and/or physically abuse these children. It 
is extremely probable that a number of missing children have disappeared 
because of such contacts. In my investigation, many pedophiles, 
believing that I was a 12-year-old, attempted to woo me in this fashion. 

But, of even more dire (quantitative) consequence is the easy access 
adults now have to child pornography. The development and growth of the 
Internet and on-line service providers has enabled exploiters of 
children to distribute child pornography to the masses. Computers and 
modems have created an anonymous "Pedophile Superstore." The law of 
supply and demand is kicking in. The increased demand for child 
pornography directly translates into an increased number of sexually 
abused children. You cannot have child pornography without abused 
children. People, who may have never acted on such impulses before, are 
emboldened when they see that there are so many other individuals who 
have similar interests. What has recently taken place is nothing short 
of the de facto decriminalization of child pornography. As a result, 
countless innocents are being abused and having their lives destroyed. 
This is a full-scale emergency and if the well-being and safety of any 
group other than children were threatened, we would never hear the end 
of it. Nor, should we. Unfortunately, for the exact same reason that 
children are the victims of these crimes, children are not being heard. 
They are weak, economically powerless, and generally not taken 
seriously.

What is needed right now is funding to create a task force of computer 
and legal experts to enforce Zero Tolerance for Child Pornography. As 
early as 1983, use of computer networking for pedophiles was being 
advocated in the North American Man Boy Love Association Journal. The 
pedophiles have a huge head start. People need to see their neighbors 
(who have participated in these criminal acts) taken away, jailed, and 
stigmatized as "perverts." If this is done in a public, no-nonsense 
manner, it should seriously reverse the crisis that is destroying 
countless innocent children.

This crackdown must also include serious punitive measures against 
companies like AOL. The profit must be removed from "looking the other 
way." If AOL put a fraction of the effort into dealing with this problem 
that they put into spin doctoring their culpability, things would 
improve rapidly. Kids cannot hire lobbyists and publicists with the 
profits derived from their exploitation to influence you. It galls me to 
think that I have paid AOL more than enough money to pay for the 
appearance of their attorney here today.

In the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's excellent 
report: "Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis," the gravity of 
trafficking child pornography is addressed when the author aptly 
summates, "Any individual, however, who collects or distributes child 
pornography actually perpetuates the sexual abuse or exploitation of the 
child portrayed. It is no different than the circulation of sexually 
explicit pictures taken by a rapist of his victim during the rape. Such 
collectors of child pornography are, in essence, child molesters." This 
report is a must- read for all interested in this problem and is an 
accurate checklist of the types of perpetrators I have encountered on 
AOL. 

I have met encounter many child pornography traffickers on AOL who were 
touting their first amendment right to possess and exchange whatever 
material they care to. These people are deluding themselves if they 
think child pornography is protected speech. It is not. It is crime 
evidence. 

Response to AOL's Corporate Alibis

AOL has consistently claimed that most of th ese problems are occurring 
in private e-mails. And therefore they are helpless to do anything about 
it, without violating the rights of all members. The actual transfer of 
illegal materials takes place via e-mail, but the genesis of these 
transactions is easily traced to publicly accessible member rooms. 
Without these rooms, the perpetrators of these crimes would be unable to 
network with other faceless criminals. AOL maintains that it could never 
police the problem, but it would be simple and relatively inexpensive to 
have all member- created rooms cleared by properly trained staffers. 
Under AOL's present system, only easily fooled software stands between a 
pedophile and the creation of an egregious room. A slight misspelling 
and the most brazen of rooms is on-line and in business.

AOL frequently claims that there are minimal problems on its service 
because all members are required to understand and conform to its Terms 
of Service (TOS). I doubt that these compli-cated rules are read or 
understood by members. Terms of Service contains strict guidelines for 
on- line conduct. For example, profanity, harassment, and the exchange 
of illegal files are all TOS violations. If AOL enforced these rules, 
their service would be a much safer and genuinely "family friendly" 
place. But since these rules are not enforced, AOL is an unsafe place 
for many people.

AOL maintains that only a small percentage of its members are involved 
in illegal activities. This is probably true. However, it would be 
interesting to determine what percentage of its income is derived from 
such persons. It takes a lot of time to up and download Graphic Image 
Files (GIFs). This results in very high AOL bills for the traders of 
such files. Time and again, AOL has told me that as soon as they close 
one room, another opens. Exactly. Under the current system there is 
always somewhere for child pornography traffickers and pedophiles to go. 
This problem would be easily solved with the use of live staff members 
to approve or disap-prove of rooms. But this, of course, would mean 
there would no longer always be another egregious room opening. The 
expense of hiring a few more staffers would be a pittance to such a 
going concern (AOL added 500,000 customers between Christmas 1994 and 
early March of 1995). Additional staffing would be a minimal expense, 
unless AOL is including in its cost the loss of a "small percentage of 
customers" who just happen to have inordinately high monthly bills. 

America Online is a publicly owned business. There are stockholders to 
whom the management is accountable. If I were one of those stockholders, 
I would seriously question the vision and judgment of those currently in 
power. They are conducting business in a very questionable fashion. They 
have a thriving and dynamic company with unlimited potential to be a 
valuable asset to the American people. Unfortunately, their current 
business practices do not indicate that the company's future is 
necessarily rosy. The customer is not always right at AOL, as a matter 
of fact, the customer is generally ignored or dismissed with an 
impenetrable bureaucracy and treated as if they are impertinent and a 
petty bother in the process. Time constraints preclude me from including 
much of the printed documentation of my correspondence with AOL in this 
oral testimony. But I have made copies of some of the more telling 
exchanges for distribution to the committee and the press. In particular 
I ask that you review the 17 questions in Attachment C. that I sent to 
AOL's media relations director Pam McGraw and the woefully inadequate 
response I received from her (Attachment D.). Also, I have included a 
list of several dozen of the rooms about which I have complained to AOL. 
Their very titles provide a brief, yet shocking, illumination of the 
depravity that is publicly exhibited on a daily basis on AOL's member 
room scroll. I would also be happy to make this material available to 
other on-line services, including the new Microsoft Net, as a template 
of what not to do. 

In closing, I am here to tell the American people that not only are 
their children unsafe on AOL, their children are unsafe because of it. 

Attachment

Correspondence Between Barry Crimmins and America Online 

2-2-95 To: the Tosadvisor,

Last week I forwarded child pornography to aol that was sent, 
unsolicited, to me through your service. After 7 days I received a 
response that told me that even though I was an offended party I had no 
right to be informed of the actions (if any) that were taken against the 
criminal who offended me. This is a completely unsatisfactory response. 

That aside, the problem I have with private rooms is not that I'm 
harassed in them. I never frequent these rooms except to follow obvious 
pedophiles into them. My problem is that aol has a policy of suggesting 
that offensive member rooms become private rooms when the tos advisor 
shuts them down. I have seen this happen (and have a record of this) 
when the suggestion was made in a room full of people exchanging child 
pornography. As far as I'm concerned, this announcement was a formal 
facilitation of child pornographers by aol. I have written and asked for 
a clarification and all you suggest is I hit the ignore button. Well 
ignoring child pornography does not stop its spread, nor does it relieve 
aol of its responsibilities when its service is being used as a "safe 
harbor" for such criminals.

It took one week to receive a completely unsatisfactory response from 
aol about these matters. I have tried to give aol a fair chance to take 
appropriate action or to even say, "Now that you bring that up, perhaps 
we need a more specific policy about ....", Instead all I received was a 
corporate suggestion to "ignore" pedophiles. Well I will not bury my 
head in the sand about this, nor will I be silent about my 
dissatisfaction with your service. Please let me know who I should 
address formal journalistic inquiries to at aol and kindly include a 
telephone number. Thank you. 

Very truly yours,
Barry F. Crimmins

1-29-95 To TOS Staff, I am a journalist as well as a children's rights 
and safety advocate. I have filed dozens of complaints w/aol about 
pedophile chat rooms. Lately, to your credit, there has been an improved 
vigilance by tos staff on these matters. However, I have been sent child 
pornography without solicitation (when I was just checking out child pic 
exchange), I forwarded it to aol and never had it acknowledged. 

Also I cannot complain severely enough about aol's practice of 
suggesting (when they shut down obvious pedophile rooms) that the 
occupants continue their endeavor in a private room. This results in the 
formal sanctioning by aol of "safe harbors" for pedophiles, child 
pornographers etc.

I hope that the piece I'm writing has a happy ending. I hope it is the 
story of how aol used some of its massive profits to assure itself and 
the world that the safety and innocence of children are your service's 
utmost priority. If this is the case please contact me as I think I can 
be of assistance.	Very truly yours,
Barry Crimmins

Date: Thu, Feb 2, 1995 3:50 PM EST
From: TOSAdvisor
Subj: Re: Terms Of Service
To: [Barry Crimmins]

Dear Member:

Thanks for reporting the adult graphics file you received. We'll look 
into it and take the appropriate action.

America Online takes the transfer of this material very seriously, and 
will cooperate with investigations by local, state or federal law 
enforcement agencies in order to curb this activity. 

For confidentiality reasons, we cannot disclose information on actions 
we've taken against other members, however, the resources available to 
us include written warnings and account termination. 

If the situation merits, we may bring charges against the senders. 

Actions within a private room do not fall under the jurisdiction of the 
Terms of Service. We strongly suggest that if you are being harassed by 
someone in a private room, you use the "ignore" button to block their 
dialogue from your screen.

Regards, Terms of Service Staff America Online, Inc. 



Date: Wed, Feb 8, 1995 5:26 PM EST
From: PHYPOLITE
Subj: Re: pic
To: [Barry Crimmins]

Dear Mr. Crimmons:

Thanks very much for forwarding this information to me. While policy 
does not allow me to relay the exact status of another member's account 
to you, please know that I have taken appropriate action against the 
sender. 

AOL has zero tolerance for any exploitation of children on our service, 
and I'm sure you are aware that we take very strong steps to respond to 
these activities, once they are brought to our attention. 

I have also taken the liberty of forwarding your email to our Corporate 
Communications Department, so that they are allowed the opportunity to 
address your concerns as they relate to media. 

Again, thank you for your interest in upholding AOL's community 
standards, and if you have any further questions or comments, please be 
sure to write again.

Best Regards Pete Hypolite Manager, Terms of Service America Online, 
Inc. 



Date: Fri, Feb 10, 1995 10:18 AM EST
From: PamMcGraw
Subj: Online experience
To: [Barry Crimmins]

Hi, I'm Pam McGraw, Director of Media Relations for AOL. The issue of 
child pornography was addressed in a January letter from Steve Case 
(keyword: letter). If you have any additional questions regarding child 
pornography on AOL, please contact me directly. Regards, Pam McGraw 

Date: Sun, Feb 12, 1995 4:27 AM EST From: [Barry Crimmins] Subj: Perp 
rooms To: PamMcGraw cc: PHYPOLITE, Steve Case, Spiker M 

(Note I couldn't even get system to accept this guide page- got "Your 
message could not be addressed. Try again later "I have for 40 minutes. 
Not one of these rooms has been removed in the interim.) 

Dear AOL Officials, There seems to be no improvement with these type of 
rooms, no matter how many complaints and reassurances. The guide pagers 
are not getting the job done. I in no way am questioning AOL's 
intentions but as these two scrolls of chat rooms 4 hours apart 
indicate, there is a serious problem that has yet to be resolved. 

The offending rooms at 4am 2-12-95 in the guide pager report that "could 
not be addressed": Incest, Child pornography, pedophilia, rape etc. 
Promoted in these rms (some were reported 4+hrs ago) - Vyung fmpics, 
Daddy, dadsn daughters, Hot4 auntie, Boy 4 Big Brother, Family fun, M4m 
Jr High only, personal teen pics, Ynggirl14mom, trading teen pics, Luv 
hairy boys m4m, Dad nds hot yngr f, under 15, Yngm iso daddy, iso yng 
girl, boys in undies pics, Rape fantasy, forcd fantasy forF, Daddys home 
lil girl. Thank you for prompt attn. cc/ P.Hypolite, P Mcgraw, S.Case 



Date: Sun, Feb 12, 1995 11:18 PM EST
From: [Barry Crimmins]
Subj: Aol pedophile policy
To: PamMcGraw

Dear Pam, Thank you for your letter. I have been on-line for dozens and 
dozens of hours researching on-line pedophiles. It is rare for there to 
be less than ten rooms that are serious problems. If I had to put a 
figure on it I would say the average number of offending chat rooms per 
scroll is at least 15. There have been times lately when there are only 
three or four of these rooms but there has never been 24 straight hours 
when the problem hasn't risen to previous levels.

Although it seems to me that some sincere efforts are being made by AOL, 
much more needs to be done. I am going to be writing and/or producing a 
story about this situation. I would prefer that it be the story of how 
AOL is truly setting standards not only as the best on-line service but 
the most conscientious. From the thoughtful notes I received from both 
you and Mr. Hypolite, I know that there are people in authority at AOL 
who are willing to make that happen.

I have many, many documents that verify what is going on in the chat 
rooms. I have been sent child pornography on six occasions. I also have 
a considerable amount of correspondence with AOL guides, advisors etc. 
that illustrate a rather naive approach to dealing with this problem. I 
would be glad to make portions of this material available to AOL in 
hopes that it would increase awareness about the problem of pedophiles 
on-line. I also have a number of suggestions that may be helpful as AOL 
revamps the procedure for closing these offensive rooms. 

I would like to speak to you about these matters as soon as possible. I 
can be reached at**********. I will also try to call you at AOL. Thank 
you for your time.

Very truly yours,
Barry F. Crimmins

Hypolite and Mcgraw read the ?s 2-15-95 @ 1 pm est- response pending 

This last email seems great until you receive it from three different 
guies in a 2 week period

Date: Tue, Feb 14, 1995 10:54 PM EST
From: Guide JAL
Subj: Re: Guide Pager
To:	[Barry Crimmins]

Thank you for the Guide Pager notice! Room names such as the one you are 
referring to are created by members. Room names are scanned on a regular 
basis, but rooms at one end of the list are frequently recreated by the 
time the other end of the Rooms list is reached. The TOS staff is 
currently in the process of revamping the procedure for closing such 
rooms so that this problem can be better handled. If you have any 
questions or comments regarding a specific room name, you can contact 
the Terms of Service staff via Keyword: TOS, or by selecting the Terms 
of Service option from PC Studio (either the PC Studio icon on chat 
screens, or Keyword: PC Studio).

Thank you for your understanding. :)

Guide JAL	Attachment C

Questions from Barry Crimmins to America Online 

Sent: 95-02-14

Dear Pam,

I in no way want to ambush anyone I speak to about this story (except of 
course pedophiles). So here are some of the questions I will be looking 
to have answered:

1- What is AOL's assessment of the problem of on-line pedophiles? 

2- In a letter from a Tos guide, I was informed that AOL is "revamping 
its procedure" for closing offensive rooms. If true, what does this 
procedure entail?

3- Has AOL brought in any consultants who are experts on pedophiles? If 
so, who?

4- Has AOL ever considered segregating "adult chat rooms"? (For example 
nobody with a profile that says they are a minor is permitted) 

5- Would AOL consider creating a different chat area for teens? 

6- Does AOL realize that if abuse survivors want to search for a chat 
room to discuss their lives with other survivors, they are often 
subjected to scrolling through any number of rooms that celebrate sexual 
abuse? 

7- Just recently AOL stopped suggesting that participants in offensive 
rooms, closed for TOS violations, consider just moving their gathering 
in a private room. Why and when was this policy changed? Why was it ever 
in place?

8- Is it possible for AOL to restrict access to certain areas to any 
account (not screen name but entire accounts) that has been used 
repeatedly to participate in obvious pedophile chat rooms? 

9- Would AOL consider giving a cyber-hub (if that's what you call it) to 
a consortium of pro-child non-profit organizations? 

10- Would AOL consider placing an Email address for the FBI on its 
service so that people, sent illegal files (child pornography in 
particular), could instantly transfer them to the federal authorities? 

11-How is the AOL on-line staff selected and trained? Are these people 
all paid employees?

12-Why doesn't AOL have the equivalent of broadcasting's "kill switch"? 
In other words as soon as someone creates a room it would have to get 
through AOL's "goalie". If it is in obvious violation of TOS it is 
closed before it opens.

13- How does AOL feel about its service being misused to the point where 
it has become an integral part in a network of child pornographers? 

14- In the past AOL has assured users that it could handle the 
burgeoning problem of on-line pedophiles "in-house". However the 
incidence of such criminal activity has grown dramatically in the past 
year. What changes in policy, implementation etc., has AOL adopted to 
transform current assurances into a workable and consistent program of 
enforcement of your services own TOS policies? 15- How many AOL staffers 
are currently assigned to policing member created rooms? How many worker 
hours per week does this entail? 

16- What is AOL's take on the Baker BBS Rape fantasy case in Michigan? 

17-Some legislators are already looking into on-line abuses. Does AOL 
expect the government to get involved in the regulation of on-line 
services?

I am certain that in the course of any interviews I conduct, several 
extemporaneous questions will also occur. I hope that this advance list 
will be considered as a show of good-faith on my part. I am also sending 
Mr. Hypolite a copy of this letter because I feel many of the questions 
are about matters that are under his jurisdiction. Thank you for your 
time. Very truly yours,

Barry F. Crimmins
Attachment D

America Online's Response to Questions Posed by Barry F. Crimmins 

Sent: 95-02-21 09:46:20 EST

Dear Barry,

Thanks for your letter pertaining to the problem of pedophiles online. I 
hope the following answers clearly indicate where America Online stands 
on this issue and what is being done to combat the trafficking of child 
pornography on the service. Throughout these answers we refer to TOS -- 
Terms of Service -- which are guidelines for using the AOL service. I 
trust you are aware of these and you can access TOS by using keyword: 
TOS.

1. AOL has been forthright about the issue both with its members and 
with law enforcement agencies (see Steve Case letter dated 1/695). 
Unfortunately, the gravity of such offenses can sometimes leave the 
mistaken impression that they are much more commonplace than is true. 
With more than 2 million subscribers - the largest online service in the 
U.S. - the number of pedophiles using America Online represents a tiny 
fraction of our member community. |

2. America Online is considering a number of tools to make the jobs of 
TOS and AOL Guides easier. However, at this point in time, it would be 
premature to discuss the details.

3. Child pornography is illegal. When the transmission of child 
pornography through private communications is brought to AOL's 
attention, once it is deemed illegal, the proper authorities are 
notified. 

4. America Online expects all members to follow its TOS guidelines. To 
segregate rooms based on behavior in those rooms would imply that AOL 
sanctions different rules and regulations for different rooms. AOL has 
one community and one set of rules for the members of that community. 

5. There is an area on AOL for teenagers called "Teen Chat" in the 
People Connection.

6. While we are aware that there are chat rooms that offend the 
sensibilities of some of our members, unless the rooms violate TOS we 
cannot remove them from the service. If the rooms, as you suggest, 
"celebrate sexual abuse," TOS should be notified and the offending rooms 
will be removed.

7. Rooms terminated for TOS violations are removed from the service. TOS 
may suggest members create private rooms in instances where participants 
are scrolling or otherwise creating a nuisance and disturbing other 
members.

8. If a member violates TOS, he or she may be warned or, depending on 
the severity of the infraction, be removed from the service. 

9. AOL has conducted a number of conversations with various non-profit 
organizations, some of them dealing with children's welfare. 

10. Members who receive illegal information through the service can 
forward that information to TOS and, if it is deemed illegal, the proper 
authorities are notified.

11. Members of the TOS staff are internal, paid employees who are 
trained in TOS rules and procedures. AOL Guides are remote volunteers 
who use overhead accounts. They are also trained by TOS staff and are 
screened before becoming Guides.

12. Online is a real-time, interactive service. America Online is 
considering a number of tools to make the jobs of TOS and AOL Guides 
easier.

13. While we acknowledge such activities do take place, with more than 2 
million members they are the exception rather than the rule. 

14. While the number of such incidents may be going up in your eyes, so 
is the number of AOL members. We have added more than 500,000 members 
since December alone.

Child pornography is illegal. When the transmission of child pornography 
through private communications is brought to AOL's attention, once it is 
deemed illegal, the proper authorities are notified. 

We've had a growing problem with member-created rooms whose title and 
discussion violate our Terms of Service. As more and more members abuse 
the privilege and establish rooms that suggest illegal activity, or 
detract from the enjoyment of others with offensive titles, we are faced 
with looking at a higher level of safeguards as it relates to member-
created rooms. America Online is considering a number of tools to make 
the jobs of TOS and AOL Guides easier.

15. AOL staffs its service 24 hours a day and staffs according to 
growth. 

16. AOL does not comment on specific cases. 

17. Overall, the online services industry is a making concerted effort 
to police their own services.

I hope these answers have been of assistance. 

Regards, Pam McGraw	Attachment
E

Member Room Titles Found on AOL

Some of these rooms seem innocent, but I have checked, and believe me, 
they are all frequented by pedophiles and traffickers in child 
pornography: 

Vyung fmpics Daddy dadsn daughters Hot4 auntie Boy 4 Big Brother incest 
is best Family fun M4m Jr High only personal teen pics Ynggirl14mom 
trading teen pics Luv hairy boys m4m Dad nds hot yngr f under 15 Yngm 
iso daddy iso yng girl boys in undies pics Rape fantasy forcd fantasy 
forF Daddys home lil girl Raunchy ynf f pics hairless little vulvas 
preschoolgyfs young teen pics preteen pic exchange teen snatch pics I do 
dghtr Rape Teen F polaroids y male pic trade found pics of sis For cool 
10 to 13 yr teens 12 to 14 Hott teen fuc pics Momdadsisbro teen 
bottomless beach Bif25isotngteenf yngxpics dremz of little girls dadys 
personal pics incest dau Boyjpg yng fem oic trade Son4mom Rape fantasies 
teen masterbation ym 4m everseendad m4vryyngmpics ISOyngfempics family 
is incest preteens in bikinis Dad took pics Likes em under 12 brothers 
and sisters girl undershirt pics Have hot stepdaughter girls underwear 
pics wntd pubescent foto teenm who mastrb teen porno Jr high girls pix 
Preteen action gyfs Aunts and nephews parntsanddghtr need mommy to teach 
son teenpcc trade plus teen incest stories Daddy and son daadys lil girl 
yf pic bartering Daddy plays with son Teen pics of girls 
Pregggiiifffsssteen gm14 and 12 doin it parents who paddle Yoouuunngteen 
m inohio under16 snaps Family affairs Jr High gxxixxfxxs Gay sons 4 gay 
dad bear ny16old 4 ny 11old sex Crpl punsh at home daugher nds training 
My sis caught me child pooorn pedochattandgifff Dads4 sons incest for 6 
gradersonly PREtty TEENPIC TRADE PREtty TEEN GYYYFS PREtty TEEN BOY 
ACTION PICS very pretean gyfs Yxnxgxpxixtxrxaxdxex1 

There are dozens room names more that I will make available upon 
request. In the last few months AOL's software must be catching some 
more stuff because most of the rooms are now spelled incorrectly or 
employ the x-device.

1 note: this is the new device -- putting an x between every letter of 
the room title, this one says "yng pic trade." 

Mr.Crimmins may be reached by email at the following address: 
barcrim@aol.com

End