Supercomputer Will Be Used to Hunt Pedophiles

In a previous article, I wrote about the discovery of an international ring of pedophile parents that had been discovered by a task force in Australia. As pedophiles use technology to promote their perversions, scientists and police agencies are coming together to effectively find the people who are involved in the misuse and abuse of children.

Meet Jaguar and Artemis
Jaguar, one of the world's most powerful supercomputers, has been called upon to help fight crime. This supercomputer's assignment for 2011 is to go pedophile hunting. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where Jaguar is housed, is helping to provide law enforcement agencies with some very exciting new technology in their battles against online child pornography. Artemis, a program that searches for flesh-colored pixels, will work with Jaguar's super processing abilities to quickly scan computers of suspected pedophiles and search out suspicious photographs and videos used in child pornography. This procedure is highly technical and uses algorithms to accomplish its goals. For a more in-depth understanding of how this works, you can read the article, Jaguar Pounces on Child Predators.

As more and more pedophiles are turning to high technology in order to spread their photographs, videos and live feeds of sexual assaults around the world, scientists at Oak Ridge Laboratories working together with police agencies are finding even more effective ways to track down the offenders. What used to take weeks and months and many agencies and personnel, can now be done in a matter of days. Jaguar is expected to be running with the new Artemis program by the end of this year, which will allow the work to be done in a matter of hours instead of days.

PROTECT - The National Association to Protect Children
Grier Weeks, Executive Director of the National Association to Protect Children, or PROTECT, said, "Across the globe criminals are using technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of children. Police are overwhelmed and outnumbered. These Oak Ridge scientists are the good guys we've been waiting for. Their computers will become child rescue engines."

It is comforting to know that people who have the skills and technology to do this kind of work are involved in the safety and welfare of children who are being abused and exploited. As technology is being used to spread pornography, even more advanced technology is on the horizon that will search out and find the perpetrators of these crimes.

Is This an Invasion of Privacy?
I'm sure there are those who would argue that this kind of technology is an invasion of privacy; but I would ask you to think, instead, of the children who are being abused even as you read this article. Police agencies need all the help available to them to find these criminals and help put an end to their abilities to continue abusing innocent children around the world. It is a huge task and it takes super powers to do the job. Hopefully, the supercomputer, Jaguar, and the program aptly named "Artemis" (goddess of the hunter), will do a super job in putting an end to these vile acts of pedophiles.

Sources:

http://www.olcf.ornl.gov/2010/11/29/jaguar-pounces-on-child-predators/

http://www.techi.com/2010/12/jaguar-artemis-supercomputer-hunting-pedophiles/

http://www.protect.org