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UGN-Times Issue 3, June 2000
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              Warning For Parents of Internet Kids 

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            "Annie, tell me where you would like me to meet you?" could  be a question that is presented to YOUR child while participating  in a chat. It is our duty as a user-group periodical to warn you of potential  dangers of using the internet. The story may be old, but it has to be told  time and time again to reinterate it's importance. Only parents stand between  their child and a pedophile on the internet. From simple misunderstandings  to outrite stalkers, there are many dangers on the internet. I'm not just  blowing hot air here folks; I've interviewed several people who patrol the  chat lines, particularly AIM, and their testimony only serves to stress the  importance of guarding your child's safety while on-line. 

            


            First, I'm going to tell you about Dirk (lastname held per request).   Dirk is a baiter for The Baiting Organization. They have a URL,  but I do not give URL's out that could be construed as adults only.   A baiter is someone who tricks an unsuspecting pervert into a sexual conversation  (cybersex), and proceeds to make the sex chat go horribly wrong. If this  was not enough, they then place the chat logs onto their website for people  who want a good laugh. By the sheer nature of his "job," Dirk  runs into perverts and pedophiles regularly. 

            


            The first element that Dirk informed me of was just the plain old moron,  who just doesn't pay attention to the age of the person on the Instant Mesanger.   Dirk stated, "In a lot of ways it's stupidity, not pedophilia, that  gets us baits/logs - save for a few here and there, I wouldn't consider most  of our victims to be real pedophiles." I haven't had the privalage  of seeing any official numbers, but Dirk feels that they run into many actual  pedophiles. 

            


            Although some of the action is from sheer stupidity, Dirk has run into  his fare share of actual pedophiles. Purposeful or not, I do not  want my children to be subject to this sort of activity, nor do I want them  to become a victim. I spoke much with Dirk about those he thought  were real pedophiles, and he had this to say, "There's the occasional  serious one (you can normally tell because they try to set up a visit with  you)." Whoa, if that isn't enough to scare a parent; I don't know what  is. The dangers are real; however, policing such actions are difficult.  

            


            On the PC, there are several adult-guard software products to  reduce the chance of a child accidently browsing to an adult web-site.   Although this is a feature the Amiga is sorely lacking in all three of it's  web-browsers, it is not the true danger the internet holds  for our youngsters. To police every IRC channel, ICQ, AOL, Yahoo, and the  plethora of other chat means would be nearly impossible for police. First,  such policing action would be viewed with hostility, like some sort of Cyber-Gestapo.   Further complicating matters, the internet is truely an international  entity. Thus, an L.A. Cop would find difficulty in arresting someone  in Bangkok. 

            


            With the obvious threat to our children's welfare, someone has  to step in to protect our children. Due to the limitations of authorities  on the internet, the parent is the only entity left to protect their children.   The threat is there, the people from Baiting run into it all the  time. So, it's up to us to protect our children. Use a password on the  computer, take the keyboard and mouse with you to work, or whatever means  you have -- don't let your children on the internet-chats without supervision.   Take precautionary measures, before you child is asked "I could meet  you in the mall, let's say four o' clock?" 

            


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            Dirk is a "baiter" for the Baiting Organization's web-site.   The web-site publishes funny logs of Sex-Chats that went wrong. The web-site  plainly states that they only haunt AOL's chat-rooms and Instant Messanger  service, and from my discussion with Dirk--I beleive them. However just  because Dirk's experiences are for the most part limited to AOL, don't think  that ICQ or IRC is any safer. 

            


            As a final footnote, I do not like writing about such things. In fact,  this is far from what I was intending as my Opus for this issue. But after  my conversatin with Dirk, I felt that this had to be written about specifically  to the Amiga community. If this article manages to save ONE  child from the clutches of unspeakable horror, then this measley little electronic  magazine will have been worth every night I stayed up late trying to complete  an issue, and everytime I continued to work on it irregardless of it's usefullness. 

            

            
PARENTS: Supervise ANY and ALL chats that your children  may become involved in!