extremely inappropriate porno on your friend's computer; what would you do?

[skinnyflyer 0]

This is a true story that happened to me.

I was at a friends house downloading music on his computer when i realized that the computer was in the process of downloading porn. not regular porn, the kind that you go to jail for. and it wasn't like maybe its legal, maybe its not. definately not( this was deduced from the titles, not from looking at it.). i then checked the download folder thinking maybe it was just an accident. unfortunately there were hundreds of files downloaded with the same search criteria.

normally i would just say this is none my business, however the owner of the computer had set up 5 usersnames to log in with representing himself(let's call him roomate A), my other friend(roomate B), 2 other people and myself. the computer was logged in under my username when i discoverd the downloads(i then logged in with another username but the downloads became invisible). so if anyone else had discovered these download they would presumably think that it was me. in other words whoever downloaded this stuff deliberately used my username in case they were discovered.

i assumed that it was roomate B because he was the only person there when i discovered these downloads in progress. this was a close friend for 20years. i confronted him, he denied it, we checked the dates of all the downloads and figured out that it was actually roomate A. in the end he removed the usernnames for logging in but we never confronted him. he is not a close friend of mine but he's friends with all my friends. roomate A and B remained good friends however i will never trust this person again and i don't respect him either.

how would you react in this situation?
would you still want to participate in group activities if this person were present?

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."
A. Sachs

[Zep 0]

Maybe in years to come when roomate A decides to act out his fantasy's you'll wish you reported him.

As a father of five young children I urge you to report him.

Gone fishing

[BillyVance 35]

Quote

how would you react in this situation?
would you still want to participate in group activities if this person were present?

I would have nothing to do with that person and cut off all ties to him. I don't know how closely you are tied in to him, but if you can make a clean break, report his ass to the police. OR, find out the computer's IP address, then anonymously report that to the police. I think they could hack into the computer from a remote location and bust him.

I'm just guessing here. If that stuff is child pornography, he's a sick fucker.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[normiss 893]

report him.

I lost a very good friend over repairing his father's pc once.

If you don't, in the eyes of the law, you're as guilty as he is.

[jakee 1,594]

Remember, even if he himself is not abusing anybody, by getting the porn he's funding the people that are. And if it's what it sounds like, that shit is unforgiveable.

You've also just admitted on a public forum that you are aware that he is breaking the law. What happens if he gets busted some other way and it comes out that you've known all along?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[NewGuy2005 53]

Have him busted. Remember, he's trying to make it look like YOU.

[azdiver 0]

friend or not he could end up ruining your lives as well if he doesnt take the blame for it if caught and says it someone elysees stuff. i now cops that investigate these crimes and for every pic you can get 10 years in prison and have to serve them consecutively. so its your choice

light travels faster than sound, that's why some people appear to be bright until you hear them speak

[funjumper101 15]

Quote

This is a true story that happened to me.

I was at a friends house downloading music on his computer when i realized that the computer was in the process of downloading porn. not regular porn, the kind that you go to jail for. and it wasn't like maybe its legal, maybe its not. definately not( this was deduced from the titles, not from looking at it.). i then checked the download folder thinking maybe it was just an accident. unfortunately there were hundreds of files downloaded with the same search criteria.

normally i would just say this is none my business, however the owner of the computer had set up 5 usersnames to log in with representing himself(let's call him roomate A), my other friend(roomate B), 2 other people and myself. the computer was logged in under my username when i discoverd the downloads(i then logged in with another username but the downloads became invisible). so if anyone else had discovered these download they would presumably think that it was me. in other words whoever downloaded this stuff deliberately used my username in case they were discovered.

i assumed that it was roomate B because he was the only person there when i discovered these downloads in progress. this was a close friend for 20years. i confronted him, he denied it, we checked the dates of all the downloads and figured out that it was actually roomate A. in the end he removed the usernnames for logging in but we never confronted him. he is not a close friend of mine but he's friends with all my friends. roomate A and B remained good friends however i will never trust this person again and i don't respect him either.

how would you react in this situation?
would you still want to participate in group activities if this person were present?

If the system was downloading child porn, go to the cops. Failure to speak up makes you a co-conspirator.

You know that it was happening, you know that it is illegal, and you did a good job of figuring out who was responsible. As it was YOUR username doing the downloading, it might be hard to explain to the cops why you didn't report it when you found out about it. You absolutely don't have "plausible deniability" any more. You are just as responsible as the wanker downloading the porn and could go to jail with him.

Will you be able to live with yourself if the individual actually acts out some of the things in the porn? Would you want that done to your sister/brother or son/daughter? And know that you might have prevented it?

If any of your "friends" decide that you did something wrong, they aren't really friends. You would be better off without such people in your life.

Do the right thing. It is likely the hardest choice. But it is the right thing.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

This is a true story that happened to me.

I was at a friends house downloading music on his computer when i realized that the computer was in the process of downloading porn. not regular porn, the kind that you go to jail for. and it wasn't like maybe its legal, maybe its not. definately not( this was deduced from the titles, not from looking at it.). i then checked the download folder thinking maybe it was just an accident. unfortunately there were hundreds of files downloaded with the same search criteria.

normally i would just say this is none my business, however the owner of the computer had set up 5 usersnames to log in with representing himself(let's call him roomate A), my other friend(roomate B), 2 other people and myself. the computer was logged in under my username when i discoverd the downloads(i then logged in with another username but the downloads became invisible). so if anyone else had discovered these download they would presumably think that it was me. in other words whoever downloaded this stuff deliberately used my username in case they were discovered.

i assumed that it was roomate B because he was the only person there when i discovered these downloads in progress. this was a close friend for 20years. i confronted him, he denied it, we checked the dates of all the downloads and figured out that it was actually roomate A. in the end he removed the usernnames for logging in but we never confronted him. he is not a close friend of mine but he's friends with all my friends. roomate A and B remained good friends however i will never trust this person again and i don't respect him either.

how would you react in this situation?
would you still want to participate in group activities if this person were present?

Without a hardware keystroke logger you have no way of knowing if it's your room mate, some random person/program who'se using the unsecured computer to download porn for their own use (strangers downloaded alt.binaries.pictures.* when my NNTP port was unblocked), or some one having the porn downloaded there to be nasty (malicious "prank", frame-up).

I wouldn't risk ruining your roomate's life incase it's one of the second two cases. I would definately stop sharing computer access with them incase it was intentional. I would stop associating with the room mate.

[freethefly 6]

Quote

Without a hardware keystroke logger you have no way of knowing if it's your room mate, some random person/program who'se using the unsecured computer to download porn for their own use (strangers downloaded alt.binaries.pictures.* when my NNTP port was unblocked), or some one having the porn downloaded there to be nasty (malicious "prank", frame-up).

I wouldn't risk ruining your roomate's life incase it's one of the second two cases. I would definately stop sharing computer access with them incase it was intentional. I would stop associating with the room mate.

Back in 1997, my fiest computer got hacked when I openned an email. There wasn't nothing in the email but a link to click. Not knowing anything about viruses, I clicked it and my computer shut down and then restarted. A few weeks later I was getting emails from people saying that I was sick to be sending sick pictures to people. I had no idea what they were talking about. One day I was just looking around at the different files on my computer and found a bunch of pictures of people being crapped on and pissed on as well as an email address list. As I was deleting the pics, more pics started coming in. I could not stopped them. I had to take the computer to a computer doctor to have the virus removed. I then got protection from such through McAfee.
I don't know what the deal is with the op's computer or the person in question but, I'd be very careful to protect myself first, if I were you.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[billvon 3,114]

>how would you react in this situation?

Depends entirely on how you feel about it. If it really bothers you, and you are convinced that he is doing it (not certain from what you've posted) then avoid him, and stop sharing computers with him. If it doesn't bother you, then don't.

[skinnyflyer 0]

thanks for all the replies and advice. this actually happened several years ago and i don't ever use this persons computer anymore or even go to his place. and like i said the usernames are gone so there is no danger of me being blamed for anything.

i only see this person during group activities with old friends because he's still friends with many of them.

and like several people posted i didn't want to risk runining this persons life on something that i can't really be %100 certain of.

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."
A. Sachs

[kelpdiver 2]

first off, don't use a login with your name on it at someone else's place, if you're concerned about being falsely accused. And that's a valid concern when it comes to child porn - due process is non existent. I'd say stop using the computer entirely.

Second, there is a lot of child porn under false names, so more general automated fetches will result in questionable material on your computer. Again, don't share computers with other people downloading porn.

What to do about the person. Don't know. The computer problem should be your friend's, not your's. but association with him is up to you.

[cloudseeker2001 0]

Quote

Quote

This is a true story that happened to me.

I was at a friends house downloading music on his computer when i realized that the computer was in the process of downloading porn. not regular porn, the kind that you go to jail for. and it wasn't like maybe its legal, maybe its not. definately not( this was deduced from the titles, not from looking at it.). i then checked the download folder thinking maybe it was just an accident. unfortunately there were hundreds of files downloaded with the same search criteria.

normally i would just say this is none my business, however the owner of the computer had set up 5 usersnames to log in with representing himself(let's call him roomate A), my other friend(roomate B), 2 other people and myself. the computer was logged in under my username when i discoverd the downloads(i then logged in with another username but the downloads became invisible). so if anyone else had discovered these download they would presumably think that it was me. in other words whoever downloaded this stuff deliberately used my username in case they were discovered.

i assumed that it was roomate B because he was the only person there when i discovered these downloads in progress. this was a close friend for 20years. i confronted him, he denied it, we checked the dates of all the downloads and figured out that it was actually roomate A. in the end he removed the usernnames for logging in but we never confronted him. he is not a close friend of mine but he's friends with all my friends. roomate A and B remained good friends however i will never trust this person again and i don't respect him either.

how would you react in this situation?
would you still want to participate in group activities if this person were present?

Without a hardware keystroke logger you have no way of knowing if it's your room mate, some random person/program who'se using the unsecured computer to download porn for their own use (strangers downloaded alt.binaries.pictures.* when my NNTP port was unblocked), or some one having the porn downloaded there to be nasty (malicious "prank", frame-up).

I wouldn't risk ruining your roomate's life incase it's one of the second two cases. I would definately stop sharing computer access with them incase it was intentional. I would stop associating with the room mate.

Best advice.

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[Richards 0]

THIS GUY HAS SET IT UP SO THAT IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS YOU! HE WAS DELIBERATELY MAKING YOU THE FALL GUY IN THE EVENT THE POLICE CAME KNOCKING!! YOU OWE HIM NOTHING BUT A PHONE CALL TO THE POLICE, SO HE CAN FACE THE MUSIC FOR HIS CRIME

Realistically you should be willing to rat him out just for doing it and if it was my roommate I would. If someone tried to make me the fall guy, I would not only make sure to call the police, I would call them when he had family visiting so he would endure the humiliation of being busted for that filth in front of his family. If you had been arrested this guy would have shut his mouth and let you get arrested, humiliated (because everyone you know would find out, including family freinds and co-workers), and get a criminal record and your life destroyed. Heck I don't even know you and I am pissed off about what this idiot tried to do to you.

Make the call because;

A: Right now in the eyes of the law you are the guilty party if the police drop in

B: That POS deserves it not only for being a pedofilth but for what he tried to do to you. And you should feel no guilt whatsoever, because he would have felt nothing if your were destroyed for his crime!


Editted to add: I missed the follow up about your uncertainty. If you are not sure then I can appreciate your concern about jumping the gun. If you are sure, then I stand by my original statement

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[Low-Mao 0]

I believe it would be imperative to locate the source of the download and report them so that the whole operation would get shutdown. Seriously a missed opportunity. I would give that hard drive to the authorities if you still have it. Perhaps they can salvage some information on where this stuff is comming from.

[1969912 0]

Quote

Quote

Quote

Without a hardware keystroke logger you have no way of knowing if it's your room mate, some random person/program who'se using the unsecured computer to download porn for their own use (strangers downloaded alt.binaries.pictures.* when my NNTP port was unblocked), or some one having the porn downloaded there to be nasty (malicious "prank", frame-up).

I wouldn't risk ruining your roomate's life incase it's one of the second two cases. I would definately stop sharing computer access with them incase it was intentional. I would stop associating with the room mate.

Best advice.

Agree.

Something else to consider: Was it really CP? Even if I were 100% certain that my friend was the one doing the downloading and felt that he should be turned in, I would try to find out for certain that the pics were CP before going to the authorities. There should be a legal definition somewhere.

Doesn't matter now, but that was a good question to pose.


-

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[skinnyflyer 0]

yes it was cp 100%. there were several hundred downloads that had been deleted and all shared a very clear search criteria. ultimately the only real evidence that it was roomate A was that me and roomate B matched the download times to when roomate A was home alone all day. but like others have said it could possibly be some remote controlled virus or something.

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."
A. Sachs

[wmw999 2,587]

I'd probably go with roommate B to confront roommate A. Make sure he (I'm assuming it's a guy, but it doesn't have to be) gets the message that people know what's going on, and that it's wrong.

This is quite a bit later. If no one is still sharing computers with this guy, it might still be worth talking to him. Child porn is pretty nasty stuff that says something about the looker (unless you're a 13-year-old boy looking at 13-year-old girls).

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Nightingale 0]

Here's a collection of the state laws for the US regarding child pornography. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has some great resources.

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=1346

[Darius11 12]

This is basically a no brainer in my book. This is not in the gray it is straight up black and white.
If it is child pornography you report him.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[Shotgun 1]

Quote

I was at a friends house downloading music on his computer when i realized that the computer was in the process of downloading porn. not regular porn, the kind that you go to jail for. and it wasn't like maybe its legal, maybe its not. definately not

Were you legally downloading music when this happened?

[Zipp0 1]

Are you sure you can tell by the titles? Have you seen the titles of many, many current and legal porn movies? Many of them SOUND like they could be questionable, but are perfectly legit. It may be that there were titles that were undoubtably sick shit, but just make sure you have no doubts before you ruin someone's life.

Where was this stuff being downloaded from? Was it a public network? I highly doubt that the kind of stuff you are concerned about would be on the same network where you were downloading music. (are people that nuts/sick/crazy?)

Did you ask him why the computer was downloading under your login? That part is what would make me suspicious/angry. Get a keylogger and put it on the keyboard port - www.keykatcher.com .

--------------------------
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.