a timeline of Pete Townshend and the Internet:: part IV

[Ken in MD <seahawkman2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

::2002::
January: On the 16th of this month Pete first posted
his essay A Different Bomb.  In it he blasted the
wide availability of child pornography on the Internet
and called for its eradication by ISPs, government
authorities, and watchdog groups.  Much of the essay
focused on the complex social and psychological issues
that surround those who are ensnared by it  both as
victims and consumers.  As an addendum, Pete
recommended software to filter and block out porn
sites for home users: Once it is running it begins to
make the internet feel a much friendlier and safer
place for our children.

On January 29th Pete shut down his personal website
to concentrate on my writing this year. I need no
distractions.  His commerce website EelPie.Com
remained open. 

February: The Who played several dates in the UK,
finishing with two sold out nights at the Royal Albert
Hall to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust.  It was
their last public performance with John Entwistle.

June: Pete reopened his personal website on June 10th
and included a Who section and chat room.  He did not
repost A Different Bomb at this time.

On June 27th John Entwistle died.

July-Sept: The Who carried on the U.S. tour as a
tribute to Entwistle.

August: On August 12th Pete reposted A Different
Bomb to his website along with a diary entry entitled
A Different Bomb  Revisited. He noted that a UK
newspaper reported that the FBI had sent to British
police a list of some 7000 UK citizens who had
subscribed by credit card to a web site in the U.S.
that they say contained child pornography, as he put
it.  (His own credit card was, apparently, among those
on the list.)

The large number of UK subscribers indicated plenty of
demand for such material but he argued there was no
point in locking up internet porn addicts. He urged
attacking the problem from the supply side.   He was
at work on a follow-up essay called Future Fear
which was to argue that First World or western ISPs
who provided internet access and the banks that
processed credit card payments must work to interrupt
the widespread commerce in child pornography
originating from the Third World.  While the nature
of the Internet was to allow the free circulation of
information, opinion and media, the motive of this
illicit commerce was profit and he felt it could be
attacked through the mechanisms of commerce.  There
is no reason I can see that this should be allowed to
go on where sex-sites are operating outside the laws
and accepted moral criteria of the West. 
Am I wrong?"

On August 24th Pete posted a short diary entry
reporting that Alta Vista had shut down a number of
its free services after complaints of abuse by those
proclaiming interest in underage pornography.  Would
Google, another prime location for quick access to
such material, do the same, he wondered?

During August Pete reportedly took his concerns to the
UKs Internet Watch Foundation, an industry-funded
watchdog group that takes complaints about illegal
content, via e-mail. 

October: On October 12th Pete posted a lengthy diary
entry about post-tour prospects for the Who.  He also
pointed to several other ongoing projects that kept
him busy, noting I also run a really good charity
[Double-O] which keeps a low profile, but does a lot
of valuable work with addicts, alcoholics and both the
victims and 'recovering' perpetrators of sexual abuse.
But I myself am always a Grade One addict-accident
waiting to reoccur. I have to measure my lust for life
very, very carefully and take impartial advice
wherever I can on how to live a decent and relatively
normal life. Like most people in the entertainment
industry I'm a nut.  He planned to take it easy and
attempt to get out of my own way, and stay out of my
own way.

One day later, on October 13th, he came back to his
diary with the intent of taking A Different Bomb
down from the web site.  But after hearing that a
woman alcoholic and childhood sexual abuse victim in
treatment at Double-O had relapsed he decided to keep
it up.  He reported that he had spoken to someone at
Scotland Yard that week who stressed to him the
magnitude of activity on sex-related groups and sites
like Yahoo and Google and the impossibility of
monitoring or controlling them.  He was thinking now
about addressing the demand side.  He intended to
speak to someone at a large UK childrens charity
about creating an alternative safe User Group forum
for the rehabilitation of those who, addicted to
internet porn, begin to be enticed into unacceptable
stuff. I know that 'Just Say No' never worked with
heroin, I didn't expect it to. But internet
pornography depends on addiction for its massive
profits.  Either way, his frustration was mounting:
Sometimes this all feels so bloody futile. But I am
determined to do my bit. I made a lot of money out of
that poor little sap in Tommy. Now I understand how
easily he could be recreated as a real child in our
present society. I feel driven to try to change
things.

Jackie Malton, formerly a Detective Chief Inspector
based in Londons Fulham precinct, later confirmed an
October discussion with Pete.  In a statement issued
Jan. 12, 2003, she said: "I told him he had two
choices. He could contact a former colleague of mine
who had joined the National Crime Squad as a computer
expert, or contact the paedophile squad at Scotland
Yard."

November: Pete sent follow-up e-mails to the Internet
Watch Foundation.

December:  On the 18th, detectives from the Serious
Crimes Group of the Metropolitan Police executed
search warrants throughout London and arrested dozens
of men suspected of downloading and possessing
internet child pornography.  The action was part of a
national police inquiry named Operation Ore, formed
after the U.S. Postal Inspection Service provided
British law enforcement agencies with a list of UK
subscribers to Landslide Productions in 2001.  The
list, containing 7200 names, was said to consist of
repeat users of the web site.  The National Criminal
Intelligence Service and National Crime Squad had
sorted it into three categories based on suspects
access to children and prior convictions for sex
crimes.  The list was then distributed to local police
forces across the UK, who in May began to arrest
suspects considered as the highest risk to children.  
Nationwide over 1,200 arrests had been made since with
many more expected. 
 
Compiled by Ken Hawkins ) 2003 

This chronology records Pete Townshends statements
about the Internet and against the child pornography
widely available on it.  His statements are presented
along with the concurrent timelines of his music and
performances, the Whos activities, the Gary Glitter
case, and the investigations of U.S. and U.K.
authorities.  It is intended to shed light on the
when and what if not the how and why. 
Endnotes document the quotes and sources.  Corrections
or additions are welcome. 




=====
UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR PETE TOWNSHEND. 
NO 'What Ifs' NECESSARY.
.
.
.
.
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
http://taxes.yahoo.com/