Internet Crimes & Improper Download of Illegal Files

If you have been charged with an internet crime, which includes the illegal downloading of illegal files, such as inappropriate pictures of minors or other crimes you must consult a criminal defense attorney who has experience and knowledge regarding these types of offenses. This is a growing and specialized area of criminal law which requires the attorney defending people charged with these types of crimes to have some technical knowledge of computers, file sharing software and the internet.

Unfortunately, most people do not know the dangers of engaging in file sharing networks, or also known as peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Two such common file sharing networks are Limewire and Kazaa. Anyone in a file sharing network opens themselves up to inappropriate materials being placed into their file sharing folder on their computer, and those inappropriate files being sent to others.

In a recent case State v. Lyons, 417 N.J. Super. 251 (App. Div. 2011), the appellate division reversed the trial court's decision to dismiss the charge of distribution of child pornography based on the fact that although the defendant knew that his peer-to-peer file was accessible to others, he did not intentionally transfer any pornography himself. The Appellate Division reversed the trial court's dismissal and restated the indictment. In that case the Appellate Division held because the defendant used the default settings in Limewire, allowing others to access his file folder, he was in affect transferring child porn to others. In this case the defendant admitted that he knew the default settings of Limewire, but told the detectives that he forget to change them so as to disallow others from accessing his shared files.