Website Shut Down - Member Prosecution?

[dstarsfan09]

Hello,

I have an interest in learning cyber-law and learning about cyber-crimes. My interest has brought me to the circumstances and facts surrounding websites that are shut down by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies for illegal activities.

Obviously a shutdown of a website could be for any number of reasons. But I'd say the most prominent reasons are pirated properties (movies, music, software etc.) and child pornography. So I will use those as my general theme for my question.

If a website that allows member registration (such as a web forum, peer-to-peer network, or social networking site) is shut down by a law enforcement agency for illegal activity, can the website's members be prosecuted simply for being a member?

If not, could they be prosecuted for downloading/viewing the illegal content in question? Or would they have had to actually participated - i.e. shared or uploaded illegal content - to be prosecuted?

I look forward to your answer! I have been trying to search for answers about this and have come up with nothing. Maybe I'm just not good with Google?

Thank you for your time!

 

[seniorjudge]

No one here can predict the future or answer hypothetical questions.

But my GUESS is that the answer to all three of your questions is "possibly".

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Thanks Judge... amusing and informative as always. Being a "member" of a site doesn't typically get you nailed although it's impossible to say. There needs to be a law that is broken in order to be prosecuted and probably the easiest way to differentiate is uploaders, downloaders and members will be potentially prosecutable in that order. There are almost always laws against uploading, sharing and/or distribution of the data, e.g. copyright/piracy. Downloading isn't always as clear although there are laws with regard to downloading. Being a member is more remote but it depends upon the circumstances.

 

[dstarsfan09]

Thank you, sir, for the response!

That is what I had figured would be the case.

My question was sort of worded wrong, but I agree with you that the uploaders/distributors etc. would be the first prosecuted since they are in possession of the illegal content that got the site shutdown in the first place.

Regular members, especially on a large site, may be difficult or counter productive to prosecute. There's little evidence of actual participation in the illegal activities, and it would probably be a waste of time and resources to prosecute hundreds or thousands of people who may not even serve a significant amount of time. This is especially true considering there are "bigger fish to fry", so to speak.

Again, thank you for your response. It was most helpful.