The Internet has rapidly become a fertile playground for pedophiles and other predators. Pornographic Web sites, chat rooms, and the sale of Social Security numbers make it too easy for youth to be the victims of cybercrimes.

The parents of Amy Boyer of Nashua, N.H., and Diana Strickland of Opelika, Ala., know this all too well. Tim Remsburg, Amy’s stepfather, testified before the Senate subcommittee on Children and Families in March that 20-year-old Amy was stalked and killed by a former schoolmate who had bought her Social Security number online.

"An Internet search company sold the murderer personal information about our daughter for $45 without any concern for our family’s safety. Social Security numbers should not be for sale," said Remsburg.

Subcommittee Chair Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) agreed and said he plans to introduce a bill that would prohibit companies from selling Social Security numbers without the consent of the holder.

A similar bill was introduced in the House last January.

Remsburg also described how the killer bought the domain name "Amy Boyer" from <www.register.com> and created several Web sites about her in her name. Remsburg said the Web sites contained explicit descriptions of the killer’s plans and thoughts about Amy.

When Remsburg asked the information service providers (Geocites and Tripod) to shut down the Web sites after Amy’s death, however, "Yahoo/Geocites responded that there was ‘no indication of the author’s intent to harm’ and refused to void the contract he signed with them," said an incredulous Remsburg. The terms and conditions of membership prohibit Web site owners from using anyone’s name for purposes of hate, added Remsburg.

He asked members of Congress to improve Internet security by requiring special filtering software to detect words such as "hate" or "kill."

However, John Ryan, associate general counsel for compliance and investigations at America Online Inc. (AOL), testified that "the best filtering software could not cover the scope of the Internet. Another daunting challenge would be to design software that could distinguish between "to kill the president" and "to kill a mockingbird."

Ryan said that AOL does not monitor its members’ Web sites for inappropriate content, but when AOL learns that a member has violated his or her agreement, AOL will disassemble the Web site. Also, when a member engages in illicit behavior, AOL contacts law enforcement and supports the investigation, said Ryan.

Teresa Strickland, Diana’s mother, testified before the subcommittee that her daughter and a girlfriend were lured away from their home by a child pornographer who contacted Diana online.

"Lawrence Stackhouse saw Diana’s online profile and sent her an instant message while she was chatting online with friends," said Strickland. Diana responded, and online conversations began, followed by phone calls with sexual messages, testified Strickland.

The 43-year-old man eventually met Diana and a girlfriend and drove them to his home in Pennsylvania, where he exploited them sexually for four days. Diana’s girlfriend called 911, and the man is now serving a prison sentence, according to Strickland’s testimony.

Mary Anne Layden, Ph.D., a psychotherapist in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, testified before the subcommittee that "the Internet is an ideal delivery system for the encouragement of inappropriate behavior. The Internet sex sites produce sexual arousal, with role models for every form of perpetration against women and children.

"Chatting with others online with complete anonymity frees the inhibitions that are associated with being known, seen, judged, and held accountable," said Layden, who specializes in treating victims and perpetrators of sexual violence.

The Internet has contributed to a significant increase in sexual acting out, "from the head of the Harvard Theological Seminary to an executive at Infoseek to children at the public library," said Layden.

Donna Rice Hughes, author of Kids Online, Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace (Revell, 1998), testified that studies show that 60 percent of all Web-site visits are sexual in nature and that "sex" is the most frequently searched word online.

Hughes said that 91 percent of children visit objectionable Web sites unintentionally. The reasons include innocent searches on words such as "toys" or "boys," misspelled words, and stealth sites such as <whitehouse.com>, according to Hughes’s written statement.

In addition, 25 percent of pornographic Web sites use popular brand names to attract viewers, including Disney, Barbie, and Nintendo, stated Hughes.

Hughes called on the subcommittee to close the loopholes in the Child Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPA) and to extend laws that protect children and nonconsenting adults in cyberspace.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) was asked by Congress in 1997 to play a lead role in combating sexual exploitation online. NCMEC President and CEO Ernest Allen testified before the Senate subcommittee that for the last two years, the NCMEC has operated the CyberTipline to report suspicious and illegal Internet activities, the Department of Justice has funded special Internet Crimes Against Children task force units, and the FBI has created its successful Innocent Images Task Force.

"Though these developments are encouraging, it is our conclusion that online child sexual exploitation is a far greater problem than we anticipated," said Allen.

For example, since May 1998, the CyberTipline has received more than 17,000 reports. The vast majority involved child pornography (13,509), online enticement of children to leave their homes (2,235), and child sexual exploitation (988), Allen testified.

Last year, the FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force, an online sting operation to apprehend people committing crimes against children, investigated 1,500 Internet-related child-exploitation cases, for a total of 3,500 cases since 1994, testified Allen.

However, Kenneth Neu, assistant chief of the FBI’s Violent Crimes Major Offenders Section, testified that the FBI needs more personnel to keep up with the number of complaints to the CyberTipline. He also said that the online predators know how to trace and ambush innocent people and exploit cracks in law-enforcement communication.