ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9609030071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-15 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: HELSINKI, FINLAND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Stung by child pornography allegations, a Finnish computer operator on Friday shut down one of the world's most popular ways to send e-mail on the Internet anonymously.
At least one group, a British organization that has used the Finnish ``anonymity server'' to prevent suicides among despondent people who don't want to give their names, said it regretted the decision.
Johan Helsingius, a private computer consultant who has operated the electronic message relay service since 1993, vigorously denied the pornography allegations but said he had received calls from people accusing him of pedophilia.
``This is a blow for Internet users and computer privacy, but I feel I've no choice,'' Helsingius said Friday. ``It's a lie, and it's not even possible.''
Anonymous servers or ``remailers'' are used by people to discuss banned issues in politically unstable countries and other sensitive matters like suicide, family violence and also sexual deviations.
About 7,500 messages passed daily through Helsingius' service, which acts as an electronic filter, stripping the return address from data and relaying it to a destination in seconds.
Today, The Observer newspaper in Britain quoted an FBI adviser as saying up to 90 percent of all child pornography he'd seen on the Internet had been supplied through Helsingius' remailer.
Helsingius said his computer can handle only messages smaller than 16 kilobytes, a way of measuring data. To send a single image, including sexually explicit material, a computer needs many kilobytes - usually more than 100.
Helsingius said he would sue The Observer over the ``unjustified accusations.''
The Samaritans, a British group who counsels people contemplating suicide, have about 100 computer contacts per week. About 40 percent want to remain anonymous.
``He's really been doing a great service to people; he's done nothing but helped,'' said Emma Borton of the Samaritans.
Finnish police, who have followed Helsingius' activities, say they found no evidence of child pornography.
``We think it's a pity that he's had to close down the server because of something he hasn't done,'' said Detective Sgt. Kaj Malmberg of the Helsinki Police.
``It's a bit like the Wild West,'' Helsingius said. ``There don't appear to be any fast rules about what you can do and can't do.''
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