It resulted in autumn 1998 in the largest ever worldwide seizure of paedophile material. Eight suspects were charged with conspiracy to distribute indecent images of children. It would investigate the most serious offences, act as a centre of excellence on cybercrime, and help local forces deal with offenders using sophisticated IT skills. At the moment, only three police forces in England have units combatting this type of computer crime. They are in London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
Obscene material involving children is the priority for the police and customs.
Despite the difficulties of policing the Internet, offenders can be caught. Police also seized 20,000 obscene images. Manchester police success Detective Inspector Terry Jones, of GMP's Obscene Publications Unit, says a pro- active approach brings results. A comparatively short time spent monitoring the Internet revealed activities which we might never have found out about. If we can convict these people of possessing obscene material, they go on the paedophile register and it is then much easier to watch what they are doing.