From VOXNYC (Thanks Lisa B-K for turning me on to VOXNYC):
Well, according to our own law enforcement statistics we, once again, appear to be the biggest market for this stuff. (That’s a surprise!) It is in America where apparently there are scores of perverted geezers awaiting eagerly, mouse in one hand, visa card in the other. And it is Our law enforcement who brags about it’s much vaunted cooperation with foreign intelligence on such matters. Well then there is just one question? Is American Intelligence being played for a sucker by their foreign counterpart or are they both playing us for a sucker? Pick one.
It is widely known that every single credit card transaction’s details are immediately available to our intelligence agencies – In real time. So if US intelligence knows who’s buying 20 to 30 billion dollars worth of child pornography (ostensibly with credit cards) then what is happening? Certainly the highly publicized busts so far netted nowhere near the level of a 20 to 30 billion dollar business. It seems most of the big international busts that go down, net reclusive 72 year old ex-postal workers, local Sheriffs or Disney executives – Which make for great media fear bombs but do absolutely NOTHING in effectively halting this industry. If they are allowing a 20 to 30 billion dollars annually (FBI) industry to continue to exist then it’s only natural to connect the dots and ask, why?