Porn | Massive, International Child Porn Ring Busted: Officials Say Images Are 'Horrific'

Investigators are calling it a massive child porn ring, one of the biggest and worst they've ever seen. They say they uncovered a members-only online bulletin board for child pornography called "Dreamboard." Officials describe the images as "horrific."

The board may have been the vehicle for the distribution of up to 123 terabytes of child pornography, which is roughly equivalent to nearly 16-thousand DVD's.

Of the 72 people charged so far, 52 have been arrested in 14 countries. The investigation is continuing.

More than 600 Dreamboard members were required to post images every 50 days or risk expulsion, officials say. The more they posted, the more access they got to material on the site.

The government says members were encouraged to create porn, and instructed to "keep the children 11 or younger." Some were just infants. One part of the board mandated that children be in pain, quote - "if the girl looks totally comfortable, she is not in distress, it does not belong in this section."

The board also told members how to mask their identities, and erase their internet footprints.
Experts at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crimes Center that investigated the case, say the use of sophisticated passwords has made cracking porn cases more difficult - and ever-larger harddrives are making it harder to find evidence.

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children says it is significant that law enforcement was able to disrupt this ring. But the center says the problem of child porn is vast and growing.