Now, Berry, 19, is working with the FBI against thousands of adults who encouraged him and other children to perform sordid sexual acts using webcams.
Berry’s story is told by reporter Kurt Eichenwald in The New York Times on Monday.
Berry said many lawful Internet businesses unknowingly aid and abet teen-run porn sites. For instance, adults will pay children to strip by using PayPal, an online payment service known for its staunch views against facilitating transactions of adult content.
Other adults, Berry said, will give the teens gifts using sites like Amazon.com. Gifts include computer items such as an Asante four-port hub, which allows for the use of multiple cameras, providing multiple views.
“There are a number of companies that are unknowingly used as hosting companies for child pornography,” ASACP Director Joan Irvine said. “That includes billing companies and sites like Yahoo! and eGold.com.”
Irvine added that teen-run porn sites will also feature various logos for methods of payment, with Visa and Western Union among the most popular.
“And there’s no way for [those businesses] to know that this is going on unless they’re getting information from an organization like ASACP, or someone reports it to them,” Irvine said.
But, as Eichenwald points out, other businesses may not be as innocent. The Times reviewed the credit card information of 300 adults who paid Berry, many of whom included doctors, lawyers, businessmen and teachers.
"There were also credit card processing services that handled payments without requiring tax identification numbers,” Eichenwald wrote. “There were companies that helped stream live video onto the Internet — including one in Indiana that offered the service at no charge if the company president could watch free. And there were sites that took paid advertising from teenage webcam addresses and allowed fans to vote for their favorites."
Irvine also said that ISPs are usually very quick to respond to any reported abuse. Legally, once a report of abuse is made, ISPs have 48 hours to review the site, back up any information and report the abuse to the police. She added that a year ago, it may have taken two weeks for an ISP to report abuse to law enforcement officials. Now, Irvine said ISPs are much quicker to alert officials, rarely using the full 48 hours before making a report.
