[US] Justice Department lawyers are asking a federal court to drop a case against a dark web child porn site [Playpen] because it says it cannot reveal how it used a browser exploit to target thousands of unsuspecting visitors to the site.
Little is known about the hacking tool, but it was known to be able to gather real-world information on Playpen visitors, such as IP addresses — details of which should have been protected by Tor.
This is incredibly sad. To prove the IP addresses are the right ones belonging to the sick individuals viewing the content means revealing how it works. That in turn leads to a likely fix of the hole that they can no longer exploit.
What I don’t understand is if they keep the exploit and continue to use it then wont they just be asked to reveal how it works in the next case? Or is the idea to catch bigger fish and use other evidence to support their charges? Either way it’s f@#ked these sick pricks will go free.
Source: Justice Dept. drops Playpen child porn case to prevent release of Tor hack | ZDNet