NBI studying case vs forum owner allegedly peddling porn

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is now studying the evidence it confiscated from a raid of the house of a Filipino allegedly behind an online forum that was singled out by a Senator as peddling pornographic materials on the Internet.

Lawyer Victor Bessat, NBI Deputy Director for Special Investigation Services, confirmed in an interview that the NBI had conducted a raid on Mark Verzo’s home following the issuance of a search warrant.

Verzo, who appeared to be the owner of the domain name boybastos.com, was invited by authorities last week to shed light on the NBI's investigation after Senator Loren Legarda identified the website as peddling indecent materials, among others.

He was released immediately, said Bessat, noting that the authorities had no reason to detain him.

"He was not arrested. This case is still being studied," the NBI deputy director later clarified in a telephone interview.

Hoping to boost her war against computer pornography, Legarda urged law enforcement agencies last week to shut down the “boybastos” website. This prompted the website's owners to take down its forums and gallery, where some allegedly indecent materials were found.

"We've checked the domain name boybastos.com. It is registered with Network Solutions. The original domain name registrant is traceable, even if they tampered with the online listing on the day Senator Legarda assailed the site, and put in her name as the registrant, apparently in a feeble attempt to mock her," Catanduanes Representative Joseph Santiago said last week.

Santiago is also chairman of the House committee on information and communications technology.

Santiago urged the NBI to find ways to remove the domain name with the help of Network Solutions Inc., a US company that registers and manages domain names.

Earlier, Legarda urged agencies like the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to look into websites containing porn or related materials.

The IACAT is composed of the departments of justice, social welfare, foreign affairs and labor, as well as the immigration bureau, the police, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women and three groups representing women, children and overseas workers.

Legarda has filed Senate Bill 1375, which hopes to impose stricter penalties on online smut.

Under the bill, people found peddling child pornography and other "indecent materials" online would be punished with up to six years in prison or a fine of as much as P500,000, or both