Editing Operation Ore (section)

{{Short description|British police operation to prosecute users of a website featuring child pornography}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{infobox law enforcement operation
|name = Operation Ore
|type= Child pornography crackdown
|planned_by = United States
|executed_by = Australian Federal Police, United Kingdom, United States
|target = associated users associated with website portal Landslide Productions
|objective = To round up and prosecute suspects named in a Tip by the United States FBI from [[Operation Avalanche (child pornography investigation)|Operation Avalanche]]
|date_executed = May 2002
|suspects_number = 7,250
|arrested_number = 3,744
|complaints_number = 1,848
|convictions_number = 1,451}}
'''Operation Ore''' was a [[Territorial police force#United Kingdom|British police]] operation that commenced in 1999 following information received from US law enforcement, which was intended to prosecute thousands of users of a website reportedly featuring [[child pornography]]. It was the United Kingdom's biggest ever computer crime investigation,<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8422200/Police-face-750k-bill-for-false-Operation-Ore-charges.html Christopher Williams. "Police face £750k bill for false Operation Ore charges"], [[Daily Telegraph]], 2 April 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2012</ref> leading to 7,250 suspects identified, 4,283 homes searched, 3,744 arrests, 1,848 charged, 1,451 convictions, 493 cautioned and 140 children removed from suspected dangerous situations<ref>{{cite news| url=http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2080778,00.html | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=When will we know whether Operation Ore was a success? | first=Charles | last=Arthur | date=17 May 2007 | access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> and an estimated 33<ref name="pcpro.co.uk"/> [[suicides]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/jul/02/web-child-abuse-inquiry-challenge | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Legal challenge to web child abuse inquiry | first=Sandra | last=Laville | date=2 July 2009 | access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref><ref name="TIMES">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20081008004049/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article539974.ece Child Porn Suspects Set to be Cleared in Evidence Shambles]", Sunday Times 3 July 2005. Retrieved 23 January 2007. </ref> Operation Ore identified and prosecuted some sex offenders, but the validity of the police procedures was later questioned, as errors in the investigations resulted in many false arrests.<ref name="pcpro.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/74690/operation-ore-exposed/page2.html|title=Operation Ore exposed|work=PC Pro|access-date=6 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629044255/http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/74690/operation-ore-exposed/page2.html|archive-date=29 June 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Operation Ore followed a similar crackdown in the United States, called [[Operation Avalanche (child pornography investigation)|Operation Avalanche]]; in the US, 100 people were charged from the 35,000 US access records available.<ref name="PCpro">"[http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/74690/operation-ore-exposed.html Operation Ore exposed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628150634/http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/74690/operation-ore-exposed.html |date=28 June 2009 }}", PC Pro magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2006.</ref> In total, 390,000 individuals in over 60 countries were found to have accessed material in the combined investigations.<ref>Jewkes & Andrews. Crime Online: Chapter 5, pp62 – "Internet Child Pornography; international responses". Willan Publishing, UK (also Portland, OR) 1st Ed (2007).</ref>