British Net pedophile ring busted
The investigation, dubbed Operation Appal, tracked down 45 men believed to be involved in the possession and distribution of illegal child pornography.
Greater Manchester's obscene publication's unit co-ordinated a series of raids across the country at 7am this morning with the help of 25 forces across England, Scotland and Wales.
Search warrants were issued under the Protection of Children Act, which makes it illegal to possess or trade indecent images of children over the Net. The Act was amended in January to increase the sentence for possession of illegal Internet content from six months to five years, while the penalty for distributing pornographic or paedophile content rose from three years to ten years. --Wendy McAuliffe, ZDNet UK