This is a good mystery yarn that seems to be plausible on the surface. But, the yarn is chock full of technological holes, which are pretty easy and fun to note. For example, the FBI would never allow the electricity for the Seattle (and Portland) areas to continue running without interruption (or the Internet itself to continue operating normally) during an online execution of an FBI agent on the Internet. The execution is obviously occurring in the Seattle (or Portland) areas. In fact, it is fairly simple to disconnect electric and Internet service to millions of customers, if the FBI is desperate to save the life of an FBI agent.
It is also much easier to trace an ISP address than suggested in the opening sequences. There is no chance that a modern ISP would be unwilling or unable to shut down not only the origin of such an Internet snuff site (and also the mirrored sites). This may have been more difficult ten years ago at the dawn of the Internet, but it is relatively simple to do so in 2008.
Also, an FBI agent (and especially a computer expert) would never been so careless as to allow her daughter to play with her laptop to the point that a Trojan horse virus would infect the laptop. Is it plausible that the FBI uses laptops without firewalls or antivirus programs? In fact, the FBI must be disturbed at all the organizational weakness assumed by this snuff flick, because if this is all the taxpayers are getting with our tax money, the taxpayers need to fire everybody at the FBI and start all over again.
With these reservations, there is a lot of fine acting and camera work in this film. In fact, the appropriate emotions are displayed expertly by all the fine actors and actresses with every line of the script expertly uttered. And, the emotions and motives of the plot seem plausible, even if the plot is not plausible in many of its details.
It is also much easier to trace an ISP address than suggested in the opening sequences. There is no chance that a modern ISP would be unwilling or unable to shut down not only the origin of such an Internet snuff site (and also the mirrored sites). This may have been more difficult ten years ago at the dawn of the Internet, but it is relatively simple to do so in 2008.
Also, an FBI agent (and especially a computer expert) would never been so careless as to allow her daughter to play with her laptop to the point that a Trojan horse virus would infect the laptop. Is it plausible that the FBI uses laptops without firewalls or antivirus programs? In fact, the FBI must be disturbed at all the organizational weakness assumed by this snuff flick, because if this is all the taxpayers are getting with our tax money, the taxpayers need to fire everybody at the FBI and start all over again.
With these reservations, there is a lot of fine acting and camera work in this film. In fact, the appropriate emotions are displayed expertly by all the fine actors and actresses with every line of the script expertly uttered. And, the emotions and motives of the plot seem plausible, even if the plot is not plausible in many of its details.