Austrian police have broken up a worldwide child-pornography ring involving 2,300 people in 77 countries "from Algeria to Venezuela" in the largest operation of its kind to date.
Details have been passed to the Garda of two computer users in Ireland who viewed videos and pictures of children aged between five and 14 experiencing what was described as "the worst sexual abuse".
Austrian police were tipped off by a Vienna-based internet service provider last July who said eight pornographic videos had been uploaded to its file-share facility without its knowledge.
Investigators found video material uploaded to the internet from Britain and that the files contained a link to a larger website based in Russia which registered more than 8,000 visits in 24 hours. This site charged users $89 (€68) for three-month access to more than eight terabytes (8,000 gigabytes) of child pornographic files - about 470 hours of broadcast-quality video.
"The videos showed the worst sexual abuse of children," said Austrian interior minister Günther Platter. "This strike is particularly important because it involved a particular criminal form that is directed against the most defenceless members of our society - our children." As part of their investigation, dubbed "Operation Flo", Austrian police passed on to national police in 77 countries the details of 2,361 IP addresses - unique codes assigned to each internet computer - of machines used to pay for access.
"The list of suspects stretches from Algeria to Venezuela," said Gerald Hesztera, spokesman for the Austrian criminal police.
The authorities tracked down 607 suspects in the US, 406 in Germany and 114 in France.
In Austria, 23 suspects were identified - ranging from a 17-year-old student and middle-aged civil servants to a 69-year-old pensioner.
Police seized their computers, along with DVDs and video cassettes, and said that 14 had already confessed. All 23 could face up to 14 years in prison for possession of child pornography if prosecutions are secured. Austrian police said they believed the eight videos on the Vienna-based server were filmed in eastern Europe.
"This website, with its $89 access fee, generated $350,000 in just three days, and there are thousands of such sites," said the head of the Austrian investigation, Harald Gremel.
The website was shut down and user data secured by Austrian police.
"It's a good sign that, although Austria is a relatively small country, we managed to crack an international ring like this," said Mr Hesztera of the Austrian criminal police. "It shows that international police co-operation works - that's the best news to come from this."