Defenders of the internet as a boon to human potential took a hit with news that an alleged pedophile beamed real-time images of himself assaulting a preschooler to a horrified undercover officer in Toronto. The man was caught and charged, but his cyber-depravity is more evidence that the net not only showcases the worst in human nature, but actually encourages it.

The net makes it easy for formerly isolated sexual predators to find each other and form online communities, though evolving software is the cyber-cop’s best weapon.

Just as troubling, critics say teen chat sites like Nexopia are perfect hunting grounds for pedophiles. But Nexopia’s founder defends his site. As Kendyl Salcito wrote in The Tyee: Nexopia’s “moderators and users have helped police on numerous cases, including locating several runaway children, tracking a 13-year-old girl courting older men, and reporting online child sexual assault. Moderators are largely responsible for discovering the online activities of the Langley RCMP officer recently charged with child luring.”

Obviously, there is a bright line between child-exploiting porn and the garden variety manufactured by consenting adults, but some claim that too much cyberporn of any variety produces “erototoxins” that remap the brain producing a physical addiction. Civil libertarians say hands off to censors.

But where sex, morals and digital technology meet, it’s all too easy to push buttons. Consider artist Tim Fountain, who cruised for sex on-line in front of an audience and asked them to vote on who he’d shag that night. Next performance, he’d report back with salacious details. The title of his performance: “Sex Addict.”