What if child porn is encountered during research?

[dphull at trustedsignal.com (Dave Hull)]

I ANAL and you should consult with an attorney who understands the law
in this area.

I have been told by my attorney that there is no legal requirement to
tell law enforcement, BECAUSE I am not a network service provider.
There IS a legal obligation for network service providers who
encounter contraband during the course of their work, to report to LE.

If you're not a network service provider, whether or not you report
may be up to you.

Again, you should talk to a lawyer prior to talking to LE. My guess is
that your lawyer is going to tell you to wipe the drive and avoid LE,
but circumstances vary. There's at least one interesting, nay
compelling, video on YouTube about whether or not you should ever talk
to LE about anything. You may even want to watch it with your attorney
before talking to him about this issue.

-- 
Dave Hull