ISPs to Block Child Porn in U.S., France
As a result of an ongoing probe by New York state authorities, three major Internet service providers have agreed to block access to the Web by groups that use the Web to share child pornography, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced today.
Although it is with just one state, the agreement is expected to apply to customers of Sprint, Time Warner Cable and Verizon nationwide, reports the Washington Post, presumably because it would be untenable for the ISPs to have differing Web use policies for customers in different states.
The agreement is the culmination of an eight month investigation by New York authorities that “turned up 88 newsgroups involving 11,390 sexually lewd photos featuring prepubescent children,” the Post writes, citing Cuomo as the source of this information. “Among them were photos of children being raped and sexual activity involving animals.”
A similar, but broader, agreement was also announced today between France and the ISPs there, to block child pornography and content related to terrorism and racial hatred, CBC reports.
The French plan, which goes into effect in September, calls for individuals to notify the government of offending sites. The government then determines whether to include them on a blacklist that will be passed on to the ISPs.
“Canadian ISPs took similar measures two years ago,” the CBC article continues. “Eight of the largest in Canada reached an agreement in 2006 with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to block foreign websites that feature child pornography using a filter called Cleanfeed.”
The article says Canadian websites aren’t covered by the agreement, because they can be dealt with by the country’s law enforcement agencies. Meanwhile, most child pornography in Canada comes from the U.S. and Russia.
The agreement by the U.S. ISPs is expected to focus on newsgroups that exchange child pornography through Usenet, reports the New York Times. While blocking access there will make it more difficult for individuals to obtain child pornography online, it won’t be impossible, Cuomo’s office acknowledges.
Among potential obstacles to a complete elimination of online child porn: “Some third-party companies sell paid subscriptions, allowing customers to access newsgroups privately, preventing even their Internet service providers from tracking their activity,” the Times writes.
Additional coverage:
Christian Science Monitor: “ISPs take major step in curbing child porn”
Information Week: “ISPs Agree To Block Child Porn Sites, Newsgroups”
