Initiative to Stop Child Porn Cash Flow
I don’t remember the last time I felt like singing the praises of a financial institution, but kudos to the institutions that have joined the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in cutting off the financial pipeline for child pornography. Here is an excerpt from their press release:
“FINANCIAL AND INTERNET INDUSTRIES TO COMBAT INTERNET CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
ALEXANDRIA, VA, March 15, 2006 – Eighteen of the world’s most prominent financial institutions and Internet industry leaders have joined with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and its sister organization, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) in the fight against Internet child pornography. The goal is to eradicate commercial child pornography by 2008.
The new Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography includes leading banks, credit card companies, third party payment companies and Internet services companies. Founding members of the Coalition include America Online, American Express Company, Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Discover Financial Services LLC, e-gold, First Data Corporation, First National Bank of Omaha, MasterCard, Microsoft, North American Bancard, PayPal, First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard, Standard Chartered Bank, Visa, Wells Fargo, and Yahoo! Inc.
The Coalition will work in collaboration with Child Focus of Belgium, the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children, the International Association of Internet Hotlines (INHOPE), the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.”
As the press release also states:
“The exact number of child pornography web sites is difficult to determine. In 2001, the CyberTipline operated by NCMEC had received more than 24,400 reports of child pornography. By the beginning of 2006, that number had climbed to more than 340,000.
“Not only have we seen an increase in reports of Internet child pornography, but the victims are becoming younger and the images are becoming more graphic and violent,â€? said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of NCMEC and ICMEC, and Chairman of the Coalition. “To eliminate the commercial viability of child pornography, we must stop the flow of money. To do that, we need the involvement of the world’s leaders in the payments industry and the Internet. The founding members of the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography are to be commended for joining this critical fight.â€?”
This is an excellent idea, it will be interesting to see if / how much of a dent it makes in this heinous problem.
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