Internet providers gain varied support to fight child porn

by Mike Nixon

Dolan Media Newswires

ST. LOUIS, MO -- It is against the law and it is just wrong. Such was the general opinion expressed last week among those questioned about the sexual exploitation of children. At the same time, praise was offered for a group of major Internet service providers that announced plans to, by the end of this year, establish a database specifically designed to combat child pornography.

Backers of the plan confirmed the idea was intended to provide tools for law enforcement to head off distribution of such images over the Internet, and for litigators in the prosecution of offenders.

Yet, along with the unanimous support for the service providers' efforts, a word of warning was offered that more needs to be done than simply criminalizing the already criminal.

America Online, EarthLink, Microsoft, United Online and Yahoo officials confirmed that they had jointly pledged $1 million to establish a technology coalition with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

St. Louis-based Charter Communications confirmed that it plans to join the other service providers in a proactive initiative to combat child porn, but was not prepared to specify its level of involvement.

"After the story became public that people were banding together to do this, our Internet security people met and we are looking into it," said Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont. "We are not familiar with the technology that is out there to do this, but our technology operations people and the information technology people are scheduling calls with other online service providers to learn more about how it works. I'm glad they're on it."

According to information released by the participating service providers, child porn images can be tracked with the use of the mathematical signatures they leave. Each company is expected to determine how it will use the database. The ultimate goal is not just to catch criminals but to prevent child porn distribution.

One group siding with the service providers and law enforcement in the fight against child porn that might come as a surprise to many are producers and marketers of the on-line adult entertainment industry.

"All the larger companies in the business are very much opposed to child pornography," said Jay Servidio, president of Teleteria Inc., a turnkey operation that helps others establish adult-oriented Web sites.

Servidio said during a telephone interview from his home in an affluent Connecticut community, that while he and other industry leaders insist that adults wanting to participate in such online resources with other adults should have the right to do so in the privacy of their own homes, serious participants in the business draw a hard and definite line regarding anyone under the age of 18.

"Most of the people in the industry, like myself, have children. We do everything we can to protect our children," Servidio said. "We are very much opposed to anything regarding child pornography or the exploitation of children."

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, one-in-five girls and one-in-10 boys are sexually exploited in some manner by the time they reach young adulthood. One-in-five children between the ages of 10 and 17 receive unwanted sex solicitations online. Yet, fewer than 35 percent of sexual assaults in any form are reported to law enforcement officials.

Data collected by Alexa Research, Google, MSNBC, NRC, PBS and World Trader, lists the overall pornography industry - a term major players in the exclusively adult portion of this field find objectionable because of its negative connotations - as being a $57 billion business world-wide. Among that generated revenue, $5 billion is said to be secured by way of the Internet. Other areas in the financial breakdown include $20 billion attributed to the sale and rental of adult videos, $11 billion in escort services, $7.5 billion in magazines, $9.5 billion through sex clubs and telephone sex, $2.5 billion through cable and pay-per-view television, and $1.5 billion through other venues.

Experts contend that there are currently an estimated 4.2 million pornographic Web sites (representing 12 percent of all web sites). There are also 372 million pornographic Internet pages, 68 million daily search engine requests linking to porn sites, and 2.5 billion sexually explicit e-mails sent daily.

Service providers note that of 1.5 billion pornographic downloads, which is 35 percent of all downloads, 116,000 are child pornography requests. There are 100,000 Web sites offering child pornography. Sexual solicitations made in chat rooms are reportedly done by 89 percent of young males. And 20 percent of all youths claim they have received at least one sexual solicitation while online.

An estimated 40 million to 50 million Americans visit Internet sex sites on a regular basis. Approximately 20 percent of men admit accessing Internet porn while at work, while 13 percent of women admit to doing the same.

Many of those questioned claimed their visits to designated adult sexual oriented chat rooms are more for companionship than any form of sexual gratification, and women favor sexually oriented chat rooms twice as much as men.

When it comes to child porn, the average age of exposure to Internet images is 11 years. An estimated 80 percent of 15-17 year olds claim to have had multiple hard-core experiences. Ninety percent of children between eight and 16 years say they have viewed porn online.

Law enforcement authorities estimate that about 30 percent of children between the ages of seven and 17 give out home addresses to sexual predators over the Internet while an estimated 15 percent freely give their e-mail addresses.

"Child predators take advantage of Internet technologies not only to help distribute images of child exploitation, but also to attempt to conceal their criminal behavior," said NCMEC president and CEO Ernie Allen in a prepared press release.

Servidio said that the Internet sex industry is a booming business and that there is really no way to accurately measure the number of adult Americans involved in it either as producers or consumers. It is a business that those involved in exclusive adult entertainment do not want to see spoiled by those they insist are exploiting and abusing children.

"The major players I know all have families and would not engage in child pornography. First, it is illegal. Second, it would interfere with how they run their business. They would end up in lawsuits and in jail. They would not want to jeopardize a profitable business," Servidio said.

Servidio said that he has taken a strong stand against child porn on the Internet and in any other form. At the same time he said that effective rehabilitation must be included with the enforcement crackdown being planned by Internet providers. "Otherwise those guys are going to be right back at it when they get a chance," he said. He identified participants in child porn as having a sickness. "These are people who need to change, just like alcoholics and drug users. If they don't get that help they will go right back to it once they get out of prison."

A west St. Louis County woman, who declined to be identified by name, but who said during an informal and unscientific telephone survey that she herself runs a sexually explicit adult entertainment Web site, said she fully supports the efforts of Internet service providers and law enforcement to stop those who produce and distribute child pornography. "I think that is wonderful that they are doing that. There is a difference. If I choose to participate in this business as an adult that is my choice, but there is no excuse to take advantage of children like that," she said.

Allen said that the service providers taking an active role to combat child porn have the technological tools and know-how to reduce sexually abusive images of children on the Internet. "Similar tools have been used to protect users from other Internet related threats, such as spam, pushing and viruses. Now they can apply this to the fight against child pornographers," he said.

Lamont and Servidio separately agreed with the suggestion that like spam and viruses, even the best software will not completely stop some who are insistent on peddling and purchasing images of children that they and others in their respective businesses consider unacceptable.

Some have noted that the service providers' announcement came just as the federal government was pressuring them to do more to combat child pornography. Others contend that no matter how it came about, seemingly surprising sources are demonstrating a common concern as they call for an effective legal response to child porn - just because it's right.