| Close

U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation

For Immediate Release
July 17th, 2008

STEVENS PRAISES AGREEMENT TO COMBAT ONLINE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today praised an agreement between the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) to limit the distribution of child pornography on the Internet. Under this agreement, every cable company represented on NCTA’s Board of Directors agreed to use NCMEC's list of active websites identified as containing child pornography to ensure that no such site is hosted on servers owned or controlled by those companies.

“This agreement is an important step in combating online child pornography and I commend the groups involved for fighting against its spread across the Internet,” said Senator Stevens. “There is still more that government and industry can do together to protect children online, including education about proper online behavior and how to avoid viewing illicit material.”

Last year, Senator Stevens introduced S. 1965, the “Protecting Children in the 21^st Century Act” which passed the Senate in May. S. 1965 would require schools receiving E-Rate funds to offer education regarding online behavior, including social networking, chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response. It also creates an interagency working group to identify and encourage technologies and initiatives to help parents protect their children from unwanted content. The bill now awaits action by the House of Representatives.

# # #

Back to Story \| Print \| Close



For Immediate Release July 17th, 2008

STEVENS PRAISES AGREEMENT TO COMBAT ONLINE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today praised an agreement between the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) to limit the distribution of child pornography on the Internet. Under this agreement, every cable company represented on NCTA’s Board of Directors agreed to use NCMEC's list of active websites identified as containing child pornography to ensure that no such site is hosted on servers owned or controlled by those companies. “This agreement is an important step in combating online child pornography and I commend the groups involved for fighting against its spread across the Internet,” said Senator Stevens. “There is still more that government and industry can do together to protect children online, including education about proper online behavior and how to avoid viewing illicit material.” Last year, Senator Stevens introduced S. 1965, the “Protecting Children in the 21^st Century Act” which passed the Senate in May. S. 1965 would require schools receiving E-Rate funds to offer education regarding online behavior, including social networking, chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response. It also creates an interagency working group to identify and encourage technologies and initiatives to help parents protect their children from unwanted content. The bill now awaits action by the House of Representatives. # # #