LOS ANGELES — The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection was in Washington D.C. last week participating in the semi-annual meeting of the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography.
FCACP is a group of the world’s most prominent financial institutions, Internet industry leaders and child protection agencies working together with the shared goal to eliminate commercial child pornography. Founding members of the coalition include AOL, American Express, Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Discover, Visa, Wells Fargo and Yahoo! among others.
ASACP Director of Technology and Forensic Research Tim Henning traveled to D.C. for the June 18 meeting of the coalition and participated in one of the FCACP’s working groups.
On the agenda was a discussion of accomplishments, challenges and the international efforts to fight child exploitation.
"Child pornography is a very profitable enterprise for criminals, which is why The Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography was created in order to stop the flow of money from CP," said Henning. "We are definitely making important strides in stopping the child pornography distribution network from using adult sites as a means to obtain money via credit cards."
Henning notes that in 2003, ASACP was able to implement a technical infrastructure that in turn made it more advanced in its capacity to alert sponsors and members if their sites are being abused by illegal affiliates that sell CP.
"In combination with ASACP’s child pornography reporting hotline and the diligence and support of the adult industry, we are making things very difficult for criminals trying to profit off of commercial child pornography, 90 percent of which comes from Eastern European Bloc countries," Henning said. "It is very important for the adult industry to remain vigilant in its fight against the sexual exploitation of children; however, by working together we are making significant progress.”
Founded in 1996, the ASACP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating child pornography from the Internet. The association also works to help parents prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate material online with its "Restricted to Adults" Website Label. Companies and individuals interested in supporting ASACP may go to its website for more information on how to get involved.
