An Oklahoma City-based anti-porn group today announced a petition drive to ask Cox Communications to halt its distribution of Usenet newsgroups through its high-speed Internet service.
"Cox is distributing newsgroups that are generally known to carry child pornography and other obscene images," Paul Cardin, president of the Alliance for a Safer Internet, said in a press release. "It's been going on for years and it's time Cox put an end to it."
Established in 1980, Usenet is one of the oldest computer network communications systems still in widespread use. The Alliance said that with no personal registration with the group necessary, there are hundreds of explicit images collections available to the children of Internet subscribers.
"The material carried in some of these newsgroups is absolutely horrific," Cardin said. "And beyond the obviously illegal newsgroups, there are hundreds of other image newsgroups dedicated to every kind of pornography imaginable. We don't think Cox should be in the pornography business at all and we're asking them to discontinue offering all newsgroups, just like AOL did a few months ago.
"Cox has been a good neighbor in the communities it serves. But it needs to be a better neighbor than this," Cardin said.
On Friday, August 5, the Alliance notified Cox officials that they were
distributing “probably illegal material.” The Alliance notified “appropriate law enforcement agencies” on Monday.
Cox Communications serves about 7 million customers in 22 states.
The Alliance for a Safer Internet, Inc. is an Oklahoma corporation formed under IRC Section 501(c)(3) as an educational organization.
