The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection has joined the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography. The coalition, which formed earlier this year and seeks to eliminate commercial child pornography by 2008, reports child porn sites they discover online to a central tip line. The financial member companies then block transactions for online child porn. In addition, members of the coalition help track sellers and buyers of child pornography when law enforcement opens an investigation.
Founding members of the coalition include AOL, American Express, Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, Discover, MasterCard, Microsoft, PayPal, Visa, Wells Fargo, and Yahoo!
The ASACP has been designated as a Collaborator. Collaborators advise the coalition on processes and assist in recruitment efforts.
ASACP’s Executive Director Joan Irvine traveled to Washington, D.C., for the June 20 meeting of the coalition. Irvine met with representatives from member companies, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Department of Justice, and congressional staff.
“We’re very excited to be participating in the coalition,” Irvine says. “ASACP has learned a lot during the past 10 years of operating our online CP reporting hot line. We want to share that information and explore ways to improve our interaction with financial institutions and government. It’s also a great opportunity for ASACP to showcase the adult industry’s efforts to protect children online.” Irvine adds that it was the one of the ASACP’s goals to enter the mainstream in its fight against child pornography.
ASACP technical consultant Brandon Shalton of Cydata Services also attended the meeting and participated on behalf of ASACP in the Financial Coalition’s Detection and Action working group.
The ASACP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating child pornography from the Internet. ASACP battles child pornography through its CP reporting hot line, and by organizing the efforts of the online adult industry to combat the heinous crime of child sexual abuse.
