MASSIVE RISE IN CHILD PORN SITES

Vast majority of images are generated overseas

By Jamie Doward, home affairs editor

The Observer, UK, 26 February 2006
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1718252,00.html

The number of websites found to be offering child pornography to UK
internet users increased by 75 per cent last year amid fears of an
explosion in illegal images generated overseas.

The sharp rise will alarm child protection campaigners and raise
concerns that there has been a related increase in the number of
people accessing child pornography sites.

It comes as the government attempts to steer through parliament this
week the protection of children bill, which will bar anyone known to
have accessed child pornography from working with children. The bill
has been drawn up partly in response to revelations in The Observer
earlier this year that registered sex offenders, who have received
cautions for accessing or making child pornography, are continuing to
work in education.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the independent watchdog that
polices Britain's internet companies, will next month unveil its
annual report which shows a dramatic increase in complaints by the
public about child pornography in 2005. 'Last year's figures represent
a record,' said Peter Robbins, the IWF's chief executive. 'They had
gone down in 2004 and we thought we might have got a handle on it. But
unfortunately in 2005 they shot up again. The number of sites we found
that have got images on them has almost doubled.'

Last year the IWF investigated more than 24,000 tip-offs to its
hotline from members of the public concerned about child pornography,
a 40 per cent increase on the previous year's figure of 17,000. The
foundation subsequently took action barring UK internet users from
accessing more than 6,000 sites where it had discovered child
pornography, compared with 3,438 sites the previous year, an increase
of 75 per cent.

Less than 1 per cent of the sites were located in the UK, highlighting
the success of the police and the IWF in countering domestically
generated child pornography. But the fact that more than 99 per cent
of the illegal images come from overseas raises questions about the
ability of the UK authorities to extinguish the problem. 'These
concerns are to be expected,' said John Carr, internet consultant with
the children's charity NCH. 'As there has been a rise in internet
connectivity, so more people have the opportunity.'

Around 40 per cent of child pornography accessed in the UK comes from
the US. A further 28 per cent comes from Russia where, although the
production of child pornography is increasing rapidly, the authorities
seem reluctant to act. 'There is no liaison with Russia to tackle
these sites, so they stay up almost ad infinitum,' Robbins said.

A difference in approach between the US and UK authorities has also
led to problems. 'If a site is found in the UK, it's usually taken
down within 48 hours,' Robbins said. 'In America they tend to leave
the sites up once they are identified while the police gather evidence
for a sting operation. That's a problem for us in the UK, because
people continue to access the sites and commit offences.'

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 11:18:02 +0000, NewsHound  wrote:

>MASSIVE RISE IN CHILD PORN SITES
>
>Vast majority of images are generated overseas
>
>By Jamie Doward, home affairs editor
>
>The Observer, UK, 26 February 2006
>http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1718252,00.html
>
>The number of websites found to be offering child pornography to UK
>internet users increased by 75 per cent last year amid fears of an
>explosion in illegal images generated overseas.
>

I'm always amazed when these stories come out .I do as much wandering
around T'Inernet as anyone but have never accidentally come across
such sites ( nor do I want to ) but you would think they would surface
occasionally ..




Stuart