Advancing the fight against online kiddie porn

KUALA LUMPUR: The convenience of online payment solutions has allowed porn purveyors to hawk their wares on the Internet, and one credit card company intends to wipe this blemish off the face of the Web.

Since February 2002, Visa International has been actively searching the Internet for purveyors of child pornography around the world, and has been working with its members to withdraw payment facilities from these illicit merchants.

Visa has helped to shut down more than 750 such websites, the company said in a statement.

"As the global leader in payments technology, we support initiatives intended to protect consumers, merchants and members," said Peter Maher, Visa Asia Pacific (www.visa-asia.com) general manager for risk management.

"We naturally seek to prevent cards being associated in any way with illegal activity, including child pornography," he added.

The company said it employs specialists to scan more than one million webpages a day to detect websites offering child pornography and Visa facilities for payment.

Any Internet child pornography sites found are reported to law enforcement agencies for appropriate action to be taken.

More than 85% of child pornography sites the company has identified are no longer active or no longer accept Visa. The rest are in the process of being shut down.

"We work closely with law enforcement authorities and, in many cases, action to withdraw payment privileges can be taken within a day and the site itself is usually shut down quickly," said Maher.

Visa Asia Pacific has also launched a website (www.visa-asia.com/newsroom/acp_main.shtml) to provide information on its efforts to combat online child pornography. The site also has an address for those who wish to report suspicious Internet websites.

"Child pornography merchants identified thus far tend to be located outside Asia Pacific, especially in countries where laws prohibiting child pornography are lax or non-existent," said Maher.

"We continue to monitor Internet sites in Asia Pacific to detect any emergence of this business so that early action can be taken," he added.