Cuomo Applauds ISPs for Blocking Child Porn

By Rachel Ward

Rochester, NY – New York's attorney general was in Rochester today to promote his efforts to curb child pornography on the Internet. AG Andrew Cuomo says five new internet providers have agreed to block child pornography websites and drop child porn Newsgroups. Thirteen Rochester and Finger Lakes area providers are now cooperating with the Attorney General's office.

Cuomo says providers allowing access to websites containing child pornography could be charged as co-conspirators. He says that's because the images are evidence of illegal activity. He says when presented with that argument, most companies agree to settle by cooperating with his demands to block child porn websites and drop access to child porn Newsgroups.

Cuomo says he's not advocating for a boycott of internet providers who don't cooperate. He says that as the state's lawyer, he has to present consumers with the facts about their internet service providers (ISPs).

"They're [ISPs] hearing from my office with a legal theory but they're also hearing from New Yorkers who are saying 'we're gonna make a decision on what companies to use and what companies to invite in our house and this is relevant'. And ... it should be relevant. If you have a choice between an internet company that is blocking child pornography and one that isn't, it might be a relevant factor."

Rochester's most widely-used internet service providers, including Frontier, Time Warner, AOL and Clearwire, have agreed to block child porn websites. But three companies with local customers, Express 56, Orange County Online and Spin Internet, are listed as having not agreed to block the sites on the AG's website. Express 56 and Spin Internet are both owned by CAAR Communications LLC, whose number is unlisted. A number listed for the company on the Internet was consistently busy.

Cuomo says there's a business logic to not blocking the content: people who want to seek child porn will gravitate to those providers. But he stresses that makes the providers liable as co-conspirators in a criminal enterprise.