ISPs urged to sign up for child porn filters

By KATARINA FILIPE - The Timaru Herald

A new filtering system to block websites with child sexual abuse images has been applauded by South Canterbury's Presbyterian Support Service.

The filtering system will be made available to internet service providers in a couple of months, though it is up to each ISP whether they sign up to it.

Chief executive Michael Parker said it was common sense for ISPs to join, as the filtering programme would not be necessary if there wasn't a problem with child sexual abuse in New Zealand. "We totally support it. All internet service providers should sign up."

Family Works counsellor Matt Rainey said staff would support anything that reduced child sexual abuse. He urged ISPs to join the filtering programme.

"Internet service providers, don't they have a moral or legal obligation there to not let that stuff past their door?"

Internal Affairs deputy secretary Keith Manch said the filter was a response to calls from the community that the Government and ISPs should do more to provide a safe internet environment.

According to the Internal Affairs, only 42 per cent of offenders who could have been jailed last year for child pornography offences found themselves behind bars.

"It is not a silver bullet that will prevent everyone from accessing any sites that might contain images of child sexual abuse, but it is another important tool in the department's operations to fight the sexual abuse of children."

Anyone trying to access websites offering child sex abuse pictures will receive a screen message saying the site has been blocked because it is illegal. If a site seems wrongly blocked, a user will be able to ask anonymously for the filter to be checked."

The filter was trialled with Ihug, TelstraClear, Watchdog and Maxnet over two years. It filtered out more than 7000 objectionable websites with no noticeable impact on internet performance.

Temuka man Cornelius Baars, 62, was sentenced in the Timaru District Court on March 25 to five months' home detention and 100 hours' community work on two charges of possession of objectionable material, after child pornography was found on his home computer.

On July 9 last year, a Pareora man was jailed in what was described as one of the worst cases in New Zealand, after 250,000 child sex abuse images were found in his possession.

Andrew James Robinson, 33, a freezing worker, was sentenced in the Timaru District Court to four years' imprisonment on two charges of indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl, four charges of making and 40 charges of possessing objectionable material.