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January 16, 2007-NACHA-The
Electronic Payments
Association has joined the
Financial Coalition Against
Child Pornography. Sponsored
by the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children
(NCMEC) and the
International Centre for
Missing & Exploited Children
(ICMEC), the group's goal is
to eradicate commercial
child pornography by 2008.
Through its involvement in
the Coalition, NACHA will
continue its work to
preserve a safe and reliable
Automated Clearing House
(ACH) Network. "NACHA is
pleased to be part of this
important effort to
eliminate the use of the
U.S. payments system for the
commercialization of child
pornography," said Elliott
C. McEntee, President & CEO
of NACHA-The Electronic
Payments Association.
According to the
Financial Coalition Against
Child Pornography, child
pornography has exploded
into a multi-billion dollar
industry. The ability to use
credit cards and other forms
of online payment has made
purchasing child porn
easier. It is among the
fastest growing businesses
on the Internet, and its
victims are becoming
younger. According to the
National Center for Missing
& Exploited Children (NCMEC)
19% of identified offends
had images of children
younger than 3; 39% had
images of children younger
than 6; and 82% had images
of children younger than 12.
While the exact number of
child pornography websites
is difficult to determine,
the CyberTipline®, a
congressionally funded
reporting mechanism for
cases of child sexual
exploitation, reported
receiving more than 24,400
reports of child pornography
in 2005. That number
skyrocketed to more than
375,000 in 2006.
Aggressive action by the
Coalition can reverse this
trend. A similar effort in
the United Kingdom, run by
the Internet Watch
Foundation, resulted in a
major decline in online
child pornography sites in
Britain. The number of
websites, 18% at the
program's inception, dropped
this past year to 0.2%.
Senator Richard C.
Shelby, Chairman of the U.S.
Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs Committee is the
catalyst for the effort. In
a press conference held on
March 15, 2006, Shelby said,
"This Coalition will bring
together members of the
financial services community
and encourage their active
engagement in combating and
eradicating child
pornography. Banks and
credit card companies are an
unintentional part of the
problem. If people were
using credit cards to
purchase heroin or cocaine
over the Internet, people
would be outraged. What is
happening with Internet
child pornography is worse.
We have the technology and
resources to fight the
problem."
The Coalition will
operate an information
clearinghouse to provide a
unified system for
identifying illegal
activities and sharing of
information between
Coalition members. Members
will collect tips from a
hotline and disseminate
information to law
enforcement and financial
institutions and work to
establish a tracking and
feedback system. NACHA's
work in the Coalition and
with other payment networks
will ensure that efforts are
made across multiple payment
channels.
Other members of the
Coalition include American
Online, American Express
Company, Bank of America,
Capital One, Chase,
Citigroup, Discover
Financial Services LLC,
First Data Corporation,
First National Bank of
Omaha, Google, MasterCard,
Microsoft, North American
Bancard, Nova Information
Systems, PayPal, First
PREMIER Bank/PREMIER
Bankcard, Standard Chartered
Bank, Visa, Wells Fargo, and
Yahoo! Inc. |
