Cuomo warns Comcast over child porn

[flashl]

ALBANY -- Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has notified Comcast Corp. that the state will take legal action against the media company if it doesn't agree to eliminate access to child pornography through its Internet service.

Cuomo wants major Internet access providers to agree on steps to remove certain newsgroups that contain child pornography and purge their servers of child pornography Web sites.

New York has already reached such agreements with AT&T Inc., AOL, Verizon Communications Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc.

"Last week, Comcast joined with nearly the entire cable industry and 48 state attorneys general and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children to sign an unprecedented, and highly praised, industrywide agreement to fight child pornography," Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said. "Comcast has been working with the New York attorney general and we expect to become a signatory to his agreement as well."

Cuomo was not one of the 48 attorneys general to publicly support the efforts of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and the National Association for Missing and Exploited children, because it was not as tough on online child pornography as his own code of conduct.

Times Union

Cuomo using the "What About the Children" memes appears to be making inroads into controlling the net while the gobbermit's efforts were unsucessful.

Years ago, protecting the children from porn on the internet may have been a valid concern. Today, there are hundreds of 'free' parental control and child protection tools available. Also, changing top level domain names (pornwebsite.xxx instead of, pornwebsite.com), which, I believe the porn industry proposed years ago, will greatly assist child protection.

Cuomo's broad shotgun approach to protecting children on the net will have the net benefit as lawmakers passing laws now to protect homeowners AFTER ignoring predatory lending practices for more than 15 years.

[I Have A Dream]

1. It's child pornography to which he's trying to restrict access.

It's not children accessing pornography. (At least from what you posted here; I haven't read the link.)

They're very different.

[flashl]

2. The memes is about children, if Cuomo knew of efforts over the years, most servers are abroad

that contains the offending material.

[I Have A Dream]

3. If they restrict access to those servers...

then they couldn't be accessed regardless of where they are located. (At least that's my understanding.)

However, I do think that this sets a dangerous precedent since I don't think that any of these companies can be trusted, and our government wouldn't hesitate to add political sites that it doesn't like to the list.

[flashl]

4. Blocking an entire server may cause probs when there may be only one offender. I am very suspicious

of any gobbermint enforcement that instructs a provider to limit Internet access.

When providers resist, we have the example of the FBI using carnivore under the 'color of law' and under the guise of Internet 'protection' that effectively shutdown Ma and Pa ISPs and Local Exchange Carriers (LECs).

When Cuomo and others, who are 'concern' about child pornography, demonstrate their 'concerns' by funding budgets to ensure that children are not living in poverty, then, I will be more open to their Internet 'concerns'.

[I Have A Dream]

5. Your concern makes sense. nt

[zbdent]

6. Millions of freeptards will be screaming in their mommy's basements ...

[MilesColtrane]

7. AT&T just started blocking it's usenet alt.binaries* hierarchy.

Jeez, what fun is it for them to spy on you, if they're censoring what you can look at?