Comcast, NetZero Agree To Block Child Porn

Following the threat of legal action from the New York Attorney General, Comcast and NetZero have both agreed to block access to child porn sites.

After being threatened by the New York State Attorney General, both Comcast and NetZero haev agreed to block access to known sites and Usenet newsgroups disseminating child pornography. Most other major ISPs (including Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Earthlink, and AOL—had previously agreed to block access to the sites using a blacklist maintained by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Comcast had previously indicated it believed it would eventually sign on to the agreement, but needed to work out details, although neither Comcast nor NetZero have offered any official comment on the agreement.

“I commend the companies for working with my office to aggressively eradicate online child pornography and strongly urge all outstanding Internet service providers across New York and the nation to get on board,” said New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in a statement. The Attorney General’s office has also set up a Web site about its efforts.

New York State’s action to get ISPs to block known child porn sites stems from an undercover investigation that found many ISPs provided access to known child porn Web sites and Usenet newsgroups, and in many cases failed to respond to customer complaints about the material. The investigation prompted Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to require ISPs to comply with a “code of conduct” whereby they would block access to known sites and newsgroups disseminating child porn.