In preparation for IWF Awareness Day on October 24, 2008, Afilias has announced that it has become a member of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). This will increase Afilias’ ability to be proactive in eliminating child sexual abuse content from the .INFO domain.
“Afilias has focused on discovering methods, at the domain name registry level, to create a safer Internet environment in the .INFO domain,” said Hal Lubsen, President and CEO of Afilias. “This year, we have been working with law enforcement and our registrars to get illegal or malicious sites shut down. Joining the IWF provides us with new information, including alerts about potential child sexual abuse content hosted on .INFO sites. This, combined with our new .INFO Domain Anti-Abuse Policy, provides a proactive and comprehensive security plan to protect .INFO users.”
The IWF (iwf.org.uk) is the UK’s Internet “Hotline” for the public and Internet industry to report potentially illegal online content, specifically child sexual abuse images, hosted anywhere in the world. The IWF helps the Internet industry in combating abuse through its alert service, which notifies service providers and hosting companies to potentially illegal content on their systems, as well as providing unique data to law enforcement and relevant authorities in the UK and abroad.
Peter Robbins OBE, QPM, IWF Chief Executive said “We are delighted to welcome Afilias as a member of the Internet Watch Foundation. As the first generic top-level domain registry to join in our efforts, Afilias and .INFO are demonstrating their commitment and responsibility amongst the international Internet community by contributing to work tackling websites that distribute sexually abusive images of children.”
RISG membership is open to all companies that agree to the RISG goals of security and corporate responsibility, and are able to contribute positively to the effort. Any company interested in RISG membership should contact any RISG member organization.
About .INFO
.INFO is the most intuitive path to information on the Internet. It was the first unrestricted generic top-level domain (TLD) launched since .COM and today contains over 5 million registered domains and millions of live Web sites. For more information on .INFO please visit www.info.info.
About Afilias
Afilias provides global registry services that leverage proven technology to deliver fast, reliable and secure service. Afilias’ technology supports a wide range of applications, including Internet domain registries such as .INFO, .ORG, .aero, .mobi, .asia, .me, and many country code domains. Afilias also provides services in the RFID market with its Afilias Discovery Service, which enables real-time lookup of event histories across RFID networks. Afilias maintains international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, sales offices in London, England, sales and operational facilities in Toronto, administrative offices in the U.S. near Philadelphia, PA, and operational offices in New Delhi, India. For more information on Afilias please visit www.afilias.info.
About the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF)
IWF (www.iwf.org.uk) works in partnership with the online industry, law enforcement, government, the education sector, charities, international partners and the public to minimise the availability of child sexual abuse content hosted anywhere in the world and criminally obscene and incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK.
The IWF is an independent self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry, including internet service providers, mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, filtering companies, search providers, trade associations and the financial sector as well as other organisations that support the IWF for corporate social responsibility reasons.
IWF works with UK government to influence initiatives developed to combat online abuse and this dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe to ensure greater awareness of global issues, trends and responsibilities. IWF works internationally with INHOPE and other relevant authorities and organisations to encourage wider adoption of good practice in combating online child sexual abuse content and to promote inclusive and united global responses to this dynamic, cross-border criminality.