Los Angeles - (November 14, 2003) -Adult Sites Against Child Pornography (ASACP) discovered that Affiliate programs may be used by depraved webmasters as a method of payment for access to child pornography (CP).

ASACP`S Compliance and Site Review Manager investigates reports of suspect child pornography and passes on validated CP to the FBI and NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children). In tracking down the CP leads, he has been led to well-respected Affiliate programs that were unaware they were being used as a form of payment of CP memberships. He described the money flow:

A CP Operator will send out a mass email asking surfers to visit a CP website. The website URL is usually on a free hosting service. When the CP Seeker arrives at the website, they are prompted to join the CP website by paying for a membership at an adult website (non-CP) where the CP Operator is an affiliate. The CP Seeker is instructed to send the username and password for the adult website to an email address where the CP Operator can verify that the CP Seeker has joined the adult website. After verification, an email is sent to the CP Seeker containing login information to the actual CP website.

Everyone wants those who peddle CP in jail where they can no longer cause harm to children or to the reputation of the professional adult site industry. Sometimes well-meaning people post details about suspect CP sites on Webmaster boards. Such postings may alert the alleged criminal that an investigation may be in progress; thus, potentially affecting work by the FBI and the chance of apprehending these criminals. Also, it may appear that a company is promoting CP when in reality, the operators are unaware of the situation. As a result, some companies maybe wrongfully accused of CP, said Joan Irvine, executive director, ASACP.

At times ASACP contacts Affiliate programs to obtain information on offending affiliates or to facilitate direct communication with the FBI. Sometimes the FBI asks Affiliate Program operators not to deactivate such affiliates during the investigations as this enhances their ability to locate and apprehend the criminals. Therefore, ASACP requests the Webmaster community not to post suspect CP sites on public boards. Please report these sites directly to ASACP at (www.asacp.org/reportsite.html), NCMEC (www.ncmec.org ) or your local FBI office.

Some tips on how to better protect your company from child pornographers:

1. Be certain that none of your affiliates use terms that denote CP (www.asacp.org/list.html) to direct traffic to your site.

2. Place a disclaimer on your paysite join page to warn surfers against joining to gain access to another site. Inform them that their credit card, email, and IP are being logged and will be turned over to the FBI for prosecution.

3. Check your logs for surfers signing up, but never logging in as a member.

4. Comply with the ASACP Best Practices (www.asacp.org/bestpractices.html).

ASACP is the organization that helps the adult site industry make a difference in the battle against child pornography. Over 4700 adult sites that are taking a stand against child pornography by proudly display the ASACP logo. If you are interested in learning more about ASACP or helping in the fight against child pornography, please view the ASACP site (www.asacp.org ) or email [email protected]..

For further information, contact: Joan Irvine, [email protected]