Los Angeles, CA (February 11, 2010) – The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) honored EPOCH CEO Joel Hall with its annual Service Recognition Awards on February 10th at the XBIZ Awards.

The award ceremony took place at Avalon Hollywood and was a part of the XBIZ LA Conference. XBIZ is a business resource site for the adult web industry.

Ever since ASACP was founded in 1996, its success has depended on the contributions of its generous sponsors and members, its dedicated advisory council, and many other people who have volunteered valuable time and resources because they support ASACP’s mission of child protection. Each year, ASACP’s Service Recognition Award is presented to the person, or persons, whose consistent contributions have helped to make the organization’s work possible.

This year ASACP recognized the work of Joel Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Epoch. Epoch is an Internet Payment Service Provider which enables merchants to accept payments online. Joel is one of the founders of Epoch and its highest-ranking corporate officer. Joel began his career as a contractor at NASA where he became the youngest intern to receive a letter of commendation for his contribution to the Space Shuttle program. He has worked as a software systems architect in aerospace technology, high-tech manufacturing and financial software, and has over 25 years of advanced software and system design experience in both private and government sectors. He has been called a technology evangelist and is one of the most respected technical experts in the transaction processing industry. Joel was Epoch's Chief Technology Officer from the time of the company's founding in 1996 until he became the Chief Executive Officer in 2004. His responsibilities at Epoch encompass the management and strategic direction of every aspect of the company.

Hall stated, “Epoch is very happy to be a part of the efforts to make the Internet safe for children. We are pleased to receive this award and hope that the ongoing efforts of ASACP assist in the goal of keeping children safe.”

ASACP’s CEO Joan Irvine presented the award to Harmik Gharapetian of Epoch who accepted the award for Joel Hall.

“Joel Hall and Epoch have consistently stepped up to help ASACP, their dedication to our mission of child protection has proven to be a vital resource throughout the years,” stated ASACP CEO Joan Irvine. “Epoch has supported ASACP at the highest level, as a Platinum sponsor, since 2002. Epoch donates their staff time and resources to support ASACP and also has provided meeting space for ASACP’s advisory council for 7 years.”

Past recipients of ASACP’s Service Recognition Award include Stormy Daniels, Tera Patrick, Evan Seinfeld, Fiona Patten and Robbie Swan of The Eros Association, attorneys Greg Piccionelli and Lawrence Walters, technical consultant Brandon Shalton of Cydata Services, and ASACP Technology and Forensic Research Director Tim Henning.

Founded in 1996, ASACP is a non-profit organization dedicated to online child protection. ASACP battles child pornography through its CP Reporting Hotline and helps parents prevent children from viewing age-restricted material online with its Restricted To Adults – RTA Website Label. ASACP is the only association in the world that coordinates the adult entertainment industry’s efforts to protect children online. It has spent over 13 years creating progressive programs to protect children. ASACP’s relationship in assisting the adult industry’s child protection efforts is unparalleled. Companies and individuals interested in supporting ASACP may go to www.asacp.org for more information on how to get involved.