The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and its sister organization the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), have announced that Chase Paymentech Solutions, Global Payments, HSBC - North America and Washington Mutual have joined the Coalition.
“The commitments from these financial services leaders demonstrate the momentum of the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography,” said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC and ICMEC, and chairman of the Coalition. “Their collective expertise will go a long way toward helping us follow the flow of funds and disrupt this insidious business.”
Other members of the Coalition include: America Online, American Express, Authorize.Net, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citigroup, Discover, e-gold, First Data Corporation, First National Bank of Omaha, Google, MasterCard, Microsoft, North American Bankcard, Nova Information Systems, PayPal, First PREMIER Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Visa, Wells Fargo and Yahoo! Inc.
The Coalition’s goal is to eradicate child pornography on the Internet by 2008 — a goal shared by Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection Executive Director Joan Irvine.
“We’re very excited to be participating in the Coalition,” Irvine said. “ASACP has learned a lot during the past 10 years of operating our online CP reporting hotline. We want to share that information and explore ways to improve our interaction with financial institutions and government. It’s also a great opportunity for ASACP to showcase the adult industry’s efforts to protect children online.”