Introduction > ISPAI Report Introduction
ISPAI Report Introduction
The www.hotline.ie service, run by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI), has been in operation since November 1999. The Hotline provides a secure and confidential service for the public to anonymously report content they have encountered on the Internet and suspect may be illegal. It is through such complaints from the public that ISPs can be alerted that potentially illegal content may be hosted on their servers or has been distributed by customers utilising their Internet facilities.
The intention being that ISPAI members can remove such material from their servers or to close down offending accounts as quickly as possible. Naturally, where illegal activities are uncovered the Garda Síochána are simultaneously informed so they may initiate investigations to apprehend the offenders.
It must be emphasised that in seven years of operation, the Hotline has not received a single report that was assessed to be child pornography which was traced to ISPAI members’ facilities in Ireland. This is a fact of which ISPAI members can be proud and should be of great reassurance to customers.
Nevertheless many reports have been assessed by the Hotline as illegal under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act (1998). In every such case to date, the Hotline Analysts have traced the material to locations in other parts of the World. Even though this illegal content is located outside Ireland and so out of our direct influence, it is not ignored. The Hotline follows through on every report and will attempt to bring it to the attention of the authorities in the apparent country of origin. This is done either through the INHOPE network or by passing the information to the Garda Síochána to route it via Interpol.
We believe this is vital because in the case of child pornography there is an objective far more important than simply having this material removed from the Internet. It is the hope that the cooperation between ISPs and law enforcement will lead to the child victims being found and removed from further abuse irrespective of the country in which they live.
The aspiration of the ISPAI is that together with our international counterparts, law enforcement, industry, government and other stakeholders, we are containing (and hopefully reducing) the incidence of illegal content and use of the Internet. This is particularly important as our children must use the Internet from an early age to gain this new life skill which is fundamental to living in the information age.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to the Hotline Analysts, both in www.hotline.ie and the other INHOPE member Hotlines, whose daily work exposes them to the most harrowing scenes of abuse of innocent children. Without their resilience and dedication, which makes the Hotlines an effective service, the Internet would contain considerably more illegal content than the miniscule propotion existing today. I would also like to thank the Ministers of Government, particularly Michael McDowell T.D., Minister of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Brian Lenihan T.D., Minister of State for Children, Members of the Internet Advisory Board, An Garda Síochána and the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme and particularly the member companies of the ISPAI whose continued support has enabled www.hotline.ie to successfully continue in its work over the reporting period.
PAUL DURRANT
General Manager
ISPAI www.hotline.ie Service
February 2007
