The Hotline > Structure
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Structure
The Hotline is run as a service of the Internet Service Providers' Association of Ireland (ISPAI), a not-for-profit limited company, established by Internet Service Providers operating in the Republic of Ireland. The ISPAI is completely funded by the industry on a cost-sharing basis. A General Manager, who is an employee of the ISPAI, manages the administrative, financial and operational functions of the Hotline. The Hotline General Manager reports to the ISPAI Board of Directors.
The Internet Advisory Board, established in February 2000 by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, monitors the effectiveness of self-regulation of the Internet Service Provider industry on behalf of Government and specifically oversees and approves the operational procedures of the Hotline.
Members of the Board include representatives of the Internet service providers, An Garda Síochána, Internet users, Government, the Information Society Commission, education and child protection bodies, a legal advisor and the General Manager of the Hotline. Over the 30 month reporting period the Internet Advisory Board (IAB) has been closely involved with the development of Hotline procedures to cope with the evolving Internet environment.
Through its continued support and promotion by the IAB, the Hotline has become increasingly used by the public, as can be seen in the Analysis section [link]. The Hotline is recognised as the established service in the country to combat illegal content on the Internet.
The Hotline is very grateful for the support of the Government and An Garda Síochána who promote the Hotline through their websites and within the Garda pages in the National telephone directories.
The Hotline would not exist without the commitment of the ISPAI members. These are ISPs providing public Internet services in Ireland who take the interests of their customers and Internet safety seriously by financially supporting the Hotline.
At the time of writing there were 21 members: BT, eircom, O2, Vodafone, HEAnet, Irish Broadband, UTV-Internet, Irish Domains, Meteor, Verizon Business, NTL, Smart Telecom, EuroKom, Novara I.T., Clearwire, Blacknight, Strencom, Protocol, ICE Comms, Bitbuzz and Newbay.
The Internet Service Providers' Association of Ireland provides funding for the Hotline with the assistance of the European Commission
