STOCKHOLM, Sweden - (Business Wire) Regulatory News:
In an effort to prevent the spreading of material containing child sexual abuse over the internet, TeliaSonera international Carrier today launched a free service allowing operators and Internet Service Providers the ability to deny their users access to web sites containing this type of material.
TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC) is a global provider of IP-services with a network spanning around the globe. A considerable amount of all internet traffic takes place in TSIC’s network. Taking a stand against child sexual abuse content online is an important part of TeliaSonera’s corporate social responsibility and with its global IP-network the company is in a good position to considerably prevent the further spreading of material containing child sexual abuse.
- Launching a service that prevents the spreading of this type of material is an important step toward protecting the safety of children all over the world. We now hope that our customers, operators and ISPs, join forces with us and activate this service toward their end-users, said Malin Frenning, President Telia Sonera International Carrier. The service is based on a solution provided by the Swedish company NetClean and uses a dynamic and comprehensive list from the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation. The list contains live child sexual abuse URL’s. Internet Watch Foundation continuously identifies and registers web sites containing child sexual abuse material.
- We are the first carrier to launch this type of solution in an international IP-network and we sincerely hope that our colleagues within the industry join this initiative, said Malin Frenning.
This is how the service works: The service denies end users access to previously identified web sites containing material with child sexual abuse images. This means that if a user, willingly or not, tries to access such a page, he or she will instead be confronted with a stop sign, explaining why the page is not available for viewing. The service has been developed together with the company NetClean and the identified URLs are continuously updated by the independent organisation Internet Watch Foundation.
Endorsements: “We commend TeliaSonera International Carrier’s efforts to stop the spread of child sexual abuse images on the Internet. Many companies have corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in place, but it is seldom that a single company can wield such influence and exercise its power to achieve such far-reaching effects to protect children around the world from sexual exploitation on the internet. We encourage everyone to join the efforts to block access to these websites.” Helena Karlén, Secretary General, ECPAT Sweden
“Childhood is delighted that one of the projects we have previously supported, NetClean Technologies, and one of our founding members, TeliaSonera, are finding ways to establish a strategic cooperation within an area that we know is both important and possible to influence. “ Gunilla von Arbin, Secretary General, World Childhood Foundation
“We fully support the initiative to implement international blocking of offensive websites. Blocking access to these sites is a vital step against a harmful industry and toward a safer world for our children. These sites are not just illegal and deeply hurtful for the abused children but also serve as the financial engine for the criminal activity on the Internet.” Anders Persson, Criminal Intelligence Officer at Interpol’s General Secretariat in Lyon, France and Chairman of the Sub-Group Victim Identification of Interpol’s specialist group on Crimes against Children
About TeliaSonera International Carrier(www.teliasoneraic.com) TeliaSonera International Carrier owns and manages over 43,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cable and has more than 100 points of presence across Europe, the US and Asia. In Europe, we handle more IP traffic and sell more capacity between countries than any other communications provider. Over 85 percent of the European internet market uses our IP backbone. Competing against other wholesale carriers from around the world, TeliaSonera International Carrier was awarded Best Wholesale Carrier at the World Communication Awards 2007. A crucial factor in clinching the award was the fact that we provide consistently high-quality services.
About Netclean (www.netclean.com) NetClean is the world leading company when it comes to develop tools to support every aspect to protect children online. NetClean has a wide range of experience in the field of combating child sexual abuse content online and develops its product’s in cooperation with police forces worldwide. NetClean also has a close cooperation with NGO’s, for example IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) and World Childhood Foundation, founded by H.M, Queen Silvia of Sweden.
About the Internet Watch Foundation (www.iwf.org.uk): The Internet Watch Foundation is the UK internet ‘Hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their inadvertent exposure to potentially illegal online content within our remit, primarily child sexual abuse images hosted anywhere in the world. We are a self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry, including internet service providers (ISPs), mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, telecommunications and filtering companies, search providers and the financial sector as well as other organisations who support us for corporate social responsibility reasons. We work in partnership with the UK government to influence initiatives developed to combat online abuse and this dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe to ensure greater awareness of global issues, trends and responsibilities. We work internationally with INHOPE and other relevant authorities and organisations to encourage wider adoption of good practice in combating online child sexual abuse content and to promote inclusive and united global responses to this dynamic, cross-border criminality.
TeliaSonera provides telecommunication services in the Nordic and Baltic countries, in Spain and the emerging markets of Eurasia, including Russia and Turkey. We are the leading European provider of quality cross-border voice, IP and capacity services, provided through our wholly-owned international carrier network. In 2007, TeliaSonera’s net sales amounted to SEK 96 billion, and at the end of December 2007 the total number of subscriptions exceeded 114 million in 18 countries. The TeliaSonera share is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and the Helsinki Stock Exchange, and the company is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Simplicity and service are important tools for us in creating profitable growth and value for our customers and shareholders. Read more at www.teliasonera.com
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TeliaSonera’s Press Office, +46-(0)8-713 58 30
