Net Child Pornography

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Net Child Pornography According to Sex Offenders and the Internet, written by Kerry Sheldon and Dennis Howitt, “child pornography was considered to be a small and specialist issue-an adjunct to the broader problem of pornography of all sorts” (7). However, in the last decade there has been a considerable increase in child pornography. It led to professional and public awareness of internet use in exacerbating child sexual abuse. Ricky Martin is one of the professionals who work to stop the abuse of children worldwide. His foundation “People for Children” raises public awareness and influences public policy makers on issues such as child pornography, prostitution, and labor servitude. These three industries are said to generate $10 billion annually. In 2006, his foundation worked closely with Microsoft on a campaign that promoted child internet safety. Along with technology development, the need for stronger regulations on the internet to prevent exploitation of children is crucial. In this essay, I would like to discuss how the internet has facilitated the use of child pornography despite the many efforts to combat this unscrupulous market. Historically children have been sexually exploited, but the invention of the internet has provided easier and more prolific access to child pornographic material. According to Åström, the internet has no hierarchical structure, “The internet is thus, by its nature, completely unlimited by boundaries; a local connection gives access to a global arena” (17). Virtually anybody could connect with another person across the globe with a mouse click. No one owns the internet thus, the responsibility rests entirely on the individuals who use it. Although there are many companies and organizations managing the registrations of domain names and IP addresses, there are still endless opportunities for those who are computer
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