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Protecting the

Children The ETA joins in the fight against child pornography

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his year, the Electronic Transactions Association, with the approval and support of its board of directors, became a member of the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography, an organization that uses the expertise and resources of the financial community to combat the illegal traffic in pornographic images (and related material) involving children. Transaction Trends recently interviewed Ernie Allen, chairman of the coalition. Allen is president and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). He was a co-founder of the private, nonprofit center, which has helped recover more than 110,200 missing children while increasing its recovery rate from 62 percent in 1990 to 96 percent today. He launched the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) and built a global network that now includes 16 nations.

Allen came to NCMEC following public service in his native Kentucky, where he was chief administrative officer of Jefferson County, director of public health & safety for the city of Louisville, and director of the Louisville-Jefferson County Crime Commission. He is a member of the Kentucky Bar. Q: Can you discuss the history behind the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography and the coalition’s goals? A: The Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography is a groundbreaking marriage of private industry and the public sector in the battle against commercial child pornography. It is managed by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and its sister agency, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. For those readers who are not familiar with NCMEC, let me offer brief background. We are a not-for-profit

corporation, mandated by Congress to work with the U.S. Department of Justice as the national resource center and clearinghouse on missing and exploited children. One of the areas we address is child pornography, and we have been alarmed at what we’ve been seeing. Within only a few years, child pornography has become a multibillion dollar commercial enterprise and is one of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet. A consumer’s ability to use credit cards and other payment methods to purchase child pornography has helped fuel the growth of this despicable business. Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), former chairman and current ranking member of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, shared our outrage about this disturbing trend. He convened a meeting in the summer of 2005, where he challenged financial services companies to find a solution.

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feature The senator was direct in his message to the industry: “If people were purchasing heroin or cocaine and using their credit cards, we would be outraged and would do something about it. This is worse.” As a result, some of the world’s most prominent financial institutions and Internet industry leaders joined with us in the fight against Internet child pornography. The coalition is made up of leading banks, credit card companies and processors, third-party payments companies and Internet services companies. Its goal is to eradicate commercial child pornography by following the flow of funds and shutting down the payments accounts that are being used by these illegal enterprises. Q: Who are some of the prominent Internet and financial organizations involved? A: We have built an impressive roster of talent and expertise within the coalition. Thirty companies are now participating, including American Express, Authorize.Net, Bank of America, Chase Paymentech Solutions, Citigroup, Discover, First Data Corporation, Global Payments, Google, MasterCard, Microsoft, North American Bancard, Nova Information Systems, PayPal, ProPay, Standard Chartered Bank, Visa and many others. As you can see, we have a lot of firepower in the United States. A priori-

ty in 2007 is to expand our membership outside the U.S. Also, we’re interested in adding more organizations that are active on the merchant side of the payments business. The Electronic Transactions Association will be a great partner in helping us make that happen. Q: How is the coalition organized

“It’s important to follow the money and disrupt the economics of the child pornography business.” —Ernie Allen, Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography

and, without revealing confidential details, how does it operate? A: It’s important to note that many of the payments companies and Internet services companies have been combating child pornography Web sites on their own. But their individual efforts have been insufficient given the scope of the problem. The coalition allows a forum for them to combine resources, expertise and brainpower in order to make serious strides in this fight. We have built a clearinghouse to facilitate the sharing of information

A Growing Crisis • The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says reports of child pornography to its CyberTipline have risen every year since the tip line was established in 1998. In 1998, 3,267 tips were received. In 2004, that number jumped to 106,119, an increase of more than 3,000 percent. • Of those arrested in the United States for the possession of child pornography between 2000 and 2001, 83 percent had images involving children between ages 6 and 12; 39 percent had images involving children between ages 3 and 5; and 19 percent had images of infants and toddlers under age 3. • Approximately 20 percent of all Internet pornography involves children. Source: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

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among coalition companies, NCMEC and law enforcement. NCMEC built the clearinghouse, using its CyberTipline, which was launched in 1998 at the request of the United States Congress to be the 9-1-1 of the Internet. NCMEC expanded the CyberTipline to accommodate information from financial companies. Our mission is to follow the money.

First, we aggressively seek to identify child pornography sites with methodof-payment information attached. Then we work with the payments industry to identify the merchant bank and enlist that institution’s help in stopping the flow of funds to these sites. We work hand in hand with federal, state, local or international law enforcement, and the first priority is always criminal prosecution. However, our fundamental premise is that it is impossible to arrest and prosecute everybody. That’s why it’s important to follow the money and disrupt the economics of the child pornography business. Q: How have your efforts been received by law enforcement? A: Very well. In fact, we have four separate law-enforcement agencies supporting our efforts. Q: Can you point to any statistics or other evidence that shows the coalition is having an effect on the child pornography business? A: For confidentiality reasons, I cannot share statistics. But, I can tell you there are indications that we are disrupting the commercial child pornography marketplace.

feature For example, we’re seeing a trend toward these Web sites directing buyers away from credit cards and toward alternative payment methods to make the actual transaction. This tells us that it’s becoming more difficult for

Q: What prompted you personally to become involved in this effort? A: I’ve spent most of my career in child advocacy roles, many of those years with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. There

“We’re interested in adding more organizations that are active on the merchant side of the payments business.” —Ernie Allen, Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography them to rely on traditional methods of payments and that our efforts are having an impact. We’re encouraged by our progress but, at the same time, we’re realistic about the enemy’s determination and sophistication. The biggest challenge is to anticipate where these payments are headed, as we shut down access to the more obvious payment tools.

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was a time when we thought we had all but eliminated the child pornography problem. Then with the advent of the Internet, it was like fuel that touched a dying ember. Before long, we were seeing an explosion in the victimization of children. In particular, the commercial aspect of child pornography grew like wildfire. I knew there

had to be a way to go beyond traditional law enforcement solutions and address the financial aspect of this terrible business. Senator Shelby’s involvement helped make that concept become a reality. Q: What can Transaction Trends readers—most of whom work for companies involved in processing electronic financial transactions—do to help the coalition? A: I would say to your readers—if you are part of the payments business, please join our efforts. We do not ask for financial contributions, but we need your expertise in security and risk, compliance and anti-money laundering efforts. Anyone interested can contact me at [email protected]. In addition, if members of the public have knowledge of a child pornography Web site, they are encouraged to report it immediately to our CyberTipline at www.cybertipline.com or 800-843-5678. We need every resource to win this fight. And it is a fight we must win.