Trenton, NJ - The member companies of the New Jersey Cable Telecommunications Association (NJCTA) today announced that they were joining with cable companies nationwide, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) to take additional, voluntary measures to limit the distribution of child pornography on the Internet.

“We’re pleased to be a part of this new fight against child pornography,” said NJCTA Chairwoman and Comcast Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Elizabeth Murray.  “New Jersey’s cable companies have always taken aggressive steps to provide safe and secure online environments for their customers.  This effort is in keeping with our commitment to Internet safety.”

NJCTA member companies pass more than 95 percent of homes in New Jersey and provide fiber-rich, broadband Internet service to millions of customers.

As part of a national effort, the NJCTA companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NCMEC that signals the cable companies’ commitment to ensuring that no website on NCMEC’s list of active child pornography websites is hosted on servers owned by or controlled by the companies.  The companies also agreed to report any such instances to NCMEC and, where appropriate, revise their internal policies to take a harder line on child pornography.

“This is an important step in combating child pornography and the exploitation of children because the cable operators have agreed to remove child pornography sites from their servers and agreed not to host any child pornography sites, and for that they should be applauded,” New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said.

NJCTA member company Cablevision has been a long-time force in promoting Internet safety.  Cablevision’s Power to Learn program includes an innovative curriculum called Internet Smarts. This signature initiative encourages parents and teachers to work with children to examine digital media issues.  Internet Smarts provides a Family Resource Guide, interactive case studies, and an Internet Smarts certification program.  It can be found online at www.powertolearn.com/internet_smarts.

Meanwhile, Comcast and Time Warner have joined forces with several other media and telecommunications organizations to provide parents with an online safety information portal called “Project Online Safety.” The project provides links to all of the partner companies’ online safety resources and initiatives.  It can be found online at www.projectonlinesafety.com.

In addition, a nationwide cable campaign organized by the National Cable Telecommunications Association and Cable in the Classroom is educating parents about how they can monitor and control what their children are watching.  For more information, go to www.pointsmartclicksafe.org.

# # #