ASACP Boosts U.K. Efforts Through Governmental Outreach

LOS ANGELES—The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) has announced its successful participation in meetings that will help to shape the future of the Internet for digital media publishers and consumers in the U.K. and beyond. ASACP’s Director of European Outreach, Vince Charlton, attended the ParentZone launch of the PitDA (Parenting in the Digital Age) initiative, held at the House of Commons in London last month, where online child protection was the topic among British lawmakers, parents and other stakeholders, such as ASACP. Charlton notes that ParentZone fits in with the ASACP mission of educating parents in the digital era, making this organizational outreach a natural one that both groups will benefit from; while the association’s appearance in Britain’s halls of power is a major achievement for ASACP and its sponsors. Charlton also recently attended the high-profile Westminster eForum Keynote Seminar, “Childhood and the Internet — Safety, Education and Regulation,” in London. The Westminster Forum is part of an ongoing program of seminars and discussions and was attended by key players such as Claire Perry MP (the advisor to the U.K. Prime Minister on Preventing the Commercialization and Sexualization of Childhood, and the moving force behind the U.K.’s Internet filtering program); John Carr (the Secretary of the U.K. Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety); Pete Johnson from the ATVOD; and Adam Kinsley, BskyB’s Director of Policy, representing one of the major U.K. ISP’s implementing filtering of adult-oriented content. Both meetings provided ASACP with the opportunity to increase its presence as a stakeholder in any discussions regarding online child protection in the U.K. and beyond. “The two U.K. sessions provided ASACP with a further opportunity to maintain and develop key relationships with those parties involved in the U.K.’s online child protection arena and to help promote the adult entertainment industry as a credible stakeholder in these discussions,” Charlton states, noting that the interaction leads to the development of common ground. “A key message coming out of the discussions was that there is no wish to go down the route of censoring or blocking online adult content but simply to get the industry to self-regulate to ensure such content remains in the hands of adults and not children — without the need for further government intervention,” Charlton explains. “However, ATVOD again stated its intention to aggressively pursue those adult companies based outside of, but selling into the U.K. market, to implement age verification protocols for U.K. IP addresses.” It is very clear from these discussions that this issue is not going to disappear any time soon. “The online adult entertainment industry will need to address these key issues if it wants to sell into the U.K., and in all probability, into the European markets,” Charlton concluded, adding that “ASACP is now in a position not only to influence decision makers, but also to ensure that the regulator’s messages are clearly conveyed to the industry.” ASACP Executive Director Tim Henning congratulated Charlton on a job well done, saying, “Vince once again proved why he deserved this year’s ASACP Service Recognition Award, by enabling ASACP to have a place at the table where policies affecting the global Internet landscape for all digital media companies are being developed.” For those legitimate adult entertainment companies that support ASACP, this means that their voice will be heard too, where it means the most, and where proactive self-regulation, such as the use of RTA labeling and adherence to ASACP’s Best Practices and Code of Ethics, really can make a difference — but it can only happen with your ongoing help. For more information, please contact tim@asacp.org.