The European Leisure Software Publishers Association Ltd launched its own white paper into the issue of computer pornography at the European Computer Trade Show due to concerns expressed by parents. The Association has called on the government to provide more police resources and increase police training in an effort to curb the amount of computer pornography that circulates both within and outside normal retail channels. If computer software contains anything that could be classed as pornographic it automatically goes to the British Board of Film Classification for a legally binding classification. For software that doesn’t qualify for this type of classification, the Association has set up an age suitability system with age categories of All Ages, 11, 15 and 18 depending on whether the software contains just nudity through to sexual innuendo and violence, to help parents decide whether material is suitable for their children. All members of the Association will put the age mark on their software. As the real problem lies with the black market, the Association’s Crime Unit has set up a Hotline for people who want to report pornographic material found on bulletin boards. The Association has found that the police are reluctant to investigate the instances of illegal computer pornography because of the difficulty of obtaining convictions. So the Association is prepared to act as the central point for the reporting and investigation of such material. Another problem, it says, is many parents don’t know the basics of how to operate the computer their child uses and so can’t check to see what is held on disk! – Abigail Waraker
