February 06, 2006 12:29am
ASACP's 10th Year
Source: The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP)
by: Company Press Release
(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is marking its ten year anniversary. Founded in 1996, ASACP is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating child pornography from the Internet.
ASACP battles child pornography through its CP reporting hotline, and by organizing the efforts of the online adult industry to combat the heinous crime of child sexual abuse.
ASACP was started by Alec Helmy, president and publisher of XBiz, to help the professional adult industry disassociate itself from child pornography. "It's been an amazing ten years for ASACP and I couldn't be more proud of its accomplishments," Mr. Helmy said. "ASACP owes its success to the industry it serves as well as to the talented individuals who are on its front lines: Joan Irvine, Tim Henning, Brandon Shalton, Rick Louis and all other ASACP contributors."
Tim Henning is ASACP's Compliance Director, and has been with the organization almost since the beginning. He says ASACP was initially a very hands-on effort. "We focused primarily on the reporting hotline, which then received only about 10 to 20 reports per day by email. Each submission received a hand written response, and all valid reports were manually emailed to authorities. Trends and statistics were also tracked and documented manually. When you consider our humble beginnings, ASACP's metamorphosis and contribution to the battle against child pornography are quite startling."
ASACP has since expanded its capacity and resources as more and more companies have become involved as sponsors and members. ASACP now receives over 60,000 reports of suspect child pornography annually and forwards over 2,500 confirmed CP reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI, the State Attorney General's Office, and relevant international hotlines. Last year the American Society of Association Executives added ASACP to its Associations Advance America Honor Roll, and California State Assemblymember Paul Koretz presented ASACP with a Certificate of Recognition for its ongoing work protecting children. "ASACP's growth during the past decade reflects a whole industry coming together to do the right thing," said ASACP Executive Director Joan Irvine. "But the fact that there is still such a great need for ASACP is also a sobering reminder that our work must go on."
Special activities marking ASACP's tenth anniversary will take place throughout the year. In March, the Phoenix Forum's 2nd Annual Golf Tournament will benefit both ASACP and the Free Speech Coalition. There will also be a cocktail event at the XBiz Summer '06 Forum in July, and a celebration at Internext Summer 2006 in August.
Companies and individuals interested in supporting ASACP may go to ASACP.org for more information on how to get involved.
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