June 25, 2007 12:17am
ASACP, Adult Industry Launch RTA
Source: ASACP (the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection)
by: Company Press Release
(LOS ANGELES, CA) -- For the first time ever, an unprecedented combination of companies from the adult entertainment industry, internet filtering software companies, and free speech advocates have been assembled by the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) to create the RTA ("Restricted to Adults") website label. With recent reports emphasizing parental concerns in regards to the content that children view online, RTA underscores the online adult industry’s commitment to child protection and self-regulation by helping parents prevent children from viewing and accessing web-based age-inappropriate content online. A press conference was held prior to the opening of the Erotica Los Angeles 2007 to formally announce RTA.
"RTA is our initiative to make sure websites that are intended for adults only are clearly labeled as such," commented Joan Irvine, Executive Director of the ASACP. "Effective use of parental filtering technology can block a great deal of age-inappropriate material and our goal is to work with parents to insure our children’s safety."
"As an adult business, we naturally worry about free speech issues. But now we’re using our free speech to say "Restricted to adults – kids keep out!" Remarked Larry Flynt, publisher, Hustler
The industry coalition and support of the RTA label is a direct response to the federal mandates of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ Child Pornography and Obscenity Prevention Amendments of 2006 and the Senate Commerce Committee hearings, which included a requirement that adult webmasters place Meta tags in the headers of every page on their site or face federal prosecution.
The RTA label is a string of data that can easily be inserted into the computer code of any website. Webmasters copy it from the RTA web page for use on their own sites. The RTA label is free and universally available. When used with parental filtering software like Net Nanny or KidsNet, access to these adult sites is blocked.
Kim Nielsen, president of ATKingdom said, "As a parent, I take responsibility for making sure my own kids have a safe experience online. As a business person, I want to help other parents accomplish the same thing for their kids. The RTA label is an opportunity to do just that."
A few of the adult industry partners include AdultFriendFinder, Adult Industry News, AVN Media Network, Hot Movies, Hustler, the Best Porn, PornoTude, TrafficDude, Wicked Pictures and XBiz. Among the software companies, we have Contentprotect, CSWeb, Cyber Sentinel, Familink, Filtergate, IShield, Kidsnet (as well as other Blueprint Data’s Filtering Products), Net Nanny, Netsweeper and Parental Control Bar.
"BluePrint Data and Kidsnet believe that it is important for the adult industry, and all web sites, to voluntary self-label their Internet content as an important step in preventing children from viewing age-inappropriate content," stated Bob Dahlstrom, Ceo of BluePrint Data/Kidsnet.
"The ParentalControl Toolbar, created by Website
Ratings & Advisory Council (WRAAC), a free parental filtering application that recognizes RTA self-labeled congratulate the ASACP in its unprecedented efforts to encourage self-labeling in furtherance of the adult industry's commitment to child protection" said Jeff Young, Wraac's president.
Founded in 1996, the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating child pornography from the Internet. ASACP also works to help parents prevent children from viewing age-inappropriate material online.
More information about the RTA Meta tag and the program can be found at www.RTALabel.org.
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