Cable companies agree to curb child porn

By Mary Manning

Thursday, July 17, 2008 | 5:45 p.m.

Nevada's two largest cable operators agreed today to help curb child pornographers on the Internet, state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said.

Cox Communications and Charter Communications are part of the agreement reached between the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"This agreement is another important step in protecting children from Internet predators," Masto said.

Cox Cable, serving Southern Nevada, announced that the company will block more than 25,000 Internet sites that carry child porn. If any Cox customer tries to view these child porn websites, they will get an error message.

The unprecedented industry-wide agreement not only protects the half-million Cox customers in Southern Nevada, but all its 6 million customers nationwide.

The agreement covers 112 million homes nationwide, representing 87 percent of all homes in the United States.

The agreement will be prepared and signing should take place within 30 days, all parties said today.