Fewer child-porn sites worldwide

There were 10% fewer Web sites depicting child abuse images last year than in 2007, reports the Internet Watch Foundation, a UK nonprofit organization. However, the child-porn images on these sites are more violent, the IWF adds. Graphic violent images were found in 58% of child-porn sites last year, compared to 47% of the sites the year before. Also extremely concerning is that "24% of the children used in the photographs and videos appear to be 6 years old or younger," the IWF said. According to The Economist, "Self-regulation by Internet authorities and Internet service providers (ISPs) may be having some effect in combatting the worst kinds of online crime.... Although a worrying 1,530 sites were in operation globally, this is somewhat lower than the peak of almost 2,000 in 2006, perhaps because of more effective cooperation from ISPs and better data sharing with international authorities. The IWF notes that domains are often moved around every few days, making it much harder to block them."