Child Pornography

The sexual exploitation of minors (including child pornography) is strictly against US Federal law and (it goes without saying) North Florida Web’s Terms of Service.

North Florida Web does not tolerate child exploitation (including the distribution, acquisition, or storage of child pornography) in conjunction with North Florida Web services. Offenders will be immediately reported to law enforcement officials.

If you have encountered child pornography (or any form of sexual exploitation of minors, for that matter), please contact North Florida Web immediately. You may also want to contact law enforcement as well, either directly or through the NCMEC as described below.

The following are common questions and misunderstandings about North Florida Web’s policies on child exploitation and child pornography.

What is child pornography?

Legally, for something to be considered child pornography under US Federal law it must portray minors (that is, children under the age of 18) engaging in sexual activities or posed in a sexually suggestive manner (cite: United States v. Knox). Actual children must be portrayed, so (for example) drawings or written fictional accounts are not illegal.

In any case, if a specific instance even appears to be at all border-line, North Florida Web would still like to be notified.

Why is that site still up?

At times, people may notice that clearly illegal sites reported to North Florida Web remain online for some time.

While North Florida Web recognizes that such sites staying online for any length of time seems abhorrent, the real damage that occurs with child pornography—the abuse of those children pictured—is North Florida Web’s primary concern. It is also the primary concern of law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). For this reason, we are often asked to keep such sites online during the investigative process as this greatly facilitates actually catching the criminals involved and bringing them to justice.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of such investigations, North Florida Web is unable to comment on what is taking place behind the scenes. However, if you want to make absolutely sure that the matter is followed-up upon you may file a formal complaint with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, here:

• www.ncmec.org

They have an official relationship with many law enforcement agencies (including the FBI), and will route your complaint to the proper location.

Where do I send a complaint about child pornography?

You may send your complaint to the following email address:

• abuse(at)northfloridaweb(dot)net

Please include any relevant URLs, i.e., direct links to illegal images or pages containing such images.