BBC NEWS | UK | Child porn site reports 'up 80%'

BBC NEWS | UK | Child porn site reports 'up 80%': "Child porn site reports 'up 80%'
Computer generic (pic: EyeWire)
IWF urges the public to report potentially illegal sites
The number of internet child pornography sites reported to police soared by almost 80% last year, according to a new report.

The Internet Watch foundation (IWF) said 6,128 sites investigated after reports to them from the public were illegal - up from 3,438 in 2004.

The 78% rise compared to an increase of 0.003% in the previous 12 months.

The increase was due to public intolerance of child abuse and better tracking of sites, the IWF said.

The organisation's annual report said 23,658 reports of suspicious content were sent to the IWF by members of the public with 6,128 then passed on to the police.

International co-operation"

BBC NEWS | Technology | US steps up fight on child porn

BBC NEWS | Technology | US steps up fight on child porn: "US steps up fight on child porn
A hand types on a keyboard
Alberto Gonzales says child pornography is widespread online
The Bush administration is pushing for tougher measures to combat child pornography online.

The proposals were announced by US Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, who said that the net had created an 'epidemic' of child pornography.

He said the internet encouraged paedophiles to create 'new and increasingly vulgar material'.

The comments were made in a speech at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia.

Mr Gonzales highlighted the problem of adults preying on children in chat rooms and networking sites with the purpose of making sexual contact.

He quoted a study that said one in every five children is solicited online.

'It is simply astonishing how many predators there are, and how aggressive they act,' he said.

Out of control"

Academic Studies Starbucks Cultural Impact - Yahoo! News

Academic Studies Starbucks Cultural Impact - Yahoo! News: "LONDON - A cup of coffee is just a drink. But a frappuccino is an experience. So believes Bryant Simon, a historian who is searching for the meaning of modern life amid the round tables and comfy sofas of Starbucks coffee shops.
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Simon, who teaches at Philadelphia's Temple University, thinks that by spending time at Starbucks — observing the teenage couples and solitary laptop-users, the hurried office workers and busy baristas — he can learn what it means to live and consume in the age of globalization.

'What are we drinking, and what does it say about who we are?' Simon asked during a recent research trip to London.

His research has taken him to 300 Starbucks in six countries for a caffeine-fueled opus titled 'Consuming Starbucks' that's due for publication in 2008. He is one of several academics studying a type of 21st century cafe culture — Italian coffee in an American package — that has spread rapidly around the world.

Founded in Seattle in 1971, Starbucks Corp. now has 11,000 outlets in 37 countries, including 500 in Tokyo. There is a Starbucks's in Beijing's Forbidden City, and the round green logo adorns the streets of Edinburgh and the boulevards of Paris.

The company expects to open 1,800 new stores this year and aims eventually to have"