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Summit hailed a success
9 June 2004
Ensuring the protection of children remains high on the international agenda was the overwhelming consensus at a three-day summit in London in June.
International law enforcement agencies from England and Wales, America, Australia, Canada, and Interpol met with representatives from professional bodies such as the Internet Watch Foundation and childrens' charities to reinforce commitment to that aim.
Jim Gamble, National Crime Squad Assistant Chief Constable and Chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, said; "This summit has been a fantastic opportunity for us to bring together collective thinking with the common aim of protecting children.
"Around 20 delegates met to discuss the progress of the Virtual Global Task Force over the last six months, to share ideas and best practice, and develop a way forward to keep the issue high on the public agenda.
"We hope to have regular sessions to ensure this partnership continues to grow and develop. The Task Force is a key international weapon in the fight against online paedophile activity and we want to build on the launch of Operation Pin and develop new initiatives which disrupt this kind of activity and seriously undermine the confidence of those who think the internet is anonymous.
"We have come away from this summit with many news ideas to consider and progress to ensure that the fight against exploitation of children and the abuse of the internet is something at which we all work together to eliminate.
"Law enforcement agencies working with support groups, childrens' charities and other organisations such as internet service providers, must continue to campaign for this issue to be high on the political agenda and ensure that funds are no obstacle in doing so.
"We all need to keep thinking of new ways to tackle offenders and ensure that no-one profits from this evil trade."
Organised by the National Crime Squad, the event followed the launch of the International Virtual Global Task Force in December 2003, aimed at targeting those who search for images of child abuse on the Internet.
Operation Pin is a web-based crime reduction initiative that uses a website which purports to contain images of child abuse. Anyone choosing this site is led through a series of pages, whilst prompted continually to withdraw from the process. If they chose to continue they will ultimately be taken to a page informing them they have entered a law enforcement website; that their actions constitute an offence, and that their details have been captured.