GOOGLE AND MICROSOFT TAKE STEPS TO CURB CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

In response to the alarming proliferation of
photos and videos containing child
pornography on the Internet, Web search
giants Google and Microsoft plan to
introduce measures to block the content from
their search results.
The modifications will prevent more than
100,000 search terms from generating results
that link to images and videos associated
with child sex abuse and instead trigger a
warning that the associated content is
illegal. The restrictions, which apply to
English-speaking countries, will be expanded
to more than 150 languages in the next six
months, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt wrote
in an article for the Daily Mail on Sunday.
"We've listened, and in the last three months
put more than 200 people to work
developing new, state-of-the-art technology
to tackle the problem," Schmidt wrote.
"We've fine-tuned Google search to prevent
links to child sexual abuse material from
appearing in our results."
Once it's determined that content represents
genuine abuse and not innocent bath time
photos, the content is assigned a unique
digital fingerprint that speeds the detection
and deletion process when the images
appear in Google's system, he wrote.
"Microsoft deserves a lot of credit for
developing and sharing its picture detection
technology," Schmidt wrote.
Engineers at YouTube have also created new
technology to identify child porn videos on
the video-sharing site, and the company
plans to make the technology available to
other Internet companies and child
protection agencies, Schmidt wrote.
The effort is the result of a call to arms this
summer by UK Prime Minister David
Cameron, who praised the move as a "really
significant step forward."
"Google and Microsoft have come a long
way," he told the Daily Mail. "A recent
deterrence campaign from Google led to a 20
percent drop off in people trying to find
illegal content, so we know this sort of action
will make a difference."
The companies have long been focused on
eradicating child pornography from the
Internet. Google announced plans in June to
build a database of child porn images that
can be shared with other tech companies,
law enforcement, and charities around the
world, allowing for greater collaboration
toward content removal. In addition to
joining the Technology Coalition, which looks
at how technology can be used to end child
exploitation, the search giant has also
donated millions of dollars to nonprofit
organizations that work for the cause.
Microsoft has also actively battled child
pornography on the Web. The software giant
helped develop the hashing technology for
the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children's PhotoDNA program. The
technology is also used by other Internet
companies, including Facebook .
Do you think this steps taken by the two tech giant companies will reduce or totally curb the level of child pornography in the world? Drop you comments below let's know your view...