Email from them:
Emailed on Behalf of Peter Johnson
Dear Stakeholder,
ATVOD has today published a research report providing data on the scale of underage access to adult websites. Although ATVOD acts to ensure that UK-based adult services keep hardcore porn out of reach of children, we have no powers to act in relation to websites operated from overseas, where most adult websites are based.
The figures we have published today reveal very significant levels of underage access and are based on the actual online activity of a demographically balanced panel of approximately 45,000 UK internet users. The figures also demonstrate the scale and nature of the overall UK market for online pornography and this has a bearing on the policy options for reducing underage access.
23 of the 25 most frequently visited adult websites provided instant, free and unrestricted access to hardcore pornographic videos and still images featuring explicit images of real sex. The free videos are offered as a ‘loss leader’ and are designed to encourage viewers to sign up to subscription services. None of the most frequently accessed services is operated from the UK, so they fall outside the scope of the regulations enforced by ATVOD.
Among other things, the report calls for Government action to make clear that online services which allow children to access hardcore pornography are acting in breach of UK law, even if the service is operated from outside the UK. Such clarity in law would enable the UK payments industry to act to prevent payments flowing to non-UK pornographers who make hardcore pornographic material available for children to view – an initiative that ATVOD and the UK payments industry have been working on for some time. Although such action would not affect the free services directly, such services depend for content and income on associated and affiliated pay services, so cutting off the flow of funds would remove their incentive and restrict their ability to provide free content to UK visitors without having robust age verification measures in place.
The full report is published at
http://atvod.co.uk/uploads/files/For...Only_FINAL.pdf.
Kind regards,
Susan Robinson
Office Manager/PA to Peter Johnson, CEO