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[BRUSSELS] - A new coalition of police, Internet providers, financial groups and NGOs was launched Tuesday to tackle the growing flow of child abuse pictures distributed online, the EU commission announced. The European Financial Coalition (EFC) - led by Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and including MasterCard, Microsoft, PayPal, VISA Europe and the NGO Missing Children Europe - will work together in the fight against child abuse images. On the law enforcement side, the EFC founding members also include Europol and the Italian National Postal and Communication Police. "It is a reality that the rapid growth of the Internet has opened up a serious criminal market for images of child sex abuse," said EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot. "The European Financial Coalition will help identify and protect victims, and, above all, confiscate the profits from these criminal activities," he added. However the EU's executive arm is still seeking more partners, including European nations, to join the anti-child porn coalition. The European Commission will provide up to 427,000 euros (537,000 dollars) in funding for the new coalition which was officially launched by Barrot and others on Tuesday at the London headquarters of CEOP. "By applying the individual lessons learnt and by coming together with our combined skills, focusing on collective objectives, we plan to eradicate the remnants of that industry once and for all," CEOP chief executive Jim Gamble said on the organisation's website. Further information
pdf: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090303/ts_alt_afp/eucrimechildpornographyi...