Fighting porn on the Internet, one Web site at a time

To the editor: According to a survey commissioned by Morality in Media, 73 percent of U.S. adults think that viewing pornographic Web sites and videos is morally unacceptable. Court St. Anne of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas is participating in the White Ribbon Campaign to call attention to the problem of pornography and what individuals can do to fight it. The Internet is now saturated with Web sites peddling hardcore pornographic material, which is often pushed into people’s faces through e-mails, “pop up ads,” misleading domain names and so-called “mouse-trapping.” Distributing obscene material on the Internet is a federal crime. Americans now have a simple way to bring reports of possible violations of Internet obscenity laws to Federal prosecutors and to the Justice Department in Washington. The site is called ObscenityCrimes.org, and it’s a project of Morality in Media, a New York-based national organization that combats obscenity in all media. If you or your children have been exposed to hardcore pornography on the Internet, you can report it at www.ObscenityCrimes.org. You’ll need the Web address (“URL”) or name of the offending Web site in order to make a report. Morality in Media will forward the report to your U.S. Attorney (each state has at least one) and to the U.S. Justice Department in Washington for possible prosecution. Together we can protect our homes and families from pornography. Gerianne Horan Sugar Loaf The letter writer is a member of the Catholic Daughters chapter from St. Stephen Church in Warwick.