New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte lent her strong support for an important agreement announced today by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) that will help prevent the proliferation of images of child sexual abuse online.

Specifically, the cable companies have volunteered to use NCMEC's list of active Web sites identified as containing images of child sexual abuse, to ensure that no such site is hosted on servers owned or controlled by those companies. The companies also will report these incidents to NCMEC's CyberTipline and, where appropriate, revise their policies around other potential sources of images of child sexual abuse. Together, the NCTA member companies involved in this important initiative – which includes Comcast and Time Warner Cable – deliver Internet service to 87 percent of the homes in America.

"The cable industry should be commended for helping to facilitate this dynamic partnership to limit the trading and sale of images of child sexual abuse," Attorney General Ayotte said. "I'm pleased to stand with my colleagues in 44 other states today commending our Nation's cable providers for entering into this important information-sharing partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Today's action will help protect the most vulnerable members of our community."

"We're pleased to have the support of Attorney General Ayotte and other Attorneys General across the country as we expand our efforts to address this important issue," said Steve Hackley, Senior Vice President of Comcast's Northern New England Region. "On behalf of our New Hampshire customers and our employees, we thank Attorney General Ayotte for her visionary support of this effort and for her leadership in other areas of cybercrime and online safety, too."

Further information on internet safety can be found at Attorney General Ayotte's connectwithyourkids.org Web site and the NCTA's PointSmartClickSafe online safety initiative www.PointSmartClickSafe.org.

Attorney General Ayotte said, "The NCTA agreement with NCMEC will limit the ability of predators to store and exchange images of child sexual abuse. This partnership with NECMEC and the cable industry will help parents, educators, and law enforcement keep our children safe when they use the internet."