By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

Five Internet service providers, or ISPs, serving Western New York have signed an agreement with the state Attorney General's office to rid their servers of child-pornography Web sites.

LocalNet, Windstream, Wild Blue, Onestream and WINC Communications have joined America Online, Verizon, RoadRunner, Sprint, Earthlink, United Online and HughesNet in agreeing to purge the offensive material from their servers. The agreement, announced Tuesday, also requires the providers to eliminate access to child-porn newsgroups, a type of message board that can supply illegal images.

The Attorney General's office said it sent a letter three weeks ago notifying LocalNet that it was opening itself up to legal action if it didn't sign.

However, LocalNet president Marc Silvestri said because the company has been following federal policies, as well as its own "strict" user policy, he "could not admit guilt where there was none."

"Our network has not and has never been alleged to be used for the transmission of sexually abusive images. It's particularly offensive to me to be painted with a broad brush," he said.

Silvestri said that in signing the agreement, his company has admitted no wrongdoing.

"The agreements in Western New York are effectively turning off the faucet of child pornography," AG Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday during a visit to Buffalo to make the announcement.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which regularly reviews and updates its registry of Web sites posting child porn, has partnered with the AG's office.

"We have seen a recent increase in the number of ISPs that are accessing our database of URLs known to contain child pornography," National Center for Missing & Exploited Children CEO Ernie Allen said in a statement.

A Web site, www.nystopchildporn.com, provides details on which providers have signed agreements and provides information on how to contact those that have not.

The agreement follows 2007 initiatives where Cuomo worked with law-enforcement agencies to investigate sex offenders who had been found on MySpace and worked with Facebook to create safeguards protecting its members, especially children from sexual predators, obscene content and harassment.

The Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP), which Cuomo sponsored in January and Gov. David Paterson signed in May, restricts certain sex offenders' use of the Internet and updates Megan's Law.