Thus moves to rid servers of child porn

Thus, the owner of Demon Internet, said today it would become more proactive in monitoring its newsgroups.

In a statement, the internet service provider (ISP) said it will remove newsgroups from its servers if they contain paedophilic material.

Thus also said that it would lobby the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) - a key member of the self-regulatory 'notice and takedown' system that has removed the vast majority of child porn from UK hosted servers - to draw up a monthly hit list of websites that feature such material.

Keith Monserrat, director of legal and regulation at Thus, said: "While it is impossible for ISPs to stop all illegal content from being published on newsgroups, I believe that there is much that can be done to police what is currently out there, to protect the vulnerable and to increase our vigilance."

Thus is not the first ISP to choose not to carry newsgroups of this nature. "It's big news for Thus, but some of our members have barred newsgroups for a long time," said Nicolas Lansmann, secretary general of the ISP Association.

Thus' decision pre-empts a report on newsgroups due in April from the IWF, which questions the effectiveness of removing newsgroups en bloc, as the flexibility offered by the system means that paedophiles simply move to another newsgroup.