Internet Watch Foundation

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**Internet Watch Foundation**
Detail of IWF's front page at http://www.iwf.org.uk/. The site's layout is composed to emphasize the "Report Illegal Content" button at center screen.
URL	http://www.iwf.org.uk/
Commercial?	No
Type of site	Internet Watchdog Group
Registration	No
Owner	Internet Watch Foundation
Created by	Internet Watch Foundation

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is a UK organisation formed in 1996 following an agreement between the government, police and the internet service provider industry that a partnership approach was necessary to efficiently respond to online distribution of child abuse images and other, often illegal content. The Internet Watch Foundation takes strides to encourage dialogue between law enforcement and the public on issues of illegal internet subject matter.

1 The Website
2 The Organization
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] The Website

The Internet Watch Foundation's website offers a web-based government-endorsed method for reporting suspect online material and remains the only such enterprise in the United Kingdom. Though their focus is child abuse, the group provides advice on a variety of concerns surrounding the online experience, including:

Chat rooms & Instant messaging
Child grooming (grooming a child for sex)
Copyright
Crisis hotlines
Cyberstalking
Domain names
Hate sites
Identity theft
Internet fraud & scams
Online auctions
Peer-to-peer services
Phishing
Premium rate dialers
Pro-anorexia sites
Spam
Suicide assistance sites (such as alt.suicide.holiday)
Terrorist Sites
Mobile Camera Violence

[edit] The Organization

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Logo of the Internet Watch Foundation.

In 1997, 18% of reported, potentially illegal content was hosted in the UK. The Internet Watch Foundation was subsequently established, made up of UK police & government officials, as well as representatives from major ISPs and telecommunications companies.