Overview
For all the great benefits the Internet delivers, it can also pose risks to people who are most vulnerable in society-especially children. Even kids who think they handle anything.

Verizon takes the issue of Internet safety and responsible online behavior very seriously. That’s why we are launching a wide-ranging program to alert people to the risks, help parents keep their children safe, and help law enforcement preserve a safe and healthy internet.

We’re calling our program, Verizon’s "Partnership for a Child-Safe Internet".

On December 4, 2006 the Crimes against Children Research Center is hosting the first Town Meeting sponsored by Verizon in this initiative at the Univeristy of New Hampshire in Durham. The keynote address will be delivered by New Hampshire Governor John Lynch.

At this gathering-and in other places across the country in 2007-we are bringing leaders from law enforcement, business, education, government, and non-profit groups together to discuss the challenges of delivering a child-safe Internet.

Our Partnership is more than just talk, however. Verizon is also:

• Providing customers with an industry-leading slate of online cyber-security tools and education programs to empower parents and children;
• Sponsoring research on emerging technologies to combat child exploitation;
• Working with partners like iSAFE, GetNetWise, SeniorNet, and the Internet Content Rating Association to deliver tools and information to various segments of the community, and
• Forging partnerships with groups like AOL and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to develop technology solutions to aid law enforcement in identifying cyber predators.

Whether it’s the nuisance of e-mail spam, the destructive of spyware worms and viruses, or the fear of scams or predatory online behavior, customers can look to Verizon to help understand the risks, learn how to keep themselves and kids safe online, and help ensure the full benefit of what broadband technology can deliver.