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Chunghwa asks users to help fight Internet abuse

Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信) called on computer users yesterday to help it address an influx of pornographic material on one of its popular Web sites.

The company recently received complaints from Internet users that pornographic video clips had been uploaded on the company's "myweb" Web space, a free Internet space similar to YouTube, where users can upload video clips and share them with others.

In response to the complaints, the company immediately closed the site and deleted the pornographic material.

"Our free upload space is a target for this kind of attack. Offenders upload pornographic material and give the files `normal' names, which makes it difficult to tell whether they contain inappropriate material," said Chen Hsiang-yi (陳祥義), vice manager of the company's Data Exchange Department.

"The best way to combat this is by responding to customer complaints," Chen said.

The company would assign Internet inspectors to surf the Web site to ensure that no inappropriate material is uploaded or stored on the pages, Chen said. However, with offenders giving such files normal names, the task of the inspectors will be a difficult one.

"To express ideas and share material is the guiding spirit behind the creation of such an Internet space. I am sorry that such an idea would be abused in such a manner," Chen said.

In June, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) received a complaint from a concerned parent that pornographic material had been uploaded and stored on the "myweb" pages. The angry parent called the company's customer service department to complain, only to be told that it was the work of hackers and that the company could not do anything about it.

The Liberty Times contacted Chunghwa management and inquired about the problem.

"We take a strong stand against pornography. But no matter how hard we try, there will always be users who are willing to post inappropriate content, and for this I apologize," Chen said.

"The best way to avoid this from occurring again is for users to keep an eye out and report inappropriate material immediately," Chen said.
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