§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his Department's estimate of the percentage of content providers on the Internet who publish material unsuitable for children but are currently taking part in voluntary self-certification. [4902]
§ Mr. MichaelInformation is not available in the form requested. However, I understand from figures compiled in April by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the independent industry body set up last year, that some 7 per cent. (1,419) if sites which are rated with the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC), the voluntary content ratings system developed by the RSAC512W in the United States of America, are in the United Kingdom. There is no United Kingdom rating system available, although the IWF hope to report shortly on their recommendations for the development of a self-rating system suitable for the United Kingdom, to which major Internet Service Providers would subscribe.