Child-porn chat shut down

The first thing that happened was that ads were pulled because they were - apparently without the knowledge of the advertisers - associated with "gut-wrenching chat room titles like 'Girls 13 And Up For Much Older Man'" and worse at Yahoo Chat, WebProNews.com reported. Yahoo has since shut the "hundreds, if not thousands, of chatrooms" down, KPRC reported today. "The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said the closed chat rooms would make an incredible difference in keeping children safe online," KPRC added. The x-rated rooms were buried somewhere among the thousands of chatrooms behind Yahoo Chat's nearly 20 subjects, from Business to Movies to Health & Wellness. Houston TV station KPRC ran an investigative report on the ads' positioning. "The exposé led to ... a $10 million lawsuit filed on behalf of child victims, and huge corporate entities pulling their ads from Yahoo," according to WebProNews. Pepsi, Georgia Pacific, and State Farm Insurance were among the companies that pulled ads. US Rep. Ted Poe (R) of Texas told KPRC that new legislation is needed. "Currently, there is no legislation in place that provides for prosecution of the chat room organizers. Only civil liability can be assessed under current law, WebProNews reported. Here's KPRC's original report.