Will kitemarks keep your child's chatroom safe?

In response to growing fears that children are vulnerable to paedophiles on the internet, the UK Home Office last week published a report advocating that chatrooms for children be moderated by a responsible adult and stamped with a kitemark to certify their trustworthiness.

Claire Gilbert, from the ISP Assocation, believes subscribers would be prepared to meet any additional costs incurred by the ISPs. She said: "There may be additional costs to ISPs, but there will always be a market for moderated chat. Parents are prepared to pay extra for their children's safety."

Monitored chatrooms are obviously safer for kids, but hiring someone to read all the postings on a chatroom is expensive, and it still leaves other avenues open for kids to chat in.

Web-based chat, which involves data being posted to an internet site, is relatively easy to monitor. But Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - which allows people to communicate through a small downloadable client instead of a browser - is harder to monitor.

Robert Marcus, Director of Chatmonitor.com said: "Anyone with sufficient knowledge can set up an IRC server for relatively modest financial outlay, and although some are run by Internet Service Providers, the majority are not."

One web site estimated the number of live IRC chat channels at over 40,000.

Kitemarks were recommended to label safe sites in a report from the Internet Crime Foundation.

Key recommendations of the report, which is expected to form the basis for future legislation, include calls on ISPs to create, promote and monitor special chat areas specifically directed at vulnerable groups of young people.

The report also calls for extra resources for police, and a range of special measures, including panic buttons, to help protect children in chatrooms.