Readers Respond To Bob Evans' Column On Visa's Anti-Porn Battle

It's very refreshing to hear about this news and Visa's taking a stand. Visa deserves this praise and great publicity.
Mike Gromacki
Business Development Director, RCM Technologies

I sat on a federal grand jury a few years back, and we had a case of child pornography on the Internet. I guess I never really thought about what sort of images were being transferred and the ages of the children involved. I say "involved" knowing full well that this is not a willing involvement and the children used are the saddest possible of all victims. But it was an alarming, sickening case. If Visa is willing to put the might of its financial empire behind making it more difficult to continue this trafficking, I say, good for it. While I am a civil libertarian on most subjects, this one is different. And thank you for taking up the fight.
Cissy Henig

Bravo. Thank you, Mr. Evans, for your article regarding Visa's stand against child pornography. I don't know much about that filth, and I don't want to know; but it's necessary for the average American to understand that this is a huge problem, and we must stand against it.
Tim

Thank you for writing the column on Visa's positive efforts to curb child pornography. I'm a professor of business computer information systems at the University of North Texas, and it's great to have a current example of how IT can be used to uphold good moral values to use in the classroom. This is especially true now, when we have recently witnessed so many people in positions of corporate power acting out of greed. Let's hope every company follows Visa's lead!
Melinda Cline
University of North Texas, Business Computer Information Systems Department, Denton, Texas

Thanks a lot for this great peace of information and a well-written article. Is there a Web site or E-mail we could use to thank Visa for the action and to encourage other companies to follow Visa's initiative?
Cid

And kudos to you and to InformationWeek for bringing this great news to our attention. Great deeds, even if matched against self-interest, should be rewarded. And doing the good deed is, or should be, its own reward. Even more importantly, they should serve as examples to, and help generate backbone in, others to instill emulation. This process is served by communication and publicity. Keep up the good news. Good work.
Bill Hastings

Thank you for telling it like it is, Mr. Evans! A friend E-mailed me your column triumphantly championing Visa for its courageous--and ethical--stand against child pornography, and I can truly say I wholeheartedly agree, not only with its position in the marketplace, but also with your robust endorsement of the company's stance.

Here's to the innocent lives that may be spared because of these actions!
Kathee Flanagan Roque

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your column on the Visa/pornography situation. I wasn't aware of this overall, but it's obviously a topic that affects all those people who are trying to raise a child in a safe way, protected from anyone who's trying to destroy their innocence and freedom.

I'm wondering how the states can avail themselves of this information and use it to legally expose the companies and individuals who make a business of the exploitation of children.

I'm writing this as a mother and grandmother, not as an official envoy of the state of Minnesota, but am employed there. Your column was a great public service. Thank you again.
Mary Jonikas
Office of Technical Support Services, Department of Public Safety, State of Minnesota

I just read your column recounting Visa International's efforts to shut down kiddie "bad images and descriptions" Web sites, and distance their services and products from the perpetrators and users of this junk. While I feel as strongly about the deviants who wallow in this as you apparently do, I do have to question calling it a "global crisis." In the spectrum of things that might justifiably be called a "global" crisis, is child "bad images and descriptions" really up there with international arms trading, terrorist networks, environmental degradation in Third World countries, tobacco-company promotion of smoking, AIDS, unsafe water supplies, religious persecution, and so forth? What constitutes a "crisis"? My dictionary calls it a point at which future outcome may be determined. By that definition, I'd call kiddie "bad images and descriptions," and some of the other items I've mentioned, "acute" problems, serious in nature, long-lasting in duration, requiring long-duration solutions for remedy.

Maybe this is just a semantic point, but in today's hyperbolized society, I just think we see too many "crises" around us and tend to overlook the long-term solutions that many of these problems really require.

Thanks for giving Visa credit for its efforts.
Dennis Barr
Manager, Information Technology, Larkin Group

Thank you for drawing attention to Visa's willingness to take a stand against child pornography. It's truly refreshing to hear that a well-known American business is doing something good for human beings, particularly for children in this situation. I also appreciated the encouragement to imagine what else could be done.
David Sherve
VP, Marketing and E-business, MetricTest, Hayward, Calif.

Thank you for bringing Visa's stand for something good to the front. I agree with you completely and thank you for taking a positive stance for child protection!

God bless you and God bless Visa for your collective efforts to help children.
Brian Bruton
Garmin, Olathe, Kan.

Great reporting in Between The Lines.

Now, if you could only get CNN and other major liberal media to report on this, what an accomplishment that would be.

Please keep up the good work, Bob. Pornography drains our very souls and is a tragic disaster to our families.

God bless you.

Kudos to you, Bob, for bringing this to light. It's sad that this hasn't been a headline in all the major papers, magazines, and TV news shows. This is what the media should be shouting about, not killers, terrorists, and perverts. I'm certain if we promoted more of the good things in our lives, we would see even more of them.

I've had the opportunity to work with Visa on several projects over the years and found it to be a good organization with great people to work with.

Thank you again for highlighting a responsible act on the part of Corporate America. I hope that others will follow Visa's lead. Much can be done.
Peter Sides
PLSides & Associates

It's refreshing to see a company like Visa take a stand on this issue.
Doug Stetzel
Paragon

Thank you! An awesome article. You show equal courage in publishing this story. My guess is there are many who will read this who patronize these filth mongers and may just wake up. Pornography is epidemic, and it's about time we attack it like we have the tobacco industry.

Thanks again!
Jean-Paul Gauthier
Senior Account Manager, PixelMedia, Portsmouth, N.H.

Great article!

Kudos to you as well for publishing this type of article. Maybe more companies will try to do the right thing if for no other reason to get publicity for having morals! (It would be nice if they did good things to enhance society, but ...)

What a concept in today's dog-eat-dog world.

Thanks again!
Mark Stewart
Administrator Information Services, Texonics

It's nice to hear people taking a stand for what's right! There are so many people out there who call good bad and bad good, I wonder if there's any sanity or morality in the world any more. Historically, a society falls just after its morality does. But then, who ever learned anything from history?
Bill Skiff
OFT Database Unit

I'd like to pass along my kudos to Visa on a job well done! My only concern is that now that it's more common knowledge, alerted sites will be a little harder to find and prosecute. On the other hand, making it harder to find, less affordable, and much more difficult with which to connect is exactly the result we need.

Thanks for the heads-up article.
Ron Lance

Blessings to you for standing up and applauding Visa's efforts.
Ron Hensley
Systems Analyst, Southern Star