Thomson Reuters, International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and members offer recommendations for balanced approach

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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO FAMILY, NATIONAL, AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:

New Digital Economy Task Force Report Addresses Digital Economy,

Illicit Activity

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Digital Economy Task

Force (DETF) - sponsored by Thomson Reuters and the International

Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) - released its report

on the emerging digital economy and recommendations for policy makers,

financial institutions, law enforcement and others to encourage its

growth while preventing the sexual exploitation of children and other

criminal activity.

The DETF, co-chaired by Ernie Allen, President/CEO of ICMEC, and Steve

Rubley, Managing Director of the Government Segment of Thomson

Reuters, offers a regulatory framework that fosters the growth of the

digital economy, including digital currencies and alternate payment

systems, while addressing anonymizing technology and the growth of

"deep web" marketplaces that allow illegal commerce, including money

laundering, narcotics, weapons, stolen goods, human trafficking and

sexual exploitation of children, and more. Allen, Rubley and DETF

members unveiled the report at an event held at the National Press

Club.

The full report is available at

http://icmec.org/en\_X1/ICMEC\_Digital\_Economy.pdf.

"The digital economy and anonymizing technology hold great promise and

societal value, from offering financial tools to the world's unbanked,

to protecting dissidents and journalists from unjust government

reprisal," said Rubley. "But these benefits are clouded by those who

use the digital economy to commit illegal acts. While these are

complicated issues, we believe that a regulatory framework can grow

the digital economy - and confront those who seek to exploit it for

illicit purposes."

The recommendations offered by the DETF include: bolstering research

into the intersection of the digital economy and illegal activities;

increasing investment in law enforcement training and investigative

techniques; enhancing cooperation between governmental agencies; the

promotion of a national and global dialogue on policy; and more.

"The central challenge is Internet anonymity. There is an emerging

'dark web' that enables users to pay for their illegal transactions

using digital currencies," said Allen. "There is a difference between

privacy and anonymity. We simply cannot create an environment in which

traffickers and child exploiters can operate online with no risk of

being identified unless they make a mistake."

The DETF aims to educate the public and work collaboratively across

stakeholder groups, including government agencies, law enforcement,

corporations, academia, public and non-profit agencies, as well as key

industry players. The organizations selected for their experience and

expertise, include, but are not limited to:

-- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

-- Bitcoin Foundation

-- The Brookings Institution

-- Mercatus Center at George Mason University

-- The Tor Project, Inc.

-- United States Secret Service

The DETF launched in August 2013 and developed working groups to

address the sweeping impact of these technologies from fostering

financial inclusion to combatting illicit activities. The focus areas

for these groups included safeguarding human rights, regulation,

inter-agency coordination and law enforcement.

For more information about Thomson Reuters and the International

Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), please see

www.thomsonreuters.com and www.icmec.org.

CONTACT Alex Cook Thomson Reuters +1.651.687.6319 alex.cook@thomsonreuters.com Eliza Harrell International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) +1.703.837.6329 newsmedia@icmec.org

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140305/DC77332 Video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n\_ITFz0o6aE

SOURCE The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children

(ICMEC)

-0- 03/05/2014

/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140305/DC77332

PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

CO: The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC); Thomson Reuters; The Digital Economy Task Force (DETF)

ST: District of Columbia

IN: CPR HTS ITE ECM

SU: BFA CHI POL PSF LAW

PRN