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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
-- DC77332 --
0000 03/05/2014 16:27:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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