NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - AT&T and AOL have followed in the footsteps of three other Internet Service Providers, agreeing with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to eliminate access to child porn Newsgroups.

Cuomo said an investigation conducted by his office uncovered 88 different Newsgroups that contained 11,390 sexually explicit photographs of children, some of which depicted rape and bestiality. AT&T is the largest ISP in the country, while AOL is the third-largest

"These agreements with two of the nation's largest ISPs to eradicate child porn websites from their servers tighten the noose around this despicable trade," Cuomo said.

Last month, Verizon, Time Warner and Sprint reached agreements with Cuomo. As part of the agreement, the three companies will implement new systems that will allow them to respond quicker to child porn complaints and pay a total of $1.125 million to help the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

They also agreed to get rid of all child pornography websites identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on their servers, as did AT&T and AOL.

Cuomo, himself, decided to start a new website, www.nystopchildporn.com. It provides details on which ISPs have signed agreements with Cuomo and provides consumers with contact information for ISPs that have not.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown, after Cuomo's first agreement, called for other ISPs to join in.

From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.