After the police became involved, threatening to close down Service Providers allowing access to suspect news groups, members of the Internet community banded together in an attempt to try and establish guidelines to eradicate the seedier side of the Net. .

Kerr thinks that recent high-profile media cases where child pornographers have been successfully prosecuted and jailed has deterred others from posting further material on the Internet. "It must have had had an effect on those who thought they could distribute it," he says.

Many of the cases which have been brought to the IWF's attention involve sites outside the UK. "In those cases the police will deal with their counterparts in the relevant country. It's encouraging that there hasn't been much illegal material originating in the UK," he says.

The initial brief of IWF was to deal with the menace of child pornography but involvement with monitoring the Net extends to anything illegal. "The test of what we can do is if it transgresses the law. If it does we will deal with it," Kerr says.

One area which Kerr has been looking at is racism on the Net. "If it can be prosecuted successfully we would ask the ISP to remove it and then pass on the details to the relevant authority," he says.

But one thing Kerr wishes to point out is that they are not the organisation which does the prosecuting. "We pass the information onto the police and authorities for them to take further."

Since the IWF was set-up some people have attacked the organisation saying it will start censoring what people want to say. "We were aware of the issue of freedom of speech on the Net," Kerr says. "For some people any involvement of the police and state means state control for them."

"But when it comes to breaking the law, what is illegal off the Net is illegal on the Net. We are not seeking to censor or control. We are only dealing with illegal activities that are going on."

Kerr is a realist and understands that it may be difficult to kerb child porn in countries where the laws are very lax, but he is looking to the government to encourage other countries to set-up similar organisations such as his. "Our government is working with other countries and there are discussions going on for the formation of self-regulating bodies like ours."

Later this year will see the introduction of guidelines for the UK Internet community to follow on the rating of published material, Kerr explains. "We will be recommending a system for Web sites by April this year and for newsgroups by the middle of the year."

The guidelines with be based on the worldwide industry PICS standard. "We want a coding system which is suitable for the UK," he says.

To put together the guidelines, the IWF has a board of 13 people representing the Internet community, children's organisations and other interested groups such as the Video Standards Council.

But despite the problems Kerr still sees a future for the Internet. "The Internet has enormous possibilities as a tool for education, business and leisure. We can't have its reputation tarnished by a small minority."