Church offers access to `wholesome' Internet

Putting flesh to its objections to pornographic sites in the World Wide Web, the local Catholic Church dips its hand into the industry by becoming an Internet service provider (ISP) itself, offering access to only the "clean and the wholesome."

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) launched "cbcpNet" during the opening of the 80th Plenary Assembly in Tagaytay City.

In a statement, the CBCP said cbcpNet, "which will be operated on commercial basis, assures all its users of pornography-free Internet access by screening out all pornographic material and providing users with only the clean and wholesome sites."

To keep its goal, the CBCP said Internet access of cbcpNet subscribers will automatically "crash" once they attempt to surf a pornographic website.

CbcpNet, the bishops said, is their "pro-active" response to the proliferation of pornography on the Internet.

The CBCP said cbcpNet will provide Internet access to dioceses that do not have ISPs in their areas, and will host the CBCP and Philippine Jubilee websites.