NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: November 13, 2008 Amy Blankenship at (202) 418-2500 STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER DEBORAH TAYLOR TATE ON PARTICIPATING IN 2008 HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT OF ITU COUNCIL FORUM ON CYBERSECURITY IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND I am honored to have been invited to join colleagues from around the world to launch the Child Online Protection Initiative (COP). UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Presidents from Rwanda to Burkina Faso, are calling on all of us to recognize the cybersecurity threats in this new digital age. I hope this event will provide a forum for sharing best practices, and result in innovative solutions to protect children as they navigate the potentially dangerous highways of cyberspace. I want to applaud Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun Touré whose strong leadership set the table for nations, industries, non-profits, and even families, to coalesce around a shared goal of providing children with the vast educational opportunities the internet affords, in an environment that protects their physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Broadband continues to take hold in both developed and developing countries. With over one billion internet users worldwide, many of whom are children, this is a threat we must respond to today. All of the world's children are depending on it.