LONDON, May 20 (UPI) -- British police said that Internet companies like Yahoo! are hindering their efforts to trap online pedophiles by eliminating officers' undercover profiles.
While British authorities have condemned such policies that eliminate undercover profiles aimed at catching pedophiles, Yahoo! has maintained its stance that any counterfeit profiles will be closed down, the Sunday Times of London said.
"Everybody using our service, regardless of whether they are law enforcement agencies, has to abide by our terms of service and if they don't we will close them down," Yahoo! said.
Before the recent actions by several online companies, British police had created child profiles to catch individuals searching for underage sexual partners.
Detective Inspector Brian Ward said that some companies, including MySpace and Bebo, have begun cooperating with police.
"Up to about six months ago we didn't get any help covertly but now they are falling over themselves," he told the newspaper, "probably because they realize there are more benefits from cooperating than failing to cooperate with law enforcement."
