ISLAMABAD, March 31: Parliamentary secretary for establishment Asjad Malhi on Thursday told the National Assembly that the government was developing software to block pornographic sites on the internet.

In response to a calling attention notice concerning objectionable videos, he said the ministry of information technology was also in the process of drafting strict laws, including steps to block pornographic sites, to check computer related crimes.

The calling attention notice was jointly tabled by Begum Bushra Rahman, Dr Farid Ahmad Piracha, Rana Asif Tauseef, Chaudhry Anwar Ali Cheema and Mohammad Hanif Abbasi.

They were perturbed over the fact that some internet cafes had managed to prepare obscene movies through webcams hidden on the roof of cabins which were rented by the internet users for browsing.

These video compact disks later found way to the market. The members also asked as to why the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority was not taking action against such cafes.

Bushra Rahman deplored the mushroom growth of internet cafes and said the facility was being used only for pornography surfing instead of educational and positive purposes.

Mr Abbasi said two cafes had already been sealed for their involvement in making such videos and added that the internet users, both male and female, were also blackmailed by the owners of these cafes after making their objectionable movies.

He said he had asked the Rawalpindi district management to take action against such internet clubs but the authorities concerned had yet to take action.

Asjad Malhi said similar incident could happen at any place, but he assured the house that the government would take strict action against the internet cafes involved in promoting vulgarity.

However, the members took exception to what they called non- serious attitude of the parliamentary secretary in the matter and said parliament had a wide scope and authority to assume any kind of supervisory role to check such ills in society.

The parliamentary secretary said the internet service providers, which sublet contracts to the internet cafes, would be asked to ensure that the facilities were not misused.

He said the government had not permitted any internet cafe to film the activities of their customers and assured the house that if any particular case was brought to the notice of the government, strict action would be taken against the cafe concerned.

He said both police and the FIA would be used to check and punish the owners of such cafes, adding that the government would not allow anyone to go against Islamic values.