Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, is proposing a steep 25 percent "sin tax" on Internet pornography sales to generate what he figures would be billions of dollars each year to fight pornography and Internet-related crimes against children.

"Who better to pay the costs of protecting our children from Internet pornography than the industry that has made billions of dollars offering it?" Matheson said Tuesday.

He is introducing a bill to do that in the House, while Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., is introducing it in the Senate.

Their bill would use money from the new tax to create an Internet Safety and Child Protection Trust Fund. Money from it would help combat Internet- and pornography-related crimes against children, and for initiatives to help parents exercise greater supervision over their children's online activities.

Alyson Heyrend, Matheson's spokeswoman, said the bill would tax every transaction on these Internet porn sites at a 25 percent rate.

That money would be collected from credit card companies and redistributed to law enforcement and educational efforts to go toward all of the work being done to crack down on pedophiles and Internet predators, Heyrend said.

Matheson noted that a new report by Third Way, a think tank and activist group, estimates that the new tax could generate up to $3 billion in annual revenue.

The bill would also require pornographic Web sites to use the latest age-verification software to help ensure that minors do not visit them.

Matheson said software now exists that allows Web site operators to require the same proof of age that brick-and-mortar stores require before selling pornography. However, he said only 3 percent of pornographic Web sites require age verification that goes beyond the "honor system."

"The porn industry has infiltrated our homes, and it compromises what can be an excellent learning tool for our children. It is inexcusable for Congress not to act," Matheson said.

"Families should not have to do battle against this industry by themselves. They need a weapon that hurts, and this bill is that weapon," he said.

Lincoln added, "Many adult-oriented Web sites in today's online world are not only failing to keep products unsuitable for children from view but are also pushing those products in children's faces. And it's time that we stand up and say, enough is enough."

Matheson and Lincoln said the need for their bill is shown in a new report by Third Way.

That report said that children ages 12 to 17 are now the largest group of consumers of Internet pornography. It also said the average age at which children are first exposed to pornography on the Internet today is 11 years old.

The report also said the online pornography industry itself acknowledges that between 20 and 30 percent of its traffic comes from minors.

The report added that the online pornography industry generates an estimated $12 billion in annual revenue — roughly equal to the annual revenue of ABC, NBC and CBS combined.

Also, it said 420 million individual pornographic Web pages exist today, up from 14 million in 1998.

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