Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb has signalled a crackdown on kiddie porn - but said overseas legislation which has already nabbed computer paedophiles was not realistic.

In Britain, possession of child porn, downloaded from the Internet, carries a jail term.

In 1999 pop singer Gary Glitter was jailed for possessing computer pictures found by store technicians fixing his computer.

And last week a convicted paedophile was jailed for five years in the UK for possessing 404 images of young children on his computer,

However possessing computer porn or other forms of obscene material in Bermuda is not an offence.

Under Bermuda's Obscene Publications Act 1973, people can only be prosecuted if they import or publish obscene material.

The lack of such a law has frustrated Police who have found known paedophiles with sick images but have been unable to prosecute.

Last night Ms Webb said the Broadcasting Commission were looking at the wider issue of possession of traditional paedophilia but said UK-style laws on computer porn would not work.

She said: "Of course it's not realistic. It's pretty difficult to enforce it, it's almost impossible. How do you control what people download from the Internet?

"How can we police it? We don't want a law in place which is unenforceable.

"Realistic is the person who is getting the kids and taking the pictures. That's who you want to go after, not people accessing it.

"Once it's on the Internet it's in the public domain. You want to shut down sites. That's what's realistic in my view."

She said if people were found to be setting up obscene websites in Bermuda they were already breaking the law. But she said it was difficult to stop people downloading sick images from overseas sites.

On the wider issue of possessing other forms of child porn she said the Broadcasting Commission would report recommendations on how to update the Obscene Publications Act.

She added: "We are also looking at the possibility of amending the Electronic Transactions Act.

"It really affects the lives of the children, it's something which affects all of us. I have a child who is seven-years-old. We are looking at the whole issue in a realistic sense.

"In some jurisdictions they have chat lines and the police and government can do something about it.

"We are looking at all the options. My people are looking at other jurisdictions to see what legislation can be put in place."