A law designed to protect children from pornography and sexual predators on the Internet sailed through the Senate on Friday.

The Criminal Code Amendment emanated from a Government Green Paper in 2003 and a subsequent task force called the Child Online Protection Task Group, Attorney General Sen. Philip Perinchief said.

The country's Internet service providers (ISPs) are partners in the legislation that will assist law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of suspected online predators.

Although every Senator seemed to welcome the amendment, there was a degree of caution about its enforceability.

Opposition Sen. Bob Richards said: "The Internet has rendered geography irrelevant — that's a great thing and a scary thing."

He was concerned about whether or not someone in another country trying to entice a child in Bermuda would be prosecutable under the new law.

Sen. Perinchief conceded the jurisdictional issues are problematic for law enforcement.

He said: "We work very closely with Interpol in order to track down the perpetrators. We are in better shape with Commonwealth countries than we are in non-Commonwealth countries.

"But our main point of contact is Interpol — the international police organisation. The next step is to put into place bilateral treaties and agreements in order to address this."

The Attorney General also said technology and cooperation with ISPs allows them to get a computer "fingerprint" and track suspected predators in cyberspace.

Opposition Sen. Kim Swan asked about prosecuting a potential tourist who might arrange a vacation to Bermuda as a cover to meet with a child propositioned online.

Sen. Perinchief said: "Even today Bermudians are monitored. The ones who go abroad to various places, they are monitored. I cannot put it any finer than that. With respect to traffic the other way, coming into Bermuda, again it's a monitoring process. If that person is identified the authorities are alerted. When that suspected predator comes into our jurisdiction, that individual will be monitored."

Government Sen. Wayne Caines and Opposition Sen. Gina Spence-Farmer said they didn't want the new legislation to put parents in a false sense of security. They both encouraged vigilance on the part of parents to ensure their children were not being lured on the Internet or inappropriately propositioned in a chat room.

Sen. Perinchief said every household in Bermuda will get an Internet education mailing as the new legislation is rolled out.