Three major Internet provides have agreed to block access to websites and online discussion groups featuring child pornography, New York state attorney general said Tuesday. "The pervasiveness of child pornography on the Internet is horrific and it needs to be stopped," Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement on the agreement with Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cable.

"We are attacking this problem by working with Internet Service Providers to ensure they do not play host to this immoral business," he said, adding that the agreement "should serve as a model for the entire industry."

Internet providers had initially refused to control the content of communication between online users, but they finally agreed to block the pedophile content.

The agreement covers the entire United States and Cuomo said he was negotiating similar deals with other Internet providers.

Verizon, with 8.2 million users, and Time Warner, with 7.9 million, are among the five largest Internet provides in the world. Sprint is one of the three biggest mobile phone companies.