'Corpses and animals have more rights than women in porn': Ministers urged to close loophole ahead of summit with web firms Maria Miller requesting action plans from web firms before the autumn She says they must do more to ensure sickening images are banished Mail has been highlighting scandal of online porn access for children 'Unrelenting pressure': Culture Secretary Maria Miller said companies such as Google had not done enough to ensure sickening images are banished from the internet Corpses and animals have greater protection from being abused in online pornography than women, campaigners have claimed. As web firms are summoned to a Whitehall summit on tackling the tide of internet filth, ministers were urged to close a legal loophole which means it is legal to include scenes of rape in pornography. The rule, which insists that actors are over the age of 18, is at odds with the ban on possessing necrophilia and bestiality. An open letter signed by Mumsnet, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, the Trades Union Congress, rape crisis centres, and academics at Durham University demands 'urgent action against violent and misogynistic pornography' found on the internet. It adds: 'We specifically want the Government to close a loophole in the pornography legislation which allows the lawful possession in England and Wales of pornographic images that depict rape, so long as the actors are over 18. 'Depictions of necrophilia and bestiality are criminalised by the same legislation, meaning that animals and dead people are better protected than women and girls,' said the letter to the Daily Telegraph. A change in the English law would send a clear message that it is illegal to possess pornographic images that promote sexual violence against women. The call comes as Culture Secretary Maria Miller accused internet firms of "acting blind" over the proliferation of child abuse images on the net, as she summons them to a major summit on web safety today. She claimed companies such as Google had not done enough to ensure sickening images are banished from the internet - and promised to put "unrelenting pressure" on them to do so. She revealed that web firms will be tasked with coming back to ministers with action plans to tackle the pernicious issue of child porn before the autumn. Progress: Last week, Google donated £1million to the Internet Watch Foundation, which polices child abuse images and can get them taken down Mrs Miller said the fact that millions had been pledged by Google before the summit even starts proves their paucity of action beforehand. For the last year, the Daily Mail has consistently highlighted the scandal of online porn and how easy it is for children to access it. The issue was again illustrated in the aftermath of the Tia Sharp and April Jones murder cases. Both killers accessed pornography in the run up to the murders. Last week, Google donated £1million to the Internet Watch Foundation, which polices child abuse images and can get them taken down. Child abuse images are horrific and widespread public concern has made it clear that the industry must take action. Enough is enough Culture Secretary Maria Miller Days later, they put aside millions of pounds more to set up a global database of such pictures so they can be more effectively removed. And at the weekend, broadband providers BT and TalkTalk said they would put up pop-up warnings if anyone tries to link to a page potentially including child abuse images. Mrs Miller claimed that such progress had only taken place because of the impending summit, which opens today. "Child abuse images are horrific and widespread public concern has made it clear that the industry must take action," she said. Enough is enough. In recent days we have seen these companies rush to do more because of the pressure of an impending summit. Imagine how much more can be done if they seriously turn their minds to tackling the issue. Pressure will be unrelenting. 'We can't do nothing': Claire Perry, the Prime Minister's adviser on families, has called on internet firms to take action in memory of murdered children April Jones and Tia Sharp Internet firms have come under growing scrutiny following the conviction of Mark Bridger, who murdered five-year-old April jones after amassing a library of internet child abuse images. Mrs Miller will demand that the companies use their technological know-how to come up with new way to tackle child abuse images. A source at the Department for Culture said Mrs Miller was taking tough action because she was the "only mother" around the Cabinet table. 'I had an incredibly sad meeting last week with the parents of April Jones and Tia Sharp who said: "We just can't understand how you can put these terms into the internet"' Claire Perry, Prime Minister's adviser on families The minister had almost got more money out of Google in just a few days than HMRC had got out of them in the past year. The firm only paid £6million in corporation tax last year. "It is clear that Internet companies are not doing enough and can do much more," the source said. They have not come under this pressure before and therefore have not felt the need to act. The summit has already spurred the industry into action. The fact that in the last few days alone Google has found £4million to invest in this issue and the major ISPs have all committed to the introduction of splash pages shows that there is so much more than can easily be done when the companies engage. Why has it taken a Whitehall summit for the industry to realise the seriousness of this issue? Why have these companies ignored the widespread public concern for years? Companies have acted blind towards systemic problem of child abuse images. If they are allowed to act as though they are blind then they do not have to take responsibility. They must be made to acknowledge the extent of the problem and take responsibility. Last night Claire Perry, the Prime Minister's adviser on families, called on internet firms to take action in memory of murdered children April Jones and Tia Sharp. "I had an incredibly sad meeting last week with the parents of April Jones and Tia Sharp who said: "We just can't understand how you can put these terms into the internet." If I have to sit with parents who've had their children taken from them whilst images, the most appalling images of abuse are then found on those gentlemen's computers, we can't sit by and do nothing about that.