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Username: PageHowe
Date/Time: Fri, November 10, 2000 at 3:57 PM GMT (Fri, November 10, 2000 at 8:57 AM PDT)
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer V5.0 using Windows NT
Score: 5
Subject: Specific Content Restriction Criteria

Message:
 

 
       
      This is from the .kdis domains application. 

THE DOT COM CONUNDRUM

Challenging Issues Regarding Children and the Internet

Issue Product
.COM
.KIDS

Alcohol
¨    It is illegal to sell alcohol to minors in all 50 US States. 

¨       It is, however, legal to sell alcohol and advertise it to adults.  But there is no way to tell how old the person visiting a website is.

¨    The alcohol and advertising industries have expressed their desire to avoid advertising their product to children. 

¨    The World Health Organization’s European Charter on Alcohol has also addressed the issue responsibility in advertising regarding children.
Because children are the only constituency, the advertising of alcoholic products, promotion by and for the alcohol industry, links to alcohol industry sites or promotional material will be strictly prohibited on .kids websites.

Tobacco
¨       The sale of tobacco products to children is strictly prohibited.  But it is legal for adults to purchase cigarettes and so it is a very difficult issue on an anonymous Internet.

¨       Sale to minors via the Internet is also illegal.  Recently, Congressman Meehan of Massachusetts became aware of the lack of age restrictions at various sites, which offered cigarettes for sale.

¨       Meehan has introduced HR 2914 to prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors on the Internet.
Because children are the only constituency, the advertising of tobacco products, promotion by and for the tobacco industry, links to tobacco industry sites or promotional material, and obviously the sale of tobacco products will be strictly prohibited on .kids websites.

Pornography
¨       By law, the availability of pornography offline is limited to adults.

¨       The Internet has made that same adult oriented material much more easily available to minors online.  Not only is it available but also it is at times unavoidable.

¨       A study by the Safe American Foundation reported that 91% of teenagers said they unintentionally accessed web sites featuring pornographic, hate-based or violent material while conducting research for school or just surfing the Web.**
The laws regarding the distribution of pornography to minors in the will apply to all sites in the .kids network.

Because children are the only constituency, all pornography will be strictly prohibited on .kids websites.

Hate and Bigotry

 
The first amendment does not protect threats, and that includes racial epithets and racial animus.

 

According to Christopher Wolf of the Anti-Defamation League, “Where the activities of hate groups once were limited by geographical boundaries, the Internet allows even the smallest fringe group to spread hate and freely recruit members online by tapping into the worldwide audience that the Web provides. Technology also offers such groups the ability to post messages in chat rooms and communicate like never before.”  

 

Unfortunately, the anonymity of the Internet makes the current medium nearly impossible to police criminal hate.

 
All current law and the strictest of existing policy regarding hate related communication will be enforced on .kids sites.  Further, .kids will work with groups like the Anti-defamation league to develop a clear cut component of overall policy prohibiting the publication of hate related communication and material.

 

Privacy
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 states that it, “…is unlawful for an operator of a website or online service directed to children, or any operator that has actual knowledge that it is collecting personal information from a child, to collect personal information from a child…” without, “…verifiable parental consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information from children.” Among other things.
Because children are the only constituency assumed on .KIDS sites, any and ALL requests for personal information will be required to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998

 

 

(Figure 1.1) ** "In Brief: Look What We Have Here." (October 11, 1999). Time



 


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