What would be the legal issues in creating a forum for schoolkids (ie 8-18 year olds) to post in? The forums would be seperate, ie year 3, 4, 5 etc all broken up into seperate grades. We all know kids are online these days, and if a safe moderated forum is provided for kids under 13 years of age (this seems to be the age of consent on most forums?), would there be legal issues?
Erm, pretty much the normal things, keep porn away from it and try not to make the kids gamble. Plenty of forums have under 13 access. Im sure there are many people here that are under 13.
Think it would be hard thing to monitor. You need to read up on COPPA. I know of an instance where middle age man was passing himself off a 12 year old girl as I remember. Shannon
The COPPA law was found unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. http://www.google.com/search?&q=COPPA+unconstitutional
Im not in the US. Yes, there are kids on forums, but what of a forum designed specifically for kids (to discuss school matters), thats the difference here. Why are there disclaimers on most forums when signing up to say you are over 13 years old? I realise it would be very hard to police, but Im up for it. At best, I might catch some of the filthy pigs in the act and get them caught... that'd be nice
Many of them are forms made by US companies/programers and havn't been updated since COPPA got creamed. *Think vBulletin or phpVB (php Virus Board).* I think vBulletin still has the under 13 rule, which you can turn off.
read these http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/childrens.html http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/biz.htm they should answer all questions.
also in vbulletin you can do it so they require to enter there birthday on registration, ok it aint a 100% gurantee of there real age but might stop some un-wanted people also on another note if your doing a site for both kids and teens i would give them both seperate sections on 2 different forums and not mix them
As far as I know COPPA is still in effect. I think you are thinking of "Communications Decency Act" (CDA) or COPA (not COPPA). Please show me where the COPPA was ruled on by the Supreme Court. You gotta read the articles Nintendo and stop speed reading google headlines.
Hmm. Well I don´t know diddly about COPPA this or COPPA that but I am a mother and I think after you wade through all that red tape you would have to convince the mamas that their kids are safe with you. How will you do that? There are sites on-line that I will put up for my daughter (4 yrs this month) and I know I can walk away and leave her playing for a while, but that is like Fisher Price or another Aussie one I forget the name of right now. For a little kid to participate on an online forum you are going to have to get the mamas interested and involved.
Damn Nintendo...are you having a hard time reading today. COPPA is not blocked..it's COPA that is blocked which doesn't mean declared unconstitional it just means that the are allowing the states to fight it out. Also COPPA is actually LAW. CDA (Communications Decency Act) was however declared unconstitutional. COPPA IS LAW and has been since 2000. If you operate a site in the USA and you have any type of member signup. You MUST have coppa compliance or you are breaking the law. It's just that simple. Coppa compliance is easy. Upon registration you ask if the person is 13 or older. If not you either give them a form to fax to you with a parent signature OR you simply boot them elsewhere. I suggest you actually read the links you post. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act
I definitely think this could be an idea worth exploring, but legally speaking and I have a business law degree, I think you are setting yourself up as a breeding ground for all sorts of bad people to visit the site knowing what type of audience they could go after. Children are online younger and younger these days, and I know they are less and less moderated by their parents. I think that this could be a very difficult task, which could leave you setup for investigations in the future, which obviously could make the news, essentially ending your site... at least in this audience area.
Good luck to you. I personally wouldn't want a forum for children, can you imagine being the moderator? Example posts: Poster 1: You did it Poster 2: Nuh, uh Poster 1: Yes you did Poster 2: Nuh, uh Poster 1: Yes you did Poster 2: Nuh, uh Poster 1: Yes you did Poster 2: Nuh, uh