The law in question is the Child Online Privacy Protection Act, passed in 1998. Today, (Friday April 21) FTC rules implementing the new law take effect. You may be interested in the following information: FTC's How to Comply with COPPA http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.htm FTC's Privacy website http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/index.html According to the FTC guide, the following people must comply and thus will want to learn more about this: QUOTE If you operate a commercial Web site or an online service directed to children under 13 that collects personal information from children or if you operate a general audience Web site and have actual knowledge that it collects personal information from children, you must comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. * To determine whether a Web site is directed to children, the FTC will consider several factors, including the subject matter; visual or audio content; the age of models on the site; language; whether advertising on the Web site is directed to children; information regarding the age of the actual or intended audience; and whether a site uses animated characters or other child-oriented features. * To determine whether an entity is an "operator" with respect to information collected at a site, the FTC will consider who owns and controls the information; who pays for the collection and maintenance of the information; what the pre-existing contractual relationships are in connection with the information; and what role the Web site plays in collecting or maintaining the information. END QUOTE -Robert Cannon Internet Telecom Project www.cybertelecom.org ------Original Message------ From: "Moe Allen" <moe@vidnet.net> To: <nanog@merit.edu> Sent: April 21, 2000 7:10:50 PM GMT Subject: New Federal Law The Federal Government just announced a new Law that goes into effect today. ______________________________________________ FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com Sign up at http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup