QuickLinks - Protection of minors

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Issue no. 171 - 1 October 2000

• USA - Commission on Child Online Protection (COPA)
  COPA Commission Report Writing Meeting Scheduled for October 4-5 in Sterling, VA

Issue no. 170 - 24 September 2000

• Canada's Kids at Risk, Too (Wired)
  The Canadian government wants to enact tough, new legislation that would protect children from exposure to sex and violence on the internet and from video games. Led by British Columbia's attorney general, the provincial justice ministers agreed to explore the idea of establishing a national classification standard for video games. They are also proposing stringent measures to protect children from sexual predators who contact kids over the Internet. Canada - New law proposed to curb Net child stalkers

• USA - Children, Violence, And The Media (Senate Committee on the Judiciary)
  A Report for Parents and Policy Makers . Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Utah, Chairman. Prepared by Majority Staff

• USA - COPA panel wants billions more for cops (ZDNet)
  Also on the wish list: government-backed porn-filter testing, education programs and immunity for porn sites that follow the rules. see also COPA: Snoozin' in the Cabaña (Wired), Online Porn Panel Nears Consensus On Education, Enforcement (Washtech.com-USA) Anti-smut commission readies report to Congress (CNN), Strategic Prosecutions' Eyed against Net Porn (APBnews.com).

Issue no. 169 - 16 September 2000

• USA - FCC Seeks Comments on Digital TV Broadcasters' Obligations to Serve Children (Press Release)
  In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC has asked for comments on the obligation of DTV broadcasters to provide educational and informational programming for children and the requirement that DTV broadcasters limit the amount of advertising in children's programs.

• USA - FTC Releases Report on the Marketing of Violent Entertainment to Children (Press Release)
  The Federal Trade Commission released its report "Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A Review of Self-Regulation and Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music Recording & Electronic Game Industries." The report finds that while the entertainment industry has taken steps to identify content that may not be appropriate for children, the companies in those industries still routinely target children under 17 in their marketing of products their own ratings systems deem inappropriate or warrant parental caution due to violent content. see also Gore Lashes Out at Entertainment Industry (Reuters).

     Conference

• USA - Adult Industry Leaders Gather to Battle Child Pornographers (Entertainment Wire)
  Adult industry leaders will gather in New Orleans September 22nd-24th for the IA2000 conference, the world's largest adult internet/audiotext trade show, to try to refine current and develop new methods to battle child pornographers. The panel of experts for "the fight against child pornography" seminar (10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on Friday, September 22nd) includes attorney Parry Aftab of Cyberangels and Andrew Edmond, the head of the chief adult website traffic monitoring firm, Sextracker.

Issue no. 167 - 6 August 2000

• Britain rejects public paedophile register calls (Reuters)
  The government has ruled out making the identities and whereabouts of convicted paedophiles public, but said it would consider demands for tougher child sex abuse laws after the murder of an eight-year-old girl. see also Government to look at 'Sarah's Law' (BBC), Paper urged to end paedophile campaign (BBC) and Sarah Payne - Some Implications for the Internet (Internet Watch Foundation).

Issue no. 166 - 30 July 2000

• Regulation on Advertising Aimed at Children in EU-Member States and Some Neighbouring States (European Audiovisual Observatory)
  Compilation of legal texts, short summaries, and other background information results by Dr. Susanne Nikoltchev, Legal Expert, European Audiovisual Observatory

Issue no. 165 - 22 July 2000

• New law restricts violent video games in Indianapolis (AP)
  Coin-operated video games in which people are decapitated, dismembered, mutilated or maimed will soon be off-limits to children in Indianapolis.

Issue no. 164 - 15 July 2000

• Germany - Internet-Cafes ignorieren Jugendschutz (tecChannel.de)
  Die Stiftung Warentest hat neun Internet-Cafes auf technische Ausstattung und Einhaltung der Jugendschutzbestimmungen geprüft. Die Tester landeten dabei sowohl in Cafes mit neuester Technik als auch in Spelunken. Der Jugendschutz bleibt bei den meisten Betreibern außen vor.

Issue no. 162 - 2 July 2000

• USA - New Reports On Children And Media (Press Release)
  The three new studies, Media in the Home 2000, Is the Three-Hour Rule Living Up to Its Potential? and Public Policy, Family Rules and Children's Media Use in the Home, examine how families use media and explore the implications of two major public policy initiatives established to help parents better supervise their children's television viewing: the Three-Hour Rule and the V-Chip ratings.

Issue no. 161 - 25 June 2000

• China - Internet cafes closed over fears for children (Ananova)
  Authorities in Fujian province have closed 45 internet cafes because they say children are becoming addicted to computer games and others are downloading porn. Police have passed a regulation banning internet cafes from being established within 200 metres of a school.

Issue no. 160 - 17 June 2000

• Internet Game Teaches Kids to Avoid Sex Predators (Reuters)
  Canada's national police turned to a small Vancouver-based multimedia company called LiveWires Design, asking it to develop a computer game to teach children how not to fall prey to sexual exploitation on the internet.

Issue no. 159 - 11 June 2000

• British parents see Internet's corrupting influence (ZDNet UK)
  One in three British parents see the Internet as more corrupting than either television or films, according to the latest research from the National Opinion Poll (NOP).

Issue no. 155 - 14 May 2000

• UK - Child mobile phone warning (BBC News)
  A major report into mobile phones and health advises limits on their use by children. While the Stewart Report has found no clear evidence that mobiles can damage the health of either adults or children, scientists suggest there may be some effect on the human body. The report says that, as a precaution, children should limit their mobile phone use until more research has been completed. And it recommends that mobile phone companies should not aim their advertising at children.

Issue no. 154 - 7 May 2000

• Protecting Kids, Here and There (Wired)
  How to protect children from people and websites that adults deem "harmful" was the subject of a panel discussion at a conference on Internet regulation in the U.S. and Europe sponsored by the University of Washington.

• ICQ shuts out adults posing as children (CNET News.com)
  It may be acceptable to lie about your age at a cocktail party, but don't try it with America Online's popular ICQ instant messaging service. In response to a tough new online child privacy law that went into effect two weeks ago, ICQ is forcing members under the age of 13 to forfeit their accounts. ICQ isn't the first service to kick members out of accounts to comply with the new privacy law. some MSN Hotmail members found themselves permanently shut out of their free email accounts after Microsoft enacted changes to comply with new regulations that mandate parental consent for Net users under the age of 13.

Issue no. 153 - 1 May 2000

• Study links violent games, aggression (ZDNN)
  A report published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology positively links video games and violence.

Issue no. 151 - 8 April 2000

• USA - Bill Introduced to Punish Net Molesters (Newsbytes)
  Children's online safety advocate and pro-mandatory Internet filterer Rep. Bob Franks, R-N.J., introduced a bill that calls for mandatory prison sentences for people who use the Internet to find children for sexual encounters.

Issue no. 150 - 2 April 2000

• EU - Community backing against violence to women and children (RAPID)
  The DAPHNE Programme, a Community action programme to fight violence against women and children, is ready to receive applications for the year 2000. DAPHNE projects cover trafficking and sexual exploitation, all forms of domestic violence and abuse as well as violence in schools and violence towards minority groups and migrants.

Issue no. 147 - 11 March 2000

• USA - Anti-Smut Panel Has No Money (AP)
  At its first and only meeting so far, a new government panel that must tell Congress before year's end about ways to keep Internet smut away from children found itself homeless and penniless.

Issue no. 145 - 26 February 2000

• Children warned against net predators (BBC)
  Canadian pupils are getting a computer game that teaches them how 'predators' use the internet to lure children away from home.

• USA - Wired Kids promotes safe and valuable use of the Internet (Press Release)
  The greatest risk our children face in connection with the Internet is being denied access to this wonderful educational and communication tool. Equitable access, effective use of the Internet in education, Internet safety and privacy. WiredKids.org launches on March 29th with a conference held in New York City.

Issue no. 144 - 19 February 2000

• Weblife: children and the net (Guardian)
  Worried about what your children will see on the internet? You have every right to be.

• EU - Safer Internet Awareness report (Childnet International / Fleishman Hillard)
  This report outlines the findings of a year long research study on safer Internet awareness commissioned by the European Commission. Click on "Results and Recommendations" and then "Summary Findings" or "Full Report".

Issue no. 143 - 12 February 2000

• USA - Florida Bills Take Aim at Kiddie Cyberporn (APBnews.com)
  One measure before the Florida Legislature would criminalize posting "lewd or lascivious" material that can be viewed by minors, and the other would mandate the reporting of computers housing child pornography.

Issue no. 142 - 5 February 2000

• EU - Internet-Diskussion über das Thema "Sichere Nutzung des Internet" (Niederösterreich Online)
  Chat-Nachlese.

• EU - Safer Internet Awareness actions (European Commission)
  Internet Action Plan. Links to relevant documents (draft 2000 call for proposals, work programme) and the presentations given at the Information Day on 27 January in Brussels. Online subscription to the awareness mailing list.

• USA - Criticism for Company Offering Free Computers to Schools (New York Times)
  ZapMe, a company that gives free computers to schools and sells advertising on their screens, is facing an attack from a broad coalition of advocates for children and other groups that object to the ads and the company's collection of data from students.

Issue no. 139 - 16 January 2000

• Council Conclusions (Official Journal)
  Council Conclusions of 17 December 1999 on the protection of minors in the light of the development of digital audiovisual services OJ 12.01.2000 C8/8.

Issue no. 138 - 9 January 2000

• New Website on advertising and children (AEF)
  The Advertising Education Forum (AEF) is a non-profit organisation for all parties interested in issues relating to advertising and children in Europe. The AEF provides a neutral forum in which the advertising issues may be discussed and in which constructive dialogue is achieved. AEF provides academic and scientific data on advertising and children and serves as a centre for research on the issue.

Issue no. 137 - 18 December 1999

• EU - Awareness Information day, Brussels, 27 January 2000 (European Commission, Information Society DG)
  Mr Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for the Information Society, will address this meeting, organised in the context of the Action Plan on promoting safer use of the Internet. The purpose of this meeting is to encourage actions to increase awareness among users of the Internet, particularly children, parents and teachers, of ways to be able to enjoy the benefits of the Internet while avoiding illegal and harmful content, and in particular to:
  • inform participants of the results of the preparatory action on awareness http://www.netaware.org
  • hear from projects already under way or planned in Member States
  • explain the ways in which awareness activities can benefit from support at EU level
  • get feedback to the Commission from meeting participants
  • stimulate the formation of consortia to present projects under the 2000 call for proposals.
  DE | FR.

Issue no. 136 - 12 December 1999

• Child abuse and the Internet (UNESCO)
  The first regional seminar for the Balkan and Mediterranean regions on the subject of Sexual Abuse of Children and the Internet. Athens, 2-3 December 1999.

• Computer games and Australians today (Press Release)
  There is little evidence to support fears that playing computer games contributes substantially to aggression in the community, according to a groundbreaking study released by Commonwealth, State and Territory Censorship Ministers.

Issue no. 135 - 5 December 1999

• Canada - Web Awareness: Knowing the Issues (Media Awareness Network)
  A campaign to highlight the new challenges and issues that arise as children and young people go on the Internet.

• Online porn to be pulled off the Web? (The Register)
  A Canadian Internet company wants to clear the Web of porn by creating a new regulated network that prevents children and others from accidentally stumbling across adult material.

• UK - Secure site for kids launches (ZDNet)
  A secure Web site aimed at protecting children from pornography, Kidz.net, provides a walled garden of safe content for concerned parents for a monthly fee of £2.95. The site will be provided free to schools.

Issue no. 134 - 27 November 1999

• Author Finds Solid Sites for Children Amid Marketing Glut (New York Times)
  There are more sites to include in a new edition of a catalog of high-quality Web sites for children but there is a growing trend to commercialization.

• Screening out the kids (FT)
  Europe's television advertisers fear that hardening attitudes towards their industry will prevent them targeting a key audience. The European Commission is about to conduct research which will inform discussions between itself, manufacturers and the advertising industry.

Issue no. 131 - 4 November 1999

• Kinder: Unser bester Kumpel (STERN Online)
  Computer sind für die meisten Kinder so alltäglich wie Fernsehen, Fahrrad fahren oder Fußball spielen. Der STERN fragte Eltern, wie ihre Kids den digitalen Spielgefährten nutzen

• The V-Chip Arrives, With a Thud (New York Times)
  Program-blocking technology is now in tv's, but few consumers are aware of it.

• USA - What the TV Parental Guidelines Mean (V-Chip education project)
  In 1997, the TV industry began using a TV ratings system designed to give parents more information about the content and age-appropriateness of TV shows. These ratings are called the TV Parental Guidelines.

Issue no. 130 - 23 October 1999

• COPA Commission: too little, too late (PC Week)
  After a year-long silence and with an impending deadline staring him in the face, U.S. Speaker of the House is set to announce his recommendations for appointment to the Children's Online Protection Act Commission.

Issue no. 129 - 16 October 1999

• Grüner Schleim statt rotem Blut (Heise Online)
  Wie gefährlich sind Computerspiele wirklich und reicht die Selbstkontrolle der Softwareindustrie zum Schutz der Kids?

• Justice Dept. Funds Antihacking Campaign (Industry Standard)
  With its $300,000 funding of the Cybercitizen Partnership, an awareness campaign coordinated by the Information Technology Association of America, the Justice Department is helping to educate budding Web users about how to be responsible, law-abiding surfers. The campaign will initially target children 12 and under, aiming to teach them proper online behavior and to instill a healthy disdain for hacking.

• Minister presents safety pack for schools (BBC)
  The Superhighway Safety pack has been produced by the Department for Education and the British Educational and Communications Technology Agency, responsible for developing the National Grid for Learning, with help from the charity NCH Action for Children, the Parents Information Network, the British Educational Suppliers Association and Disney. The pack includes information on software to filter out unsuitable material and has suggested good practice for parents. see also Can the internet damage your child's development? (Guardian)

• EU - Protecting Children who use the Internet (PCMLP, ERICA, Center for Media Education)
  Project financed by the European Commission, DG Health and Consumer Protection.

• Hysteria grips U.S. over violence in video games (Mercury News)
  A sort of hysteria has gripped this nation with regard to video games, and it's making it harder for gamers to get the tools they need to play what should be a popular game for Sega's new Dreamcast system.

Issue no. 128 - 28 September 1999

• FSK will den Jugendschutz in neuen Medien vereinheitlichen (dpa)
  [German film censor wants uniform international rules for youth protection in new media] Um Jugendschutz in den neuen Medien zu gewährleisten, müssen nach Ansicht der Freiwilligen Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft (FSK) international einheitliche Regeln aufgestellt werden.

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