Age Verification

Originally posted by RolandYoung
To quote Russ's announcement:

"This is not because of the forum content alone, but also because the very nature of correspondence chess requires frequent private communication with strangers.

"This also allows us to comply wit ...[text shortened]... 's mind up, but in the long run, he may not have had much choice.

I think the above post is the crux of the matter. I checked the federal trade Commission's website and found How to Comply with COPPA at htp://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.htm.
Any web site operator who collects personal information from children under 13 including full name, email address, hobbies, etc is required to seek parental consent BEFORE obtaining said information. The relevant portion is as follows:

Verifiable Parental Consent

Before collecting, using or disclosing personal information from a child, an operator must obtain verifiable parental consent from the child's parent. This means an operator must make reasonable efforts (taking into consideration available technology) to ensure that before personal information is collected from a child, a parent of the child receives notice of the operator's information practices and consents to those practices.

Obviously, the feasibility of obtaining VERIFIABLE parental consent from parents all around the world would be cost prohibitive; the act would seem to require written or personal contact from the parent ("Verifiable&quot😉. The act became effective in 2001 so Russ would probably be in technical violation of the Act, although there are provisions allowing operators to come into compliance without penalty. Therefore, all the hue and cry about Forum materials seems to have little impact on this decision, although, as Russ states, it will have the side benefit of eliminating the issue of young children having access to inappropriate (for them) Forum materials.

Hadn't considered the legal aspect to all this. Ok. The kiddies are out until Russ has more time and/or money to do what it would take to allow them around otherwise.