Toc Autumn 2008 - Table of Contents
| Citation | Vol. 5 No. 2 |
| Publication year | 2008 |
5 Shidler J. L. Com. and
Tech. 6 1 Age Verification as a Shield for
Minors on the Internet: A Quixotic Search?
Shidler Journal of Law, Commerce and Technology Volume 5, Issue 2 Autumn 2008
Age Verification as a Shield for Minors on the Internet: A Quixotic Search?
Francoise Gilbert (fn1)
Francoise Gilbert
Abstract
This article examines the issues raised by the use of the Internet by minors and children. In addition to being an outstanding source of information and a tool for connecting people in numerous affinity networks, the Internet has a dark side. Its resources may be abused for many bad deeds, including cyber bullying or facilitating encounters with child predators. One way to protect minors is to ensure that their age and identity is verified. However, this is not technically feasible without infringing on the privacy of these children as well as that of the adults who might have to be screened as well, if only to prove that there are not minors. After looking at the current problems, the existing laws, and comparing with developments in other countries, the article identifies some of legal and technical hurdles before stressing the important role of parents, guardians and education. While legislators are playing whack-a-mole, chasing child pornography, child predators, and cyber bullying, parents cannot let their children venture on the Internet unprepared and unsupervised. Despite its friendly face and its very approachable demeanor, the Internet is not a nanny. Rather, it is a reflection of the world, a combination of the good, the bad and the ugly.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Background
Federal Legislative Activity
KIDS Act
PROTECT Our Children Act
State Legislative Activities
Foreign Regulatory Activities
United Kingdom
Spain
New Rules Affecting Social Networking Sites
MySpace
Facebook
Additional Domestic Legal Models
Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act
Verifiable Consent Under COPPA
Additional COPPA Requirements
Enforcement of COPPA by the Federal Trade Commission
United States v. Sony BMG Music Entertainment
State Action Under COPPA
Child Registry Laws
Electronic Authentication
Other Complex Issues
Privacy Issues
Data Security and Data Control
How to Ensure Adequate Authentication and Identification
Duration of the Authorization
Anonymity
Constitutional Law or Human Rights Issues
What Limits to the Proposed Silo System?
Global Issues
Worldwide Cooperation Needed
Which Definition of Majority ?
Which Content Would Be Restricted?
Effect on Product Design
Conclusion
Introduction
1 On the Internet, no one knows you are a dog.(fn2) In many instances, the freedom and anonymity of the Internet allows anyone to easily register on a website using any name or identity. Generally, one only needs an email address. Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo, for example, provide easy access to free email accounts. A savvy 12-year-old child can easily use an alternate identity obtained from a free email account, misrepresent her age, and obtain the user ID and passwords necessary to register on a social networking site or online liquor store. Conversely, it is also easy for an adult to portray himself as a teenager, and obtain the user ID and passwords needed to register with a site used by children or minors.
2 While the existence of child predators, pedophiles and other criminals is not a recent phenomenon, the ease of access to social networking or other websites that offer interaction between members has provided an additional venue for unsupervised encounters between adults and minors. The freedom and anonymity that these sites provide allows adults to meet minors online, move the relationship offline, and initiate sexual activities prohibited by law.
3 In response, legislators and Internet companies are looking at procedures, such as age verification, to protect minors from inappropriate material or contacts and prevent minors from accessing websites aimed at adults. Is it possible to achieve this goal? Are there more reliable and less intrusive methods? This article explores some of the issues raised by age verification and looks at the status of laws and government enforcement actions that focus on preventing minors from accessing websites intended for adults.
Background
4 The case Doe v. SexSearch.com provides a typical example of the controversy regarding social networking sites where there is no verification of the age or personal information provided by a registrant.(fn3) SexSearch.com is a website offering an online adult dating service that encourages its members to meet and engage in sexual encounters. Members provide information for a profile by responding to specific questions posed by the website. They may also upload photographs and video content to their profile. John Doe became a member of SexSearch.com, and shortly thereafter located Jane Roes profile. Jane Roes profile included her birth date, her age (eighteen), and an authentic image of Jane Roe at her then-current age. After chatting online through SexSearch.com, the two decided to schedule an encounter to take place at Jane Roes home. During the encounter, the two engaged in consensual sexual relations; however, it later turned out that Jane Roe was actually fourteen years of age, in spite of her online registration. A few weeks later, John Doe was arrested and charged with engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, which exposed him to a penalty of fifteen years in prison and a classification that might include lifetime registration as a sex offender.(fn4) Mr. Doe then sued the social networking site for having failed to adequately screen the minor during the registration.(fn5)
5 Concurrently, families are looking for ways to protect their children.(fn6) Victims of child predators have had trouble finding relief when attempting to hold the social network site responsible for having failed to prevent minors from lying in order to register on their sites. For example, in May 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of MySpace in a suit filed by a minor who had been assaulted by an adult whom she had met through MySpace.(fn7) The plaintiff, Julie Doe, despite being thirteen, had registered on MySpace, representing that she was eighteen years old. She met a sexual predator online, and was assaulted after arranging a face-to-face encounter. Julie Doe sued MySpace, arguing that the social networking site was negligent for not having implemented technological safeguards that would have prevented her registration and the subsequent meeting. The court ruled that the Communications Decency Act immunizes the social networking site from liability on claims that it was negligent in not protecting underage users from online child predators.(fn8)
Federal Legislative Activity
6 In the past few months, Congress has passed several bills aimed at increasing the protection for minors in response to the risks to which minors are exposed when using the Internet. The KIDS Act(fn9) and the PROTECT Our Children Act(fn10) increase federal oversight of the online activities of registered sexual predators and other online sexual activities that include minors.
KIDS Act
7 The KIDS Act (or Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2008) requires sex offenders to register with the National Sex Offender Registry the email address and other Internet identifiers that they use.(fn11) The new law mandates that Internet identifier information be kept current,(fn12) but exempts the information from public disclosure.(fn13) Additionally, the law requires the U.S. Attorney General to maintain a secure system to allow social networking websites to use this system in order to compare their records against the database.(fn14) The KIDS Act also grants the Attorney General the power to deny, suspend, or terminate use of the system by a social networking website for misuse.(fn15)
PROTECT Our Children Act
8 The PROTECT Our Children Act (Providing Resources, Officers and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act of 2008) requires the Department of Justice to develop and implement a National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction.(fn16) The Act creates reporting requirements for electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers that obtain actual knowledge of the sexual exploitation of minors.(fn17) To the extent that the service provider has information about the involved individual, it must provide the identity, email address, IP address, URL, and other identifying information of the individual who...
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