Basic online adoption laws Federal laws The US State Department defines any entity which is responsible for the identification and placement of a child as an adoptive service; this definition also holds true on the internet. However, merely posting children’s photos for adoptive purposes on the internet does not make those websites adoptive services. Therefore, such entities will not need to be approved. Nonetheless, they are still expected to carry out these activities in an ethical manner. First, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act 16 CFR 312.2 states that online photolisting should only take place when the concerned agencies have obtained parental consent. This applies to children below the ages of thirteen. The Federal trade Commission says that all adoptive websites should provide true and fair information about the children they are handling. Furthermore, children are not allowed to offer their personal information unless parental approval is sought 1 . On the other hand, the federal statute 47 U.S.C. 230 protects individuals who operate photolisting websites. It considers them as third parties if they were not involved in the development of information about the children. In the event that the information provided about the children is deceptive, then other parties will be held liable as long as the photolisting website did not participate in its creation. Furthermore, if the website under consideration is interactive then the online adoptive agency will be exempted from civil liability if it can be shown that the information given was not obtained from its operator. Such an individual would be treated as a disseminator or publisher of information rather than the source of that inaccurate information. Immunity therefore comes into effect only when information is not created from the online adoptive agency. The internet has facilitated numerous international adoptions thus making the Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of intercountry adoption a necessary piece of law affecting those concerned. If someone is running an adoption service on the internet that entails more than one country, then that person is prohibited by Article 32 of the Convention from charging unreasonable prices. In other words, one cannot get extra ordinary income from these activities. Furthermore, agencies are expected to charge clients for costs incurred during the adoption process and an additional professional commission; this fee should be reasonable. Even the administrators, employees and directors involved in the adoption service need to be paid reasonable amounts for their services. The same can be said of websites that offer local adoption services or interstate services 2 . Agencies offering adoption services in the US are also governed by the Intercountry Adoption Act 2000, No 106-279 Stat 842. Here, the law prohibits adoption agencies on the internet from arranging adoptions or placements unless they have been accredited or unless they are offering that service under an agency that has already been approved. Willful violation of this statute will result in criminal penalties and civil penalties will be charged for unknowingly doing the same. The same statute 42 USC 14902 also outlines what an internet adoptive service would have to do in order to be defined as an adoptive servic