It creates a sliding scale for parental consent. The FTC has given companies a kind of grace period. But even with parental consent, Pohn believes that email accounts are inherently dangerous for children. Unless a pair of human eyes monitors what goes in and out of that account, she says, there's room for error. That's why there's no email at Freezone.
Kids are an important market in the Internet world.
Internet research firm Jupiter Communications says that 11.4 million children aged 12 and under used the Internet in 1999, and the numbers continue to grow dramatically. By 2003, that number is expected to jump to 24.3 million. And keeping kids happy and loyal to a brand is important. In just a few years, these same kids will be spending money. Aftab, an Internet lawyer and children's advocate who testified before the FTC on the new law, says getting services into compliance is both complicated and expensive.