Xanga Fined by the FTC

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has been went in effect since April 21, 2000 and reported yesterday by MSNBC, the FTC fined Xanga $1 million for violating that federal law.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, children who wanted to open a Xanga account didn't even have to show that level of ingenuity. Children merely had to check a box confirming they were over 13, according to FTC lawyer Mary Engle -- even if they'd previously entered a birth date indicating they were under 13.

Engle would not reveal what Xanga's explanation was for the lack of obvious fact-checking.

The site this web development blog is dedicated to, bleeek.com, will only invite an 18+ audience, but none the less, I will have to deal with the issue of underaged registration.

Underaged Registration - Is a Check Box Enough?

Currently there is no efficient way to verify a user's age. Sure you have credit cards, but if you use that method you can be sure that your site's registration rate will be dramatically affected. My whole opinion on the matter is that websites should only be required to ask users. Parents and guardians should be responsible for the actions of their kids. If Xanga can't claim negligence then how could parents?