[Random-bits] John Schwartz: Disney to Deter Children From Some Areas of Its Web Sites

[James Love]

This story discusses briefly the relationship between governemnt
regulation and "self regulation"
Jamie


http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/04/technology/04WEB.html

Oct 4, 2000
Disney to Deter Children From Some Areas of Its Web Sites
  By JOHN SCHWARTZ

  [snip]

An advocate of regulation of child- oriented Web sites, however, said
that calling yesterday's agreement with Disney "self-regulation" only
told half of the story. "It isn't just self regulation - it's
self-regulation within a regulatory context," said Kathryn C.
Montgomery, president of the Center for Media Education, a
Washington-based policy group. "Had we not passed the law to protect
children's privacy, it's doubtful that there would be effective
self-regulation."

Elizabeth Lascoutx, director of the Children's Advertising Review Unit
of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, said the child privacy act
was a "boon" since in the past the bureaus had little to hold over
recalcitrant offenders besides bad publicity. The law, she said, "gives
us somewhere to refer noncompliance." She estimated that just 2 percent
of companies contacted over child privacy violations by her group refuse
to change their ways.

-- 
James Love  mailto:love@cptech.org http://www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
voice 1.202.387.8030  fax  1.202.234.5176