Anne

The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) has enormous spring to it. It just bounced back to a federal appeals court in Philadelphia from the Supreme Court for the third time, with the US's highest court deciding 5-4 that "a law meant to punish pornographers who peddle dirty pictures to Web-surfing kids is probably an unconstitutional muzzle on free speech," as the Associated Press put it. The … [Read more...] about Still undecided on COPA

There is nothing to stop a child from visiting the new adult-only, online role-playing game Sociolotron but this on its entry page: "By entering the site you declare that: 1) You are 21 years of age or older; 2) It is legal for you to read about interactive erotic role playing involving erotic text and erotic images; 3) You are not offended by reading about a highly politically incorrect form of … [Read more...] about Game includes virtual rape

In response to my 4/30 and 5/14 features on the challenge of kids accessing porn through online image searches, mother and educator Krista in North Carolina emailed us: "I have to laugh out loud whenever I hear parents tell me they don't know how to stop their children from going into porn sites or various chat rooms they don't approve of. In our home the rule is clear: If I find out, or you get … [Read more...] about One mom’s online-safety formula

Contrary to what avid Googlers may think, we need librarians more than ever. To help us find information and to help us evaluate it. We need to help our children see this too. "While the accuracy of online information is notoriously uneven, the ubiquity of the Web means that a trip to the stacks is no longer the way most academic research begins," the New York Times reports. Then there's all the … [Read more...] about Librarians: Better than Google

Actually, the sleep-over part is just one application of a phone-based dating service used in Singapore. Nineteen-year-old Gracinia Kim uses the "BEDD" service on her phone to scan strangers' phones for their personal profiles. She told Reuters that, with it, she has become close to people she wouldn't have otherwise met and developed a tight little group of friends with whom she "chills out," has … [Read more...] about Phone-enhanced sleep-overs