Forum age requirement.

[Jokuc 8,175]

Hm I don't really care to be honest. I didn't really have contact with much people under 13 anyways. Well.. I'm gonna miss CrazyMisty ofc.. But I guess the site is safer now. Hah.

[PonyEcho 1,610]

eerrm yeah i have a question if having under 13's on the site wasn't legal due to certain acts why wasn't this this rule implemented when the forum first started? i'm just saying those C.O.P.A and all the other acts have been around for a while and aren't new, did we just stumble across them now?

because when you like me and look at the motives from every angle it kinda seems meh

[One 499]

Oh good I don't need to change my age so I am old enought to acces all of the sections and features on this site. I mean I would never do that and no one else will/has.

[Emerald Flame 381]

I haven't been very active on the forums lately, so this is the first time I heard about Ol' Sarge. I never saw him post here, but I think what happened to him was tragic. I think the age requirement is a good idea. It'll help protect our members from misunderstandings over silly games, and children who could wander into content that their parents may freak out over.

[Planty 1,053]

Lol the tags.

Though we may lose some nice members, it's for the longevity of the forums, I guess. I'd rather lose a bunch of 12 and under people than have the forums be shut down as a whole.

@@Swoop

One thing. If someone is registering, and they put in their real age, but are denied, can they just change it mid process? This could happen, if they really want to get on these forums.

 

I used to lie about my age all the time until I hit 18 ><

 

I never understood till recently why I had to be a certain age to play certain game's ect. The members we loose I guess will remake accounts and lie aBout there age on them

[Apple-Jack 312]

yeah the rule is good but what if some kids will sure try to enter by putting them selves a bigger age ???

This will sure happen cant we get a better system like a test for joining or should we report the kids under 13?

Edited August 8, 2012 by Apple-Jack

[PlunderSteed 1,252]

A cursory reading of the actual law (not just its Wikipedia splat) make it clear that COPPA is irrelevant to this discussion for the following reasons:

1. It is designed to regulate the actions of for-profit organizations. The organizations supposedly fined for breaking this law were the websites for large corporations who specifically target children (and their parents' wallets) as part of their business model. This site isn't selling anything, so it does not fall within the scope of this law.

2. It is designed to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of personally identifiable information: names, addresses, SSNs, etc. This site does not collect said information (except for birthdays, which are harmless by themselves).

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,529]

Actually, COPPA does apply to international servers. Although this place is hosted in Canada, regardless of where it comes from or where the servers are hosted, the FCC requires international sites to comply with COPPA if online information from the U.S. can be reviewed and collected.

 

Regarding the topic at hand, I was rather surprised by the fact that such an age implementation didn't exist when I first noticed this forum. It's a shame that several users under thirteen had to have their accounts on hold, but if it means keeping the forum running and (God forbid) not have various staffers like Feld0 in legal trouble, so be it. The MLP Forums is a great place, and I don't want to see it taken down for COPPA violations.

 

Technically, it applies. But the ability of the US to enforce a law on websites that fall outside their jurisdiction is a bit limited. MLP Forums is, however, completely within US jurisdiction.

 

I did read it. That does not mean I agree with a law I never heard of before this incident and that I never respected anyway (not knowing about it helps a lot).

 

You might not respect the law; but if I get in trouble for it, I may face a lawsuit worth many times my family's net value. http://mlpforums.com/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.png

 

 

eerrm yeah i have a question if having under 13's on the site wasn't legal due to certain acts why wasn't this this rule implemented when the forum first started? i'm just saying those C.O.P.A and all the other acts have been around for a while and aren't new, did we just stumble across them now?

because when you like me and look at the motives from every angle it kinda seems meh

 

I'll be honest here - a lot of places ignore COPPA because it is an inconvenience, really, and they don't hunt site owners down for it all that often (that you hear about, anyway). I wasn't sure if US jurisdiction applied or not when I opened MLP Forums, either, so I didn't worry too much about it. Upon further research, however, I found that it does indeed apply, and it's probably worth enforcing since MLP Forums has grown pretty popular since it opened.

 

A cursory reading of the actual law (not just its Wikipedia splat) make it clear that COPPA is irrelevant to this discussion for the following reasons:

1. It is designed to regulate the actions of for-profit organizations. The organizations supposedly fined for breaking this law were the websites for large corporations who specifically target children (and their parents' wallets) as part of their business model. This site isn't selling anything, so it does not fall within the scope of this law.

2. It is designed to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of personally identifiable information: names, addresses, SSNs, etc. This site does not collect said information (except for birthdays, which are harmless by themselves).

 

1) MLP Forums is a sole proprietorship, which is a type of for-profit operation as far as the law is concerned. It sells subscriptions, donation perks, and ad space (in the form of the commissions section). Furthermore, the site screams My Little Pony in its design, keywords, and content - it's not hard for one to imagine that it is indeed a site targeted at young children. Young children who could feasibly sign up, see some advertising for subscriptions, and ask their parents to lend them their credit card to buy one.

 

2) There's a page in the client area where all this information can be filled in (and it is necessary to fill in if you're purchasing anything from the forum store). Furthermore, what's to stop a child from revealing their personal information on their profile or in a post somewhere? I'm really not sure where the legalities with all this fall, to be honest, but point #1 still stands.

[notdog1996 315]

You might not respect the law; but if I get in trouble for it, I may face a lawsuit worth many times my family's net value. http://mlpforums.com/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.png

 

Don't worry, I know it has to be done. I'm not blaming you or any other mod for this. It's just that I think it's sad for the young members but I'm sure they wouldn't want you to get in trouble either.

[PlunderSteed 1,252]

Huh...I never knew this place sold anything. Still, membership on the forum does not require any such information collection. I sure as hell wouldn't have joined if the site required it as a condition of membership. But if that's the case, then this place is a business, rather than purely a fan site.

 

This does cast things in an interesting light: it looks like the owner felt that he had to sacrifice some members' access in order to continue running it as a for-profit site. From a strictly business standpoint, I can respect that.

[Radiance64 7,059]

But there's an option to not give away your age... unless now that won't be possible anymore? Just wondering, because if that option stayed, then younger kids wouldn't have to lie and they just wouldn't have to give their age away and could still post.

[3005 332]

I definitely am supportive of this change. While I certainly would like to see the gates to the community more open, I feel this is the best overall interest of MLPF.

[Eenohay 318]

This is actually a very good idea. The forum will be exactly the same as it was before, but now parents wont be able to do anything against anybody here, as it would be their fault that they let their kid on this site.

[HunterTSN 1,444]

Children plus the internet never ends well, Im not saying I agree with this age limit but I think that it is for the better

[Mersander 55]

Finally! I am beyond happy they stepped up to the plate and took action with this problem.

I am overjoyed right now

[PonyEcho 1,610]

well it the end of this day and i have gone from agreeing with this idea to, it going though and witnessing the somewhat aftermath, to not liking the idea to banging my head against the wall in a failed attempted to find a win win and maybe get some more people to actually care about the people who got banned, to being some what in the middle of right and wrong.

 

in the end i can no longer say that this forum is a safe haven that welcomes all Bronies.

 

and now i'm depressed time to listen to the gypsy bard.

[moneyshredderofdeath 414]

I remember how I had acted when I was younger. I was basically an idiot until some point during 2010. Everything prior to that point I wouldn't mind having erased from my memory except for the positive effect of learning from them. I hated the 13 cap on forums a long time ago, but now that I'm older and saw how I was then, I completely agree and understand with those kinds of restrictions and knowing how I was far from the only one in that age range to not have the maturity to roam the net I'm also supportive of this. The smart folks who've yet to become teens are a shame to lose but it still isn't a permanent loss as they'll be of age in due time and allowed to reintegrate.

 

And even if I didn't personally agree with the principle, I still wouldn't want the site to go against the law. It isn't worth getting into a conflict with this dude:

 

[Starshine 16,335]

Man, I could still remember that time when Feld0 refused to set up any adult subforum, one of his reasons was "we care about those kids who might lurks around this forum" or something like that, and yet there exist some very subtle NSFW discussions. And now those kids are gone, we still can't have any adult stuff.

 

+1 support to the moderation team. As Evilshy said, we can now swear like a bloody sailor and no one will get offended by that

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Well, the law says to have to be 13 to join a non-kid orientated website anyway. So this might be a good move.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,529]

Man, I could still remember that time when Feld0 refused to set up any adult subforum, one of his reasons was "we care about those kids who might lurks around this forum" or something like that, and yet there exist some very subtle NSFW discussions. And now those kids are gone, we still can't have any adult stuff.

 

+1 support to the moderation team. As Evilshy said, we can now swear like a bloody sailor and no one will get offended by that

 

It's not only to protect little kids. A great part of the reason I don't want to allow porn on MLP Forums is because I personally don't enjoy seeing it plastered everywhere on the Internet, and don't mind letting one of the few sites I have control over remain free of it. That has not changed.

 

The swearing rule has not changed, either. You're welcome to cuss every now and then here, but excessive swearing is still punishable.

[Starshine 16,335]

The swearing rule has not changed, either.

Don't worry about that, there's hardly anything left around here to swear about anymore. Things had been slow lately.

 

Anyway, you do know about this meme "I'm 12 and what's this?", right? Is that something we should be concerned about?

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

It's not only to protect little kids. A great part of the reason I don't want to allow porn on MLP Forums is because I personally don't enjoy seeing it plastered everywhere on the Internet, and don't mind letting one of the few sites I have control over remain free of it. That has not changed.

 

The swearing rule has not changed, either. You're welcome to cuss every now and then here, but excessive swearing is still punishable.

 

Don't forget that porn is also one of the most divisive issues in this fandom.

[irobern2857 95]

i can see the sense in this but there is still that major hole. i cant count the number of times that i have been able to get onto sites that limit age like Runescape just by making my birthday and age older then the min so good idea but it will be hard to inforce. and even making it so the user is liable you can run into problems but overall i think it will help i mean have you seen what happened to the user Ol' Sarge

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

The situation is stupid, the laws are BS, and accountability is dropped on people who are largely uninvolved. Changing the age restriction to 13 doesn't really do anything to ensure anybody's well-being or bind the site to certain level of "maturity." What it does is it takes the heat off feld0 and keeps this site from being siezed. It may seem like a stupid way to go about it, and I concur with those who think so, but it's entirely necessary to keep the site itself safe as well as the admins, and on that basis I support them wholeheartedly.

 

I'm a systems administrator for a university in a slightly ghetto area, and I have to deal with law enforcement on a regular basis. Whenever something nefarious occurs using our network I have plenty of ways of finding out exactly who is responsible, handing them over, and thereby clearing us of any liability. It's not terribly difficult most of the time but it is tedious. I even had to argue on behalf of a miscreant to make the campus bigwigs understand why what the guy did was wrong, but not something worth being expelled for, though there were still legal ramifications. When I had a gig as an admin for a public school system we had a student at the middle school store some child pornography on his network drive. The incident was resolved quickly but it was a massive fiasco while it lasted. So it's not hard for me to imagine the amount of stress and time feld0 would have to invest in something intended to be a harmless prank or statement of opinion that wasn't entirely kosher with the FBI or whatever authorities in Canada oversee these matters (though I would think the Canadians would be more reasonable about it).

[Abstract 832]

If parents are allowing their pre-teen children on the internet unsupervised, that's their fault when they get into some trouble. It's a damn shame something like this needs to be implemented because there are idiots out there who ruin things for everyone. But, I suppose red tape must be dealt with, and I give a brohoof to the staff for taking care of the situation.