Captain Joseph Hat

venvorskar · Post by **venvorskar** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:43 am

My brother is Captain Joseph Hat. He tried to login, but it would not work. Can an Admin tell me why? He is 12, but is very responsible, and has made many good, and well spelled posts on http://forums.saber-scorpion.com and considering the grammar of other, older people there, that is saying something. He even has his own website: http://www.nickdurron.com.

Post by **Bruce N H** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:17 am

Venvorskar,

Our rules regarding age have nothing to do with the maturity of posters. Heck, some might say that certain 36-year-olds aren't mature enough.

As stated in the Terms of Service, if we have members under the age of thirteen, we get hit with all kinds of legal requirements due to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Don't complain to us, complain to the U.S. Congress.

Please tell your brother that the rules on age are in no way a personal insult to him, but necessary for us to continue to run this site as we do. When he hits that magic birthday we will be happy to have him as a member.

Bruce

venvorskar · Post by **venvorskar** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:30 pm

I have no problem with that, but does that mean the forums he is a member of are breaking the law? They have no age restriction at all.

The Hordesman · Post by **The Hordesman** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:36 pm

venvorskar wrote:I have no problem with that, but does that mean the forums he is a member of are breaking the law? They have no age restriction at all.

Could be because they are from other countries? The laws differ. Here for example, no one really cares, since all parents are suffering of the BBS (Big Brother Syndrome), and knows if the child enters some wicked sites.

venvorskar · Post by **venvorskar** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:46 pm

The Hordesman wrote: Could be because they are from other countries? The laws differ. Here for example, no one really cares, since all parents are suffering of the BBS (Big Brother Syndrome), and knows if the child enters some wicked sites.

No, The Adimin(only one) is living in Virginia. What is the BBS?(I know what it stands for, but what is it?)

The Hordesman · Post by **The Hordesman** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 1:22 pm

venvorskar wrote:No, The Adimin(only one) is living in Virginia. What is the BBS?(I know what it stands for, but what is it?)

Big Brother Syndrome is simply that they watch your every step, log onto your computer, checks your email, looks through the visited websites, goes through your telephone adresses and in the worst case your diary, if you have one. They want to know everything about your privacy... Luckily Im a free man

Do you need to write down your age, do you need to do it here(cant remember)? That may be the reason why he can be there but not here.

Post by **Bruce N H** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:03 pm

venvorskar,

We can't speak to how other sites are administered. There are (obviously) ways to comply with the COPPA and have underage members (see, for instance, the LEGO site forums when they were up), but these involve much heavier moderation and restrictions on everyone's use (not just the underage user). There are also much greater questions of legal liability. Or perhaps other sites are housed outside the United States and therefore subject to different regulations. Or perhaps other sites are not in compliance. You would have to talk to them about that. Our site policy is that we do not have members below 13, and, as such, do not get hit with the COPPA regulations.

Bruce

Dragonlord Esq. · Post by **Dragonlord Esq.** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:10 pm

Age restrictions on forums have less to do with content and more to do with the fact that the child will be communicating with adults. Politicians want to be able point to something that they created if something happens. That's it.

venvorskar · Post by **venvorskar** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:33 pm

He also recived a form that our parents could sign and scan and fax in to C-C. (I forget the exact details) We only looked at it once and then for some weird reason his email account deleted it. Would that let him join, and if so could he get another?

Glencaer · Post by **Glencaer** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 5:54 pm

The issue is with maintaining his privacy - which would force us (Classic-Castle) to make some sweeping changes that affect not only your brother, but all of our other users.

Basically, there is nothing we can do to allow people younger than 13. It raises too much liability for Classic-Castle. CC is a volunteer site - the server space is donated by Troy, and all of the admins are volunteers. We can't do anything that would make us susceptible to being sued or going to prison.

Sorry, but your brother is going to have to wait a year.

-Lenny