Dot-Kids Coming?
The House of Representatives is considering a law to form a child-safe domain name for Web sites under the U.S. country code (.us).
The “name.kids.us” format would be granted only to sites with content appropriate for kids 13 and younger. It would prohibit any links to sites outside the “.kids.us” domain or chats or instant-messaging activity that might move beyond the bounds of kid-appropriate content.
The Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002 (H.R. 3833) compares the move to “creation of a children’s section within a library.” The National Telecommunications and Information Administration would oversee the new name. Sites would be reviewed annually, and must comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which governs the collection of kids’ data.