Coppa

[Archaic]

Technically, this forum should be under COPPA laws, given that our server is in the US. I think. However....since I'm in Australia, and this isn't a commercial operation we're running here, I'm not entirely sure. Do other Pokémon sites like SPP and PC do COPPA, or is all that just ignored?

 

[Koroku]

COPPA is nothing but annoying =/ I'd say to just forget about it.

 

[Archaic]

After careful consideration, and having it pointed out to me that SPPf does indeed *not* comply with COPPA itself...I've disabled COPPA. All COPPA users are hearby moved to registered.

 

[Geodude]

Is that the law that says kids under 13 can't be on the site without permission?

 

[Zhen Lin]

Yes.

 

[Archaic]

I'm not even certain that it applies to us, to be honest. I really should ask Evan to read through it one of these days.

 

[evkl]

Bulbagarden is fully compliant with COPPA, as per the definition of the law itself.

It prohibits websites or associations from collecting any identifying information from "minors" (under age 13). As Bulbagarden's registration process does not require an email, age, or any other identifying information, it is fully COPPA compliant, as any distribution of information by a minor--whether it be screen name, address, or email address, or any other personally identifying information--is not coerced or otherwise required by the site (Bulbagarden, in our case.)

We're going to amend the ToS to more fully and accurately reflect this COPPA compliance.

Basically, we're COPPA compliant in the same way that Google is COPPA compliant--we don't require any personal, identifying information to use our services. IT's all optional.

When it comes to who can be found liable under COPPA, jurisdiction comes into play--servers based in Russia, owned by a Russian, don't need to be COPPA compliant, because America won't ask for the extradition of a Russian on COPPA charges, probably. On the other hand, if it was servers on American soil and a foriegn webmaster, or an American with foriegn servers, the issue of jurisdiction becomes fuzzier--and technically anyone who has access to the email address of a minor is liable to penalties under COPPA, which would mean it's more the location of the admins than the servers. Except America can't confiscate or shut down overseas servers. It's tricky.

I'm too tired to go into any more detail at the moment, but if anyone has questions or concerns, I'll address them when I wake up.