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Yahoo Closes Chat Rooms to Anyone Under 18

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-chat-for-you-kid dept.

Talaria writes "Yahoo has announced that they are closing all of their chat rooms to anyone under eighteen, following an agreement with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer, who began investigating the Yahoo! chat situation earlier this year, said "We need to be vigilant to protect our children.""

14 of 680 comments (clear)

  1. Won't somebody think of the children? by Carthag · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where are they going to chat now?

    1. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by femto · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yahoo's shopping centre?

    2. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by xero314 · · Score: 5, Funny

      What? Parents actully have some clue of what their children are doing? Not here in the US (hopefully other countries are a little better than us).

      I have been saying this same thing for a long time. I only hope that some day I see a Slashdot article that reads "Parent Jailed for not knowing what their child is doing"

      The solution is "easy", even if it is a bit authoritarian. Mandatory sterilization.

    3. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by Seumas · · Score: 5, Funny

      Considering the number of people who molest their kids or have child molestors in their family that abuse their kids and the number of people who seem to look the other way when their underage children are screwing around with adults twice their age, I have to wonder why we don't take children away from all parents. I mean, sure there are some responsible parents just like there are responsible children on the internet, but you can't take that kind of risk. Should just take children out of the home as a preventative safety measure.

    4. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by TheFlamingoKing · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, if MTV wouldn't keep shaking preteen ass in my face I wouldn't be so tempted...

    5. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by stor · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, if MTV wouldn't keep shaking preteen ass in my face I wouldn't be so tempted...

      Hey buddy, I think you missed the "Post Anonymously" checkbox.

      Cheers
      Stor

      --
      "Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
    6. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by NotBorg · · Score: 5, Funny

      [...] better handled by actual parents moderating chat rooms and moderating their children...

      Just the other day I gave my little Johnny a Troll (-1) for posting to a 25 year old woman from Texas. Not that I have anything against Texas, mind you, I just feel that Johnny could do better. She wasn't that hot.

      Only by taking an active roll in our kids's lives can this kind of treachery be stopped.

      --
      I want this account deleted.
    7. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I solved this problem by installing VNC software on all the computers in the house, waiting until the kids enter a chatroom and engage in... dubious... behavior, and setting the wallpaper to be embarrassing chatlogs right as I walk by to ask them a question about how school was. One child literally threw the monitor off of the desk to keep me from seeing the wallpaper I set. I should have made a video.
      Another good one is to keep note of chat logs and start introducing quotes from them into normal conversation. They won't say anything just in case you don't know, but the look on their face is priceless.
      Needless to say, my kids have the shit scared out of them every time they're looking at something they shouldn't be. Ah, the joys of being a parent that can code in the internet age ;)

  2. There goes by DustyShadow · · Score: 5, Funny

    90% of their traffic...

  3. This will help a lot by CaptainCarrot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Because, you know, there are no other chat rooms anywhere else on the Internet.

    --
    And the brethren went away edified.
  4. Genders next... by TexTex · · Score: 5, Funny

    Pretty soon they'll close their chat rooms to men who pretend to be women online... That should cut back on traffic as well.

    --
    -Barkeep, a draft of your most hazardous brew, for the world is slowly stepping into focus, and I don't like what I see.
  5. Re:Fragging children. by Seumas · · Score: 5, Funny

    Lets just put each child in a room with padded walls, no windows and a TV tuned to Seseme Street 24 hours a day. They will be provided with KidChow(TM) and Water.

    Dad, is that you?

  6. Re:And so that stops us how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's voilà. You sound like a fucking moron when you say "wha-la".

  7. Re:So what? by schon · · Score: 5, Funny

    How do they plan on verifying age? A little checkbox saying "I am at least 18 years old"?

    Of course not. They're going to require the user to enter their date of birth. Everyone knows that American schoolchildren won't be able to figure out the math. :o)