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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.""

3 of 680 comments (clear)

  1. Microsoft's MSN IM day by stuttering+stan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's an earlier report about Yahoo and MSN merges IMs
    And here's a story about a nobody talking smack about Linux IM clients.

    Both topics are chock full of MSN IM astro-turfing goodness. Check it out. Looks like the start of a marketing campaign for MSN Messenger 7.

  2. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    C'mon everyone, read the (second) linked article:

    "Under the agreement, one of the nation's leading internet service providers, Yahoo!, has removed and barred the posting of user-created chat rooms with names that promoted sex between minors and adults"

    No, not all chatrooms... No, not all minors...

  3. Re:Won't somebody think of the children? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    All chatrooms, all minors:

    http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?t ype=internetNews&storyID=2005-10-12T212130Z_01_HAR 253163_RTRIDST_0_OUKIN-UK-YAHOO-SPITZER.XML&archiv ed=False


    Chat rooms used by child predators will be shut down by Yahoo Inc. ...

      Yahoo agreed to develop education materials promoting the safe use of chat rooms, restrict Yahoo Chat to users 18 and older and remove the Teen category.