COPA v. COPPA

A couple of weeks back Ning announced advertisement-free social networks to educators, but soon educators found out that those with students under the age of 13 could not receive an ad-free site. This was discussed on a recent edition of EdTech Weekly (#52). Here is a snippet from the chat room while the hosts were discussing the issue:

[19:39] AliceMercer: Jeff: don't forget, no Ning for under 13 or it's in limbo

[19:39] sharonbetts: There is a bit of issue with Ning - they are balking with younger kids

[19:39] AliceMercer: YEP

The ensuing conversation between the hosts led to one of the most common errors when discussing two similarly named laws: the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

COPA is the law that is not in effect because it has an injunction against it. The injunction has been upheld several times over the years and just last spring the injunction was upheld again (.pdf) (but apparently it is not dead yet). This law was aimed at limiting children's access to the Internet and while never having been ruled unconstitutional, several judges have stated that it is a violation of a student's first amendment rights.

COPPA is the law that pertains to the situation that Ning has found themselves in. This is the law that prevents websites and companies doing business on the Internet from collecting identifiable information from persons under the age of 13. Ning is just try to keep themselves out of the same hot water that Girls Life Inc. and Hershey Foods Corporation found themselves in (among others).

The confusion of these two laws is quite common. I spent some time researching laws governing the Internet and it took me creating a presentation on the subject to discover the difference between them - only because I was double-checking my facts, in particular the names and acronyms of the laws. Since the government does not seem to feel like letting COPA go, it is probably only going to continue with the confusion.