America Online Scraps Teen Shopping
from the disposable-income-be-gone dept
For years, I've been hearing stories about how all these different online companies want to tap into all that teenager disposable income. So, it's a bit of a surprise to read that America Online has shut off the ability for teens to shop in its shopping area. Apparently, they realized there was about to be a big stink when someone realized that within AOL's shopping area, anyone could buy alcohol, tobacco and pornography. Previously, teenagers were only allowed to purchase online with explicit parental consent. However, now they're not allowed to shop at all. I can understand AOL's overreaction - since it would have given the company a publicity black eye to find out kids could order porn through their service, and despite their highly touted "parental controls". However, this does seem like an overreaction. First off, kids can go shopping elsewhere on the net and order the same stuff, if they have access to their parents' credit cards. Also, if AOL was so concerned, why not create some sort of "parental control" that simply blocked the kids from accessing just that objectionable material. I have to admit that I still like the idea that some (now dead) startup had during the boom years to create a sort of children's bank that would teach them fiscal responsibility - and allow them the ability to shop in pre-approved online stores. I'm actually a little surprised that AOL didn't already offer something like this.
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