Why wasn't the idea of kids.us successful ?

[Modelworks]

Many people probably are not familiar with the kids.us domain . It was established in 2002 and is one of the few domains that was created through legislation. The domain was supposed to be one that would be safe for kids.

With all the content out there now that isn't good for kids and having to use various programs to try to block out sites I would have thought it would be more successful than it is. There are only a handful of sites that use it. Mainly pbs kids, smithsonian, nickoleodeon and a few others. It would have been nice to have a domain like this where parents could set a simple filter and have some sort of trust in the sites.





The rules were pretty strict:

http://www.cms.kids.us/forgrownups.html

Specifically, the kids.us domain is designed to restrict access to content that is "harmful to minors", which has been defined by the kids.us Act as:

"The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taking the material as a whole and with respect to minors, that it is designed to appeal to, or is designed to pander to, the prurient interest;

The material depicts, describes, or represents, in a manner patently offensive with respect to minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, an actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual act, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals or post-pubescent female breast; and
Taken as a whole, the material lacks serious, literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors."

Further, the kids.us Act also states that the domain should have content that is "suitable for minors", or content that:

"Is not psychologically or intellectually inappropriate for minors; and

Serves (1) the educational, informational, intellectual, or cognitive needs of minors; or (2) the social, emotional, or entertainment needs of minors."

Compliance with existing rules and regulations regarding indecency on the airwaves.
A commitment to offer some educational and informational content .
Compliance with the children's online privacy protection act (COPPA) requirements.

The following information or content is not permitted within the kids.us domain:

Mature content
Pornography
Inappropriate language
Violence
Hate speech
Drugs
Alcohol
Tobacco
Gambling
Weapons
Criminal activity

Two-way and multi-user interactive services, which includes: e-mail, chat, instant messaging, Usenet, Message Boards of like user forum, and peer-to-peer connections, place "unless the registrant certifies to the registrar that such service will be offered in compliance with content standards established … and is designed to reduce the risk of exploitation of minors using such two-way and multi-user interactive services"; and hyperlinks that take a user outside of the kids.us domain.

 

[CZroe]

The rules sound like they would also prohibit anti-drug sites targetting children. Hmm.

 

[highland145]

Never heard of it.

<-----with kid since 2001.

 

[SunnyD]

Easy. Why would a kid type in "kids.us" when they can type in anything else they want in the browser URL?

 

[edro]

On a related topic, what is the best practical method for filtering content for kids?
I have a niece and nephew (5 and 6) that I need to try to protect.

There has to be some router based program that keeps up to date blacklists.

LOL, I found a 2009 thread where I acknowledged a good program: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2027397&highlight=child+filter
I procrastinate a lot...

 

[Elganja]

Easy. Why would a kid type in "kids.us" when they can type in anything else they want in the browser URL?

i think the idea was for a parent to block everything BUT kids.us domain

 

[dfuze]

I never even heard of the site or legislation until now either.

 

[her209]

Is this like the Fox Kids Club back in the early 90s?

 

[SagaLore]

First time I've ever heard of that TLD.

 

[gorcorps]

They haven't been advertising it at all. I'm sure plenty of people would set such a thing up if they knew about it. Hell, with proper directions you could probably lead people through how to create a whitelist on their router or something.

 

[CZroe]

There's nothing stopping a Disney Channel kids' program or whatever from also having a different domain name, so something's fishy. Are they charging? They shouldn't charge if the site also has a direct domain name.

First time I've ever heard of that TLD.

.us? 😉

 

[Modelworks]

i think the idea was for a parent to block everything BUT kids.us domain

exactly. It was supposed to be a way to lock in one domain where the content is deemed kid safe.

 

[Modelworks]

There's nothing stopping a Disney Channel kids' program or whatever from also having a different domain name, so something's fishy. Are they charging? They shouldn't charge if the site also has a direct domain name.



.us? 😉

They apparently don't. It says to register the domain name with a registrar and then follow the steps below:

How to Activate Content
In order to activate their websites in the kids.us domain, registrants must do the following in order:

visit www.kids.us

read and accept agreements that define the kids.us Content Policy and takedown procedures

submit all their proposed kids.us website content to Neustar for thorough review; normal reviews take approximately two to five business days

 

[spaceman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnsHpPNltBw