Today’s children use the Internet in ever increasing numbers. They explore it. They learn from it. They form associations from and with it. They are now even helping to build it. The proliferation of personal computers and access to the Internet from the home and from within the educational system has given rise to an online generation. Unfortunately, although children are the fastest growing constituency on the Internet, many sites are not designed for kids, not targeted for a child audience, and many contain material that is far from suited or appropriate for children. The Internet is currently like a vast unsorted library; a Dr. Seuss book may be on the shelf next to a pornographic magazine; a set of children’s encyclopedias rests against a hate manifesto. One mistyped letter can redirect a child doing his homework towards an education that he/she is not prepared for. Students are turned into voyeurs. Play time is unsupervised. Leadership has been absent.

.Kids Domains, Inc. is has partnered with New.net to establish and promote the development of a complete network of kid-friendly websites located at .kids domain addresses. Domain name owners can then design new content to excite, engage, and empower children using the Internet throughout the world. These sites will contract with .Kids Domains to ensure a user experience suitable for young Internet users. We will require all website operators to conform to a policy that restricts site content to material suitable for children under thirteen. The policy was constructed from a framework of international bodies, organizations, and governments: UNESCO, UNICEF, the SBA, the ABA, and the Bertelsmann Foundation to name a few. We have included the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in our policy to augment kid's safety and privacy. While our content policy will always be a dynamic document, we believe it represents a solid foundation with which to construct a green space for children around the world. We would love to hear your feedback. Please email us at feedback@kidsdomains.org