• Ever thought it'd be cool to have your art, writing, or challenge runs featured on PokéCommunity? Click here for info - we'd love to spotlight your work!
  • It's time to vote for your favorite Pokémon Battle Revolution protagonist in our new weekly protagonist poll! Click here to cast your vote and let us know which PBR protagonist you like most.
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.
    Register

IMPORTANT: Regarding under-13s and COPPA.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Just to clarify, the battle server would have to stay PG-13 regardless of if COPPA is enforced there, as it follows the same rules as PC.

Anyway, COPPA is enforced on PS as it follows the US laws (stated in both their rules and privacy policy), but third-party servers such as PC's aren't necessarily obligated to follow them. PS and Smogon don't take responsibility for what the other servers do. Still, there's a chance that the battle server could get in trouble just like PC could if it didn't enforce COPPA. However, Griff makes a good point about there being no data to gain from PS aside from chat logs.
 
Urf, I guess I was confusing people. Every website based in the US has to follow COPPA. It's just that Showdown managed to slim everything down to the point where they don't have to worry about it since no one can get any information off registering. The only way I can see Showdown getting in trouble is if someone decided to start pumping kids for information. Either way, PC and Showdown are more or less separate. PC has a defined set of rules stated clearly (or mostly). For PC's Showdown server, that is up to the moderators.

I am sorry for the kids who got caught in the sweep, but the risk to PC is greater than their inconvenience. They'll just have to annoy their parents for written consent, or wait until they're 13 to petition to be unbanned. If anyone's got an issue with the rules, they really ought to petition to the US government and their local representative. PC cannot do anything about this.
 
Magic Fox said:
I'm sorry for the slight mistake, I edited my post which makes it clear the over 13 bit is in the Privacy Policy.
Click to expand...

I'm a driver on the main Pokemon Showdown server and I can guarantee you that we do not enforce COPPA, you can say you're 5 and none of us auth can do anything about it (unfortunately). Even if it's in the privacy policy it isn't enforced, so. Nevertheless that's even more reason why PC's server doesn't need to enforce COPPA, especially if a huge server like that doesn't.
 
Forever said:
I'm a driver on the main Pokemon Showdown server and I can guarantee you that we do not enforce COPPA, you can say you're 5 and none of us auth can do anything about it (unfortunately). Even if it's in the privacy policy it isn't enforced, so. Nevertheless that's even more reason why PC's server doesn't need to enforce COPPA, especially if a huge server like that doesn't.
Click to expand...

^
That, lol. If the main Pokemon Showdown server doesn't enforce COPPA, why should smaller ones. Nobody's gonna get sued for letting kids battle Pokemon.
All that will do is decrease activity because we'll lose members on a server that already has frequent inactivity.
 
Last edited:
Team Fail said:
Of the two, I can definitely see one in the moderation status. Since COPPA protects kids from whatever is on the web, let's say someone starts posting porn everywhere. A moderator's job is to make sure this is gone from their section, but if it's a "child" that's having to do it, it'd be against COPPA.
Click to expand...

Logiedan is going to be in so much trouble :p ik ik

----

First off, we don't really require any information, other than your birthday. We used to have the T-Dome but since that's not there we don't have to really even use the birthday option at all. For example, Olli97 is listed as 11 or something but he's really 16 or so, and the aformentioned case of Logiedan who lists it at 2. The first problem is that it's fun (if not funny :p), and the second is that these people have set their ages as under 13 because they feel like it's funny, representing a different time span in their lives, whatever the reason, and you're taking that away from them. Granted, this shouldn't be a huge deal to them (if they're well-adjusted), but it still is important to them.

Secondly, the parts where we do require information, is usually just usernames and stuff. For example, if you list your Steam account, Valve (that's the company that owns Steam if you didn't know) is the one who's going to have to deal with COPPA, rather than us.

And furthermore, if the staff chooses you to be a moderator, then you probably, without any doubt, have matured emotionally and mentally past the point of an 18-year old, and thus probably won't be too scarred from deleting some porn, unaware that they are stalked, etc. even if you were 7 or something, so this is a pretty dumb way to "protect children". There are emotional prodigies in this world and they are more common than you would think.
Though the site can't rebel against laws like that, but just a thought. Maybe more stringent modding standards? Maybe some personal contact info before modding? idek

Whatever…most of the members here are probably mature enough to deal with it with their parents or something if they do happen to be under 13. But really, if you guys make sure everyone on staff is 13+ the whole COPPA doesn't really apply to us, only individual members.
 
I like disclosing my personal information but I would have no problems of changing, removing or revealing my age because of this law. Just say the word.
 
Forever said:
I'm a driver on the main Pokemon Showdown server and I can guarantee you that we do not enforce COPPA, you can say you're 5 and none of us auth can do anything about it (unfortunately). Even if it's in the privacy policy it isn't enforced, so. Nevertheless that's even more reason why PC's server doesn't need to enforce COPPA, especially if a huge server like that doesn't.
Click to expand...

If it's going to continue to be affiliated with the site in the semi-official way it is now, then yes, it will have to.
 
Livewire said:
If it's going to continue to be affiliated with the site in the semi-official way it is now, then yes, it will have to.
Click to expand...

PS! doesn't collect data about age, unlike the forums. there is literally no way that we are able to conclusively confirm or deny whether or not someone is of age from the server. this has been argued about a very long time ago on smogon, where it was implemented for a long time but ultimately reduced to a warning in the rules. it is unfeasible to actually implement coppa on the server. people have stated things like "i'm 12 and what is this" in a joking manner and have gotten banned, despite very clearly not actually being under the coppa limit. it is mentioned in the rules that people under the age of 13 should not be on the site. that is enough; we cannot justify any kind of ban legitimately, because there's no way we can tell if someone is younger than 13.

i refuse to ban people for saying "i'm 12 and what is this", or similar joking statements. i also refuse to ban people through implication that they are young (whether this implication is from the forums or not); there is no proof given on the PS! site, so i have no reason to ban them on said site.

you are not realizing the fact that we cannot determine whether or not someone is of age on PS!. there is no birthdate requirement, there is no other information taken; any bans would have zero logical basis and we should not ban willy-nilly because someone cracked a joke. it will be strongly suggested in the rules that people who are not yet 13 or older should not join. that is the best that can be reasonably done.
 
I'm not banning someone unless their age is actually less than 13 in their postbit or they explicitly state that it is and I see it. Not that I want to, but I'm obligated to now. We can't base age on actions, similar to how we can't base age on looks (I fall into that latter category, so I know how annoying it can be). I have seen 11 year olds on PC type and communicate better than people 18 and older. So unless there is proof, I'm not banning. Your crap typing, spelling, and actions may lead me to believe you're 12, but I'm not going to ban someone unless it's out in the open and I've seen it. Simple as.
 
I find this rule to be really pointless. COPPA existed since 2003 or so and they took 10 years to use it. Most of the members there would have joined under 13 and his ban should just be until his 13th birthday and not permanent.
Most kids these days would have seen more worst things and will likely will just fake their age.

Am I fine(Joined when I was 12 if I remember correctly)?
 
kuzronk said:
I find this rule to be really pointless. COPPA existed since 2003 or so and they took 10 years to use it. Most of the members there would have joined under 13 and his ban should just be until his 13th birthday and not permanent.
Most kids these days would have seen more worst things and will likely will just fake their age.

Am I fine(Joined when I was 12 if I remember correctly)?
Click to expand...

You're fine since you're now 15.
 
Once someone who was under 13 and was found out and banned actually turn 13 then the ban will be lifted from them if they contact us about it. I don't believe it was ever said that it was permanent.

To expand on Mac's post it only applies to those who are currently under the age of 13 and implicitly states that they are because none of us is going to take the time to hunt them down or anything. If you don't state it in public cool we'll never know. We honestly don't care if they fake their age as long as we don't find out their real one. Or something like that.
 
BinaryPeaches said:
Once someone who was under 13 and was found out and banned actually turn 13 then the ban will be lifted from them if they contact us about it. I don't believe it was ever said that it was permanent.

To expand on Mac's post it only applies to those who are currently under the age of 13 and implicitly states that they are because none of us is going to take the time to hunt them down or anything. If you don't state it in public cool we'll never know. We honestly don't care if they fake their age as long as we don't find out their real one. Or something like that.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it be better to unban with their birthdays they have on their profiles though?

Some people will also try to ask ages/Harrass users now as well (seen that on a ore site).
 
The problem with that is that some people don't actually have their birthdays on their profile just their age. So while the admins can do that with some people they don't be able to do that with all.

Harassing members in any sort of way is against the rules. If someone is harassing them about their age they can report it. As for simply asking it's always up to the other person whether or not they want to answer the question.
 
Some people do which would help this forum rep(some people would be ranting about how they are permanent banned despite them being a member for years.

Wouldn't staff ask people if they were under 13 due to bad typing though?
 
BinaryPeaches said:
It was be up to the admin's discretion then.

No because we've seen 20 yr old members with horrible typing. And vice versa we've seen 13 yr olds and such with amazing typing. Someone's typing ability isn't that great of a way to tell whether someone is under 13 or not.
Click to expand...

It is great in some cases but I understand that teens/adults can type pretty bad sometimes.

What is the point of COPPA and why does it apply to non US users?
 
kuzronk said:
It is great in some cases but I understand that teens/adults can type pretty bad sometimes.

What is the point of COPPA and why does it apply to non US users?
Click to expand...

Razor Leaf said:
Hi PokéCommunity,

the staff have recently been discussing this forum's stance on COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. As a website hosted in the United States of America, we are by law required to enforce this.
Click to expand...

I think that about sums up why it's getting enforced.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top