Hmmmm . . .

Following this link from Andrew Sullivan, I come across USA Today's comment policy:

By posting a comment, you affirm that you are 13 years of age or older.

Thirteen? I've seen eighteen, obviously, and presumably alchohol sites want you to be 21. But what the heck is 13 the age cutoff for? Can you make a minyan on a comment thread?

Comments

Maybe the age of consent in the state in which they are incorporated is 13?

Or maybe some bright light at Corporate decided that the comment section was "PG-13" like the MPAA movie ratings.

Posted by liberalrob | October 9, 2007 6:47 PM

Unsurprisingly, it's a matter of federal law. Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, a website owner cannot collect information from people under 13 years of age without parental consent.

Why the cutoff date is 13 is still beyond me, however...

Posted by Jay Reding | October 9, 2007 6:59 PM

Well, for the same reason that the age for a driving license in 15 (hardship), 16 (with driver's education) or 18, the voting age is 18, the age of sexual consent ranger from 12 to 17, the minimum age for military service is 18 (16 with parental permission), and the drinking age is 21. Absolutely no bloody reason at all.

Posted by JC | October 9, 2007 7:21 PM

With the COPPA, COPPA Cabana,
The law is enforced in Savannah.
With the COPPA, COPPA Cabana,
Pre-teens' informa-tion is never in fashion
With the COPPA ... they went to jail.

Posted by Lorenzo | October 9, 2007 7:24 PM

And here I thought this was the blogospheric version of the bar mitzva.

Posted by Dr. Manhattan | October 9, 2007 7:48 PM

You shiksa, Megan. I don't care how many Jewish friends you had growing up or in college, the use of semi-obscure Hebrew terms should be provenance of Jewish bloggers. We'll let the goyim use our culturally dispersed yiddish, but the language of the Torah should be our own.

Posted by Matt Zeitlin | October 9, 2007 8:54 PM

Zeitlin, don't you think shiksas are hotter when they know about the ways of the Tribe? clearly, she is a "philo-semite" (http://www.psbresearch.com/microtrends/microtrends.html)

and this is something that we red sea pedestrians should encourage.

Posted by David | October 9, 2007 11:58 PM

Do your own research. Surely you're not that feeble-minded.

Posted by Lazy Much? | October 10, 2007 2:32 AM

buy now online viagra

Posted by buy generic viagra | November 12, 2007 9:14 PM