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The Internet, sometimes called the information superhighway, is a giant network of computers that connects people and information all over the world. The term on-line means being connected to the Internet. The World Wide Web (often shortened to WWW or the Web) is the most popular part of the Internet because it includes pictures and sound as well as text.

Not long ago, computers were huge machines that occupied entire rooms. Today's desktop and laptop computers give us our own personal windows to the world. The stunning growth of the Internet has placed knowledge and information at our fingertips. The possibilities for learning and exploring on the Internet are endless. Being able to use technology is fast becoming a requirement for success in today's society. Teaching your child the basic skills of working with computers will provide tools she will need in our changing world.

It is critical that your child have your guidance when learning to use the Internet. Even if your child is an experienced computer user, he needs your involvement, your experience, and your judgment. Although children can use the Internet to tap into the Library of Congress or view pictures of the surface of Mars, not all material on the Internet is appropriate for children. As a parent, you can guide and teach your child in a way that no one else can. Regardless of your technological know-how, you can make sure your child's experience on the Internet is safe, educational, and fun.

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Many people visit chat rooms provided by commercial on-line services or IRC servers (Internet Relay Chat). Chat rooms are a way for a number of computer users to communicate with each other in "real time" - they are conversations that are instantly transmitted. For example, if you type a message and send it, it will be seen instantly by everyone else in the chat room and they can respond just as quickly.

Chat rooms can be fun and interesting. However, as in newsgroups, there is usually no supervision. Many people will be rude, mean, offensive, or dishonest. If you allow your child to use chat rooms, insist she follows the rules listed in "Setting Rules for Internet Use." Most importantly, your child should never give out personal information or agree to meet someone she has met in a chat room. Always supervise your child if she visits a chat room, or do not allow access at all. Check with your service provider about blocking chat room use.

Market Dimensions

Media Migration. Energized by the very broad range of content these one million-plus sites provide, it's not surprising that the Internet is quickly elbowing its ways to the front ranks of popular media.

The May 1997 GVU7 Web user survey reports that 35 percent of respondents say they use the Web instead of watching TV on a daily basis. A recent Nielsen survey found the same to be true among America Online households who watch 15 percent less television per week than the national average.

While the TV-watching is still considerably higher than Internet and online usage, the sheer speed at which the Web is making inroads is having a profound impact on other media. According to a Young & Rubicam, San Francisco research report, the Internet will likely displace magazines as the fifth most popular medium by the year 2001 (see table, left). Source: July 1997 Netcraft Ltd. (http://www.netcraft.co.uk/Survey)

Market Forecast. As content providers respond to the market's enthusiasm, the Web is fueled by a propitious cycle of increasing content driving ever more usage and vice versa.

According to Jupiter Communications, 67 million households will be online worldwide by the year 2000 (see table, right), a veritable bonanza for cyberspace marketers. Online users tend to be better educated and better-off than other consumers, and can be efficiently reached via the Internet medium itself. As a result, an estimated $267 million worth of Web advertising was placed in 1996 according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (http://www.iab.net). This is expected to soar to $2.5 billion by 2000 says Simba. By then, advertisers will be able to reach as many as 340 million eyeballs (170 million Internet users) glued to Web tube estimates International Data Corp. (IDC).

If current growth rates continue, year 2000 surfers will have a choice of more than 4 million sites spanning the globe. The instantaneous, cross-cultural nature of the Internet will be an irresistible proving ground for all kinds of music. On any given day, at the beginning of the next decade, more than 80 million consumers will be cruising the Web, a ready target audience for the next big thing in music.

Electronic Commerce. More important to the budding Web music distribution industry is the fact that 15 percent of Internet users have recently used the Web to purchase a product or service (according to both IntelliQuest and Nielsen Media Research).

There is no question that the Web will revolutionize the music business and create captivating new opportunities in distribution, listener marketing, music fan research and CD sales. Before that can happen, a few short-term obstacles must be overcome. For one, 79 percent still use 28.8-Kpbs modems. But as technology has demonstrated over and over again, speed issues are merely a matter of time. The Web's instantaneous, interactive and global nature has already recast the music business, as the following pages will vividly show. Source: 1996 A.C. Nielsen Worldwide Consumer Panel Services Nielsen Media Research reports that, among online buyers, 2% (or 148,500) bought music products the last time they shopped online.

Changing Standards

Long-playing Records.

Compact Discs.

While early compact disc protagonists, Philips and Sony, struggled at first due to a lack of software, it took the CD only five years to overtake album sales (see chart, left). In the mid 90s, album sales are making a very slight comeback, thanks mainly to "golden-ear" stereophiles who, to this day, consider the sound of CDs "too shrill." But the clearly discernable improvement offered by CDs set in motion a wholesale conversion of record collections, that energized the entire music business well into the 90s.

Music Videos.

MTV clearly patterned itself after Top-40 radio, applying the same nonlinear, "short take" format that attracts teenagers and young adults. Its on-air announcers, dubbed "VJs," (video jockeys), hyped elaborate contests and promotions and developed playlists that showed great ingenuity in the manipulation of audience mood. MTV soon was recognized as an effective way to promote record sales and as a powerful medium for exposing new artists, such new artists as Duran Duran, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and Men At Work. Source: June 1997 RIAA A Comparison of CD and Album Unit Sales Growth

In contrast, between 1986 and 1994, recording industry sales more than doubled, from $4.6 billion to $12.1 billion according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This made the sudden leveling in 1995 seem all the more pronounced. Some industry watchers blame the decline on the waning popularity of alternative rock, which fueled a good deal of the industry's growth at the beginning of this decade. The answer, however, may be more complex. It's more likely that sales are flat due to a combination of factors:

1. Conversion Complete The compact disc's 1983 appearance, fueled a CD replacement boom. Once consumers finished converting their LP collections to CD, growth declined.
2. Aging Boomers The 67 million baby boomers are reaching middle age. While this generation stubbornly clings to its Grateful Dead bootlegs and Calvin Klein jeans, the fact is that 64 percent of all music in the U.S. is purchased by people under age 35.
3. Lack of Innovation The all-time best-sellers list clearly shows the strong influence of aging baby boomers (see table, right), with seven out of 10 positions occupied by such 70s and 80s stalwarts as Michael Jackson, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Boston and Bruce Springsteen.
4. The Web The Internet has become an important pastime for the core music-buying demographic. This sudden phenomenon became extremely popular at the same time the music business began its decline. Coincidence? Perhaps, but there's no denying that the disposable income of the primary music-buying segment is under attack from this new diversion.

The RIAA provides additional evidence supporting these theories with a report that, while there were 14 percent more gold records (constituting sales of more than 500,000) awarded in 1996 than in 1995, platinum records (one million) were down 17 percent. And multi-platinum titles were down 20 percent. Source: February 1996 RIAA Growth of CD Sales and Other Recorded Music

The music distribution channel has grown considerably more complex since its inception in the 30s (see chart, below). The emergence of consumer electronics chains (Best Buys, Circuit City, etc.), discount clubs (Costco/Priceclub, etc.) and mass merchandisers (Target, Walmart, etc.) has added a unique buying system for each channel, typically managed by a chainstore buying service. At the top of the food chain are:

• Record Manufacturers. Six major record labels, Bertelsmann Music Group, EMI-Capitol Music Group North America, MCA Music Entertainment, PolyGram Holding Inc., Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group control 85 percent of the market: Besides manufacturing plants, these major labels also own distribution companies. Labels works with independent record producers who are responsible for managing costs, talent and recordings.
• Record Distributors. Next are record distributors, such as Valley Record Distributors, who work behind the scenes to fill music store shelves.
• Record Clubs. Nearly 17 million Americans belong to a record club. These clubs generate $1.5 billion worth of sales annually, 80 percent of which is directly related to music. According to a recent survey by Strategic Record Research, 3 percent of consumers buy their music exclusively from record clubs. Another 14 percent buy from record clubs and stores. After a seven-year growth streak, record clubs saw their sales share decline to 15 percent in 1996 from 17 percent in 1995, according to RIAA data. The two largest outfits are Columbia House (8.5 million members), jointly owned by Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group and BMG Music Service (8 million members), owned by Bertelsmann.
• Record Retail Outlets. "Active buyers" (those who have purchased at least three albums in the past six months) buy 45 percent of their recorded music from retailers, including Musicland, Tower Records, Virgin Records and Wherehouse. Flat music sales led Minneapolis-based Musicland Group to lose $194 million, while Dallas-based Blockbuster Entertainment is quietly converting most of its CD outlets to video-rental stores.

Whether cyber citizens are interested in world music (97 sites), karaoke (18 sites) or girl bands (19 sites), there is a music site to fit their musical fancy.

It all started in Fall 1993, when a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based outfit, Internet Underground Music Archive, or IUMA, created an FTP site where people from all over the world could download music files via the Internet. To reduce audio files to a manageable size, IUMA compressed them with MPEG and made a free decoder available for downloading.

IUMA's lofty goal was to revolutionize the music business with digital delivery that circumvented traditional pressing plants, distribution networks, shipping and record stores. And because a listing on IUMA was free, content poured in from all over the world. Their music trailblazing landed IUMA on the pages of the San Jose Mercury News in November 1993 and even a gig on CNN.

The Mosaic browser allowed IUMA to spruce up its venue with graphics and quickly made the site one of the first destination points for music fans. Today, the seven-person company grosses nearly $1 million annually and features more than 1,000 bands. Sony was one of the first Internet music destinations as seen here in 1995.IUMA's positioning tag line sums it up nicely: "The Net's first, free hi-fi music archive. Based on the growth in Yahoo music listings, 31 music Web sites are added daily, or about 930 new Web sites each month.

The BMI agreement granted On Ramp a blanket license, which covered unlimited access to the more than three million compositions in BMI's repertoire at the time, encompassing the work of more than 160,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The license was said to cover a variety of planned uses, including browsing, listening and transmission to consumers in the home. BMI claims to have executed more than 50 such Internet licenses (no data is available for the other services).

These agreements may be ground-breaking with respect to cyberspace, but they are business as usual in terms of collection methodology. The major performing rights organizations favor blanket licenses for Internet transmissions. The reason is simple: A reliable statistical surveying process of upward of 30,000 Internet music sites is well-nigh impossible. While surveying may be difficult, the Internet promises to force a complete re-evaluation of public performance payments. Technology is moving at lightning speed and, as later sections will show, it may be quite feasible in the near future to create a fairer metering system that measures actual usage and provides a more accurate gauge of royalty payments. The National Music Publisher's Assoc., and its licensing subsidiary, the Harry Fox Agency are mounting a legal campaign against Internet exchanges for tablatures, or "tabs," which are essentially song "blueprints" that use no notes, but graphically depict how the song should be played. In February 1997, the NMPA succeeded in shutting down Tab USA, a site hosted at Frostburg State University in western Maryland.

1. Streaming Akin to "broadcasting" on the Internet, streaming plays music in real-time. This technology is closely identified with Progressive Networks who introduced RealAudio, a server and player solution in 1995.
2. Download Under this scheme, consumers download a music file for later playback. Unlike realtime play, downloading is not constrained by bandwidth, only available time, so files can be larger and audio fidelity greater.

1. Player To listen to streaming audio, or to play any digital file that resides on a hard disk, consumers need a player. The player deciphers delivered music files, which are compressed using a "codec (see below and player, right)."
2. Plug-in To enable instant playback using a browser, a plug-in is usually required. Each codec requires a different plug-in, which can complicate listening to music on the Web.
3. Server To enable the rapid delivery of music files, most delivery systems require a file server that is dedicated to serving audio files.
4. Copy Prevention To discourage consumers from liberally copying music, music delivery systems must offer "digital watermarking," a process that adds an inaudible "tag" to each file, to enable copy tracking.
5. Codec Because music files can be large, file size is reduced by using a compression algorithm. Also called "codecs" (COder/DECoder), these algorithms can compress files by as much as 11 times, greatly reducing transmission time. The trade-off is that as files are made smaller, sound quality suffers. The table at right shows the impact compression can have on file transmission.

With an estimated 10 million users, Progressive Networks has the most popular audio and video players on the market today.

Echoing Amazon.com, CDnow and N2K have both announced commission-style programs that reward sites for selling CDs.

Los Angeles-based Intersect offers a new monitoring service, MusicReport, which is designed to search for and report on the use of audio and video on the Internet.

MusicReport uses a proprietary technology, dubbed Audio Video Scan (AVS), that searches the Internet for MPEG (motion picture experts group) Audio Layer 3 (MP3), RealAudio and other file formats commonly used to deliver audio and video.

According to Intersect, more the 2,600 sites are currently involved in the distribution of pirated audio CDs. Illegal music downloads occur deprive artists and publishers of royalties paid on sales of copyrighted materials.

Intersect provides customizable reports, which identify file source, Internet service provider, domain name, plus a list of audio and video files offered by the site for downloading.

1. Cerberus U.K.-based Cerebrus sells music from its Digital Jukebox site and recently released Virtual Pressing Plant (VPP), a stand-alone client/server package for music delivery.
2. Eurodat France-based Eurodat offers secure audio file transfer across the Internet and prevents unauthorized duplication via an anti-piracy mechanism that ensures that downloaded music can only be played from the server it was encoded on.
3. Liquid Audio Liquid Audio's end-to-end music delivery system includes an enhanced version of Dolby Laboratory's digital compression technology, digital watermarking, exceptional sound quality and royalty management. The software is also able to supply consumers with liner notes and cover graphics. With a 28.8-Kpbs modem, Liquid Audio can transfer a CD-quality, three-minute song in approximately 12 minutes. In addition, the player is capable of streaming a low-bandwidth version for music previews. A commerce package serves copy-protected files, logs downloads and tracks royalty [payments].

A digital watermark consists of an inaudible piece of binary data that is randomly imbedded in an audio file. This watermark can contain a host of copyright information including an International Standard Recording Code (ISRC), user ID, acquisition and other royalty tracking information. When a copy of an original file is made, the watermark readily identifies it as a copy and provides information about original purchaser. This serves to deter wholesale copying of digital music, although it cannot prevent casual copying for personal use. Because watermarks are virtually impossible to remove without corrupting the original file, the system is virtually foolproof.

Liquid Audio, in concert with Solana Technology, have created a system that automatically adds digital watermarks to music purchased online (see illustrations, below). Liquid Audio's product suite provides all the tools needed for Internet music applications:

1. Liquifier Pro Liquifier is an Internet audio mastering tool that lets audio professionals edit, encode and publish Dolby Digital sound on the Internet.
2. Liquid MusicServer Internet sites use the Liquid MusicServer to store music prepared by Liquifier Pro and, in conjunction with a Web server, deliver music to consumers. It supports streaming (real-time delivery of music and associated media with no permanent storage for browsing) and download (music file transferred for permanent storage on a PC).
3. Liquid MusicPlayer Consumers use the Liquid MusicPlayer to preview (stream) and purchase (download) music from a Liquid MusicServer. The freely downloadable software displays text, such as lyrics and liner notes, and associated artwork, as music is played. It also enables music purchasers to write music permanently to a CD-Recordable player.

The future for this music-on-demand market is virtually unlimited. The music retail channel is typified by "brick-and-mortar" outlets, which typically stock less than 30,000 CDs. A Virgin Megastore may carry as many as 100,000 titles. In cyberspace, CDnow offers 200,000 CDs. Still, labels have even larger back catalogs of out-of-print music that is simply unavailable.

Because retailers prefer to stock titles that will sell, music from independent record labels, obscure genres, International artists or older recordings stand little chance of being found in traditional music stores. Music on demand will radically change that scenario. By being able to choose from any artist at any time, and customize CDs to their hearts' content, consumers will undoubtedly spark a music industry renaissance.

The critical ingredient for making music on demand a reality, an affordable CDR, is just around the corner. The price of CDRs has dropped below the $300 mark and blank media is selling in the $2 to $4 range. The other constraint, bandwidth, is also making giant strides in the right direction. A 56-Kbps modem standard will greatly enhance surfing speed. This will be followed by a considerably faster technology, DSL, which will transform plain old copper telephone wire into a true high-speed, information highway.

Market research firm Jupiter Communications believes that the Internet will dramatically change the music industry over the next decade by giving merchants the opportunity to serve micro-markets, while permitting an unprecedented degree of relationship-building between audience and artists. Over time, says Jupiter, the Internet will render as artificial the distinctions between performance, broadcast and distribution. This will have dramatic implications for online sales of prerecorded music, causing it to soar from a minuscule amount today, to $1.6 billion by 2002 predicts the market researcher.

What the music industry needs now is more informed marketers and better-educated consumers and that's what this Topographic Tour is all about.

Notes:

The table on page 21 shows that advances in codecs combined with faster modems will increase throughput some 1,326 times by 2003 compared to 1991. But even faster speeds are likely to be the norm by the millennium. According to the Gartner Group, 35 percent of all consumer Internet access by 2002 will occur at high speed, including ISDN (15 percent), cable modems (10 percent), xDSL (5 percent) and satellite (5 percent). This means that the 20 million consumers who will use a cable modem in 2002, will be able to download a CD-quality three-minute song in under 30 seconds. While even greater speeds are theoretically possible, it's very likely that richer music data files will largely offset gains achieved by the more sophisticated codecs of the near future.

Acknowledgements.

• John Atkinson Editor, Stereophile
• Nicholas Butterworth President/Editor-in-Chief, SonicNet
• Wilson Chan Harmony Central
• Tom Clynes President, Festival Finder
• Jason Hirschhorn President, Mischief New Media
• David Hyman Vice President of Sales, Addicted to Noise
• Jerry Lazar The Gigaplex
• Michael Lipson President, TeamNet Technologies
• Mike Mannix Director, Streetsound
• Brent Marcus President, Virtual Radio
• Joanne Marino Editor-in-Chief, Webnoize
• Chris McBride President, WILMA
• Lawrence Peryer Director of Business Development, CD Universe
• Steve Rogers Vice President/Online Services, The Ultimate Band List
• David Samuel President, The DJ

Return to the MiniDisc Community Page.

A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety

Dear Parent:

Our children are our Nation's most valuable asset. They represent the bright future of our country and hold our hopes for a better Nation. Our children are also the most vulnerable members of society. Protecting our children against the fear of crime and from becoming victims of crime must be a national priority.

Unfortunately the same advances in computer and telecommunication technology that allow our children to reach out to new sources of knowledge and cultural experiences are also leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and harm by computer-sex offenders.

I hope that this pamphlet helps you to begin to understand the complexities of on-line child exploitation. For further information, please contact your local FBI office or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

Louis J. Freeh, Former Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Introduction

While on-line computer exploration opens a world of possibilities for children, expanding their horizons and exposing them to different cultures and ways of life, they can be exposed to dangers as they hit the road exploring the information highway. There are individuals who attempt to sexually exploit children through the use of on-line services and the Internet. Some of these individuals gradually seduce their targets through the use of attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts. These individuals are often willing to devote considerable amounts of time, money, and energy in this process. They listen to and empathize with the problems of children. They will be aware of the latest music, hobbies, and interests of children. These individuals attempt to gradually lower children's inhibitions by slowly introducing sexual context and content into their conversations.

There are other individuals, however, who immediately engage in sexually explicit conversation with children. Some offenders primarily collect and trade child-pornographic images, while others seek face-to-face meetings with children via on-line contacts. It is important for parents to understand that children can be indirectly victimized through conversation, i.e. "chat," as well as the transfer of sexually explicit information and material. Computer-sex offenders may also be evaluating children they come in contact with on-line for future face-to-face contact and direct victimization. Parents and children should remember that a computer-sex offender can be any age or sex the person does not have to fit the caricature of a dirty, unkempt, older man wearing a raincoat to be someone who could harm a child.

Children, especially adolescents, are sometimes interested in and curious about sexuality and sexually explicit material. They may be moving away from the total control of parents and seeking to establish new relationships outside their family. Because they may be curious, children/adolescents sometimes use their on-line access to actively seek out such materials and individuals. Sex offenders targeting children will use and exploit these characteristics and needs. Some adolescent children may also be attracted to and lured by on-line offenders closer to their age who, although not technically child molesters, may be dangerous. Nevertheless, they have been seduced and manipulated by a clever offender and do not fully understand or recognize the potential danger of these contacts.

This guide was prepared from actual investigations involving child victims, as well as investigations where law enforcement officers posed as children. Further information on protecting your child on-line may be found in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Child Safety on the Information Highway and Teen Safety on the Information Highway pamphlets.

What Are Signs That Your Child Might Be At Risk On-line?

Your child spends large amounts of time on-line, especially at night.

Most children that fall victim to computer-sex offenders spend large amounts of time on-line, particularly in chat rooms. They may go on-line after dinner and on the weekends. They may be latchkey kids whose parents have told them to stay at home after school. They go on-line to chat with friends, make new friends, pass time, and sometimes look for sexually explicit information. While much of the knowledge and experience gained may be valuable, parents should consider monitoring the amount of time spent on-line.

Children on-line are at the greatest risk during the evening hours. While offenders are on-line around the clock, most work during the day and spend their evenings on-line trying to locate and lure children or seeking pornography.

You find pornography on your child's computer.

Pornography is often used in the sexual victimization of children. Sex offenders often supply their potential victims with pornography as a means of opening sexual discussions and for seduction. Child pornography may be used to show the child victim that sex between children and adults is "normal." Parents should be conscious of the fact that a child may hide the pornographic files on diskettes from them. This may be especially true if the computer is used by other family members.

Your child receives phone calls from men you don't know or is making calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don't recognize.

While talking to a child victim on-line is a thrill for a computer-sex offender, it can be very cumbersome. Most want to talk to the children on the telephone. They often engage in "phone sex" with the children and often seek to set up an actual meeting for real sex.

While a child may be hesitant to give out his/her home phone number, the computer-sex offenders will give out theirs. With Caller ID, they can readily find out the child's phone number. Some computer-sex offenders have even obtained toll-free 800 numbers, so that their potential victims can call them without their parents finding out. Others will tell the child to call collect. Both of these methods result in the computer-sex offender being able to find out the child's phone number.

Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don't know.

As part of the seduction process, it is common for offenders to send letters, photographs, and all manner of gifts to their potential victims. Computer-sex offenders have even sent plane tickets in order for the child to travel across the country to meet them.

Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.

A child looking at pornographic images or having sexually explicit conversations does not want you to see it on the screen.

Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.

Computer-sex offenders will work very hard at driving a wedge between a child and their family or at exploiting their relationship. They will accentuate any minor problems at home that the child might have. Children may also become withdrawn after sexual victimization.

Your child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else.

Even if you don't subscribe to an on-line service or Internet service, your child may meet an offender while on-line at a friend's house or the library. Most computers come preloaded with on-line and/or Internet software. Computer-sex offenders will sometimes provide potential victims with a computer account for communications with them.

What Should You Do If You Suspect Your Child Is Communicating With A Sexual Predator On-line?

• Consider talking openly with your child about your suspicions. Tell them about the dangers of computer-sex offenders.
• Review what is on your child's computer. If you don't know how, ask a friend, coworker, relative, or other knowledgeable person. Pornography or any kind of sexual communication can be a warning sign.
• Use the Caller ID service to determine who is calling your child. Most telephone companies that offer Caller ID also offer a service that allows you to block your number from appearing on someone else's Caller ID. Telephone companies also offer an additional service feature that rejects incoming calls that you block. This rejection feature prevents computer-sex offenders or anyone else from calling your home anonymously.
• Devices can be purchased that show telephone numbers that have been dialed from your home phone. Additionally, the last number called from your home phone can be retrieved provided that the telephone is equipped with a redial feature. You will also need a telephone pager to complete this retrieval.
• This is done using a numeric-display pager and another phone that is on the same line as the first phone with the redial feature. Using the two phones and the pager, a call is placed from the second phone to the pager. When the paging terminal beeps for you to enter a telephone number, you press the redial button on the first (or suspect) phone. The last number called from that phone will then be displayed on the pager.
• Monitor your child's access to all types of live electronic communications (i.e., chat rooms, instant messages, Internet Relay Chat, etc.), and monitor your child's e-mail. Computer-sex offenders almost always meet potential victims via chat rooms. After meeting a child on-line, they will continue to communicate electronically often via e-mail.

Should any of the following situations arise in your household, via the Internet or on-line service, you should immediately contact your local or state law enforcement agency, the FBI, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:

1. Your child or anyone in the household has received child pornography;
2. Your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your child is under 18 years of age;
3. Your child has received sexually explicit images from someone that knows your child is under the age of 18.

If one of these scenarios occurs, keep the computer turned off in order to preserve any evidence for future law enforcement use. Unless directed to do so by the law enforcement agency, you should not attempt to copy any of the images and/or text found on the computer.

What Can You Do To Minimize The Chances Of An On-line Exploiter Victimizing Your Child?

• Communicate, and talk to your child about sexual victimization and potential on-line danger.
• Spend time with your children on-line. Have them teach you about their favorite on-line destinations.
• Keep the computer in a common room in the house, not in your child's bedroom. It is much more difficult for a computer-sex offender to communicate with a child when the computer screen is visible to a parent or another member of the household.
• Utilize parental controls provided by your service provider and/or blocking software. While electronic chat can be a great place for children to make new friends and discuss various topics of interest, it is also prowled by computer-sex offenders. Use of chat rooms, in particular, should be heavily monitored. While parents should utilize these mechanisms, they should not totally rely on them.
• Always maintain access to your child's on-line account and randomly check his/her e-mail. Be aware that your child could be contacted through the U.S. Mail. Be up front with your child about your access and reasons why.
• Teach your child the responsible use of the resources on-line. There is much more to the on-line experience than chat rooms.
• Find out what computer safeguards are utilized by your child's school, the public library, and at the homes of your child's friends. These are all places, outside your normal supervision, where your child could encounter an on-line predator.
• Understand, even if your child was a willing participant in any form of sexual exploitation, that he/she is not at fault and is the victim. The offender always bears the complete responsibility for his or her actions.
• Instruct your children:
  
  • to never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they met on- line;
  • to never upload (post) pictures of themselves onto the Internet or on-line service to people they do not personally know;
  • to never give out identifying information such as their name, home address, school name, or telephone number;
  • to never download pictures from an unknown source, as there is a good chance there could be sexually explicit images;
  • to never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, or harassing;
  • that whatever they are told on-line may or may not be true.

Frequently Asked Questions:

My child has received an e-mail advertising for a pornographic website, what should I do?

Generally, advertising for an adult, pornographic website that is sent to an e-mail address does not violate federal law or the current laws of most states. In some states it may be a violation of law if the sender knows the recipient is under the age of 18. Such advertising can be reported to your service provider and, if known, the service provider of the originator. It can also be reported to your state and federal legislators, so they can be made aware of the extent of the problem.

Is any service safer than the others?

Sex offenders have contacted children via most of the major on-line services and the Internet. The most important factors in keeping your child safe on-line are the utilization of appropriate blocking software and/or parental controls, along with open, honest discussions with your child, monitoring his/her on-line activity, and following the tips in this pamphlet.

Should I just forbid my child from going on-line?

There are dangers in every part of our society. By educating your children to these dangers and taking appropriate steps to protect them, they can benefit from the wealth of information now available on-line.

Helpful Definitions:

Internet - An immense, global network that connects computers via telephone lines and/or fiber networks to storehouses of electronic information. With only a computer, a modem, a telephone line and a service provider, people from all over the world can communicate and share information with little more than a few keystrokes.

Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) - Electronic networks of computers that are connected by a central computer setup and operated by a system administrator or operator and are distinguishable from the Internet by their "dial-up" accessibility. BBS users link their individual computers to the central BBS computer by a modem which allows them to post messages, read messages left by others, trade information, or hold direct conversations. Access to a BBS can, and often is, privileged and limited to those users who have access privileges granted by the systems operator.

Commercial On-line Service (COS) - Examples of COSs are America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe and Microsoft Network, which provide access to their service for a fee. COSs generally offer limited access to the Internet as part of their total service package.

Internet Service Provider (ISP) - Examples of ISPs are Erols, Concentric and Netcom. These services offer direct, full access to the Internet at a flat, monthly rate and often provide electronic-mail service for their customers. ISPs often provide space on their servers for their customers to maintain World Wide Web (WWW) sites. Not all ISPs are commercial enterprises. Educational, governmental and nonprofit organizations also provide Internet access to their members.

Public Chat Rooms - Created, maintained, listed and monitored by the COS and other public domain systems such as Internet Relay Chat. A number of customers can be in the public chat rooms at any given time, which are monitored for illegal activity and even appropriate language by systems operators (SYSOP). Some public chat rooms are monitored more frequently than others, depending on the COS and the type of chat room. Violators can be reported to the administrators of the system (at America On-line they are referred to as terms of service [TOS]) which can revoke user privileges. The public chat rooms usually cover a broad range of topics such as entertainment, sports, game rooms, children only, etc.

Electronic Mail (E-Mail) - A function of BBSs, COSs and ISPs which provides for the transmission of messages and files between computers over a communications network similar to mailing a letter via the postal service. E-mail is stored on a server, where it will remain until the addressee retrieves it. Anonymity can be maintained by the sender by predetermining what the receiver will see as the "from" address. Another way to conceal one's identity is to use an "anonymous remailer," which is a service that allows the user to send an e-mail message repackaged under the remailer's own header, stripping off the originator's name completely.

Chat - Real-time text conversation between users in a chat room with no expectation of privacy. All chat conversation is accessible by all individuals in the chat room while the conversation is taking place.

Instant Messages - Private, real-time text conversation between two users in a chat room.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) - Real-time text conversation similar to public and/or private chat rooms on COS.

Usenet (Newsgroups) - Like a giant, cork bulletin board where users post messages and information. Each posting is like an open letter and is capable of having attachments, such as graphic image files (GIFs). Anyone accessing the newsgroup can read the postings, take copies of posted items, or post responses. Each newsgroup can hold thousands of postings. Currently, there are over 29,000 public newsgroups and that number is growing daily. Newsgroups are both public and/or private. There is no listing of private newsgroups. A user of private newsgroups has to be invited into the newsgroup and be provided with the newsgroup's address.