Some 70 million people under 16 will have accounts in virtual worlds by the end of this year, the New York Times reports. That's twice last year's figure, it adds, citing the research of UK virtual world consulting firm K Zero. And there are more than 200 worlds such as Disney's Club Penguin, Cartoon Network's FusionFall, and Helsinki-based Habbo in place, in the planning, or in development, the … [Read more...] about Child protection in virtual worlds
Youth
Teen claims to be Twitter worm creator
A US high school senior in Brooklyn, N.Y., owned up to creating a worm that attacked Twitter over the weekend, PC Magazine reports. Apparently designed to increase traffic to his site, it spread links through some 10,000 tweets, or updates, to Twitter users' pages. CNET reports that among the worm's updates were: "Mikeyy I am done...," "MikeyyMikeyy is done," and "Twitter please fix this, regards … [Read more...] about Teen claims to be Twitter worm creator
FL teen a registered sex offender for sexting
Teens do not want a late-night fit of anger channeled into a few seconds' worth of clicks on a cellphone to lead to anything close to what happened to Phillip Alpert, who will be in Florida's sex offender registry until he's 43, CNN reports. He told CNN he had just turned 18, he was tired, and it was the middle of the night "when he sent a naked photo of his 16-year-old girlfriend [for 2½ years], … [Read more...] about FL teen a registered sex offender for sexting
Undercover Mom in ClubPenguin, Part 5: Cold shoulders
By Sharon Duke EstroffI’m not even a week into my undercover expedition and I’m already racking up penguin pals like Pokemon cards. No wonder Club Penguin's signature tagline is "Waddle around and make new friends"! That said, not all the birds I’ve met in this hopping virtual world are amicable types. Here’s what happened when I (ChillyLily) approached a group of cheery looking penguins dancing … [Read more...] about Undercover Mom in ClubPenguin, Part 5: Cold shoulders
Self-published child porn in UK
I just posted on youth as self-published pornographer, but here's an exhaustive take on the subject from across the Atlantic. In the UK so far, 90 UK youth "have been cautioned as a result of posting sexual material of themselves or their underage friends online or on their mobile phones," the Daily Mail reports. I'll tell you more about the piece in a second but want to zoom right in on the … [Read more...] about Self-published child porn in UK