For Child Privacy Standards
New York, New York -- March 25, 1998 -- The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB) announced today that its children's privacy standards have won the support of America Online, Inc. ("AOL") and the Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft").

Walter J. O'Brien, vice president of the CBBB and president of the National Advertising Review Council said, "We applaud America Online and Microsoft for providing necessary leadership on this critical issue for the emerging interactive medium. As we've heard from President Clinton and the Congress, self-regulation will prove critical in helping to guarantee the Internet will be both rewarding and safe for our kids. We are proud that these industry leaders have chosen to join other corporations in supporting CARU on behalf of all our children."

Developed to protect kids under age 12, CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising provides voluntary steps that industry can take to ensure that interactive advertising and marketing effectively safeguards children's privacy. AOL and Microsoft have committed to meeting or exceeding those standards and will also contribute funding support for CARU.

CARU's Guidelines include:

• Parental Permission -- Advertisers to children who collect identifiable information online should make reasonable efforts, in light of the latest technology, to ensure that parental permission has been obtained. When registering at a site, children should be encouraged to use "screen names."
• Advertisement Identification -- Children should always be told when they are being targeted for a sale. If a site offers the option to order or purchase a product or service, either through the use of "click here to order" button or other on screen means, the ordering instructions must clearly and prominently state that a child must get a parent's permission to order.
• Microsoft and AOL are joined today by MediaLive, producer of Surf Monkey, in providing early support for the CBBB unit from new media companies. Before today, CARU's funding support stemmed from the traditional children's advertising industry and a single new media company, Bonus.com.
• Steve Case, chairman and CEO of America Online, said, "This medium will and should be judged by how well we serve the interests of children online. Certainly, protecting children's privacy is a critical cornerstone or our commitment to children. We are delighted to embrace the CARU standards and hope that the rest of the industry will likewise embrace them. We are also pleased to be able to partner with Microsoft in supporting CARU's efforts."

Microsoft's executive vice president and chief operating officer, Bob Herbold added, "We are committed to ensuring that the Internet is a safe, educational and entertaining environment for children. Microsoft is pleased to promote the important work that CARU is doing to promote strong industry awareness and self-regulation in the area of protecting children's data online, and we look forward to working with our industry colleagues to make that vision a reality."

"As one of the most powerful educational tools available today, the Internet offers our children a whole new world of information and communication not previously possible," said David Smith, chief executive officer and president of MediaLive, developer of Surf Monkey. "We, along with CARU, believe in the importance of providing a safe environment for our children." Surf Monkey is a new web browser and online service developed exclusively for kids.

Since CARU issued its revised Guidelines in April of last year, it has been working with the Clinton Administration's key policy makers and industry leaders to promote responsible online marketing to children that affords protection to children and empowerment to parents. "The timing is perfect; the FTC has just completed its survey of Web sites, and will be reporting to Congress on whether self-regulation can work in the new media. For these industry leaders to step forward and demonstrate their commitment to children and self-regulation strongly supports our view that it can do the job, " said Ms. Elizabeth Lascoutx, vice president of the CBBB and director of CARU.