New York, N.Y. April 9, 2001- The Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CARU) is pleased to announce that Alloy Online has made and continues to make modifications to its Web site, www.alloy.com to insure the safety and privacy of children under 13 years of age.

During routine monitoring of Websites for compliance with CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising (the "Guidelines") CARU noticed that alloy.com was not in compliance with the section on Interactive Electronic Media. CARU's specific concern centered around the Website's approach to effectively screening children under 13 years of age from successfully registering for Alloy's online community without parental consent. CARU's Guidelines provide that in Websites where there is a reasonable expectation that children will be visiting, age-screening mechanisms should be employed to determine whether verifiable parental consent or notice and opt-out is necessitated. Alloy Online agreed to an age-neutral rejection message and the implementation of a "cookie" to deter further attempts at registration in order to fully address CARU's concerns.

CARU's inquiry was conducted under NAD/NARB/CARU Procedures for Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising and resolved within 60 business days. Details of the inquiry, CARU's decision and the advertiser's response will be included in the next NAD Case Report. Members of the press who wish to see a copy of the decision now should e-mail CARU.