New York, NY - January 14, 2002 - CARU is pleased to announce that www.kiwibox.com has modified both its privacy policy and registration process to comply with CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising. Kiwibox offers many activities for the tween and teen audience, for example, message boards with subjects like "Entertainment" and "Body and Sports", chat rooms, e-cards, celebrity news, jokes, contests, and movie trailers. Many of the message boards offer subtopics on television shows that are popular with tweens and teens, for instance, Warner Brothers' "Dawson's Creek" and "Gilmore Girls".

Upon examining the >Kiwibox Website, CARU observed that the privacy policy for the Website was not as comprehensive as required by CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising. In addition, CARU had concerns with the effectiveness of the Website's age screening policy. CARU's position is that Websites that have a reasonable expectation that they will appeal to both children under 13 years of age as well as to teens should implement neutral age screening mechanisms to determine whether parental consent is required. CARU's inquiry was conducted under NAD/CARU/NARB 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/CARU Case Report.

CARU's inquiry was conducted under NAD/NARB/CARU Procedures for Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising. Details of the inquiry, CARU's decision and the advertiser's response will be included in the next NAD/CARU Case Report.

Members of the press who wish to see a copy of the decision now should email CARU.

######

The National Advertising Review Council (NARC) was formed in 1971 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA), the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Inc. (AAAA), the American Advertising Federation, Inc. (AAF), and the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB). Its purpose is to foster truth and accuracy in national advertising through voluntary self-regulation. NARC is the body that establishes the policies and procedures for the CBBB's National Advertising Division (NAD), the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB).

NAD and CARU are the investigative arms of the advertising industry's voluntary self-regulation program. Their casework results from competitive challenges from other advertisers, and also from self-monitoring traditional and new media, including the Internet. The National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appeals body, is a peer group from which ad-hoc panels are selected to adjudicate those cases that are not resolved at the NAD/CARU level. This unique, self-regulatory system is funded entirely by the business community; CARU is financed by the children's advertising industry, while NAD/NARB's sole source of funding is derived from membership fees paid to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.