New York, NY - January 14, 2002 - After failed attempts to resolve violations of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising on Priority Records' Lil' Romeo Website (www.lilromeo.com) through its self-regulatory program, the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) will refer the Lil' Romeo Website case to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in accordance with CARU's Procedures.

CARU was prompted to visit www.lilromeo.com after observing the popularity of the eleven year old rapper with the tween audience, ages nine through twelve. Many factors lead CARU to believe that the Lil' Romeo Website is a child targeted Website. For example the Website's message board explicitly acknowledged the prevalence of 'kids'. Because lilromeo.com collects personally identifiable information from visitors and allows the posting of such information by children under 13, lilromeo.com falls under the jurisdiction of CARU and the federal COPPA.

After evaluating lilromeo.com, CARU found multiple COPPA violations such as alack of a comprehensive privacy policy and the collection and disclosure of children's personally identifiable information without prior parental consent.

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.

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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.