New York, September 4, 2002 – The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. announced that s-curve records.com/bahamen, operated by S-Curve Records, agreed to make changes to its Website to come into compliance with CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising (the Guidelines) and the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). s-curverecords.com/bahamen is the official Website for the recording artists, Baha Men.

The group has been recently targeting children under 13 through promotions on Radio Disney and advertising on Nickelodeon. Baha Men were featured in a contest on Radio Disney that was open only to students 14 years of age or younger.

The group's official Website had been running an e-mail newsletter sign-up and message board registration without a parental notification/consent process in place. In addition, there was no privacy policy on the site. S-Curve Records informed CARU that if it decides to continue collecting personally identifiable information, it will implement the appropriate notification/verifiable parental consent mechanisms, along with a comprehensive privacy policy.

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.