New York, NY - March 19, 2002 Because Island Defjam representatives declined to cooperate with the Children's Advertising Review Unit's (CARU) voluntary system and modify their Website to comport with the CARU's Self Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising, CARU will refer the Sisqo Website case to the Federal Trade Commission in accordance with CARU's Procedures.

CARU was prompted to visit the Sisqo fansite, www.sisqo.com because of the artist's appeal to teens and tweens. In further support of the Website's child audience CARU observed that at present the Website offers a parental consent form for children who identify themselves as under 13 years of age when attempting to register for the Website's newsletter. In addition, the Website's privacy policy references special provisions that the site has made for the participation of "children under the age of 13".

The Sisqo Website offers an array of interactive activities such as postcards, contests, newsletter, chat and message boards. After evaluating sisqo.com, CARU found multiple COPPA violations such as the disclosure of children's personally identifiable information without prior parental consent or age screening.

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.