New York, NY - - November 13, 2003 - The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB), the children's advertising industry's self-regulatory forum, is pleased to announce that Buy.com has agreed to work with CARU with respect to the advertising of CDs during children's programming. Two commercials for child-directed CDs raised concerns under CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising with respect to representations of "bonus" offers, such as a "special bonus CD", that were made in the spots. Buy.com informed CARU that the commercials were created by an outside promotion entity, that Buy.com had terminated its relationship with this entity, that the commercials had stopped running, and that Buy.com had revised its procedures to have effective control over the content and placement of such future advertising

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.