Program/Project
Description
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At EarthLink, we utilize all of our member communications and content platforms to educate children and parents about Net safety, and provide links to child-friendly Web sites and content. A number of specific efforts have been initiated by EarthLink to promote safe and rewarding Internet experiences for children and families:
"KidZone": EarthLink has devoted a significant section of its corporate Web presence to child-friendly activities and links, called "KidZone" (www.earthlink.net/kidzone). KidZone is designed for children ages 4 to 12, and includes an online safety section, called "KidZone Watch." KidZone has proven to be an extremely popular and highly trafficked area of our corporate Web site (www.earthlink.net), and we continue to focus on improving and enhancing the site in our efforts to promote a safe and child-friendly Internet experience.
Parental Education: We focus a large portion of the "Using the Internet" section of our Web site, as well as our primary member communication vehicles, bLink, EarthLink's bi-monthly member newsletter, and eLink, the weekly electronic member newsletter, on helping parents understand what they can do to ensure a safe and positive Web experience for their children. Ongoing content in these communication tools includes such topics as how to set up filtering software, as well as specific child-focused sites, events, and activities.
Filtering: EarthLink's efforts to protect children from indecent online material also include bundling of popular filtering software
with our core access product, which is typically shipped on CD-ROM. Future versions of EarthLink's Internet access software also will expand our ability to utilize profile management tools to create family- and child-centric content and applications. This will be a powerful tool in the further development of EarthLink's ongoing efforts to address this issue.
If EarthLink finds members with objectionable material on their free 6 MB personal Web sites, we ensure that their addresses are not published in our member directory as a way to minimize traffic to those sites. In addition, our legal and information technology security staff cooperate with authorities to assist efforts to eradicate Web sites that contain illegal content of any nature.
About EarthLink
EarthLink is one of the world's leading independent Internet service providers. Through its unified EarthLink Sprint Internet access service, the company makes the Internet relevant and productive to hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses every day. Headquartered in Pasadena, EarthLink provides a full range of innovative access and hosting solutions to thousands of communities internationally from more than 2,300 points of presence.
EarthLink and Sprint Corporation (NYSE: FON) have formed a broad business relationship to create an Internet service with the potential to reach millions of new customers. Sprint is a global communications company and one of the world's largest carriers of Internet traffic. Information about EarthLink and EarthLink Sprint services is available by calling 800-395-8425 and through EarthLink's Web site at www.earthlink.net.
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