Age verification by credit-card
is an emerging industry standard on the internet, practiced by companies like
Yahoo!, TOBACCOBYMAIL, and other major internet services.
TOBACCOBYMAIL, Yahoo! and
other major sites which have adult-oriented areas or sell adult-oriented
products are required by law to take proactive steps to prevent minors from
accessing the adult areas of the service. The U.S. Congress, in various
legislation ranging from the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to the Child
Online Protection Act (COPA), has specifically authorized credit-card
verification as a proxy for online age verification. Credit-card authorization
is fast and efficient (instant access)
