Parents are now 100% responsible for children's internet activity, since the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) has been blocked. This is not an easy job given the fact that Internet users are very likely to stumble upon dangerous web content.  

    The Child Online Protection Act prevented operators from making it possible for children to encounter detrimental material. Since this method could limit the right of free speech, the judge ruled that it was in the hands of the parents to find ways of protecting their children from harmful content. One way would be software filters. Another legislation, proposed by senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), would require sex offenders to register their online addresses with a national database. Thus, the use of an unauthorized e-mail address or the lack of track in their changes would send them to jail.

    James Leasure, Pandora Corporation founding partner, stated: "Essentially, this ruling says that operators of websites containing adult material are no longer required to verify the age of those that access those sites. Instead, the court ruled specifically that parents need to step up and take responsibility for their children's online activity. This can be a huge burden, especially with record numbers of households where both parents work and children are often unsupervised after school."

Parents are informed about the dangers online by news stories such as Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" series, but little is being done to prevent them from happening. Current statistics show that 1 out of 5 children are contacted by some sort of Internet predator while online.

Parents and teachers get help from a new generation of software such as PC Pandora, which gives the possibility to monitor and control the PC activity of children. This allows the administrator of a computer to create a visual record of that machine's usage. It can also block sites and notify parents of their children's activity.

Leasure said: "PC Pandora is the helping hand that parents and schools are looking for. The law is now telling parents to take control of their children's online activity, but we realize that's much easier said than done. The sheer scope of online material makes asking the right questions almost impossible without the right information, and our software is designed to not only help parents get that information, but also to help them make smart decisions about what to allow or not allow."

According to 2006's Online Victimization of Youth, when teens receive messages online from someone they don't know, 40% reported that they'll usually reply and chat with that person. Only 18% said they would tell an adult about the encounter.

The same report shows that:

    - 71% reported receiving messages online from someone they don't know
    - 45% have been asked for personal information by someone they don't know
    - 30% have considered meeting someone that they've only talked to online
    - 14% have actually met a person face-to-face that they've only spoken to over the Internet


Another report of the Dist. Attny, County of Los Angeles shows that 71% of all parents stop monitoring their child's use of the Internet after the child turns 14, not knowing that 72% of all Internet-related missing children are 15 years of age or older. You can find more information at www.pcpandora.com.