While chatrooms are a cool way to meet new people on-line, it is also an easy place to hide your true identity and a favorite place for dangerous people to target innocent teens. There are numerous stories of teens who have been used by adults, known as sexual predators, for child pornography and sex. In fact, NBC's Dateline recently aired an episode on this subject, which showed the growing problem of on-line sex predators. Click here to view the report: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11152602/

You should also know that, in Maryland, a person who is convicted of any sexual offense against a minor is considered a "child sex offender" and is required to register with the Maryland Sex Offender Registry. Anybody can search this registry on-line at http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/sorSearch. [1]

To view more info on on-line sexual predators, including real stories from teens, check out this site: http://www.missingkids.com/adcouncil/cpgn.html (an educational site by National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Ad Council.)

Some teens on the net also suffer from cyberstalking, bullying and harassment by others online. You should know that threats of, for example, harm or violence directed at another, done through e-mail or a chatroom, are illegal and can get you into trouble.[2]

For more info on cyberstalking and how to prevent it from harming you check out these sites: http://www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment/index.html (a site run by a nonprofit set up by volunteers around the world on online safety, education, and help group.)

http://www.cyberangels.org/stalking.html (a site that gives information about this organization that seeks to educate and prevent online criminal activity and assist victims of online crimes.)

If you think you have been a victim of on-line sexual predators or cyberstalkers or bullies, you should tell your parents and report it. These sites will help you in reporting them:

http://tcs.cybertipline.com/index.htm (a site by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help report on online sexual predators)

http://kids.getnetwise.org/trouble/contact (a public service website set up by Internet industry corporations and public interest organizations to help insure that Internet users have educationa, entertaining, and safe online experiences.)

http://www.netsmartz.org/netteens.htm (an interactive, educational safety resource site from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for children aged 5 to 17, parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement that uses age-appropriate, 3-D activities to teach children how to stay safer on the Internet.)

More and more teens are expressing themselves and developing friendships on-line, especially through "blogs." A blog is a website through which teens can post their diaries, photos, files and other information. While blogs can be a tool for personal creativity, you should be wary of providing personal information or that of others, such as photos, because your site is available to anyone on the Internet, including parents, school teachers and future employers. In addition, some teens have gotten into trouble in school for discussing inappropriate topics affecting others in the school. For more information on the subject, check these links:

http://www.washingtonpost.com
(a Washington Post article on the dangers of blogging.)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7668788/
(an MSNBC article on the kind of information teens are putting on blogs.)

http://www.internetsuperheroes.org/
(an interactive site by Wired Kids, Inc., a U.S. charity dedicated to protecting all Internet users, especially children, from cybercrime and abuse.)

Be careful when you download something from the Internet or click to claim something for free. Some sites ask you to download a program or "plug-in" to view material for free. Sometimes these programs may download software to your computer without you even knowing it. This "ghost" software can, for example, track what you are doing and typing on-line ("spyware"); produce unwanted "pop-up ads" or other advertising content ("adware"); or install a browser that takes you to sites you don't want to visit, or change other computer functions ("malware"). Some programs can even cause unwanted charges to your family's phone bill ("unauthorized dialers").

To prevent these types of "infections," make sure your browser software is updated and that your security settings are on a high level. Also, use an anti-virus software and a firewall and keep them updated. For more information, take a look at:

http://onguardonline.gov/spyware.html
(a site by the Federal Trade Commission on how to guard against spyware.)

In the majority of cases, if you don't have authorization from the artist or you don't pay for them, you may be violating the law. Most songs and videos that are sold to the public for commercial use are protected by a law called Copyright. This law protects the owners of the songs or movies, such as songwriters and movie companies, against the copying of their works, such as downloading from the Internet, without their express permission. [3]

Although downloading songs is easy and convenient to do from peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, a violation of this law may carry a hefty price tag. For example, a music company sued a person who used the KaZaA file-sharing software to download 30 songs without authorization and the person was ordered to pay $22,500 in fines.[4] Consider that downloading 30 songs from an authorized website like iTunes would cost $29.70. What seems like an innocent action may be a very costly bet.

To be sure, there are websites where it is legal to download or sample songs or movies with and without payment. It is also okay to copy music to your computer that you already own as backup. For more info on this subject, check out these sites:

www.whatsthedownload.com (a site by The Recording Academy, internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards and responsible for numerous groundbreaking outreach, professional development, cultural enrichment, education and human services programs - including the creation of this national public education campaign website.)

www.musicunited.org (a site by a coalition that comes together on broad industry concerns to address those issues that affect the individuals who bring music to life.)

www.cyberbee.com/cb_copyright.swf (an interactive web site on copyright issues by a library specialist who designed the site to help teachers teach kids about the online world.)

Your on-line privacy is very important. You should never provide personal information (name, address, telephone number, school, etc.) to people you do not know. You should always be particularly wary of e-mails from people or companies that you do not recognize or trust, including e-mails ("spam") that ask you to buy something or claim something for free.

In Maryland, people who send a lot of e-mails, known as "spammers", cannot send you "deceptive" e-mails to sell you something if they know you live in Maryland. It is okay only if you give them permission to do so.[5] If you share your personal information with others you do not know, you may be a target for other spammers. These spammers may send you harassing e-mails or obscene material which is illegal in Maryland.

Also, under federal law, spammers have to provide you with the chance not to receive future e-mails by having a link allowing you to "opt-out".[6] For more information on these issues and to report or complain about spammers, see the following:

www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/index.html (a site by the FTC on spam)
http://spam.getnetwise.org (a public service website on spam set up by Internet industry corporations and public interest organizations to help insure that Internet users have educational, entertaining, and safe online experiences.)

Again, your privacy is very important. In fact, you should NEVER give away any personal information, such as your name, where you live and your telephone number or e-mail address, to anyone on-line unless you know and trust the website asking for it. If you're under 13, web sites that cater to children cannot ask you for any personal information. To do so, they would have to get your parents' permission. In addition, they must disclose their "privacy policy" or how they plan to use any personal information you provide.[7] You should be able to participate in many on-line activities without having to give personal information. For more info on this subject, check out this site: www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/kidzprivacy/kidz.htm
(a site by the FTC on a law that protects kids' privacy online)

For more general information on Internet safety and Maryland Internet resources, check out these sites:

http://www.oag.state.md.us/children.htm
(a site set up by the Maryland Attorney General's office on safeguarding children)

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/CIP/filterlaws.htm
(a site by the National Conference of State Legislatures on children and the Internet and the laws relating to filtering, blocking and usage policies in schools and libraries)