Yahoo! Chat turns 'Adult Only'

[detn8r]

Today, I noticed an update in the Yahoo! Chat information box (sits next to category chat list) that currently explains that user created rooms were temporarily unavailable. Now added to that is another blow to teens looking to kill a few hours on their favorite rooms, Yahoo! Chat has become adult entertainment only.

"To enhance the user experience and compliance with our Terms of Service, Yahoo! Chat is now available to users who are 18 years of age or older."

Not only have they done this, but have also eliminated any teen-related Yahoo Public Rooms, just incase those who decide to recreate an identity and lie on the age factor.

Looks like teenchat.com is going to become pretty popular folks!

[detn8r]

Yahoo also notifies all parties when joining a public room that their IP address is being recorded.

A big step for Yahoo! but how well will their sponsers hold on now that a majority of it's users have been "locked out"?


If you find any more changes to chat or TOS, be sure to add it here!

[cutiebcrazy]

Not only that but when you log into a chat room, it say's that your ISP is being recorded... I am not sure what that is all about. But it is different. I was thinking to myself.. Gee they sure are going all out for us since it's now "adult chat" I would hate to think they are going to spare any security measures, or expense... LOL

[AKC]

I don't know what most people use YahooChat for, but in the rooms I frequent (Politics Lobby), there are always death threats and stalkers and criminal allegations and accusations. It doesn't surprise me one bit that Yahoo would choose to start logging people's IPs. Eventually, they're going to be held responsible for a lot worse than sex trolls and it doesn't shock me at all that they want to be able to redirect the blame in the correct direction.

[Lysander]

I don't see how this protects anybody.


Teens will simply lie about their age and get on anyway. They're young, tehy don't recognize the danger of how prevvilant and serious the pedophile plague is in Yahoo. I didn't even though I'd been using the system for years. They won't take it seriously. So Yahoo is monitoring your IP--what difference does that make? What good does it do?

[detn8r]

Yahoo is simply only covering their own ass so they don't have to go through any more lawsuits. They obviously know that anybody can lie about their age, so beyond that (or until someone makes a splash and makes Yahoo do something dramatic like pursuing the idea of using your credit card to verify your age) they realize that they are not truly loosing any chatters.
An upcoming revolution for chat rooms could be started by Yahoo Inc. if they are smart about it.

[Optikal]

This comment is a lil old, but noone has said it, so I will..
Yahoo has bin recording IP's for a long long time, how long, who knows.. I know for a fact the only thing that changed was yahoo having to let you know about it..

[slash001]

Yes they are allowing you to see IP but that is only for their good. They want to have more and more users so they do that, everything they do do for their own sake.

[Dermot]

Lets not be under any delusion that yahoo! only started recording IP addresses or seeing them as they have since they started the network. The message on the chat entry is nothing but a tactic to let online offenders know yahoo! are able to and can reveal your IP and details to authorities and to scare them off. Making the chat service over 18's is just a legal way to protect them against further public court cases with assistant attorneys.