Difference between revisions of "COPPA Members"

Revision as of 07:22, 3 March 2012

This guide was originally written by Twilight Sparkle

Are you confused about COPPA? Don't know what it is? Not sure how to react to a trade from a COPPA? Nowadays I see a lot of questions and misconceptions about what COPPA is all around CS, mainly on the 'Suggestions/Problems' board. I want to make this guide to answer the questions about COPPA. So look no further, here comes tons of information.

What is COPPA?

On Chicken Smoothie, "COPPA" is used in two ways, firstly to describe the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and secondly, to describe players protected by that law. Below is Ocelot at Soul's description of the COPPA law, as well as a site which explains COPPA in depth. Below that is my simple explanation of a COPPA player.

Ocelot at Soul wrote:: COPPA stands for Child Online Privacy Protection Act. It is a law in the US that prevents a child 13 or younger from posting online without a parent's permission. The parent has to fill out a form and fax or mail it to the admin of the site. It keeps young kids from posting information like name, age, or location to keep them safe. So on here, they can't post on the forums, make trade rules, send trade messages, or send private messages to keep them safe. They can post in Oekaki, but every post has to be approved by a moderator.

What Is COPPA- A More Boring & Thorough Explanation

'Mione wrote:: A player who is referred to as a COPPA is a player who is under 13 and lives in the United States. Their "membership group", so to speak, is "Registered COPPA Users".

What can COPPA's do?

On below are the list of things COPPA's can and can't do on CS. NOTE: COPPA's are able to do everything once their parents sign and mail/fax a special permission slip to Tess and Nick. This permission slip makes them unCOPPA'd.

They can:

Collect pets
Name pets
Name groups
Make/post on the Oekaki (mods must approve these posts first)
Put items on pets
Make a wishlist
View all forums except 18+ and human roleplay
Read trade messages

They cannot:

Make trade rules
Send trade messages
Read private messages
Send private messages
Post on any forum but the Oekaki
Read the 18+ forum / the human roleplay forum

(If I missed anything, please say.)

Hekomi wrote:: It might be a good idea to note as well, once a coppa'd member trades you a pet, it's name seems to disappear. ^^; As in, if they named the pet, it comes onto your account with no name.

What are some misconceptions about COPPAs?

Anyone who has seen the Trade Rant Thread has probabily noticed a rant or two about COPPAs. I want to put a stop to these common misconceptions that seem to make some users think that all COPPAs are bad. They're not. So, here we go.

COPPAs can't / don't ever read trade rules and send bad trades

Not true. COPPA members get thanked all the time on the Good Trade Thread, and most COPPAs know how to read. I mean really think of most, let's say, 8-13 year olds. I'm pretty sure the majority of them can read. Now, there are some people who just don't read, and do break rules, but the majority of COPPAs can read your rule and will read them.

All COPPAs are noobs / stupid

Again, not even close to being true. Most COPPAs are smart. They may not be as smart as you, because your older, and they may make some mistakes (Doesn't everyone make mistakes?), but they aren't all stupid.

How do I respond to a COPPA trade?

Help! Some COPPA sent me a trade with nothing on my side, but something on their side. Is it a gift or do they want me to edit?

What you need to do is send back the trade, asking if it's a gift. If it is, they'll most likely accept, if it isn't, they'll probabily send it back to you. Remember, COPPA players can't send you a message in the trade.

A COPPA sent me a trade with nothing on their side, but something on my side. What do I do?

Edit the trade to make it fair, then send it back to them asking if it's okay. Most likely they want the pets and aren't trying to beg, but they don't know what you want for the pets. If they don't have anything you want or anything to make the trade fair, simply cancel it with a message explaining why you canceled.

A COPPA completely breaks my rules—what do I do?

Just cancel the trade without a nasty message. Explain why you canceled and try to be kind about it.

So I hope I helped people understand about COPPAs. If you have any unanswered questions, please post them here. Thanks for reading!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-( This guide was originally written by [https://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=89223 twilight sparkle] [ [https://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=924979 original] ] )
+''This guide was originally written by Twilight Sparkle''
-COPPA stands for <b>Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)</b>. It is a law active in the United States of America which keeps kids who are under 13 years of age from posting online without their parent or guardian's permission. To remove a child's COPPA status, the parent or guardian must fax or mail a  permission slip to the site so that Chicken Smoothie can legally remove the restrictions. The ultimate goal of these laws is to protect children from those who may  mean them harm online, and also token the kids from giving out personal information by accident, not understanding the potential consequences.You can read even further about the COPPA law [https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=4939e77c77a1a1a08c1cbf905fc4b409&node=16%3A1.0.1.3.36&rgn=div5 from the official  website].
+Are you confused about COPPA? Don't know what it is? Not sure how to react to a trade from a COPPA? Nowadays I see a lot of questions and misconceptions about what COPPA is all around CS, mainly on the 'Suggestions/Problems' board. I want to make this guide to answer the questions about COPPA. So look no further, here comes tons of information.
-On Chicken Smoothie, the players who  have active  COPPA protection  are  usually referred to  as "COPPA players,"  or even  just  as "COPPAs" by members  with  forum rights. The difference between a regular account  and a  COPPA  account may not be immediately obvious, but it can be  checked by examining the user's member group.  COPPA-protected users are a member of the group "Registered COPPA Users."
-<div  align="center">[[File:Coppaprofile.png | 500px]]</div>
+==What is COPPA?==
+On Chicken Smoothie, "COPPA" is used in two ways, firstly to describe the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and secondly, to describe players protected by that law. Below is Ocelot at Soul's description of the COPPA law, as well as a site which explains COPPA in depth. Below that is my simple explanation of a COPPA player.
+[quote="Ocelot at Soul"]
+COPPA stands for Child Online Privacy Protection Act. It is a law in the US that prevents a child 13 or younger from posting online without a parent's permission. The parent has to fill out a form and fax or mail it to the admin of the site. It keeps young kids from posting information like name, age, or location to keep them safe. So on here, they can't post on the forums, make trade rules, send trade messages, or send private messages to keep them safe. They can post in Oekaki, but every post has to be approved by a moderator.[/quote]
+[url=http://www.coppa.org/#]What Is COPPA- A More Boring & Thorough Explanation[/url]
-==COPPA Abilities==
+[quote="'Mione"]
-<table class="wikitable"><tr>
+A player who is referred to as a COPPA is a player who is under 13 and lives in the United States. Their "membership group", so to speak, is "Registered COPPA Users". [/quote]
-<th style="color:#00BF00">They Can:
-<th style="color:#FF4000"> They Cannot:
-</tr><tr>
-<td><ul>
-<li>Collect pets
-<li>Name pets
-<li>Name groups
-<li>Chose an avatar from the CS Gallery
-<li>Set oekaki drawings as their avatar (only if created in the correct dimensions)
-<li>Send [https://www.chickensmoothie.com/help/gethelp help tickets]
-<li>Use and post on the [https://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewforum.php?f=29 oekaki boards]
-<li>Use and post  in the [https://www.chickensmoothie.com/dressups/ Dress Up forum]
-<li>Use and post on [https://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewforum.php?f=110 Dress Up Scenes]
-<li>Put items on pets
-<li>Make a wishlist
-<li>Make a stamp collection
-<li>View forums (except select forums)/profiles
-<li>Read trade messages
-<li>Use pre-made trade messages
-<li>Adopt pets/items from the pound/lost & found</ul>
-<td><ul>
-<li>Make trade rules
-<li>Send custom trade messages
-<li>Read PMs
-<li>Send PMs
-<li>Create a custom signature
-<li>Fill in their interests
-<li>Use off-site avatars
-<li>Post on any non-oekaki/dressup forum
-<li>Read the 18+ forum/the human roleplay forum
-<li>Have other players see the names they've given their pets while trading
-<li>Have their pets keep the names they'd been given after trading them</ul>
-</tr>
-</table>
-==Limitations==
+==What can COPPA's do?==
-'''Signature'''
+On below are the list of things COPPA's can and can't do on CS. NOTE: COPPA's are able to do everything once their parents sign and mail/fax [url=http://www.chickensmoothie.com/accounts/permissionslip.php]a special permission slip[/url] to Tess and Nick. This permission slip makes them unCOPPA'd.
-Since mid 2014, COPPA users have been able to make stamp collections, which would be displayed on their profile page. They are unable to upload their own graphics and text, but can choose from a variety of provided images to make a "stamp collection", all of which can be found [url=http://www.chickensmoothie.com/stamps/]here.[/url] Stamp collections become default signatures for COPPA users, but they can be disabled on the profile page.
-'''Forum'''
+===They can:===
-COPPA users cannot post in any forum except for on the Oekaki, Dress Up Challenge , and Dress Up Scene boards. However they can read all forums except for the Adults Chat 18+ and the Human Roleplays.
+*Collect pets
-They can view anyone's profile but they are not given the option to send private messages them.
+*Name pets
+*Name groups
+*Make/post on the Oekaki (mods must approve these posts first)
+*Put items on pets
+*Make a wishlist
+*View all forums except 18+ and human roleplay
+*Read trade messages
-'''Oekaki and Dressups'''
+===They cannot:===
-COPPA users are allowed to post both drawings and comments in all areas of the oekaki, including the adoptable oekaki forum. They may also submit dressups to any open category in the dressup section, and can reply to other peoples' dressup submissions. They can also post their own scenes, and contribute to the collaborative projects happening in that board, including leaving comments.
+*Make trade rules
-These posts are all looked through and approved by moderators to make sure that they do not give out any personal information and aren't spam, before appearing publicly. The posts therefor may take a while to appear, and might pop up  behind the posts made by registered users if the thread is busy  enough.
+*Send trade messages
+*Read private messages
+*Send private messages
+*Post on any forum but the Oekaki
+*Read the 18+ forum / the human roleplay forum
-'''Trade'''
+(If I missed anything, please say.)
-COPPA users are still able to trade pets and items, but they cannot write trade rules and custom messages (they can read other peoples'). Pet names also do not appear in the trade, and are deleted upon arriving to the recipient of an accepted trade.
-However, COPPAs can choose from a provided set of messages allowing the recipient of the trade to understand what they want from the trade, and if the trade is intended to be a gift or a suggestion. This feature was implemented in 2014.
-COPPA users are unable to edit these messages at all - they may only select one they want to use (or choose not to use a message at all).
-During  2018, COPPA users received the ability to send pre-made messages for accepting and cancelling trades.
-==COPPA Trade Messages==
+[quote="Hekomi"]It might be a good idea to note as well, once a coppa'd member trades you a pet, it's name seems to disappear. ^^; As in, if they named the pet, it comes onto your account with no name.[/quote]
-Some examples of COPPA trade messages for the curious:
-"Hi there, I want you to have this as a free gift from me :) I hope you like it!"
+==What are some misconceptions about COPPAs?==
-"Hi, I'd really like this from you, but I don't know what to give you in return. Please edit the trade to make it fair :)"
+Anyone who has seen the [url=http://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1046732]Trade Rant Thread[/url] has probabily noticed a rant or two about COPPAs. I want to put a stop to these common misconceptions that seem to make some users think that all COPPAs are bad. They're not. So, here we go.
-"Will you please accept this trade?"
-"Is this okay? Please edit it if you don't like it :)"
-"I saw your post saying that you were giving away free stuff, so can I please have this? I can't add codewords or post in the forum, sorry :("
-"I think you might be looking for this. If you want this from me, please edit the trade to show me what you'll offer for it :)"
-"I saw that you were having an auction! This is my bid for that auction :) I am a COPPA member so unfortunately I can't PM or post in the forums"
-<div align="center">[[File:COPPAtradepage.png]]</div>
+===COPPAs can't / don't ever read trade rules and send bad trades===
+Not true. COPPA members get thanked all the time on the [url=http://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1065462]Good Trade Thread[/url], and most COPPAs know how to read. I mean really think of most, let's say, 8-13 year olds. I'm pretty sure the majority of them can read. Now, there are some people who just don't read, and do break rules, but the majority of COPPAs can read your rule and will read them.
-==Common Misconceptions About COPPA==
+===All COPPAs are noobs / stupid===
+Again, not even close to being true. Most COPPAs are smart. They may not be as smart as you, because your older, and they may make some mistakes (Doesn't everyone make mistakes?), but they aren't all stupid.
-'''COPPAs can't/don't ever read trade rules and send bad trades!'''
+==How do I respond to a COPPA trade?==
-While it's true that some COPPAs may not read trade rules because they're not old enough to understand the importance of them, many are old enough and do read the rules and try to follow them.
+===Help! Some COPPA sent me a trade with nothing on my side, but something on their side. Is it a gift or do they want me to edit?===
-And again, while some kids aren't old enough to care about rarities and don't understand how demand works, but are focused on the looks of the pet or the species, others are - and if you were to link them to a guide they'd be able to learn from an accidental bad trade.
-There's no point in generalizing or putting down an entire user group based on a couple bad trades, because at one point we all sent bad trades, especially when we were new or younger users.
-If you get an unfair trade just be gentle and try to cancel nicely rather than making fun of the user or becoming snarky.
-'''All COPPAs are stupid!'''
+What you need to do is send back the trade, asking if it's a gift. If it is, they'll most likely accept, if it isn't, they'll probabily send it back to you. Remember, COPPA players can't send you a message in the trade.
-COPPAs are kids, and while that may mean they don't completely understand some things, they're not stupid - just younger. Some COPPAs will understand rarities and trade value, others won't at all and might be young enough that they're only interested in how a pet looks, not what it's worth.
-That means you've got to be kind and gentle, even though you may get frustrated. We were all kids once, so there's no point in bullying or acting high and mighty.
-'''COPPAs never have anything good  to trade.'''
+===A COPPA sent me a trade with nothing on their side, but something on my side. What do I do?===
-Some COPPAs  value appearance over value - and that's perfectly fine! They're allowed to play however they want, just as Registered Users are. Furthermore, there are some COPPA players who actually do have quite extensive collections. Just  as with all users, COPPA  players  are individuals  and they all have  their own ways of valuing things and prioritizing their collection.
+Edit the trade to make it fair, then send it back to them asking if it's okay. Most likely they want the pets and aren't trying to beg, but they don't know what you want for the pets. If they don't have anything you want or anything to make the trade fair, simply cancel it with a message explaining why you canceled.
-'''CS doesn't even have that  many COPPA  players.'''
+===A COPPA completely breaks my rules&mdash;what do I do?===
-You'd be surprised at how many users  are under COPPA protection - it's just hard to realize they're there when they can't post in most areas of the site.
+Just cancel the trade without a nasty message. Explain why you canceled and try to be kind about it.
+[b]So I hope I helped people understand about COPPAs. If you have any unanswered questions, please post them here. Thanks for reading![/b]
-==Frequently Asked Questions==
-'''Does COPPA affect users outside of the United States?'''
-No. COPPA only affects those under the age of 13 in the United States. If you're under 13 but from another country it won't affect you.  This means you may still come across very young children from other countries who are not under COPPA protection, and you should treat them  with patience.
-If you live  outside the United States but have mistakenly been put under COPPA restrictions please contact staff through a [https://www.chickensmoothie.com/help/gethelp help ticket].
-'''What happens when you turn 13?'''
-When you turn 13 your account will automatically become unCOPPA'd, and you will be moved into the "registered users" usergroup instead of the "registered COPPA users," allowing you to now have full posting and profile capabilities as all other users. You will no longer have restrictions on your CS usage.
-This is of course assuming you provided the correct birthdate when signing up for Chicken Smoothie. If the date was incorrect you will need to wait until the birthday you provided reaches 13 years of age. We will not change the listed age on COPPA accounts due to the fact children who ''should'' be COPPA would claim they entered the date wrong just to get out of their protection earlier.
-'''What if you join CS a day/week/month before turning 13?'''
-No matter how close to turning 13 you are when you join, you're still going to be COPPA'd until it's your birthday, even if it's just a day or several years!
-'''I entered my birthdate wrong - I really am over 13!'''
-Unfortunately we are not able to verify that. We have to treat you as the age you enter upon signing up. If you wish to remove the status before the entered age reaches 13, you will need to send a permission slip.
-'''I'm not COPPA but I can't post/my post won't show up!'''
-When you first join CS, your first forum post must be approved by a moderator to make sure you are a real person and not a robot attempting to spread advertisements or spam in the forum. This can take some time as our staff is often very busy, unfortunately. Until the post is approved, you also won't be able to send private messages/trade messages.
-Once that first post is approved, you'll be able to post freely from that point on without posts needing moderator approval. It does not mean you are a COPPA user.
-'''Help! I accidentally became COPPA'd but I don't live in the USA!'''
-If you think you or someone you know was given COPPA protection but '''lives outside of the US''', get in touch with CS staff through a [http://www.chickensmoothie.com/help/gethelp help ticket]. Occasionally it can be given to members from other countries by mistake if the forum has trouble working out which country you're logging in from when you sign up. It may also be applied to children if they've visited the US temporarily and logged in while there, even if they're not there any more.
-Be sure to explain your problem and why you believe the account has been given COPPA protection accidentally, and the team will get back to you as soon as possible with more advice and information about what happens next.
-'''My account is from 2010 or earlier but I'm still COPPA'd!'''
-Please send a [http://www.chickensmoothie.com/help/gethelp help ticket] so the Chicken Smoothie staff can sort out that mistake.
-'''I thought COPPA player couldn't customize their accounts or post - how come this one can?'''
-You may have found a user who had COPPA applied to them after registering, most likely because they entered the wrong birthdate originally. These users have their customizable fields frozen until the COPPA status is removed again.
-==Removing COPPA Status==
-===Permission Slip===
-You can only access the [http://www.chickensmoothie.com/accounts/permissionslip.php permission slip] if you have a COPPA'd  account.
-If you want to become unCOPPA'd before your 13th birthday, log into your account and download/print the above permission slip. Once this permission slip is completed and filled out by a parent or guardian, it either needs to be faxed or mailed so that the account in question can have its COPPA status  removed. Addressing information can be found on the permission slip. Unfortunately email and other electronic means  are not acceptable.
-Parents may wish to send in a ticket when not logged into any account, in which case they must provide a working email address and should include the username of the account they are referring to in the description box or in further information.
-===Turn 13!===
-When a user turns 13 after previously being COPPA, they automatically become a registered user, and are given full privileges.  Keep in mind that this only works if you gave the correct birthdate when signing up for your Chicken  Smoothie account. If you did not you will have to wait until the date you ''did'' enter reaches 13  (or  submit  a  permission slip as mentioned above).
-It is also  worth noting that if the account hasn't already had a  post approved by the time it has been unCOPPA'd, it will have the same posting  restrictions as a newly registered  user. This means that you will still need to have a post approved by a moderator before you can unlock full rights.
-[[Category:Forum guides]]