OMG Jim

Having a daughter that just started college and thankfully made it through middle school and high school without any internet incidences I would highly recommend any of you with kids or those that have friends with kids in the 14-17 year old range read this and be aware of this site.

Stickam

SCARY STUFF

Stickam, a website that allows registered users aged 14 and older to participate in unfiltered live-video chats, has percolated concern from child-safety experts and parents alike due to Stickam's connections to a large online pornography business.

Advanced Video Communications, or AVC, the owner of Stickam is supervised and owned by Wataru Takahashi, a Japanese entrepreneur who owns and operates DTI Services, an immense network of websites offering live sex shows via webcam.

Stickam, which claims to be a free site, does not offer advertising and does not appear to have earned any recurring revenue during its two-year existence, although the company has encouraged media companies to use its site for promotions.

Several thousand teenage members continue to log onto Stickam in order to broadcast their personal lives. Members often transmit improvised talk shows and flirt with other members in video-chat rooms where females constantly encounter bold requests for them to strip or perform lewd acts. What's more, anyone can tune in to a user's video feed, unless the user restricts it to friends only. Members are required to be 14 years old or older to join, but the site has no programs in place to verify ages.

In spite of all this, Stickam has gained attention from a few big-name partners, such as Warner Bros. Records, Lionsgate, and the Los Angeles Film Festival ? all of which have used Stickam for promotional resources in the past. However, none of the partners seems to know Stickam's exact background.

In April 2007, Takahashi discussed his companies' assets through translators, assets that include approximately 49 pornography sites, a pornographic film production company, nine restaurants in Japan, and private planes.

Donna Rice Hughes, president of Enough Is Enough, an Internet safety organization, said, "Considering Stickam's ties to pornography, children and their parents should exercise caution when using the site. This is just another adult operator looking for a back door to the youth market. For youth without parental understanding and controls in place, this can be dangerous."

Who thinks that a site like this should be shut down until they are fully investigated as a site that potentially promotes illegal activities?

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