AOL Makes Award-Winning Parental Controls Available for Free to All Online Users

AOL, the leading provider of online safety tools for families, today announced that its award-winning Parental Controls software is now available to all Internet users at no cost. AOL Parental Controls can be downloaded starting today at: http://daol.aol.com/safetycenter/parentalcontrols. AOL Parental Controls are designed to give parents the tools they need to help protect their children from inappropriate or dangerous online material. Easy-to-use features of the software include standard age-based access controls, as well as specific controls on IM and chat, online timers, and e-mail reports on their children’s online activities. In addition, AOL offers an Internet Access Control feature that prevents children from bypassing protective features on broadband-connected computers. "Nothing is more important than protecting the safety of our children," said Joel Davidson, AOL Executive Vice President, Access Products and Technology. "Today AOL is proud to become the first major online provider to make parental controls available for free to all online users. Keeping our children safe is one of our most important missions, and this step will eliminate the cost-barrier for millions of families, so they can give their children all of the benefits of the online medium." Among the features of the free AOL Parental Controls service: ** Age Controls: AOL offers an age-appropriate online experience with standard settings for kids (ages 12 and under), young teens (13-15) and mature teens (ages 16-17), which can be customized and enhanced by the parent. ** Web Unlock: This feature lets parents easily customize Web filters to allow or block individual sites based on what they think is appropriate for their children. ** IM Controls: Parents can block their children from sending and receiving AOL instant messages, or they can decide who can send their child instant messages, and whether or not they can use enhanced IM features like video, voice and file sharing. ** Chat Controls: Parents can block their children from AOL chat rooms or limit them to chat rooms that are monitored. (Chat rooms for children and teens on AOL are continuously monitored by staff members on AOL's internal enforcement team.) ** AOL Guardian: Parents can sign up for an automatic e-mail "report card" which lists every Web site their children visit or attempt to visit, as well as the screennames or e-mail addresses of the people with whom their children exchange e-mails and IMs. ** Online Timer: Parents control the amount of time, number of hours during the day, or even days of the week that their child can go online. ** Access Controls: If using a broadband connection, parents can download Internet Access Controls to prevent their children from bypassing AOL Parental Controls by using other Web access software. Child Safety Advocates Praise AOL Announcement Ernie Allen, President and CEO, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC): "We commend AOL for their efforts to make parental controls available to everyone. As a long-time partner of NCMEC, they understand that parents and guardians can greatly minimize any potential risks of being online by taking responsibility for their children’s Internet use.” Parry Aftab, Executive Director, WiredSafety.org and Internet Privacy and Security Lawyer: "AOL has already received our highest award for their role in pioneering Parental Controls and making it easier for parents to keep their kids safe on the Internet. Now AOL is taking their commitment to online safety a step further. Making their Parental Controls software free for everyone on the Web will be a big help to millions of wired families." Anne Collier, Co-director, BlogSafety.com and Co-author, MySpace Unraveled: "With all the free access kids have to social Web sites and tools, it's great that there's some free help for their parents! Hopefully they'll use AOL's great Parental Controls not as a baby sitter but as a tool for ongoing family discussion about safe, responsible blogging and social networking." Donna Rice Hughes, President, Enough Is Enough (EIE): "Parents are the first line of defense in protecting children from Internet pornographers and sexual predators, but they are often ill-equipped to meet this challenge. The best intentioned parent in the world cannot protect their children online without safety rules and software tools--one without the other is ineffective. Now, instead of pulling the plug to the Internet in fear of harmful online dangers, parents can plug into trusted tools offered by AOL that have withstood the test of time." Jacalyn Leavitt, Chair, Internet Keep Safe Coalition: "There are two critical components for keeping kids safe online --the right education and the right tools. AOL has been a long-time supporter of iKeepSafe's education initiatives, including this month's book release of Faux Paw Meets the First Lady (a primer for handling cyber-bullying). Now, by offering its award-winning Parental Controls at no cost, they are giving all parents the tools they need to keep their children safe in our hyper-connected world." Bob McDonnell, Virginia Attorney General: "AOL has long been a great corporate citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today’s announcement is a continuation of their commitment to working with government, law enforcement, and parents to ensure that children remain safe and secure online, and the Internet remains a great educational and economic resource for all who use it.” A study released last December by AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance found that most parents with children in the home do not use parental controls software. The survey revealed that only 20% of parents with children under 18 in the home had parental controls software enabled on their computers. More information about the AOL/NCSA Online Safety Study can be found at http://www.staysafeonline.org/news/press_dec07_2005.html. There is no cost or obligation to download or use AOL Parental Controls. To ensure that the person setting up the Parental Controls is the adult in the household, however, users need to provide a credit card for age verification during registration. AOL Parental Controls works with Windows XP (Home & Professional) and 2000, and requires approximately 128 MB of spare disk space. About AOL AOL is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services, runs the country's largest Internet access business, and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. [NYSE:TWX], AOL LLC is based in Dulles, Virginia. AOL and its subsidiaries also have operations in Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.