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"The unfortunate thing about the Internet is that so many of it's boundaries are intangible. I can't hire burly bouncers or snooty doormen to guard the gateway into my adult webpage." |
I don't know about you, but I don't want kids on my adult webpage. They're ungrateful. They have no money and they don't appreciate that I'm trying to give comfort to the zillions of older, wrinkly folk who are too unattractive to have sex anymore.
The unfortunate thing about the Internet is that so many of it's boundaries are intangible. I can't hire burly bouncers or snooty doormen to guard the gateway into my adult webpage. Even with a paysite, I can't be positively sure that the user who submits their cc number for access to my page is the owner of the card. I can use security methods such as confirmation emails and PIN numbers to make unauthorized access more difficult. But if a kid is going to steal their parent's card and commit fraud, then I refuse to accept blame.
Even with a protected member's area, a paysite still has a front door page that can be accessed by anyone that finds it. Free sites have an even harder time filtering out underage visitors because well, they're free. If a kid is surfing the net unsupervised and enters my free adult site, I am powerless to stop them.
Sure, I can submit my free site to content-filtering software companies. They'll block underage access to my web as long as the kid's parental unit(s) own and use the software. I can design my free page to be more softcore so "the kids" won't be titillated. I can make sure that I don't use keywords in my Meta tags that lure children and be more conscientious in my advertising methods.
I could do all those mentioned things and will stealthily filter out some of those bratty tikes. The unfortunate fact is, as long as free adult sites are allowed on the net, there is only one thing protecting the adult webmaster from "the kids" and that's the Warning page.
Does a Warning page actually legally protect the adult webmaster? No one knows because no one has challenged the lawfulness of the Warning page system in court. Does it really keep out kids and those who live in non-porn viewing areas? That depends on the kid and how they were raised. Is a warning page still the best method we have for legitimizing our free adult websites? Yes.
Although every adult webmaster has seen one, perhaps it's time for a lesson on how to make a Warning page. From what text to what links to what exits links, here's a list of what a Warning page should include:
There are many ways to phrase to the first time visitor to your site that they are at the doorway of an adult webpage. Here is where you make your honor system agreement with your surfer. Some warning pages tell the visitor that clicking on the "Enter" link means they accept responsibility for their actions. There is usually a stipulation in your warning that your material is not for children and is not for those who live in areas that have made laws against your content.
You want to give "the kids" and others a way to back out of your evil webpage safely and be taken to a warmer, fuzzier place on the web. While some adult webmasters will link their exit to yahoo, others use the exit more efficiently by sending the surfer to a non-adult sponsor they are affiliated with.
You can offer adults viewing your page a way to protect their children by supplying links to filtering software. Go to some porn filter sites like Net Nanny and ICRA and get some little buttons and links so you can place them on your warning page. Don't forget to submit your warning page to these software-filtering companies as it can optimize your search engine placement.
Duh ...
Warning pages tend to be as unique as their makers are. The important thing is to place your warning text on your alert page in an easy to see position. The more important thing is to actually have a Warning page, especially if you have a free adult site or a free tour for your pay site. Below are some examples of adult Warning pages:
After looking at the above-mentioned Warning pages, you can see how you can alter yours to fit your adult site.
They're not perfect, but Warning pages are our statement to the world that we don't want your kids on our sites either. The warning page makes clear to the little bastards that if they enter our site; they are big, fat liars. If they lie or ignore our warnings, it's their parent's problem.
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