Group Members International Enterprise Hosted Social Networking Community Platforms

Although Monteleone commends the MySpace attempt at dealing directly with the problem, he believes that their latest software solution, code-named "Zephyr", is little more than a band aid. It appears that Zephyr places the burden on parents to monitor whether their children are lying about their ages. Users will need to see the final implementation to determine the programs actual level of effectiveness. According to law-enforcement officials, parents are deeply concerned by the increasing danger to teens by people who first contact them through MySpace and similar websites. Blumenthal wants MySpace and others to cross check users' details with government databases to verify their age.

Following the Blumenthal model, Group Members International L.L.C. created GrownUpsOnline and implemented age and ID verification from the very beginning, thereby avoiding the mix of children and grownups that has plagued MySpace and other social networks. Monteleone also stated “we don't mix children and adults on a peer level socially off line due to the difference in maturity and interests, so why are we mixing children and adults online on the same peer level.” Separation of children from grownups is the solution and age and ID verification is the process that the attorney generals have put forth.

Parents are also concerned that children will provide too much information that could make them easy prey for kidnappers or molesters. The possible privacy violation issues are repeatedly being used as a reason for social networks to not use the age and ID verification system. This just is not the case with the system chosen by GrownUpsOnline. All the system does is report with a yes or a no flag that the user submitted registration information is true. GrownUpsOnline does not retain any other information other than name, address, age and birthday. Monteleone said “users can still be aliased on the site, but every username is attached to a verified person. This promotes socially responsible behavior as now users can be held accountable for there online actions. This is an added benefit of the system"

Pattie Dillon, President of Veratad Technologies, LLC of Englewood, NJ, the Age and ID Verification firm providing the verification services to GrownUpsOnline.com, stated "Social Networks are a growing part of the Internet Community and we are pleased to play a role in facilitating that growth by helping GrownUpsOnline.com manage responsible online account access. Veratad is a world class provider of real-time online Identity Verification and Authentication Solutions designed to verify an individual’s identity and age while maintaining a high level of privacy protection for consumers. Dillon went on to say “Veratad possesses the necessary experience, technology and skill to offer an effective Age Verification Service and we are hearing good things about our products and services.” Last year Veratad was selected as a fact witness by the United States Department of Justice to present testimony on the effectiveness of online age verification in the ongoing ACLU challenge to the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) and has gone on to serve as a consultant to the DOJ regarding this very important case

The minimum age to join GrownUpsOnline is 21, thereby keeping a separation between children and grownups that Monteleone states “have different value systems based on their age”. This system is the only way to make the separation possible. Age and Identification is not a free service, for the provider or the site member. GrownUpsOnline charges a small fee for membership and sees the fee as the cost of trust and the value of providing a safe Internet environment. Eventually, other social networking communities will also realize the importance of these values.