A Message About NeoPets.com
This is a cautionary note to parents whose children use NeoPets.com and other online gaming services. While NeoPets has an effective privacy policy towards children under the age of 13, once the system knows that the child has reached 13 or over, the child’s information is provided to third parties, resulting in a bombardment of inappropriate spam.
My daughter, at the age of 12, after she forgot her password of her first NeoPets accounts, used the wrong signup to create a new account and entered her age incorrectly. NeoPets then thought she was 14 years old. No parental consent was necessary to join, and their privacy policy only protects children 12 or under. Then they provided her email address to a myriad of third parties.
Before using the email address on NeoPets she had never received any spam. However, just in the last twelve hours, she has received 18 spam email messages — two for diet pills, two for satellite TV systems, two for online dating services, two offering gambling, one for Viagra, one for other medication, one offering her the opportunity to refinance her mortgage, two for multi-level marketing schemes, two selling miscellaneous kitchen products, one to earn her degree online, one for a psychic hotline, and one that was blank because their ISP had shut them down for spamming which made the images of whatever they were trying to sell not show up. All inappropriate for her age; all intended for adults. Fortunately, I intercept every email message sent to her before she reads it.
My suggestion if your child MUST sign up with NeoPets (and other similar services) is to use a temporary, throw-away email address and sign them up as age six. Today, I emailed them to request that she be removed from their lists that they provide to third parties. Hopefully, they will do the right thing.
ADDENDUM: Since so many neoteens are having difficulty comprehending the problem, I’ll spell the problem out slowly: What you people who have been using NeoPets for a long time do not understand is that NeoPets has stated that they will use whatever privacy policy is in place when you sign up. The privacy policy in place when you signed up is probably different than today’s. I opened up an account on NeoPets at the beginning of February 2003, telling it that I was 13 years old (just as a typical teen would) and using a never-before-used email address, one especially created for the test. So, now, daily, I receive spam sent to the “mapsoen” (”neospam” spelled backwards) user on one of the domains I own. Only NeoPets was sent this email address. And, yes, I opted out of participating with their third-party partners when I signed up. Try it yourself.
Sure they will…
None of that is true! Neopets does nothing of the sort! I have been on Neopets for 14 months and I have never recieved anything like that… and I’m guessing your daughter just comes up and tells you these things? I don’t mean to be rude but this is what a scam is. Neopets doesn’t allow those things! It won’t let you use bad language or tell other people your passwords, not to mention your email is not required.
You’re not being rude, just naive! And, no, she doesn’t have to tell me anything; I monitor everything my kids do on the Internet — I read all their incoming and outgoing emails, read all their instant messages, and assign them special email addresses to be used on different websites. Neopets is good at stopping abuses, scams, and bad language, and seems to provide great protection for those under 12. However, you can’t sign up for Neopets WITHOUT an email address. - RDL
I have never recieve anything form a third party from neopets. I know sometimes hotmail or yahoo or myownemail or what ever you use will just start getting stuff for no reason… also if your un-happy with neopets then you should check out powerpets.com I love neopets but power pets is cool too. any way, I hope if works out for ya
ur the naive one none of this ever happens im signed on as 23 and i still get nothing. wat your daugther experianced is normal i get spam on email always beforeand after neopets listen its just not gonna stop oand do you give your kids any privacy i mean do you watch them in the bathroom
Now, that’s just a stupid comment, one that needs more punctuation and a pass through a spellchecker. - RDL
i have been bombarded with spam ever since my sign up. another good site is chizzy.co.uk
How could you say that? I have been on Neopets for two years and seen nothing of the sort! Your daughter may just be recieving spam that has nothing to do with Neopets! I trust Neopets entirely and know they would not do such a thing. If you really want to find out who is sending the email look under ’sender’, rather that just assuming it’s from Neopets. Neopets will always say, ‘Neopets Staff’ or something of the sort.
First, looking in the “sender” field of junk mail is about as informative as looking at a public statement from a politician. In my mailbox just today I’ve recieved junkmail from smartin@buy-and-save.com (Am I spamming messages to myself now?) ymfvwfwzwxffpp@speedyvalues.com (From someone with a Welsh or Eskimo name, maybe?) and DC9syEBHhek@sbase23.com (Sure, this looks like someone’s real address.). Second, Richard is a highly knowledgable computer professional as should be apparent from his orignal comments. He knows how to parse the headers of email and track a message back to its source. Third, he never said the spam was from neopets. His complaint is that neopets has given ($old) his daughter’s email address to OTHER companies. Personally, if I had to choose, I’d rather have an idiot filter than a spam filter. Then I could screen out all the postings from people who don’t think or don’t know what they are talking about.
Which is why spam is also known as UCE, or unsolicited commercial email. I (and everyone else with a pulse) can easily distinguish between email sent from NeoPets staff and email from a company giving out free vitamins. The life lesson you have clearly not learned is not to trust any company entirely. - RDL
you’re too strict! I’ve been on for two years and I never received all those b4! And signing her up as 6 years old… haiz… i feel pity 4 her.
I DIDN’T sign her up as 6 years old. I SUGGESTED that as a possible method of reducing or eliminating spam. What you people who have been using NeoPets for two years do not understand is that NeoPets has stated that they will use whatever privacy policy is in place when you sign up. The privacy policy in place when you signed up is different than today’s. I opened up an account on NeoPets recently, telling it that I was 13 years old (just as a typical teen would) and using a never-before-used email address, one especially created for the test. So, now, daily, I receive multiple spam sent to the “mapsoen” (”neospam” backwards) user on one of the domains I own. Try it yourself. - RDL
SPAM is normal! Everyone gets it. But I think that he has a point. I have recived way more SPAM then I used to ever scince I signed up for Neopets. I have delted all my accounts from there and removed my e-mail from as many SPAM senders as possible but I’m pretty sure they are still selling my e-mail *sigh*. I suggest that no one under the age of 17 or 18 play that way Teenagers such as myself (I am 13) do not recive Nasty, Un wanted, e-mails or just ones trying to sell stuff. That is just my own orginal idea.
You maybe scamed, but it isn’t from neopets. Neopets is a great site. If you have anything else to say about it, neomail me! My user is amy_v16!!
I’m a neopets player, and would like to add some comments. When you signup, you should uncheck whatever offers they offer to you. This way, you will reduce the spam you receive. Perhaps you should tell your child to read meticulously everything stated before tick a box or press ‘yes’ button. Sorry for my poor english, I am not from english-speaking country.
No problem, all nationalities welcome here! As stated, I signed up with NeoPets with a new account as a test. Of couse, I unchecked the offers! - RDL
Neopets does not give your e-mail address to 3rd parties. I have used Neopets for almost 2 years and I never got spam. Someone who uses your internet is accessing websites that are getting your daughter’s e-mail address and giving it to other parties. And do you give your children any privacy? You do not have the right to monitor every little thing they do. I mean come on you might as well be escorting them to the bathroom and watching them at school. You obviously have no trust or respect for your children.
Tara, let’s start by realizing that Richard is a highly knowledgable computer user, particularly where things online are concerned. He has set up his own network and servers, established various domains for various purposes and setup a number of different email boxes for control the level of spam he and his family gets. If he says his daughter is being spammed because of participation with neopets I’d tend to believe him. I’m sure he has a far better understanding of the workings of the email system than someone who refers to “Someone [using] your internet”. Second, should he pay NO attention to what his pre-teenage daughter is doing? Note he is not rummaging through her drawers. He doesn’t search her room. He doesn’t listen in on her phone calls. He DOES tell her there are certain movies she can’t watch until she is older. He DOES tell her she has to do homework and chores before playing games. He DOES track what she does online. ALL as any responsible parent should. Would you, if you are old enough to have children, drive them to the bad part of town and leave them there to fend for themselves because it’s none of your business what they do?
Tara, you think your ISP, Adelphia Cable, isn’t broadcasting your personal information to third parties? You think the few product endorsements NeoPets gets is enough to pay the multi-million-dollar pricetag of expenses each year? Can you read and understand the concept I spoke of earlier, that I tried it again myself with a never-before-used email address, one especially created for the test, and that I received new spam? And since you have publicly acknowledged that the Internet is mine, when did I grant you permission to use it? Either get off, or pay me $1 everytime you access it. And since when do I not have the right to monitor my children? Grow up! And, no, you’ve got it completely wrong once again; I have absolutely no trust or respect for anyone I do not personally know on the Internet. That encompasses about a billion people. Including you. - RDL
HOW DARE YOU DISS NEOPETS LIKE THAT?!?! I LOVE NEOPETS FOR WHAT IT IS AND I’VE BEEN ON FOR NEARLY 8 MONTHS!!! AND I GET NO SPAM! AND I HAVE MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS THAT ARE MY REAL AGE, 13! YOUR POOR DAUGHTER, SHE’LL FOREVER BE LAUGHED UPON AS THE “SOFTIE” IN THE WHOLE NET THING. AND AS FOR THE SIGNING UP AS SIX THING, WELL I THINK THAT YOU ARE THE NAIVE ONE, NOT US, THE NEOPET LOVERS. SO SHUT UP AND STOP COMPLAINING!
Ah, the I-know-everything ranting of a hormone-infested male teenager! I am amazed at the poor comprehension and reading skills exhibited by quick-to-arms ‘net neophytes. Genius child?! Hardly. - RDL
Sean, when I said ” someone using your internet” I was refering to someone in his household, like his wife or other children. If you must know, I forgot to put the word connection after internet. Oh my gosh excuse me for my big mistake. And if he’s so concerned by what he thinks neopets is doing, then maybe he shouldn’t let his daughter go to neopets, which its none of his business if she does or not. But sense he seems to be a control freak, he might as well take her privilages away. It’s her e-mail, and if she recieves spam, that’s her problem not his. He has no right whatsoever to go into his daughter’s e-mail. If she were to go into his account and read everything that was coming and going, I’m sure he would be quit angered. Your child has the right as an individual to do things on her own. If you monitor every little thing she does, she is going to grow up to be one of the dumbfounded worthless people who can’t fend for themselves because they are use to “daddy” running their life. And Richard, I never said anything about my cable connection, lets stick to subject, okay? As for the thing with the never before used e-mail address, there are still other ways you can get spam. Do you think hotmail or yahoo doesn’t sell your e-mail address? Are you full of yourself and think you are a genius, because it seems to me that the internet is NOT yours, nor do I need permission from you to use it, so don’t TELL me to get off. You can forget about me paying you a dollar everytime I access it. If you were so smart, you would know that cable internet is always connected, therefor I only need to access it once because from then on its already open. Don’t tell me to grow up, you’re the one trying to charge me a freakin dollar. Good for you that you don’t trust or respect me, I don’t expect you too jackass. If you trusted your children, you wouldn’t need to read all of their e-mail and see what websites they are going to. You must think they are going to visit a pørn site or something, otherwards you wouldn’t care. I don’t know any other parent who monitors their child’s e-mail. So for my ending comment, I would just like to tell you Richard that your comments in response to the other posts are immature, espically the one te geniuschild. You are a parent remember, so isn’t that suppose to mean you are I dunno lets say MATURE. You are probably just some ignorant 40 year old controlling báštárd with nothing better to do than diss on neopets. If you are such the computer wizard that you say you are, wouldn’t you be spending your time more wisely by investing it in your “numerous’ domains? I mean, you must be pretty busy!
*sigh* Sarcasm is so obviously above your head that you can’t understand that I was referring to your comment that you claimed the Internet WAS mine. Your original comment was “Someone who uses your internet is accessing websites that are getting your daughter’s e-mail address and giving it to other parties”. Assuming that you meant to add the word “connection”, as you later asserted, you’re still wrong. Now you attempt to slam me for allegedly saying that I’m a “computer wizard”?! Please point out where I mentioned that and, while you’re at it, please point out exactly what comment I made that can be supposedly defined as “immature”. The entire premise for your uninformed, nonsensical “argument” is bunk. Anything a child does on the Internet is a responsible parent’s business. As a parent, of course I have every right to read all incoming and outgoing email, and I would be irresponsible if I did not. I would love to hear your explanation as to how the spammers start sending emails to a never-before-used email address, one made up just for the test on Neopets — without Neopets having provided the address to those third parties. And, yes, Hotmail and Yahoo likely provide your email address to third parties, the precise reason I do not use email addresses at either Hotmail or Yahoo. Given your penchant for the removal of rules and restrictions, I’m sure you think I’m supposed to give the credit card applications that arrive via snail mail to her, too, right? Should my three-year-old son be perusing Victoria’s Secret catalogs? We don’t subscribe to HBO or premium channels, but if we did, are you claiming in your infinite wisdom that Sex in the City is appropriate for children? Thankfully, it’s up to parents to make the rules, and not the children! What’s more mature? Knowledgeably and accurately informing the general populace of documented facts, or ranting at someone who would dare say something negative about a website that inadequately protects children? Notice that the name-calling is coming from your side of the “argument”, and that the proven facts are coming from mine. Talk to me in twenty years when you have a teenager of your own. - RDL
Well, I guess you told me, Tara. I don’t even know how to begin to reply to points made so clearly and lucidly. OK, now that’s sarcasm. If you did recognize it as such then I can assume you recognized Richard’s comments about charging you a dollar as similarly not serious. Although your comments seem to suggest otherwise. Back onto the topic of parents monitoring their children’s activities for a moment, I absolutely believe that they should. Now please note not in all things. I think children of any age should have their own space. I think they should have a certain amount of privacy. But within well-defined and strongly enforced boundaries. My kids are still quite young and it will be several years before they start using the web. Once they do, however, I will lay down ground rules (as I have in other aspects of their lives). This is not to interfere with their privacy. It is because they are kids and it is my job as a parent to watch out for them, to use my vastly greater experience and judgment to keep them safe. And part of those ground rules will be setting certain parts of the web off limits and verifying that they don’t wander into them when I’m not looking.
I have never once received any spam of any kind on my e-mail account, and there are several neopets accounts from this household on that account.
Which still doesn’t change the fact that the test account DID in fact receive spam that resulted from NeoPets distributing the address to a third party. I actually originally ran the test hoping that NeoPets would not distribute the email address, and was disappointed when I discovered that they did. If the email address of only one person gets sent out to third parties (even if it’s a test scenario) I feel that’s one time too many. - RDL
Sean, okay I’m just going to let the sarcasm thing slip by without me commenting and tell you that I fully agree with what you are saying. There should be ground rules laid down and certain websites should be off limits. I’m not implying that people’s children should be allowed to visit whatever site they want, but when they are 12 yrs old, they should be allowed to visit websites on their own with out their father monitoring them. And I do think that a child of that age should be allowed to have their own private e-mail; one which their father doesn’t read. If my parents read all of my personal e-mail, I would be extremely mad at them. Also, if anyone I associate with that is 12 or older had parents who opened all of their e-mail, they wouldn’t stand for it either. Luckily I don’t know anyone who has parents that paranoid. I know someone who is 15, and her parents wont let her go to the beach or talk to boys on the phone, but they still give her the privacy of having her own e-mail. If the parent is concerned about their child going to websites unsuitable for their age, then they should reset their computer settings so they have to type in a user password to access websites with high violence or nudity content. That way the child wont be able to see the page unless they know the password. Richard, Richard, Richard. Why do I even bother to try to prove you wrong? You’re just too smart for me! And no I am not still wrong, everyone has their own internet connection in their house. You know, like a cable connection or a phone connection, or I should say dial up and broad band so you don’t criticize me on that too. If it’s in their house, and they pay for it, guess what, it’s theirs. I’m not saying they own the internet, but I’m sure you will find some way to try and prove me wrong once AGAIN byt twisting one little thing I said. Now don’t go mixing my words all around. I never said that you stated you are a computer wizard. It was just implied. Espically when sean said this in one of his posts…”Second, Richard is a highly knowledgable computer professional.” To me that is stating that you must be pretty intelligent when it comes to the internet and computers, well so you say. Okay, I have an explanation as to how spammers can get the address of a never before used e-mail address, sense you would love to hear my thoughts. Sit back and relax, and be prepared to be reading for quit some time because I’m on a roll. Lets say you accessed the account already by signing in and going into your inbox, if the cookies on your computer are enabled, your information is saved on to your computer. After that you go and look at a few websites by that time some kind of marketing thing I don’t what they are, so I suppose I should explain them so you don’t tell me I’m completely clueless as to what I’m talking about. There’s these things that are used for marketing purposes that view the websites you have visited and can access your cookies. Once they can view those files, they can figure out your e-mail address that you just used minutes before. Since you are so intelligent I sure you know what I’m trying to explain. And I know its true because one of the marketing things got downloaded on to my computer somehow, so I had to download another program to get rid of it. Well, there is my explanation. I suppose you are going to go and analyz everything I said so you can criticize me and say I’m completely wrong. Which that’s fine, maybe I am wrong, but I’m not willing to admit it to you even if I am. You’re what, like 40 and I’m 15, so you probably just are asuming that I’m naive and have no clue about anything. Which is one of the biggest problems. Those of you who are parents automatically think you have so much knowledge and power and have been informed about things more so than your kids. So you think you know what is best, which you don’t always. But I wont venture too far off subject here. Anyways, I never stated that you should banish all rules and restrictions, I was just talking about neopets. If I gave that impression or said something that made you think that, it wasn’t intended. Give me a break, I’m on cold medication so the things I say get a little confusing and misunderstood. You guys take everything I’m saying so seriously.I don’t know everything, so shoot me! Why would it matter if your daughter recieves the credit card applications? If you have raised her right, she would know shes not old enough to use a credit card yet. Besides that, you have to be 18 to apply for one. I get plenty of offers for credit cards, but its not like I can send any of them back saying I want my credit card without my parent’s consent. Why would your 3 old son be getting victoria’s secret catalogs? It wouldn’t do any harm anyways if he was looking, hes only three. His brain hasn’t developed enough to think anything of the pictures in the catalog, unless hes a genius like you! But I’m not suggesting you hand your son a catalog and tell him to go enjoy himself. Wow this is really amazing. I say one thing about your childrens privacy and you go off saying that I think sex in the city is suitable for children. Which I don’t think it is. You’re just throwing things at me left and right here Richard. And by the way I can gaurantee you in 20 years I won’t have a teenager of my own, becuase I do not like kids, and I wouldn’t want to have the responsibility of trying to form some child into a descent person when I could very easily make mistakes and have them turn out to be some juvenile delinquent. Then we would have more moronic people roaming the earth, just what we need…..And yes I agree that thankfully the parents make the rules and not the children. But in my case, I have always made my own rules. I set my curfew, when I go to bed, and so on. I always have because I’m reasonable and knowledgeable enough to know whats right and wrong and whats fair and unfair. I believe that facts are comin from my side of the argument as well, you shouldn’t be so full of yourself. WEll I think I have typed enough to make my points clear. I could write a whole book about how wrong I think you are. Oh and by the way, how did you know I have adelphia cable? What did you do take my IP address and see what internet service I have so you can try to prove how smart you are again???
okay i have one more thing to add. i re read what I wrote before and I guess I did state that you said you were a computer wizard, but I didn’t mean that you actually said it, I meant that was what you were insinuating.
Oh, my God! That is a HUGE comment! Where on Earth do I begin?! I’ll just do quick little blurbs in response: (1) contrary to popular opinion here, she is allowed a reasonable amount of freedom on the Internet, but she knows, understands, and agrees with the house policy that all communication CAN be monitored and sometimes is — kind of an in-house privacy policy that all understand. With a household of more than ten computers and four networks, it must be treated like the enterprise system that it is. (2) You are referring to spyware when you mention “some kind of marketing thing”. None here — thanks to the security of the enterprise. Spyware is only added when someone installs an application on a computer, also not allowed by anyone but an administrator — yours truly. Without spyware, websites cannot read cookies left by other websites. No, spyware is not the problem with NeoPets. (3) It’s not that she receives credit card applications; it’s a messed-up society that sends them to a teen in the first place. (4) Your mention of “throwing things at me left and right” equals rhetoric, debate, and organized argument!
(5) You complained that I’m taking “everything [you're] saying so seriously.” Well, yeah! I raised a serious concern about NeoPets privacy that several visitors have turned into a personal vendetta against me and my decisions in raising my children. Very off topic! So, I choose to defend my actions and policies by poking massive holes in others’ arguments, as they (and you) are clearly but unsuccessfully attempting to do as well. This “publication” (my website) is being considered by the Library of Congress as a legitimate media publication and, as such, I take it very seriously. (5) Not turning children into delinquents is one of the reverse goals that parents have and is obtained through a careful balance of rules and freedom, a difficult balance indeed. You’re 15 and thus deserve the potential of increased freedoms, but not at the expense of shirked responsibilities. Parents must maintain a great deal of control, whether it be controlling how much their children are reined in or how much slack they are allowed.
I’ll admit that I am a computer wizard, but that admission only comes under duress! But whether or not I am a computer wizard and all the comments about what you perceive to be paranoid parental supervision are all beside the point and pointedly off topic. This is about NeoPets and their inappropriate distribution of the email address to third parties. Fact #1: On February 1, 2003, I created a brand-new email address (with the name of “mapsoen” on this, the “lecour” domain) Fact #2: On February 1, 2003, I created a brand-new account on NeoPets that used the never-before-used email address, specifying that the user was 13 years old and that I did not want to participate in third party offers. Fact #3: I left the mapsoen account alone, not creating a pet, sending messages, or playing games. Look up user “mapsoen” on NeoPets to see the account. Fact #4: Within 24 hours I received two spam emails to the mapsoen address from companies other than NeoPets. Not much now, but because it’s now known as a valid email address in the spamming world, it’s too late to save it now and the email address will soon have to be shut off. Was it a fluke, an oversight? Maybe. But it happened, and there is no disputing those facts. - RDL
“Well I think I have typed enough to make my points clear”. Quite the contrary, actually. If you go back and re-read your blob of text (suggestion: discover paragraphs) you’ll see you contradict yourself a few times. But enough. You are, as suspected, a teenager and acting as a teenager does. Rambling, utterly convinced of the rightness of your views but unable to express them consistently, clearly or convincingly. Don’t worry, you will most likely grow out of it. And, should you look back at your postings ten years from now I can almost guarantee you’ll be amused, and perhaps slightly embarrassed, about what you’ve written. I know I cringe when I look back at some of my comments from a quarter century ago. (Hëll, I cringe that it was a quarter century ago that I was 15!)
Well first of all I went on neopets and signed up as 18 or older (im 13) and not once did I get a spam from neopets.com. Second of all its called spam filters. Third of all ur daughter should be able to tell u when she gets a spam and I think u can give her a little privacy. I know that ur just being a “good parent” but she needs to know how to deal with these things on her own. ur not always going to be there looking over her shoulder at everything she does. also ur daughter should have put ur email address in the box asking for an email address.
Of course not, dolt! You don’t get spam from NeoPets, you get it from other companies that NeoPets has given the email address to! Not sure what the “its” you’re (notice the correct spelling of “you’re”) referring to is, but I am already aware of spam filters and use them religiously. Thanks for the uninformative perspective provided by just another know-it-all teenager. Boy, if only I could disallow comments by age of the contributor. - RDL
Neopets NEVER do anything like that! I have been on neopets for over 3 years, and never have neopets given MY email address to other parties or whatever. Your daughter must have forgot to UNTICK the box when she signed up saying, “Send me offers on so-and-so”, or, “Please notify me about this” and so on. next time she signs up, or anybody, be there and make sure she unticks these things.
Another person who can’t read. I already told you guys in a comment above that I unchecked the options to participate in third-party offers during my test. Thank you to people like you making “contributions” without bothering to try to understand what you’re reading. - RDL
i am a 17 yrs old boy and am leaving neopet because i am grown up. i will not give my things to one person but i will give them to different people.if you want them send me your username and password.dont post it here or the hackers will take all your money.i just want to help you guys.send me if you trust me.i have collected all these things frm 7 yrs
Since the comment above was left by an individual in or near Mumbai, India, I was planning on leaving a cautionary note to those thinking about taking up his offer, also debating whether or not to delete it. Once I realized that his email is not shown (no one’s email address is displayed in comments here!), there’s nothing to worry about, so I approved the comment just for laughs.
I would recommend you pull your daughter off Neopets entirely. I played Neopets starting at age 11 the month after it opened, December 1999 (and yes, recieved unsolicited spam, and still do after not playing since December 2006). Originally it was a delightful little game, owned by delightful little people. Then it got popular and Adam and Donna sold it to Doug Dohring. Doug Dohring is an OT7 with the ‘Church’ of Scientology, a very high rank involving approximately $400,000 in fees and decades of work. He restructured the company to run on the “Org Board”, the Scientologist system, one supposedly invented “by a galactic government that lasted 80 trillion years”. He has said himself how strongly the church influences everything he does, including business. Viacom bought Neopets a while back, but they took a hands off stance and left him in charge. Former employees have written about how people were only permitted if they became a Scientologist. The website was restructured so that most advertisements are in the blind spot of the left eye, and there have been interviews where kids swore there were no ads and yet quoted them word for word without realizing it.
As for the “church” itself, it’s a cult. A cult. L Ron Hubbard, the founder, repeatedly said variations on “If you want to get rich, start a religion, that’s where the money is,” and that’s how it is run. You can’t look at them funny without suing you. And they don’t sue to win, because they CAN’T. They sue you until legal fees bankrupt you and make you back off. I protest the cult, and I have been PERSONALLY threatened by scientologists. For example, one of them told me he knew where I lived, and threatened to show up on my doorstep if he got any more “trouble” from me. They are responsible for the biggest infiltration of the government in US history (google Operation Snow White), and received their tax exempt status by blackmailing IRS agents. They had an OFFICIAL CHURCH OPERATION called Operation Freakout against journalist Paulette Cooper to stop her from publishing her book criticizing them. Official policy in it was to either drive her insane or have her framed for a felony. They broke into her house, stole her belongings, forged bomb threats on her typewriter. And this is without even getting into the DEATHS associated with them. Lisa McPherson was a scientologist who died in 1995. She was in a car accident, was…the only appropriate word is SEIZED, by fellow scientologists, NOT driven to a hospital minutes away, locked in the Ft Harrison Hotel (which is not a hotel, by the way. It’s a scientologist building), SAT ON by scientologists when she tried to escape….and she died of dehydration, covered in cockroach bites, minutes from a hospital. And there is an official Scientology policy — you can look yourself — called R2-45, created by Hubbard himself, that says “R2-45: AN ENORMOUSLY EFFECTIVE PROCESS FOR EXTERIORIZATION BUT ITS USE IS FROWNED UPON BY THIS SOCIETY AT THIS TIME” (caps lock his, not mine). Exteriorization is when the thetan, or soul, leaves the body. R2-45 is SHOOTING AND KILLING SOMEONE WITH A COLT .45 PISTOL. Hubbard also said “But there is, remember, R2-45. It’s a very valid technique. A lot of people have used it before now.” Their “navy”, the Sea Org, consists of staff paid PENNIES, whose women are coerced into having abortions (unapproved pregnancy = “unapproved expenditure”) and who work slave hours. They force members — including children — to sign (and I kid you not) billion year contracts. Their flagship/cruise ship, the Freewinds, is currently drydocked in the Caribbean because it was covered in cancer-causing asbestos, and anyone who wants to reach a higher rank in the cult had to take classes on this boat. They separate kids from their families, a typical cult behavior because people are easier to brainwash on their own. These kids work illegal hours doing hard labor, and have to ask permission to see their family once or twice a year.
And these are the guys running Neopets. I know I wouldn’t let MY children associate with them.
You can find out more from enturb.org, youfoundthecard.com, whyaretheydead.net, xenu.net, and basic google skills. My email is always available at anon612@gmail.com.
Whoops. “Former employees have written about how people were only permitted if they became a Scientologist.” That should be “promoted”. Just goes to show no matter how long your comment is, you still gotta typo-check.
I have been a Neopets user for over 6 years, and I will agree that e-mail spam is a definite issue with having a Neopets account. With regards to other responses to this topic, I do not feel that use of Neopets is going to turn any children into mini Tom Cruises. There isn’t any blatant Scientologist viewpoints on the site that I have seen. If such messaging exists on Neopets, it’s likely incorporated into a game or world which children enjoy without thinking about the larger implications and being converted to a new religion.
As for your problem, Richard, I do respect and applaud a parent who allows their children access to computers and the internet without constantly leering over their shoulders. However, since your daughter is only 12 and you clearly take an active interest in her internet activity, you may want to monitor her registering with websites a little more closely. I’m sure you have sat down and talked to her about how she needs to let you know any time she enters information online, but you may want to re-emphasize your point. E-mail spam, however adult the content may be, is relatively harmless. You certainly would not want your daughter stumbling across more troublesome internet material.
I apologize for posting in such rapid succession, however this article sparked my interest, so, I opted to do a little investigating.
I created a new account on Neopets. I was only asked to provide a username, e-mail address, sex, birthday, and general location. No compromising data (street address, phone number, etc) was asked for. I also closely read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The terms of use does explicitly state that users under the age of 18 should have parental permission (trust me, I’m well aware most parents don’t know where their teenagers are right now, let alone what websites they join, but it is stated). Also included in these policies, is the statement that Neopets will never sell personal information to third-party sites unless you have selected to opt-in to such third-party programs, or not selected to opt-out of them. This statement implies that there are multiple boxes you must select in order to avoid any third-party interaction. The kicker? No such boxes were put on the registration page. You are, by default, giving your e-mail away to any company Neopets associates with when creating an account. I proceeded to search for security settings to make my e-mail unavailable, but no such settings appear to exist. If they are available, you must have to do an extensive search to locate them.
All that being said, I feel that Neopets remains a safer environment for children and teens online. E-mail spam aside, there are numerous features in place to protect users. The Neopets staff does appear dedicated to helping users avoid being scammed, harassed, or solicited while using their site. Use a junk e-mail address for account creation and avoid clicking on/registering with third-party advertisers featured on the Neopets site, but don’t discourage your kids from playing. They could find far less wholesome ways of spending their time online.
I love how polar (or “bipolar”) blog commenters can be, this post having often received vastly conflicting parenting advice:
Either way, thank you all for your comments on this post. It’s been almost six years since the original posting (my daughter is now 18 and I no longer monitor her online activity) so there’s not as much relevancy to whatever sign-up procedures or spam policies are now in effect on neopets.com. It’s therefore time to shut off the ability to add new comments on this page.
My underlying and unwavering point is this: be cautious when registering on any website, and assume the worst-case scenario when it comes to any personal information you provide to them.