Should Teens 17 and under be allowed to do business- Cast your vote now. - Page 6 - DNForum - Domain Sales, Domain Forum, Domain Appraisals, Domain Registrars

**DomainsInc** · 03-09-2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdsinc

I understand the legal implications of doing business with minors but everybody is free NOT to do business with certain persons/members for any reason. It's a personal choice.

Problem with that is unless the person is honest and makes it clear than they are under 18 and the person chooses to do business with them, thats fine. Its at their own risk. Otherwise its not much of a choice when people lie.

Acroplex · 03-09-2008, 06:00 PM

If it were up to me, I'd do the following:

1. Cancel all gold accounts, thus making the forum for paid members only
2. Grandfather all under-18 accounts and approve new ones on a case by case basis
3. Remove the ability to automatically upgrade from silver to exclusive - approve each application manually.

There are a few domain forums that already accept members by invitation only.

**smashfactory** · 03-09-2008, 06:02 PM

you know, you gotta be careful with this. this is a forum. just a forum. sellers and buyers should be doing their own checks on buyers/sellers. once you start having things to the point where you state you must be verified to death to join, you are gonna have those who STILL get screwed, and can very well go after dnforum for saying they provide a safe place to do business, and each member is verified.

if someone is now going to have to submit a licence, or a ss# and more, you can bet that a few sour deals, and they are gonna knock on the dnforum door claiming misrepresentation. and no matter how much you say- by joining you can not hold us responsible- you will still get flack and bad press for saying you go to such great lengths to do something, and people still get screwed.

again- this is just a forum. if you are doing a deal, do your homework, go thru escrow, change your passwords, ect...

there is no such thing as a safe haven on the web, and buyers and sellers need to do their own due dilligence before going through with any sale.

**theinvestor** · 03-09-2008, 06:03 PM

Exactly. I recently used paypal to pay my gold membership just days ago. Paypal thought the charge was not authorized by me so they let me go through their verification. Which was to not only verify my credit card (again) but also verify home address by a phone call. ONLY A HOME ADDRESS. They do not allow cell phones. That way they can easily verify the address.

This would be a good step to take here also.

Just my two cents! Trying to help.

**sashas** · 03-09-2008, 06:04 PM

Simply put, there is no honesty or maturity test in the world. If someone over 18 is dishonest or immature, you can take them to court for that. If someone below 18 does that, you're stuck.

While I agree that there are many good domainers here below 18, fact remains that a person below 18 cannot be held accountable in a court of law for any of his actions. You would be simply breaching a code of law by allowing transactions with persons below 18 without a parent or guardian being held accountable for it

**DotComGod** · 03-09-2008, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smashfactory

you know, you gotta be careful with this. this is a forum. just a forum. sellers and buyers should be doing their own checks on buyers/sellers. once you start having things to the point where you state you must be verified to death to join, you are gonna have those who STILL get screwed, and can very well go after dnforum for saying they provide a safe place to do business, and each member is verified.

if someone is now going to have to submit a licence, or a ss# and more, you can bet that a few sour deals, and they are gonna knock on the dnforum door claiming misrepresentation. and no matter how much you say- by joining you can not hold us responsible- you will still get flack and bad press for saying you go to such great lengths to do something, and people still get screwed.

again- this is just a forum. if you are doing a deal, do your homework, go thru escrow, change your passwords, ect...

there is no such thing as a safe haven on the web, and buyers and sellers need to do their own due dilligence before going through with any sale.

This I know and it is a great point.

-=DCG=-

**incka** · 03-09-2008, 06:28 PM

Until a few months ago I was one of them. I always followed through with contracts. At one point i was making $300 a day when I was 15/16 and was employing a coder full time. Why shouldn't I have been allowed to do business?

Quote:

Originally Posted by incka

Until a few months ago I was one of them. I always followed through with contracts. At one point i was making $300 a day when I was 15/16 and was employing a coder full time. Why shouldn't I have been allowed to do business?

Actually saying that it is technically my company doing business here, not me, and was even when I was 14. Contract law can be enforced against all companies. Unless the company being only 4 years old counts as being under 18...

Rom · 03-09-2008, 06:38 PM

You should also remember that there are many members from countries which don't have credit cards for verifications and etc.

**thevirtual** · 03-09-2008, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sashas

fact remains that a person below 18 cannot be held accountable in a court of law for any of his actions.

Minors are supposed to be held accountable for their actions in a court of law.

**NameCharger** · 03-09-2008, 07:06 PM

**idevlabs** · 03-09-2008, 07:12 PM

I voted no. They can't fully be held responsible, and since they aren't adults they usually aren't as concerned with the repercussions of their actions. I had an issue once where a kid bought a domain with his parent's PayPal, and when they found out they reversed the payment. Luckily I got the domain back because the kid was honest, but it just opens the door to too many potential problems doing business with minors.

**smashfactory** · 03-09-2008, 07:25 PM

well, to really put a twist on this, your not even supposed to register a domain if you are under 18. godaddy terms:

You, or the individuals who electronically execute this Agreement on behalf of You hereby represent and warrant that they have the right, power, legal capacity and appropriate authority to enter into this Agreement, and that they own and have not transferred to any other person or entity any of the rights, claims or interests that are the subject of this Agreement. You represent and warrant that You are 18 years of age or older, or that You have an agent authorized by law to represent You who is 18 years of age or older who is entering into this Agreement on Your behalf. You warrant that each action You make is being done so in good faith and that You have no knowledge of it infringing upon or conflicting with the legal rights of a third party or a third party's trademark or trade name.

**Focus** · 03-09-2008, 07:36 PM

NO, it's too much of a risk...we have to protect our interests, money, domains...a juvenille is not subject to the majority of laws regarding responsibility and cannot even be pursued for damages...old time members should be grandfathered in certainly and we do need a NON-OPTIONAL verification system if you want to buy/sell domains here or be platinum or something like that...this is a business, we have to treat it and run it that way or it will end up being a joke with alot of scams like we are seeing now...so again, UNDER 18? NO!

**ernestjev** · 03-09-2008, 07:46 PM

i cant vote too :(

**Reece** · 03-09-2008, 07:49 PM

Agree 100%.

I know some very professional domainers under 18, but there must be 10 times as many unprofessional ones under 18 as over...

Would requiring new members to fax in a form of identification be out of the question? I'm sure some scammers could fake or steal that too but it'd probably cut out alot of the crap we've been seeing lately (not just here either).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acroplex

If it were up to me, I'd do the following:

1. Cancel all gold accounts, thus making the forum for paid members only
2. Grandfather all under-18 accounts and approve new ones on a case by case basis
3. Remove the ability to automatically upgrade from silver to exclusive - approve each application manually.

There are a few domain forums that already accept members by invitation only.

**MobileDesigner** · 03-09-2008, 08:15 PM

Yes.

if teenagers who were kicked out at a young age, we would have to turn to illegal activities. Some teenagers are not that fortunate.

Rom · 03-09-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MobileDesigner

Yes.

if teenagers who were kicked out at a young age, we would have to turn to illegal activities. Some teenagers are not that fortunate.

I hope you're joking.

**kwok** · 03-09-2008, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockefeller

I still cant vote.

Yeah, how do you vote on this thread? I can't vote neither. Do you have to be 18 to vote on this thread?

**thevirtual** · 03-09-2008, 08:39 PM

I don't think the problem is with Teenagers on the forum. In regards to the recent scam(s) on this forum, the persons directly involved were most likely not teenagers. A scammer is a scammer no matter what age. You wouldn't block a country from the forum because of a higher amount of scammers being from that country.

**RazorNF** · 03-09-2008, 09:01 PM

From Paypal's terms:

2.1 Eligibility. To be eligible for our Services, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the United States or one of the countries listed on the PayPal WorldWide page. This Agreement applies only to Users who are residents of the United States. If you are a resident of another country, you may access your agreement from our website in your country (if applicable).