Kids.us Education Advisory Committee Publishes Final Report

The Kids.us Education Advisory Committee was convened in April 2014 to consider the ongoing suspension of the kids.us third-level namespace, as well as to contemplate future initiatives and principles through which Neustar can advance positive and educational experiences for kids within the usTLD more broadly.

The Education Advisory Committee comprised the following experts in online safety, education, and children’s media:

• Tammy Wincup, Chief Operating Officer, EverFi
• Tom Barrett, President, EnCirca
• Stephen Balkam, CEO, Family Online Safety Institute
• Anne Collier, co-director, ConnectSafely.org, and executive director, Net Family News, Inc.
• Heather Dahl, Author, The Cynja

The Education Advisory Committee met six times between June and October 2014. Across these meetings, the committee considered questions, including:

• Should the kids.us namespace be reinstated with its preexisting policy and operational framework?
• What were the experiences of other providers of online educational content, particularly those that sought to operate “walled gardens”?
• What changes in online trends and regulations could affect the kids.us namespace?

The committee ultimately recommended that existing policy framework, as well as the internet climate today, made kids.us unworkable and that the namespace should remain suspended. Additionally, the committee recommended operating principles for future consideration of kid-friendly initiatives in .US. These principles included ensuring cost-effectiveness and accessibility, as well as avoiding competition with existing efforts in the online education space.

The full findings of the committee can be found in the Kids.us Education Advisory Committee Final Report. The minutes for the six meetings of the Education Advisory committee are archived here.