Ed. note: We at IRChelp.org are not affiliated in any way with TalkCity. The following letter was sent out to all registered TC members, and we are providing it here purely for information purposes. All comments should be directed to the CEO of TC using the email link at the bottom. -Jolo

Letter from the CEO of Talk City

Discussing Changes to Chat Service

October 1, 2001

The recent national tragedy has caused me to think deeply about our community. After all, with over 5 million active participants every month, Talk City can be viewed as the second largest city in the United States, in between New York City and Los Angeles. As one of our members, you are already well aware that our city is the online home to a diverse community of people representing all age groups, all forms of ethnic and cultural origins, and a wide range of religious and political beliefs. Of course, one of the key reasons why Talk City has grown into such a populous and diverse community is due to the fact that anyone with Internet access has had the ability to join our community and to do so free of charge.

More recently, we have started to introduce some new fee-based services that offer benefits that are not available elsewhere on other large chat sites like Yahoo, AOL or MSN. A good example is our program where we offer individuals the opportunity to purchase their own chat rooms. Then as owners, they are given special authorities and privileges to host, operate and manage their rooms. While we will continue to introduce such fee-based services offering competitively unique benefits, Talk City at its core will always be free and we will continue to welcome all on the Internet to join our thriving community.

That said, the horrific events of September 11th have weighed heavily on my heart and have caused me to think deeply about issues concerning online safety. It is no secret that the Internet is sometimes used by the worst elements of society and I am sure it has not been that long since you heard about that terrible crime and the victim met his/her assailant in a chat room. It is not my intent to scare anyone, but everyone online has a responsibility to face reality, and as we all learned painfully in the real world, every community must be prepared to deal with all kinds of dangers and threats. For us at Talk City, the reality is that we are faced with daily threats in multiple forms. As a result, we devote many resources trying to fight and eliminate such cyber-threats. Oftentimes, we are called by law enforcement agencies requesting support and we cooperate as required. But even with all we already do to keep our community safe and secure, recent events have compelled me to think about how we can do more. My answer is simple Talk City is going to strive to create an area within its community capable of offering higher levels of safety, security, and accountability than any other online community on the Internet. It will be an enhanced area of our service where people will have greater protection from threats of abuse, harassment, cyber-attacks, and generally harmful acts, and it will be an area where parents will have a greater ability to protect their children.

To effect this new level of service within Talk City, changes will be made to our site and they will occur in three phases, starting with

• Phase I Sometime very soon, you will notice a change in the way we categorize our chat rooms. All rooms will be classified into one of three distinct categories respectively named Hosted Rooms, Featured Rooms, and Open Rooms. Hosted Rooms are designed to be the safest rooms on Talk City as they will be moderated and monitored by a team of Talk City employees and volunteer hosts. Featured Rooms, on the other hand, represent those rooms that offer a high degree of self-policing capability, including some rooms that have been purchased by our members as well as those long-standing rooms with consistent and loyal supporters who have proven their ability to maintain stability without the persistent need for hosts. Our hosts, however, will maintain an on-call presence to support Featured Rooms. The last category, Open Rooms, will contain all other chat rooms. Much like the chat rooms you find on Yahoo, MSN, or Lycos, Open Rooms will not be moderated or monitored. And while it remains the obligation of every Talk City member to abide by and respect our Community Standards regardless of room category, our ability to monitor violations and enforce our standards will be very limited in the Open Rooms area.

• Phase II Then, sometime a short time later, the Hosted Rooms and Featured Rooms will become secured areas. The goal here is to create an environment where people can feel safe, secure, and protected. The only way for us, as a company, to do this is to know an individual’s real identity. Therefore, members who wish to enter chat rooms in these secured areas will be asked to provide verifiable information about themselves, and to do so as a part of subscribing for an annual membership and to pay a nominal fee of $1.00 (One Dollar) per month. It is the information we collect via the payment process that provides the level of personal accountability and authenticity. Needless to say, anyone who violates Talk City standards in these rooms or engages in attacks on individual members or rooms will immediately forfeit their membership and be denied access to the secured areas of our site. We will safeguard your personal information with a high level of care and we will describe to you what uses we will make of this information before we ask you to provide it. Let me add that we intend to continue to comply with the commitment to privacy that we have stated in our Privacy Policy, and the forthcoming changes to this Policy will continue to reflect our respect for your privacy and anonymity within the community.

Let me also emphasize that the initiatives outlined above do not represent a wholesale change to Talk City and, for most of you, nothing will change. In fact, of the many thousands of chat rooms that are active every day on Talk City, we expect 90% of them to remain in the Open Rooms category and participation in these rooms will remain open and free of charge. The sole purpose of establishing a secured area is to address the needs of those members who seek a higher level of safety and accountability.

Please note that if you are already a paying subscriber in other Talk City programs (e.g. Chat Room Ownership or Home Page Subscription) you will not have to pay for this new program. Moreover, owners of purchased rooms will have the option of choosing to be listed in Featured Rooms or Open Rooms.

• Phase III In order to ensure that we continue to create programs designed to enhance the safety and security of our community, I have decided to create a Community Advisory Board consisting of representatives of the volunteer hosts, the user community, and Talk City management. I am currently envisioning a committee of six, with two representatives from each group. Although the first, original slate of representatives will be appointed, it is my plan to have subsequent community representatives be popularly elected. The task of determining such election guidelines and procedures will be one of the first items on the founding committee’s agenda. Another pressing item on the agenda will be to help in the development of a program and budget for increased hosting services in the secured areas, which will allow for greater supervision and better accountability. Much like the way our own government can only be elected by citizens, the privilege to vote will be held only by paying members of Talk City.

My vision is to transform Talk City into the safest and most accountable community on the Internet and to do so with an optimal balance of security and openness. As is the case in the real world, the success of any community or society rests upon its ability to ensure the well-being of its members by having the capability to prevent and/or take appropriate measures against threats. With your help and participation, it is my resolve to create such an environment within our little corner of the world.

Very sincerely yours,

Robert Young

CEO, Talk City

Email: TalkCityCEO@myesp.com