User blog comment:Wikian13000/Its illegal to be on here under 13?!?!?!?/@comment-417287-20101027032154

COPPA dictates that Wikia is required to, among all other organizations that collect personal information (this includes email addresses,) restrict people under the age of 13 from submitting their personal information, and thereby the service's storage of such information. As Wikia has servers in the U.S., it is bound to this law. Wikia incorporates this through their ToU, where each potential user must submit their age before having their account created, and by creating the account certify they are over the age of 13. Breach of this part of the ToU is subject to account termination, and more information can be found by asking through Special:Contact.

To clarify, the origin of this law was to protect underage users from predators and other malicious people that they could potentially be submitting their info to. The law assumes that people over the age of 13 are of sound and developed mind to make a rational decision about to whom they submit their information.

And as a note, I am not a lawyer, nor am I representing Wikia. This is my understanding of the law as it impacts Wikia, from a purely user perspective.