The "enter your birthdate" age-verification system is commonly employed by entertainment companies hosting mature-rated digital videos. Before viewing such a clip, the visitor is asked to input their birth day and year. Of course, the systems have no way of actually ensuring that someone enters his true age.  You'll encounter that screen before watching an episode of the profanity-laden "Louie" on FX Networks' website or before a clip for "Grand Theft Auto" on GameTrailers.com.  Two of the most popular online video sites use a variant of this. YouTube and Hulu require users to login or register an account by providing a birthdate and agreeing to their terms of service documents. (Some legal experts say these agreements wouldn't hold up in court, especially for minors.)  Last week Microsoft enhanced its Xbox Live service's age-verification system, called Family Settings. In addition to game restrictions, Xbox 360 owners can limit the types of downloaded TV shows and movies that can be watched on the system without a passcode.  Sony's PlayStation 3 has settings for restricting which mature-rated games, DVDs and Blu-rays can be played, as well as a lock for the Web browser. (Most new DVD and Blu-ray players offer similar functions.) Sony, which has sold 38 million PlayStation 3 units, doesn't appear to let owners lock content downloaded from Sony's digital store or those manually loaded onto the console.  "We're all doing something similar," Peter Dille, Sony Computer Entertainment of America's vice president of marketing, said of content controls, adding that Sony offers "extensive parental controls."  "We comply with COPA," Dille told CNN recently.
Enter your birthdate on this site to prove that you're over 18: And please be honest, kids.Is this the best method we can come up with for preventing children from viewing inappropriate online