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Disney Internet executive appointed to watchdog group

Larry Shapiro, executive vice president of business development andoperations for Disney's Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG), has beenappointed to the COPA Commission on Child Online Protection. COPA is taskedwith identifying and studying technological or other methods to reduce andrestrict access to harmful material for minors on the Internet. "Since itsinception with Disney Online, Buena Vista Internet Group has been committedto providing trusted environments and entertaining destinations online. Weare pleased that Larry can offer his own expertise and Disney's leadershipto COPA," said Steve Bornstein, chairman, Buena Vista Internet Group. Asexecutive vice president, business development and operations for BuenaVista Internet Group, Shapiro oversees all business development, legal,communications, human resources and administrative functions. Thisannouncement comes a little more than a month after the arrest of PatrickNaughton, executive vice president of products at Infoseek Corp., theInternet media site which is part of Disney's Go Network, on Thursday,September 16, 1999 on the Santa Monica Pier, an amusement park area in WestLos Angeles. He is charged with interstate travel with the intention ofhaving sex with a minor. The arrest came after he met a female FBI agentwho had arranged to meet him there, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesmanfor the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. On March 8, 1999, Naughtonis alleged to have started posting lewd messages on the Internet under thescreen name "HotSeattle" in an Internet chat room to a male FBI agent whowas posing as a 13-year-old-girl. It was this girl that Naughton expectedto meet at the Santa Monica Pier. Formed in 1997, Disney's Buena VistaInternet Group oversees Web sites that include ABC.com, Disney.com,ABCNEWS.com, ESPN.com, and Family.com.

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