COPPA Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act, one of several laws that have been passed to protect children who use the Internet. This law prohibits Web sites from collecting children's private information or sharing that information with others, and also strictly regulates any online direct marketing to children. Communication tools that are regulated by COPPA include e-mail, instant messaging, and chat. For more information on this law, visit the FTC's site at http://www.ftc.gov/ and search for COPPA.