WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 1999 -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) is launching
Operation S.O.S. - Safe Online Shopping - to find recalled, illegal and
potentially hazardous consumer products being sold on the World Wide
Web.
CPSC has instituted a "War Room"
where investigators will monitor the Internet for possibly dangerous and
illegal consumer products.
Using computers and telephone lines that can't be traced back to the
government, non-government credit cards and anonymous shipping
addresses, these experts, posing as consumers, shop for items that could
be dangerous to consumers. The items purchased are then examined and
tested for compliance with federal safety standards. Operation S.O.S.
monitors retail sites and product-related news groups on the Internet.
CPSC already has found dangerous products being sold online, including:
Flammable children's sleepwear Prescription drugs without
child-resistant packaging Children's jackets with drawstrings that
pose a strangulation hazard Mini-hammocks without spreader bars that
pose a strangulation hazard Cigarette lighters without
child-resistant mechanisms.
"This is really an expansion of the
kind of surveillance work we already do in brick and mortar stores
across the country," said CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "CPSC wants
to make sure all the products Americans purchase are as safe as possible
- whether purchased at the local mall or in cyberspace."
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