Also nobody has thought about what the implementation will mean. I was 12 when COPPA went into effect and all the companies just deleted all my accounts: Email account, hosting, chat accounts, etc. It was easier than dealing with the logistics of getting parental permission (which I could have gotten, I started programming when I was 5 and both my parents were hacker types;
I was supervised just fine). Which is that they're going to take the easy way out and a lot of people are going to get hit in the crossfire.
Also interesting that 'think of the children' always only means the stupid, unsupervised children. Children growing up with technologically literate adults who can actually parent and whose parents might want them to be exposed to things can just screw off, we guess. So can those parents' rights. "Well, we don't know how to do it, so you're not allowed to raise your children this way/let them use these things."