The goal of AgeTaboo is to provide legitimate material of a medical/scientific/educational nature about a young man's attraction to males younger than he is. Obviously, such attractions don't always just "go away" because we want them to. Often life would be much easier if we were not "who we are". The key to living a happy, productive life free from guilt and fear is to make sure that we are able to control our actions and that we are confident that we are just as "worthwhile" as our more conventional brothers. We have learned that some exchange of personal stories and issues goes a long way toward accomplishing this goal. We do not exist so that we can meet each other in real life, and we insist on safe, anonymous internet practices as far as our ability to teach people extends.

The newsletter is not about attractions to boys. It is about a website. AgeTaboo will never be a place that you come to look in everyday. It's a lot slower and more methodical than that. Yet there are times when it's really frustrating for a young man to wait and wait for support messages when he is in crisis.

There is also the march of progress as we add more content to the site. Requests have been made that a visitor be notified when something new happens. That, essentially, is what the newsletter is. Subscribing to the newsletter will not provide anything that you can't get by checking in once a week and by taking a sincere interest in learning about the subject, or helping others to learn. It's just quicker. Again, it's not about the our message, it's about the website itself.

Timing of the newsletter will be as needed, several times a year as a starting point. And of course more intense when we as a community are dealing with a threat.

To protect your privacy, the follow rules will be followed by the AgeTaboo staff in handling the newsletter:

• No information will be kept on the website server about who receives the newsletter. Only the webmaster and siteowner will have access to the list.
• No other use whatsoever will be made of the email address you submit to the newsletter.
• The newsletters that go out will not be from the "agetaboo.org" domain. They will be sent out by an email account called "hylas.handout".
• The newsletters will not contain additional addresses anywhere in the package. Each newsletter is a separate email.
• The name "AgeTaboo" or any specific reference to the website's location, content or issues will not be mentioned within the newsletter.
• There will be a "remove me" link at the bottom of each newsletter.
• There will be no reader contributions to the newsletter. It is one-way communication to keep you up to date, nothing more.

As for all email within the community, we highly recommend "safe" email accounts. Accounts that do not broadcast your IP (not an issue in receiving mail). Accounts that you can check often but that are not the ones you use regularly for ordinary business. Accounts that are not shared in any way with your family or roommates. AgeTaboo has plenty of information about "safe" email accounts. Starting here: Online Safety.