Well thank you @
kaniini for picking up the prior thread and running with this one. Seems like I struck a sore spot, like usual and lots of people felt dirty and should perhaps be seeking a proper shower. The earlier thread was an evolution along the way and an oh f***k moment when I realized the math at play on age.
The illegal minor work / child labor / child exploitation topic in the web hosting world isn't new. There are threads at least as early as 2003 on WHT about the matter and at least one was shuttered suddenly and led to another.
In the United States, this is where the aforementioned business entities are based and where the owners of such live, and the employees/contractors/minors live --- a minor CANNOT engage in contracts legally. So the concept of being a contractor employment wise is widely prohibited.
The only way a CHILD can engage in contract matters is where there is an adult of legal age (18 and above) who is involved, overseeing the operation and who assumes the risk legally for the minor.
All of this ignores the status of emancipated minor, which is rather rare and likely never in play.
There are Federal Laws on child / minor labor and there are additionally State-level laws which further limit matters.
"I get that this industry segment is fond of exploiting child labor."
This seems to be a common complaint/observation about the low end.
The low end complaint is kids, but many of the companies carry on as if they are legal and infer such in all sorts of deceptive ways, some through outright omission, that they are legally operating.
Child labor covers nearly everything. Really hard to legally work around the laws. It is an age limitation with permission from the school district, often with grades being maintained condition and with permit from such as well as authorization from the parents, and all within the said legal limits on when the child can work, maximum per day, and limits on hours per week.
Why is low end filled with such minors? For one, it is a lazy get rich quick scam for too many of them - easier to leverage a rented server to make some money than it is to flip burgers. Second, the barrier to entry is so low (cost, legal, etc.). Third, many datacenters and resellers blindly sell to minors, to their credit often without knowing such (at least up front). Fourth, using such folks in lieu of employees, provides a "staff" many providers either cannot afford or refuse to pay for.
Conducting a business, as a non minor, utilizing such labor subjects you to state and federal regulations for violations. More importantly, it blows away legal protections in matters of suits and other claims. Only defense is somehow to say the child lied and have some paperwork that substantiates that claim. It's total exposure.
