HOUSTON -- Internet giant Yahoo has cracked down on chat rooms geared toward luring children -- the same rooms exposed in Houston television station KPRCs' online investigation two weeks ago.

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The move is being noticed by millions of Internet users from around the world. Many are outraged that their favorite chat rooms were shut down along with the sex-themed rooms.

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All Types Of Chat Rooms Pulled By Yahoo

The station first reported on May 30 that major sponsors pulled their ads after a station investigation found the companies that were funding Yahoo chat rooms aimed at sex with children.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of chat rooms were shut down. A blank screen was all that greeted chat room users Monday.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said the closed chat rooms would make an incredible difference in keeping children safe online.

Last month, the TV station found Yahoo hosting a long list of chat rooms geared toward sex with children. They also found men lining up for sex meetings with kids or to trade lewd pictures.

The rooms were named the following:

9-17-Year-Olds Wantin' Sex
Younger Girls 4 Older Guys
Girls 13 And Under For Older Guys
Girls 13 And Up For Much Older Man
Girls 8 to 13 Watch Boys (In A Particular Sex Act)

They were all listed under "education" chat rooms, which was blank on Monday.

Houston lawyer Adam Voyles has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Yahoo for hosting the rooms, and he said the move is an admission that Yahoo recognizes children were being victimized, and now it's going to be fixed.

Yahoo is not commenting beyond the notice that's now printed for all chat users to read. It states, "The ability to publish user-created chat rooms is currently unavailable. We are working on improvements to this service to enhance the user experience and compliance with our terms of service," which means the rules Yahoo users are supposed to follow.

U.S. Rep. Ted Poe told the station last month that its broadcast put Yahoo on notice, and he also said tougher laws are needed so this cannot happen again.

"Unless the providers do some self-monitoring of all of these different sites and shut them down on their own, of course, they're inviting the government to get involved into their day-to-day activities," Poe said.

The men the station found trying to arrange sex meetings with children cannot find potential victims in those rooms right now.

But there are new victims of the chat crackdown by Yahoo. Along with all the child-sex rooms, the plug was pulled on hundreds of non-sex rooms, and many computer users are sounding off on the Internet, saying they no longer have sites to chat about hobbies, games or even business ventures.

There is fiery reaction on the Internet. Some users are angry that user rooms about one topic were taken off, while rooms with opposing viewpoints were left up and running, if Yahoo actually created them. Only the user-created rooms were shut down.

Yahoo is not talking about when it may unveil its new, more restricted chat service.

Yahoo has until next month to respond to the federal lawsuit filed by a victim of child pornography. The lawsuit accuses Yahoo of profiting from the exploitation of children in the chat rooms the station exposed last month.

Lawyers say other lawsuits are possible as more victims come forward.