"If you want to register you can go on the system and get your number immediately from the computer," N.C. Selective Service System Director Donald Shaw said.
At a launch ceremony in Virginia, four high school students raced to be the first to register online.
Registering with Selective Service is no longer registering for the draft. However, the system does create a manpower pool that could be used if needed.
Failure to register could have serious consequences including possible heavy fines and prison time. Failure to register can be costly in other ways as well.
Shaw says young men need to register in order to be eligible for "federal loan programs in college, and also certain state employment jobs."
Out of North Carolina's 40,000 eligible young men, 93 percent do register. Selective Service hopes the Internet will help reach those who do not.
"In North Carolina if 7 percent don't get the word, that's 2,800 or so people that would not be eligible at some point for the benefits," Shaw said.
Shaw says no one has been prosecuted for failing to register with Selective Service. He says the system's goal is to get everyone signed up that is eligible,notto prosecute those who do not register.
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