MySpace agrees to block sexual predators
614101
MySpace.com has agreed with 45 states to add extensive measures to combat sexual predators.
348325
MySpace has been advocating that governments require sex offenders to register their online identities. On Monday, it may have found its first ally in that fight: Robert McDonnell, the attorney general for the state of Virginia.
705011
New York&#39;s attorney general and state legislative leaders presented a bill on Tuesday aimed at protecting people from sexual predators on the Internet, aand Facebook, MySpace, and Yahoo backed the effort.In a press conference, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced legislation they called &quot;groundbreaking&quot; in its proposed restrictions and controls of sexual offenders&#39; online activities.&quot;Today I believe we&#39;re proposing the most comprehensive, smartest, toughest law in the nation to keep people safe online, especially minors,&quot; Cuomo said.The Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP) responds to the widely documented use that sexual offenders make of the Internet, in particular social-networking sites, to stalk and victimize people, particularly minors.Specifically, e-STOP would require convicted sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses, instant message screen names, and any other online identifiers with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. That data would then be made available to social-networking companies and other online services so that they can then block access to sexual offenders and remove them from their sites.The bill also calls for allowing sentencing courts and the state&#39;s Parole Board to restrict the online activities of sex offenders who used the Internet to commit their crimes, victimized a minor, or are considered highly likely to repeat their offenses. In particular, the bill would ban many sex offenders from using social-networking sites.There are more than 627,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S., about 25,000 of whom are in New York, according to Cuomo&#39;s office.State attorneys general have been very vocal about their concerns over online safety, in particular of minors who are preyed upon by sexual offenders on social-networking sites, which are widely used by teens.The attorneys general have often criticized Facebook, MySpace, and other sites for, in their view, not doing enough to protect minors, but the two sides have recently seemed to get on better terms and have rolled out several joint security initiatives, partnerships and agreements.The e-STOP bill is needed to help social-networking companies keep their sites safer and will complement these companies&#39; in-house security efforts, Cuomo said.MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam agreed and said laws need to keep up with the times and technology. &quot;We hope [e-STOP] becomes a model for other states to follow,&quot; Nigam said.&quot;As Facebook and other Internet companies do our best to exclude [from our sites] those who would do our users harm, we need help from the government,&quot; said Chris Kelly, Facebook&#39;s chief privacy officer.Ideally, legislation like e-STOP would get enacted widely in U.S. states and also at the federal level, Cuomo said.
403707
U.S. antitrust authorities have  approved plans by MySpace-owner Fox Interactive Media, a unit  of News Corp., to buy photo-sharing site Photobucket.
440847
MySpace's agreement with 49 attorneys general to create a social-networking safety plan is a step in the right direction.
219417
Faced with legal demands from state attorneys general, MySpace.com said yesterday that it would release information on registered sex offenders it has identified and removed from the social-networking Web site.
88391
Under mounting public pressure, MySpace.com had little choice but to hand over to state authorities information on registered sex offenders who might cruise the Internet to lure unsuspecting youngsters.  But more remains to be done to protect the vulnerable from online predators.
6073
ALBANY, N.Y. -- MySpace reached an agreement with legal authorities in 49 states on changing its social networking Web site to help prevent sexual predators and others from misusing it, state officials said Monday.
54904
The social networking Web site has agreed to include online protections and participate in a working group to develop age-verification technologies, according to an official familiar with the agreement.
37264
New York City prosecutors on Tuesday endorsed the United States' first proposed law to ban registered sex offenders from social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, officials
63749
New York lawmakers proposed legislation on Tuesday that would provide new protection from convicted sex offenders hanging out on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.
90088
Social network MySpace is to allow third-party developers to build applications for the site.
105170
The social networking site MySpace announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement with attorneys general from 49 states and the District of Columbia on measures designed to improve the safety of teenagers not only on its popular social networking site, but on the Internet in general.
24908
Under an agreement with the attorneys general for 49 states, MySpace will make changes aimed at protecting children using its site from sexual predators.
249326
Two U.S. senators said on Thursday they would introduce legislation that would potentially protect users of popular social networking sites like News Corp's MySpace from registered sex offenders.
276900
(InfoWorld) - Stepping up efforts to keep sex offenders off MySpace.com, the popular social networking Web site has partnered with an online identity and background verification company to build a U.S. national sex offender database and dedicate staff to checking the database against MySpace profiles. Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. will build a searchable database containing information on sex offenders in the U.S. who are registered with various federal and state law enforcement agencies. The database, which will be frequently updated, will include details such as name, age, physical appearance and distinguishing features like tattoos and scars. MySpace staff will monitor the site 24-hours-a-day for sex offenders who are on the list. They'll remove any matching profiles that they find. MySpace has been lobbying for new legislation that could help it take the program one step further. The company wants a law that requires sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses in a national sex-offender database. The law would stipulate that the use of an unregistered e-mail constitutes a parole or probation violation, forcing offenders back to jail. If such a law is passed, MySpace can more easily identify sex offenders that have profiles on its site, the company said. MySpace has been criticized for enabling profiles by registered sex offenders. Earlier this year, journalists around the country began cross referencing sex-offender databases with MySpace profiles, finding matches and publicizing their results. MySpace responded by hiring a chief security officer to oversee safety and law enforcement affairs and introduced an advertising campaign to promote online safety. MySpace still faces some thorny issues. For example, most sex offenders aren't legally forbidden from creating a MySpace page so it's unclear if MySpace will receive some backlash for removing profiles.ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
769539
MySpace on Wednesday officially launched an instant messaging service customized for users of the teen-oriented social networking website.