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MySpace, Law Enforcement Spar over sex-offender crackdown »
Posted by: TechnologyExpert 2 years, 6 months agoWhy did this rather public controversy over sex offender MySpace pages erupt this month? Curiously, it began when MySpace - often criticized for inaction on child safety issues - took a strong action against registered sex offenders.
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TechnologyExpert
I am Editor-in-Chief at Alice Hill's RealTechNews (http://www.realtechnews.com). I also have my own blog (Tech-Ex) at http://TechnologyExpert.Blogspot.com. Finally ...
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Comments: 76
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TechnologyExpert
May 29, 2007, 11:45 a.m.The initial spark flew on May 2, when MySpace unceremoniously turned on the product developed by Sentinel and began removing profiles from the site.
Within days, the group of attorney general offices already eyeing MySpace policies found out about the deletions and became concerned that evidence of crimes might be destroyed.
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CrazyRay
May 29, 2007, 12:34 p.m.Then MySpace needs profiles set on proof of person, proof of residence, and possibly even by social security #...as of right now anyone can make a profile saying that they're anyone
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joeblowe
May 29, 2007, 1:07 p.m.Apparently all those AGs think that computers, including MySpace really operate on FM and that whatever they wish for can simply be accomplished with the snap of a finger or a wave of a wand. IF - and I say again IF - law enforcement had provided MySpace a simple file containing a LIST of offenders, it would have been MUCH easier to run a comparison against profiles than having to mine those names from various databases.
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jealous808
May 29, 2007, 2:08 p.m.hows about parents crack down on their childrens internet usage? if its so dangerous, you can buy programs that limit their internet usage to certain sites which can be set by the parents. no way in hell should they require proof of residence, or social security number, as for proof of person, if there was some way to do it without going into someones life without their permission, then im all for it, but i doubt you can do that.
myspace is doing what it can with what it has, and thats not very much. for anyone to not believe that there are probably hundreds of thousands if not millions of perverts on myspace, they are crazy. unfortunately MOST people are educated on predators these days, maybe there should be a info page on myspace about predators, then again, there probably already is...
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ballbuster2
May 29, 2007, 2:56 p.m.i have to agree with the majority of the poster's here. but, most kids know more about computers than their parent's. like myself, i would not have a computer if i lived in the united states. i do not have or do i want a cell phone. because to me this creats a whole other animal when you are trying to protect your identity. too, i am retired and do not want to be bothered with all of the electronic BS.
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Charlson
May 29, 2007, 3:06 p.m.This should be a two way street. The police should supply a list of sex offenders and MySpace should provide the police a list of sex offenders on MySpace. Monitoring the internet for sex offenders preying on children is a police function but must be helped and supported by MySpace also. I also have to ask where are the parents?
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pervis
May 29, 2007, 3:38 p.m.I have played with these online social networking sites for years. They are inherently harmless. just like most of the rest of the content on the internet. It is how it is used that becomes problematic.
Using fear to manipulate.. the powers that be tell you the 'predator' is coming right into your home and molesting your child right there in front of you.
Unlikely...
Sex offenders have rights. I am sick of the government monitoring the public ala 1984. Until they offend they are innocent. Parents need to take responsibility for how they raise their children. If you and your spouse each work. family is NOT the #1 priority.
Imagine making it a crime to talk to children that aren't your own.
"sir I can't find my mommy"
" I can't talk to you or that camera will send an alert to central command and I will be put in prison."
How far are we from that? Seriously.
Protect your rights as well as protecting your children.
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BarbnTx
May 29, 2007, 5:13 p.m.I just dont know what to think about all this....as a parent...I monitor what my kids do on the computer...Talk to your kids school officals...I did....If you turn them loose in cyberspace...then YOU as a parent are responsible...I say turn all those child molesting freaks over...They dont deserve to breathe...they dont deserve rights...they ******ed that away the second they touched a child... Take responsibility for your kids...if ya cant monitor them then dont let them get on internet. There are too many idiots out there to leave anything to chance. Wake up and take responsibility for your own kids....sheesh!!!
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Hamlet
May 29, 2007, 5:39 p.m.The best thing we as parents can do is make sure we communicate really well with our kids - and that includes listening a lot, not just talking. When your kids can tell you anything, and they listen to you because you have an atmoshpere of mutual respect, they become much less vulnerable. Why?
1.) They get the love and listening they need already and don't need to go elsewhere.
2.) They have a healthy self respect and sense of boundaries (because that respect is a function of their family relations)so their "antenna" are up if something seems a bit off.
3.) They talk about their lives, so you can immediately zero in on something that seems fishy - and they will not hide it from you.
I've seen this with my kid & her friends - they're very attuned to stuff that is off-base. I must say they are very nuanced about it. At the same time, they live normal lives, use various sites and are careful about protecting their privacy. They would not hesitate to report to the police.
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Hamlet
May 29, 2007, 5:46 p.m.The biggest problems with pedophiles is that they are clever, do not believe they are doing anything wrong, tend to be well-organised...and all too often hold positions of accountability and respect, such as politians, business leaders, etc. Surprisingly relatively few teachers, but many other positions in which mentoring young people is expected of them as a side activity.
Another thing is is that they are often gentle and sweet, and to a kid or parent that is not tuned in, can seem to be very helpful and interested. Once you've learned more about how they operate, you can spot the behaviors, but until then, it can be hard.
What is sad is that genuinely caring and helpful people can get pegged as pedophiles who aren't, by people who are frightened into not listening to their good "radar sense", while the predators go free.
My experience is that usually kids do know, and we must be careful not to teach them to ignore their own senses.
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chrsk133
May 29, 2007, 11:41 p.m.What they should do is teach kids the dangers of myspace and other sites like it and how to use those sites safely. Also, blocking the sites is next to useless because anybody that really wants to still get to a site can get around a blocker easily.
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chrsk133
May 30, 2007, 9:10 a.m.Thats true, except it still is easy enough to get around one with a quick google search.
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joegreen35
May 30, 2007, 4:38 p.m.you know what the goverment helps the peepee touchers by releaseing them from jail now look what there putting us thru find the peepee touchers and kill them and ****** the goverment thay cant even keep our kids safe but thay want to raise our taxes
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truthbeknown
May 30, 2007, 7:55 p.m.To all the parents out there worried about your child using the internet. You are right to be worried. I have kids and they get on outside the home by using the computers while at school. No matter what you do to prevent this from happening at home, they will find a way to do it else where. Be smarter than your child when it comes to their safty. If this means checking up on them ,do it. We were all kids once ourselves,and we did things we sholudn't have. What makes you thing your child will not do the same thing. Be a smart parent and always monitor your childs activities,be on the computer or just going to the park. Never take the words,I won't,as I won't. Make sure they don't or they will. Having 10 children has taught me somehthing about children . They are kids and kids will be kids when not supervised by adults, Period.
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EsaEngr
May 30, 2007, 9:16 p.m.Why can't MySpace simply identify the Usernames of those known sex offenders then log each & every message to/from them, and provide that to the proper authorites? Sounds pretty simple to me. I know how easy that would be. And it seems that would allow the authorities to gather sufficient evidence to toss the perverts back into jail! No threat to their regular users.
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Mijail
May 30, 2007, 10:53 p.m.I believe what MySpace should do is to do something about all of those profiles that come up with pornography related. For example all of those from Match.com or some of them that are link to dirty website. They should also not just delete those, but all of those that include scams about money making and ring tones. It really bugs me to log in and find all of those. I know i can filter them by allowing people who only know my last name or my email to send me a comment or invite, but i really want to get rid of them all. If police are gonna look for child offendors, thats fine, they are getting rid of some criminals, but i believe they should take all of them with them. By that i mean, all of those scams. Thank you for reading.
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