MySpace reaches accord with U.S. attorneys general

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: June 5, 2007 6:53:50 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] MySpace reaches accord with U.S. attorneys  
general

[Note:  This item comes from friend John McMullen.  DLH]

From: "John F. McMullen" <observer () westnet com>
Date: June 5, 2007 3:32:08 PM PDT
To: "johnmac's living room" <johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com>
Cc: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Subject: MySpace reaches accord with U.S. attorneys general

From USA Today -- <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2007-05-21- 
myspace-sexual-predators_n.htm>

MySpace reaches accord with U.S. attorneys general
By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY

MySpace on Monday responded to pressure from a group of attorneys  
general and promised to provide names and e-mail addresses of about  
7,000 registered sex offenders who had profiles on its site.

The move came one week after top law enforcement officials for eight  
states signed a letter asking MySpace for access to a list of its  
users who appear on a database that combines registered sex offender  
information from 50 states. MySpace says it deleted the unwanted  
profiles among its 180 million users

Mike Angus, chief counsel for Fox Interactive Media, MySpace's parent  
company, called the move "a huge step forward for us and the  
industry." Predators "feel they can use the Internet without risk,"  
he said. "We don't want them on MySpace, and we're going to hand them  
over to law enforcement to prosecute them in violation of parole and  
lock them up."

He said MySpace always intended to share the information with law  
enforcement, but some states require subpoenas before companies can  
release information. North Carolina and Connecticut filed legal  
demands to access the information after sending last week's letter.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper plans to share the names  
he receives with probation and parole officers and state  
investigators to see if any crimes were committed, his spokeswoman  
Noelle Talley said.

MySpace obtained the names by partnering with identity verifier  
Sentinel Tech. Its search is capable of identifying some offenders  
even when they use a fake name and zip code, said John Cardillo,  
Sentinel's CEO.

"There's a wealth of information in the aggregated data," Cardillo  
said. "Some states have things as specific as a tattoo of a rose on  
the right hand."

Sentinel is also offering the information to other social networking  
sites and online dating companies through licensing agreements. "None  
of us in the industry should be competing on safety," said Hemanshu  
Nigam, MySpace's security chief.


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