Comments on: MySpace agrees to social-networking safety plan

Attorneys general from every U.S. state except Texas reach an agreement with the social-networking site over how Web companies can work to protect children's safety.

[billrubin]

Technically feasible?

When I heard this story on the news this morning, I was wondering how feasible this was. Then I found the following quote in this article: "They also acknowledged that law enforcement officials still don't see eye-to-eye with social-networking sites on a variety of issues, namely the feasibility of identity and age verification. The attorneys general believe it's technologically possible; Nigam and the rest of MySpace say it needs more development.".

So the attorneys say it can be done. The technical people disagree, for now.

[AreUKiddingME]

Probably Not

There is no way that you can verify someones age through sign-up unless:
Some how my space gets access to birth certs
Social Security ID
Bio verification (i.e. fingerprint then have access to FBI files to run them, or retina scan, ) Though requiring a fingerprint or retina scan might not be bad, then LE can find and track down really wanted people. But then you go on to an additional cost to the public, which they don't want.
The Public access places won't get the additional hardware, so then parents can actually have a better opportunity to track what their children are doing, though that doesn't cover cell phone texting.

But that smells of freedom of speech rights violation, so it won't go.

[industriouskid]

Social networking for kids

Neither MySpace nor Facebook were ever intended to support users under the age of 13 or 14. The only reason that kids are on these networks is because they don't have a network (with security and parental controls) which they can call their own.

Imbee.com gives kids access to features they would find on Facebook or MySpace - which enables them to create and share content with their friends and family members. While it also provides parents with all the user authentication, content privacy and parental controls they need, to have peace of mind while their kids are online.

If MySpace or Facebook partnered with destinations like imbee.com perhaps a partnership might alleviate some of the issues surrounding kids and safety.

This would be a much easier course of action that then to try and add any number of features in order to make their site more secure.

[magicman73]

Not entirely true.

There are lot's of social networking site for kids under 14. My son is 9 and uses Club Penguin religiously.

The long and short of it is that the final responsibility falls to the parents. It makes me sick that the Attorneys General think they have the right (and that people are blindly giving them the right) of parenting our kids. We are the parents, we are the responsible party.

End of story.

[r3tard]

Clean up the porn on Myspace?

So MySpace is going to clean up the porn? The reasons I prefer Facebook:

1. MySpace aggressively seeks advertisers with barely clothed and provocatively posed people in the ads promising a 'hook up' for all ages to see.

2. Constant friend requests from fake profiles containing pornography wanting a 'good time'.

You don't need any partnership with the States to fix this MySpace. Just clean up your act!

[magicman73]

MS vs FB

Facebook also does not allow self promotion in the same manner that MySpace does. That's probably why MS has over 3x the users as FB. When one compares the two sites FB is practically sterile when compared to MS with each profile looking almost identical. I prefer MS due to that fact alone but I guess it's a matter of personal choice.

As for the advertisers that MS "aggressively" seeks. This is such a double edged sword. Should MS decide to put "decency" guidelines on their ads they would no doubt get slammed as violating "free speech" or probably even "pandering to the right". Again, provided that parents view what their kids are doing and there are no 9 year olds on myspace this should not be a problem.

On to the "friend" requests. First off, this is extremely easy for you to over come. All you have to do is go into your account setting and set the option to have a friend requester submit either your email or last name. That right there ends the spam friend requests so obviously it helps to know what you are talking about. Secondly, the "spammers" go where the crowd is. Trust me but once FB has a community that is anywhere on par with MS you'll start getting spam friend requests as well.

[budeverett]

Technology Possible?

I find it hard to believe that it will be possible to prove the true identity and age of everybody who is online. There are too many ways to get around any requirements. I have seen groups of teens sitting around one computer monitor. One may be 18, but the others are not. It is also possible to share sign-in ID's and passwords. Until there is technology that will enable a computer to identify everybody within viewing distance of computer monitor, teens will always find a way online. Also, social web sites could move to other countries where the U.S. states have no jurisdiction. The best solution is for parents to know that their kids are doing online. Parents are ultimately responsible

[jltnol]

A Novel Idea...

Why can't parents just do what the are supposed to do?
Part of parenting is knowing what your kids are up to all the
time.

If you can't do it then hire a baby sitter who can.

You need a license to drive and a license to fish, but anybody
can have a child.

Go Figure.

[Leria]

A novel idea, but unreasonable one

You cannot know what your children are doing at all times, you are not omniscient nor are you omnipotent.

Let's face facts: if we allowed children and adults to have sexual relationships out in full view of society, many of the 'bad' things like child forcible rapes and child murders would disappear from the face of this planet, because pedosexuals would no longer be able to be discriminated against by the rest of society unjustly.

That is the reason why we don't have any homosexual serial killers anymore: homosexuality is accepted in the world today, they don't have to hide what they are from friends and family, therefore they don't get mental illnesses from the pressure of hiding that sexual orientation from their families and friends.

[Had_to_be_said]

sniff... sniff... Does anybody else smell that..?

Yep... its the distinctive scent of BULLSH... er, uh, uhm, ...I mean POLITICS.

[weh717]

best way to handle myspace

As tech support for a public library, I can say that the only way to handle myspace, facebook, etc. is take all these sites down permanently. They serve no real useful purpose and there is absolutely no way they can be made safe. End of story.

[magicman73]

Not the "end of story" thank you very much.

Really?

Facebook has helped my unite with several high school friends whom I probably would not be able to track down on my own.

MySpace has allowed me to connect with people in various places through out the world enabling me to gain insight into how they live their lives and what life is like outside the states.

You know, for a person who works around so much knowledge you really are an arrogant individual. Next time, try not to be so arrogant as to presume that since you have no use for a particular website or service that no one else does. That is the height of arrogance.

And yes, they can be safe. With appropriate safeguards AND PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF THEIR CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES these sites can be made safe.

[Wookiee-1138]

This can't protect stupid kids and parents

from themselves.

[sarkipedia]

is redirecting to something

I agree but where is supports a number of ways of creating URIs
http://www.sarkipedia.com/sarki/j/jessica-simpson/index.php

[LarryBowler]

Scrubbing down your online identity

Parents should set an example for their children by minimizing the amount of personal information they release online.
Chris Minnick explains how you can take steps to control your online identity-
http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=544&doc_id=142711

[thadams]

Safety plan will not work

I do not consider the proposed safety measures set by MySpace to be strong enough.

In my opinion a safe social network would be a site that does not have a chat room, does not allow profanity and lewd or sexual comments - as well as racial slurs and other hate speech, pornographic material and protects the privacy of it's members.

I am not a tech nerd or a college student but a middle aged grandmother. For the past couple of years, I wanted to join a social network so I could share stuff with my friends and family. But I had been unable to find what I consider a "safe social network". So, in September 2007, I created a safe social network called Our-Social.com.

Our-Social.com (www.our-social.com) is a clean safe alternative to the prominent social networking sites. It has word filter prevents members from being exposed to profanity and lewd or sexual comments - as well as racial slurs and other hate speech. To further ensure that the site remains clear of offensive material and is safe for all ages, all pictures, video and audio clips go through an approval process ? which takes places within 24 hours of submission - before they are posted. In addition, Our-Social discourages members from ever publicly displaying information such as their e-mail address and full name. As another safety precaution, Our-Social does not have a chat area but does provide a members-only forum. The forum is moderated and has several different threads under the main categories of Family, Health, Faith, Pets and Social Stuff.

Members have their own account pages, which serve as personalized control panels, where users can manage all aspects of their account. Management activities include editing profiles, setting privacy levels for the account, creating or editing articles, checking mail, inviting friends to join, sending out friendship requests, a calendar and creating numerous picture, video and audio albums.

The calendar is especially handy for anyone who would like to create a page for a group of people. With the calendar you can keep everyone in you group informed of any upcoming events.

[sigma_7a]

Thats all fine and dandy, but...

Your solution to a social networking site will only work on a small scale. Profanity filters only work to a certian degree, if someone wants to get around the filter, they can. Having people physically approving videos is great, but financially impossible if you host millions or even even thousands of videos. Having a forum in leiu chat room is fine, but trying to pysically moderate anything with millions of users is near impossible. On a small scale like your site, a chat room would be no less secure than a moderated forum, but would be impractical since it would be unlikely many users would be online and using it at the same time.

Your website doesn't even address the main problem with myspace and youger users, which is age verification.

Its all fine and great that you made your own website, but its not much different than a family-oriented forum and would suffer the same exact problems if it was anywhere near the size of myspace. Your comparison is like evaluating a ma and pop dollar store to wal mart.

I personally think its great that law enforcement agencies and myspace are trying to come up with a solution. Every little effort helps. After all, not all parents are either responsible enough or computer saavy enough to protect thier children online.

[Ashase1]

A Day Late and A dollar Short...

The ONLY way to combat the parade of horrible goings on
throughout myspace and several not listed (such as fraud,
emotional abuse, etc.) is to make the registrant file a credit card
or valid license. It is not a guarantee, but at least someone
"real" will have to be connected to the particular page. The best
alternative I see is to make it cost a nominal amount so that an
ongoing validity of the credit card or checking account is
established in conjunction with a huge public service
announcement push geared toward parents. Parents tend to
have the "not my child" attitude when told of these potential
dangers. . I know of a case where an emotionally troubled
teenage girl repeatedly posed as a teenage boy drawing several
girls into "relationships." These "relationships" all evolved into
telephone "relationships" At one point she even dressed as a
boy and drove 5 hours to go see one of these girls. The
conversations were sexually charged and these girls thought
they were madly in love. This is just the tip of the iceberg. At
one point the perpetrator of the fraud would have these girls
belive their "boyfriend" died on the way to go see them... When
these "relationships" ended the victims of this fraud were left
confused and severely emotionally scarred. This is an
increasingly huge problem. Parents don't listen. Why do our
children need "friends" they will never meet? They don't and
these are not truly their "friends."

[partytildawn-20159620461052270]

Poor Parenting NOT Myspace to Blame

Here is what I do not get. If I don't keep an eye on my child and he burns himself on a stove, runs out into a street getting hit by a car, etc., then I get into trouble for not properly supervising him. However, if my child uses the internet unsupervised, gets soliticted by an adult for sex, and meets this predator offline, then I am considered a victim as much as my child. This hypocracy has to stop. If you start holding parents accountable for not supervisign children on the internet when these things happen, then I can guarantee you that moms and dads around the country will start being REAL partents, supervise web usage, and the stories of childern being victimized by online predators will slow dramatically. The problem isn't myspace. The problem is poor parenting and elected politicians afraid to hold parents accountable.

[sammyb33]

It will be great if they can pull this off but I'm not sure.

Glitter Graphics Myspace Layout Myspace default layouts Glitter Text

[symonds88]

I am a new comer to this site. I gathered lot of information. I am very happy to post my comment in this blog.

Connecticut Treatment Centers

[odedy]

The only answer to the problem raised in this article is by using online age verification systems such as the biometric age verification online, in real-time, provided by VerificAge (www.verificage.com):
- It establishes full segregation between adults and children online
- Does not use any kind of data base. Eliminating risks involved in storing and maintaining data.
- It does not identify the user personally but rather his/her age group category; therefore, the user?s privacy cannot be jeopardized.
- The system is based on a ?one time? biometric measurement that can distinguish a child from an adult with a very high accuracy rate.
- It can assert a user?s age every time he wishes to access a website, content, or while interacting with others
It seems that VerificAge?s solution is going to change the surfing culture on the Net and increase dramatically children?s safety online.

[sampatrik]

"Trademark attorneys are warning companies about a new target for cybersquatters known as '.cm,' which is the country code?or top level domain?for the West African nation of Cameroon. The dot-cm domain is a hot target for scammers, they say, due to 'cm' being a common typographical error for 'com' in the popular dot-com domain. Attorneys say this is significant to brand owners because Internet users searching for brand owners' Web sites frequently mistype dot-com as dot-cm and wind up on a bogus site. Not only is Web traffic lost, they say, but a brand name can get diluted or tainted along the way."
<a href="http://www.newlawyer.com/"> lawyers </a>