All we hear are misconstructions, for instance, they infer that all RSOs, when they go on MySpace, are trolling for minors, yet out of the 36,000 truthful RSOs who had accounts, only ONE was found to have contacted a minor improperly. It is true, as indicated in this article, that many of the RSOs on parole or probation are not allowed to access either the Internet or MySpace type accounts, and some have done that, but doing so is not a crime it is a mere violation of conditions of supervision. Yet the misconstructions abound in the media about MySpace and RSOs, claiming the RSOs are predators. Funny, MySpace is not a community JUST for minors it has millions of other adults on it as well.
8-15-2008 National:
After authorities heard Charles Cathey might have an account on the popular Web site MySpace, they raided the San Antonio sex offender's home, confiscated pornography and walked him outside in handcuffs last month.
Mr. Cathey, convicted in 1988 of molesting a 7-year-old girl, had violated his parole by going online. But he hadn't found any new victims through the social networking site. Instead, MySpace had found him.
Companies like MySpace, whose security chief was in Dallas this week to address the Crimes Against Children Conference, are teaming up with law enforcement agencies and nonprofit groups as part of an increasingly active network to combat online predators.
"Our members deserve a safe place within which they can freely connect and explore," chief security officer Hemanshu Nigam said at the annual conference, which ended Thursday. "Our advertisers demand the safest possible site within which to promote their brands. We simply have to make this possible."
Internet security specialists working for social Web sites are among the new allies to local police. Former prosecutors now lead dedicated security teams, human eyes review reams of uploaded material, and software looks for similarities between user accounts and entries in a sex offender database.
"The Internet has obliterated traditional jurisdictional boundaries," said Dallas police Lt. Ches Williams, who heads the crimes against children unit. "Many times it's beyond the ability of local law enforcement to deal with it."
New MySpace features
At times, MySpace has drawn harsh criticism for its security features. Houston lawyer Jason Itkin has filed eight lawsuits against the company and sex offenders, including one Dallas man. He says the Web site hasn't moved fast enough on new safeguards, especially age-verification software.
Mr. Nigam, a former attorney at the Department of Justice, joined MySpace in 2006 after a stint at Microsoft. He heads a team of dedicated security personnel that includes two former prosecutors.
Pushed by attorneys general across the country, MySpace unveiled a slew of features in January, including more privacy controls and an algorithm that searches for keywords associated with users younger than 14. The company says it's working with other companies to develop practical age-verification capabilities.
Both MySpace and Yahoo now track the origins of every image and video upload. Mr. Nigam says his staff reviews all uploads, which number almost 20 million daily. They flag potentially inappropriate material and send details to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
What began in 1998 as a hotline for the public to report tips to the center now involves the sophisticated analysis of those photos and videos. As more companies have linked up with the center, the number of tips has risen dramatically: In 2007, there were 11,422 reports of children being enticed online, up 79 percent from 2006 and more than 10 times as many as in 1999.
That increase has more to do with improvements in communication among various agencies than a rise in the crime rate, said Michelle Collins, director of the center's exploited child unit.
"There's really unprecedented cooperation in this area," she said.
Software aids arrests
The improved communication has become increasingly visible: When MySpace developed software that compares user profiles with entries in a 600,000-member national database of registered sex offenders, it discovered 29,000 matches.
With the help of the database, the Texas attorney general's office has arrested 28 men since June 2007 for using MySpace in violation of their parole terms, including Mr. Cathey and four others in July.
'Constant process'
"It's a constant process, and it's something we continue to look at on a daily basis," said David Boatright, chief of the office's criminal investigations division.
With so many agencies and companies involved, Lt. Williams said, providing enough training – which can be costly and time-consuming – remains an obstacle.
"The bad guys are constantly looking for new ways to hide their activities," he said. ..News Source.. by BRIAN WHITLEY / The Dallas Morning News
August 15, 2008
MySpace, other firms team with authorities against online predators
January 28, 2008
MySpace regulation a must: Students agree federal government not right for task
1-28-2008 National:
SOMERSWORTH — At least one expert and several young MySpace users are somewhat skeptical of a recent agreement between MySpace and the National Association of Attorneys General to tighten security.
David Finkelhor, director of the UNH Crimes Against Children Research Center, said there are elements of the agreement that could be "difficult to maintain."
Security measures MySpace intends to employ include: strengthening software identifying underage users; retaining a contractor to better identify and eliminate inappropriate images; obtaining and updating a list of pornographic websites, and regularly severing links between them and MySpace; implementing changes to make it harder for adults to contact children; using resources to educate children and parents about online safety; making the default setting private for 16- and 17-year-old users; allowing parents to submit children's email addresses to prevent anyone from misusing the address to set up profiles; responding within 72 hours to complaints about inappropriate content and creating a closed "high school" section for users under 18.
The agreement also creates an Internet Safety Technical Task Force to explore age and identity verification tools for social networking websites.
"The part I like is the focus on education," Finkelhor said of the agreement. "An age restriction is going to be very difficult to maintain, but there needs to be education for people and their parents about good ways to behave and realistic strategies to stay safe."
Sophomores at Somersworth High School agreed education is a large part of Internet safety, and the responsibility for children's actions online falls on parents.
Chad Letourneau said instances where young children or teens get into trouble because of their activity on MySpace is "the kid's fault and the parents' ignorance."
In a classroom of about 20 students at the high school, nearly everyone said they had a MySpace account. About the same number said their pages were set to "Private," meaning they approve who views their page. Several said they had at some point been contacted by a stranger but had denied the friend request.
"A lot of people base their friending on just your picture and a statement next to your picture," said Shane Lefebvre. "I don't friend anyone I don't know."
But simply having a MySpace site or even providing personal information doesn't put kids at risk, according to Finkelhor.
"It's having sexually inappropriate conversations," he said. "The issue of not talking to strangers is hard. The whole point of social networking sites is to meet new people, but the point is to be smart in having these conversations."
Finkelhor said he has looked at several hundred cases of Internet crimes against children, and based on the UNH research center's knowledge, the agreement with MySpace has some realistic goals.
"I like that they would respond quickly to problems and it's a good thing a task force has been created," he said, but added he would like to see "some other entities" take on this issue besides the attorneys general, such as "some private watchdog entity or something specially designed to look at child safety on the Internet."
Several students said it was disconcerting to have the government involved in the effort to tighten MySpace security. Letourneau said, "A special group would be better because they'd be more focused."
While some students agreed finding ways to tighten security is a good idea, many said it seemed like a long shot.
"It's a great idea to tighten security but it goes both ways," said Lefebvre. "It's a matter of personal security."
Mike Driscoll said, "If they have to tighten security, there should be a way for (MySpace) to process your request. It should be like a job application."
Many agreed this policy would be one way to ensure children under a certain age don't create MySpace pages. There was a consensus in the classroom that children under 13 shouldn't be allowed to have MySpace accounts, and Brian Kapinos suggested that all registered sex offenders should be banned from creating MySpace accounts.
Creating boundaries and security on the Internet is something both the students and Finkelhor agreed would be a difficult task.
"It's hard to have anything secure online," said Katherine Stewert. "It may get better but it will never change."
The problem with controlling the Internet, Finkelhor said, is the Internet itself.
"The limitation is technology," Finkelhor said. "The Internet environment changes so fast. We need an ongoing dialogue with some regulatory entity, and I think we can make some headway. Our sense is that there is some awareness of safety that has caught on."
As for the students, Meg O'Brien said while it may be difficult to control what happens on the Internet, exercising personal safety on a networking site "is a common sense thing." ..more.. by JENNIFER KEEFE jkeefe@fosters.com
