http://www.khou.com/news/state/stories/khou070521_tnt_myspace.9094e06d.html
MySpace.com to provide states with data on registered sex offenders

06:17 PM CDT on Monday, May 21, 2007

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. -- MySpace.com will provide the attorneys general in Texas and a
number of other states with data on registered sex offenders who use the popular
social networking Web site, officials said Monday.

Attorneys general from eight states demanded last week that the company provide
data on how many registered sex offenders are using the site and where they
live. MySpace initially refused, citing federal privacy laws.

Attorneys general in North Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi,
New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania asked for the Sentinel data last week.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott joined the call Monday. Myspace will turn
over names of its online users that are registered sex offenders in Texas, as
well as IP addresses, e-mail addresses, and their online profile information,
the Attorney General’s Office said.

“Social networking sites must continue to make their Web sites and content safer
for our children,” Abbott said in a statement. “We urge all social networking
Web sites to take all necessary steps to keep children safe from the unwanted
advances of online predators.”

MySpace obtained the data from Sentinel Tech Holding Corp., which the company
partnered with in December to build a database with information on sex
offenders.

“We developed ‘Sentinel Safe’ from scratch because there was no means to weed
them out and get them off of our site,” said Mike Angus, MySpace’s executive
vice president and general counsel.

Angus said the company, owned by media conglomerate News Corp. had always
planned to share information on sex offenders it identified and has already
removed about 7,000 profiles out of a total of about 180 million.

“This is no different than an offline community,” he said.

“We’re trying to keep it safe.”

Angus said the company had also made arrangements to allow law enforcement to
use the Sentinel software directly.

MySpace is owned by media conglomerate News Corp.

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office said in a

statement the information could potentially be used to look for parole
violations or help in investigations.


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