MySpace, States Sign Kids Online Safety Pact

Computerworld - MySpace Inc. and 49 state attorneys general last week culminated two years of discussions by agreeing to a new set of principles aimed at stepping up online safety on MySpace and other social networking sites.

As part of the agreement, MySpace will add some 60 new features intended to protect children from online predators, the attorneys general and MySpace officials said during a press conference in New York.

The pact also calls for MySpace to create a panel called the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, with representatives from other social networking sites, security vendors and online safety advocacy groups.

The task force will evaluate and develop new age- and identity-verification tools and issue findings and recommendations by the end of this year, the attorneys general said.

Roy Cooper, North Carolinas attorney general and co-chairman of the attorneys generals task force on online safety, said that the agreement should set the standard for social networking sites across the globe that have been quick to grow but slow to recognize their responsibility for keeping kids safe.

Coopers task force includes MySpace and officials from 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer at MySpace and Fox Interactive Media Inc., both owned by New York-based News Corp., urged other social networking sites to join the partnership with the attorneys general.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, co-chairman of the task force, noted that despite the accord, there remains an ongoing disagreement about whether its possible for MySpace to really authenticate the age of its users.

There was a difference in perspective between the attorneys general and MySpace on the feasibility of new technology that would authenticate age and identity, he said. We are not papering over or concealing our continued differences.

Fears that the MySpace plan will not work to protect users from predators prompted Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot to decide not to join the effort.

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