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MySpace, U.S. Address Sex Offenders Online
TitusC3v5 writes "According to BBC News, MySpace is attempting to block sex offenders by way a custom database that utilizes state sex offender registries. Sentinel Safe will let MySpace search US state and federal databases to seek out and delete MySpace profiles of registered sex offenders." From the article: "The company said the new service will be the first national database that brings together about 46 US state sex offender registers ... It will be available in the next 30 days. MySpace has not released information on its plans for tackling sex offenders using the service in other countries." This is on the heels of proposed legislation that would require sex offenders to keep their email on file. The addresses would presumably be used to restrict former criminals from accessing online community sites, but in an the era of easily obtainable email addresses it's hard to see how this would be effective.
Is this yet another case of clueless people trying to create rules for systems that they have no idea of how it functions?
While the intent is good, I'm rather suspect of people who think this is full-proof, and look forward (mockingly) to the future when people think their kids are safe from predators because MySpace is tracking KNOWN sex offenders by their REGISTERED email addresses.
Wow, why don't we just do this with terrorists? Then we'd know where they are and what they are doing all the time, just have to log onto the gov. website to find out....
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But it is a step in the right direction.
Won't this just encourage them use a pseudonym?
To promote easy identification of sex offenders, a new bill requires "registration of the logo and design of the hat worn by the offender." Mention was not made in the bill of what happens if the offender changes hats.
Holy hell, how far can they take this false sense of security crap? If you want your kids to be safe, teach them what things to do are stupid, and how to recognize danger signals (online and offline). Then, you could, you know, always supervise them until you're reasonably sure that they've indeed gotten the point.
Or we could try tracking people by their email address. I'm sure that'll work great. imasexoffender@example.com will never think of registering 15yroldmale@example.com too!
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
More retarded politicians who *think* they know about technology. They pass bullshit laws whose demands are technically damn near impossible to fulfill (but all they care about is firing up soccer moms' fury).
So now we have some bullshit company who promises lots of undeliverable goals and is milking the government for our tax monies, all because our politicans are off in la-la land.
on the streets? I am not talking about 18 year olds that have sex with their 17 year old girlfriends, I am talking the 30 year olds having sex with 13 year olds, 40 year olds that rape 8 year olds, and so on.
Why are these people even out of jail if they are still a threat to soceity?
-b.
Not my EMAIL ADDRESS! However will I face society now that it is registered on MySpace? ;_;
What slippery slope?
First they banned them from myspace, and I said nothing, for I am not a teenage girl.
Then they banned them from facebook, and I said nothing, for I am not a college student.
Then they banned them from Google, and there was nobody to speak out, because SEX OFFENDERS SUCK
Yeah, an email on file will get all those online sex offenders.
Yeah.. I am gonna surf myspace with anything that would link me as a sex offender anywhere else..
I think we are in the process of creating a bunch of second class citizens with sex offender registration laws. People can become sex offenders for a wide variety of reasons, but everybody treats all sex offenders as if each and every single one were an evil predator lurking and waiting for even a glimmer of a chance to prey on a child.
For people convicted of kidnapping children and coercing them into child porn, this might very well be reasonable. But for the 25 yr old convicted of statutory rape of the 17yr old, this is quite questionable. Or the father who molests his daughter (and has never touched another child), or any number of other situations that are significantly milder.
Most people who have to register do not deserve to be treated the same as the worst of the class.
I'm waiting for the laws that strip custody of children from registered sex offenders or prohibit them from participating in school events with their children, or any number of other laws passed by well-meaning people that create a large class (probably nearly a million people in the US) of people who are denied some fairly basic things for no particularly good reason.
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by deleting or overtly damaging their accounts, you effectivly alert them to take more proactive actions in hiding their trails.
Instead, this data should be used to covertly keep an eye on their account and account use, indeed, once these predators have been identified anyone contacted by them or looking at their page should get an alert with a warning about who that person is. Or simply make it ipossible for that account to contact or be contacted by children et al.
A passive approach will keep more of the predators unaware that they have been compromised, which means better tracking and better protection of children in subtler ways.
If we outright remove their accounts, they will know theyve been found out, and they will compensate accordingly, making them that much harder to find.
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If you believe it is appropriate for the government to permanently the restrict the activities of anyone, whatever they've done, merely out of concern for what they might do, you are part of the problem. Life is dangerous and it's not the government's job to protect you from it. Deal.
Media that can be recorded and distributed can be recorded and distributed.
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BrianWilliams:I'm Brian Williams and your on DATELINE. What were you planning to do with this young girl?
MysteryMan33:I can't log on to MySpace anymore because I am on "the List".
Another swipe at the ex-post-facto provision that the Supreme Court has foolishly vitiated over the past few years, and one at freedom of speech as well.
While MySpace as a private company certainly has the right to use these registries that way, for the government to set up a list of "people not to listen to" or worse "people who private entities should block the speech of or risk lawsuits" is a blow to free speech. Whether it's _for the children_ or not.
Next story on Slashdot: Users blocked from slashdot for a "public lewdity" offense committed in college.
I agree. The measures in place to stop terrorists travelling presume that they will travel with valid papers and real names. The end result being everyone else gets inconvenienced and it doesn't work on the people it's meant to hit. Just the same as with drm.
This is for one reason only, to give them plausible deniability if someone gets attacked and initial contact is traced to their service.
We have a problem in england at the moment of sex offenders who are being traced/monitored dissapearing from view because they don't play nice. By problems I mean murders and assaults.
" Under the proposed legislation, any sex offender who submits a fraudulent email could face prison."
Presumably not declaring email addresses is fraudulent too. So yeah, they can use an anonymous address, but they also risk getting busted doing so. Not fool proof, but also forces such people to demonstrate intent.
Osama is already in the poo, flouting email address laws is unlikely to make his legal situation appreciably worse.
Xix.
"Everything is adjustable, provided you have the right tools"
Why not just link to the DHS terrorist database and prevent them from registering as well?
And, while we're at it, why not extend this to anyone who has ever, in their entire life, done something wrong. Contact the school board! (Given the antagonistic nature toward students, I'm sure most school boards would be more than willing to provide a list of names of "troublemakers").
The notion of a convict settling his debt to society with prison time is quickly becoming antiquated. How long before "Once a criminal, always a criminal" becomes the slogan of law enforcement? How long before forgiveness is a de facto criminal act?
I understand the intentions are good. But people do change. And some "sex offenders" are little more than drunks who got convicted of public urination, or streaking, etc...
And of course, *no one* would think of registering with a fake name. NEVER!
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
What's even worse is that there is absolutely NO RECOURSE for sex offenders. Once a sex offender (even if by technicality or mistake or false accusation), ALWAYS a sex offender. No second chances, no retrial, and no double-checking.
You'd think that this kind of action violates the 5th amendment, but sadly the "think of the children" hysteria overpowers any logic or fairness.
The best answer is to educate children and parents and give parents the technical tools to keep track of their kids' Internet use.
The Scary Internet Sex Predator may make good headlines, but it's not the biggest molestation danger to our teens. For preteens the danger of an actual kidnapping or meeting is very very small. Predators who send teens and children dirty pictures are easy enough to track down after-the-fact if parents are smart enough to call the police.
The biggest risk to children are parents, relatives, and family friends. The highest risk predators are probably horny male teenagers who don't realize it's a serious crime, and horny dads and uncles who haven't been caught yet and think they never will be. Most of those released from jail are at low risk of committing another sex crimes against children.
Everyone should teach their kids to tattle on anyone, including mom and dad, who pulls anything funny. If mom and dad try something, the kid should tell a teacher or neighbor. The adults will usually be able to tell if something like a hug was made with good intentions or bad. Even if they can't, the child needs to know it's okay to tell adults when a man or woman gives you a hug or kiss that makes you uncomfortable or who shows you naked pictures or who asks sexual questions.
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Its called PARENTING....
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
I am not a sex offender, nor do I have inklings that would lead me to become one, but I also don't register my MySpace under my real name simply because I don't want people to be able to search for me.
It's not going to do any good to prevent people from registering under alternate e-mail addresses and psuedonyms to get on the site.
The libertarian in me also doesn't believe in sex-offender registries or blacklists such as this one -- the person most likely already went to prison and has a record that will follow them the rest of their life, why not give them a legitimate chance to actually be rehabilitated? Surely the stigmatization of being labeled and tracked the rest of their lives can't help them recover and not re-offend, after all. And if they do it again, well, lock them up for longer or forever.
also set up a database to prevent former 'hackers' from accessing sites containing potentially dangerous literature, like user manuals with default codes.
I'd also like to see a ban on tax-evaders from accessing the tax law to find questionable loop holes.
I hope they'll be doing this search manually, last thing we need is them deleting a bunch of profiles like Blizzard did to all those Linux users. Last thing we need is a bunch of emo kids cutting themselves because their MySpace profiles bit the dust.
With the unending litany of civil liberties restrictions being placed on sex offenders, I think all adults (especially males) should seriously consider limiting their exposure to minors. Now that they're even starting to lose their right to use the internet, a false accusation can pretty much end your life. Having to spend the night in jail every Halloween for life may be annoying, but imagine also being barred from internet access in the 21st century.
Volunteering, coaching, teaching - these are now high risk professions and activities, and should be looked at with a wary eye if you value your liberty.
Where would our civilization be without second class citizens?
How else would we have been able to make some of the steps forward in medicine, were it not for some of the work done on "disposable" people?
How else would we have had such a burgeoning entertainment industry, had it not been for laws that deprived actors and actresses from burial in sacred ground?
Who else can be used for a way to see how far a government can go before the first-class citizens decide that enough is enough?
Of course, sometimes a government can overplay its hand. When people find out that convicted sex offenders are not allowed in public hurricane shelters, but have to report to the local jail (and give 24 hours advance notice, even!), there might be a feeling that things might have gone too far.
But then again, when we're "thinking of the children," we don't have to do a whole lot more thinking, do we?
Strike while the irony is hot! -- The Freethinker
This is mostly true if they were coerced into pleading guilty.
It's also true if they can't afford an appeal attorney.
If they are lucky, new evidence will show up later, someone else will fess up to the crime, or all the victims will recant.
Otherwise, you are right. However, that's true for just about any serious crime: once you've been convicted, the burden is very high to prove you were wrongly convicted.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Whatever we do to sex offenders today, we will likely one day do to EVERYONE (even you).
Oh, it will start with sex offenders, and arsonists, and meth dealers, then all felons, and eventually all other criminals. Maybe even people with too many traffic citations - wouldn't it be useful for your car to recognize the cars of bad drivers, and tell you to keep your distance? What about people that are known to go around neighborhoods knocking on doors and scamming seniors? Or holding up people at knifepoint for their purses and wallets? Shouldn't we know about them? And what about people who haven't committed a crime - YET: wouldn't it be useful to be able to catch them right away when they DO commit one? (And, presumably, being watched at all times serves as a great deterrent, right?) So, when it becomes cheap and easy enough (and we've crossed enough lines in the sand that it's the "logical next step"), EVERYONE will be required to have their chip implanted at birth and be tracked everywhere they go, fingerprint/retinal scanners will be required for all computer hardware capable of connecting to a network, and omniscient cameras feeding into AI computers will be watching your every move once you step out of your house (and maybe, eventually, inside your house too - after all, no privacy concerns, nobody is watching except the computer, right?).
After all, you don't have anything to hide, do you? And it would make your children SO MUCH SAFER!!!
When asked what MySpace would do if a sex offender simply signed up with a fake name, the MySpace spokesman paused, blinked a few times, and replied 'these go to eleven.'
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Try "fool proof" as in "a fool couldn't screw this up."
MySpace stats: Occupation tests=7689007, matches=131, percent=0.001703731053957943 Occupation tests=7689007, matches=1, percent=1.300558056456445E-5 Testing active records, 1 visit every 2 weeks, in 23 Million record sample.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
Occupation
Politician tests=7689007, matches=131, percent=0.001703731053957943
Pediphile tests=7689007, matches=1, percent=1.300558056456445E-5
Testing active records, 1 visit every 2 weeks, in 23 Million record sample.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
If a sex offender ( or any other criminal for that matter ) has served his ( or her ) time, i dont see why he ( or she ) should be restricted from online activites. They already have to register with the state, they already are restricted in where they can go physically, and they have lost several of their rights ( like ever being president or working for the government ) so who cares if they cruse some lame 'community site' to kill off boredom?
What ever happend to 'serving your time and paying your debt to society for your mistake'. When did that become a life long repayment?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
So, what you're saying is that there's only one self-admitted "pediphile" on MySpace who also doesn't know how to spell?
Try searching "pedophile."
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Likewise, how many people would support a crime called "copyright infringement"? The record labels need to trump it up into "theft" to get anyone to react.
Occupation
Politician tests=7689007, matches=131, percent=0.001703731053957943
Pedophile tests=7689007, matches=26, percent=3.381450946786757E-4
Pediphile tests=7689007, matches=1, percent=1.300558056456445E-5
Testing active records, 1 visit every 2 weeks, in 23 Million record sample.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
The vast majority of sexual abuse is not perpetrated by strangers or registered sex offenders, but by trusted and familiar adults. The scary internet pedophile is a real phenomenon, but the scale on which he's imagined to exist is pure fantasy. Rape and sexual abuse are frighteningly prevalent, sure, it just isn't being done by any of the people we're so scared of. I was molested by a teacher with no criminal history. I personally know half a dozen woman who were raped by their partners. I've met lots of other male victims of sexual abuse and in every case it was friends/partners or family. I've never met any victims of the internet predators, except through the television...there is a disconnect between reality and media here, yet again.
Endless laws dictating where they can live, where they can work, where they go, and now what they do on the web. Why don't they just keep them in prison like they really want instead of playing legal charades?
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Don't forget those new warrantless wiretapping powers the executive branch had passed in Congress just before the elections. Who needs AT&T to snoop packets when you can just call Yahoo?
Also: Yeah right, like I'm going to trust a major media conglomerate to not do anything commercial with a list of everyone's valid email address.
But if you say this, you're an apologist for JonBenet's killer, and probably a crypto-nazi as well.
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Cause sex offenders won't lie about their names or anything when they sign up for myspace.
This is complete and utter bullshit. So an 18 year old guy shags his 17 year old girlfriend in some backwards state, gets charged with statutory rape, ends up on some sex offender register and suddenly he can't even use myspace any more..
Punishing people for their crimes is all good and well, but after you do your time it's completely and utterly WRONG to keep being punished. Simple as.