Building a safer MySpace

[Cannikin]

Weeks into his tenure as safety czar of social network MySpace, Hemanshu Nigam already had his hands full. MySpace had been slapped with a $30 million lawsuit concerning a 14-year-old Texas girl who said she was assaulted by a predator she met on MySpace. Lawmakers were lobbying to have social networks banned from schools and libraries.

Now, weeks before Nigam's first anniversary as MySpace chief security officer, the pressure is even greater. News Corp.'s rapidly growing social network now faces four new lawsuits from the same Texas law firm, Barry & Loewy, that sued MySpace last June.

He also said the site will implement an e-mail verification system and an "over/under" privacy tool that prevents contact in either direction between users above the age of 18 with younger users.

Last June, the site offered full privacy settings, deleted more than 250,000 profiles of underage users, and set the minimum age to 14. In December, MySpace announced a joint venture with Sentinel Tech Holding Company, the leading online identity and background verification company, that would let MySpace block convicted sex offenders.

But Nigam's efforts are far from over — and MySpace is going to continue bearing the brunt of criticism over child safety for years to come, experts say.

"Because of its size, MySpace is going to become this societal guinea pig where this kind of behavior is exposed and necessary changes are made," says Collier. "The law hasn't caught up with the social Web."

Full article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16789338/

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. I don't understand the MySpace hysteria

About 10 years ago, AOL was the Whipping Boy of the Month under the same outcry — "What about the children??" Apparently little has changed.

If a kid is dumb enough to accept a ride from a stranger, there's not much point in holding the automaker responsible.

[Deja Q]

2. But some will want to sue the automaker anyway.

Same goes for drugs... misuse a drug, do something stupid, then blame the drug company. :eyes:

Or guns. Sue the gun owner for providing the gun. :crazy:

Or music. Sue napster for providing the means to steal music from the starving record label companies... oops, this time the pattern isn't the same. Oh well. Nothing's perfect... but I digress. :think:

When does it end?