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A 14-year-old Travis County girl who said she was sexually assaulted by a Buda man she met on MySpace.com sued the popular social networking site Monday for $30 million, claiming that it fails to protect minors from adult sexual predators......Attorneys general from five states, including Texas, have asked MySpace.com to provide more security, the lawsuit said. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent a letter to the MySpace.com chief executive officer May 22, asking him to require users to verify their age and identity with a credit card or verified e-mail account...
...Lauren Gelman, associate director of the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, said she does not think MySpace is legally responsible for what happens away from its site.
Damn! Watch this one. May have huge implications for user generated content sites.
[edited by: engine at 4:32 pm (utc) on June 20, 2006]
[edit reason] Added quote to link [/edit]
Any suggestions how age verification could work for under 18s?
You'd have to look at one common denominator. The only thing that I believe would work is SSN. That is the only unique thing for each and every individual. And then you'd have to have access to SSN records which isn't going to happen.
First Name
Last Name
Birth Date
Age
SSN
They should be forced to put in place all possible protections or they should be closed down.
Aside from locking them in their bedrooms there is no way of knowing what your kids are up to at all times of the day.
Then... what exactly are "all possible protections?"
Also, why should that fall upon websites and not be placed on parents or physical places in the real world?
It all comes down to the parents and the values they are instilling in their children.
It matters not what values you install in your children because kids will be kids and if you impose rules many young teenagers will break them. You should not be surprised to hear this. It's all part of growing up and why I started smoking when I was 11 years old. I knew I shouldn't be doing it and my parents had told me so, but peer pressure was more persuasive than parent pressure and it still is. This is nothing new, it's the way it always has been and the way it always will be.
If a gullible 14 year old is told my her/his mates that they should be in a chatroom then chances are they will find a way to go there. I am sorry but this is a fact. It's the service provider's job to ensure that their service is safe.
I am not saying that Myspace is not safe but ...
MySpace have just announced they are introducing extra measures (not in response to this case they say)
... I smell a rat!
It's the service provider's job to ensure that their service is safe.
Okay, so, what more can they do to protect their members? Please do list those things you feel are appropriate and can be implemented in an online environment.
I smell a rat!
I smell coffee, be right back. ;)
Any suggestions how age verification could work for under 18s?
Yes. Make it the parents that have to sign up on their child's behalf. Guess how many would do so?
That's why Myspace don't insist on this.
(Added: and isn't this inline with all of you who are insisting that parental responsibility is the issue?)
Make it the parents that have to sign up on their child's behalf
What about the poor orphans!
Yes. Make it the parents that have to sign up on their child's behalf. Guess how many would do so?
How do you do that when a teen could easily pose as a parent?
MySpace has clear terms and conditions in place. I'm sure their legal counsel has worked diligently to cover their arses. These lawsuits won't do anything except cause the U.S. Taxpayer money and the parties involved.
It's nice to see that MySpace has reacted and is implementing more security features. The problem is, any one of those can be easily bypassed.
Once myspace have all that in place, they'll have all the protection they'll ever need, but how many users...? ;)
Once myspace have all that in place, they'll have all the protection they'll ever need, but how many users...? ;)
Very few. Many join communities like that because they can "pretend" to be someone else. They can be someone they are not in real life. I think that is part of the glitter of some community environments.
There are only so many things a company can do to provide protection online. Based on what I've read on the MySpace site, they've covered their bases and then some. And now, they are covering more bases.
It's a shame that our legal system is in it's current state. I've been on the receiving end of frivolous lawsuits and it really pains me to see our country allow this to happen, the lawsuits that is.
The parents need to know the dangers and so do the children.
That's my last words on the matter - I have to go and email 2 good looking Russian women on MySpace who are offering marriage and there's a very interesting financial offer from the son of the late Finance Minister of Nigeria.
All the forums here are brilliantly moderated and anything public of dubious intention would certainly disappear quickly. Does MySpace have such dedicated moderation?
We really should get together for a cup of coffee!
Meet me at the cafe Saturday!
[edited by: Lilliabeth at 3:12 pm (utc) on June 21, 2006]
We really should get together for a cup of coffee!
I really think you should have an adult present, just in case. ;)
Does MySpace have such dedicated moderation?
I don't think they do and that is not their community model.
Would take almost no time at all to chat privately and then exchange email addresses.
You certify that you are 13 years of age or over. All those individuals under 13 years of age will need a full release form from their parents before posting any messages. This is in compliance with the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act of 2000 (COPPA).
The above from the WebmasterWorld Terms of Service [webmasterworld.com]. Brett has covered his arse and requires a full written release from parents. :)
Use of and Membership in the Services is void where prohibited. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that (a) all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 14 years of age or older; and (d) your use of the Services does not violate any applicable law or regulation. Your profile may be deleted and your Membership may be terminated without warning, if we believe that you are under 14 years of age.
What would be interesting is to see the discussions that took place between the 14 year old girl and the 19 year adult male. That would be the "smoking gun" in this case. Did she invite what happened? I'm not blaming her for what happened, but for every action there is a reaction. And if she is anything like the 14 year olds I see hanging out at the malls these days, the invitation was there.
The thing is that legally, she can't consent and is immature, so according to her mom myspace should have protected her regardless of what she did.
MySpace from my perspective is not liable in this case. If they are, then that means every single community out there that deals with young audiences is going to come under fire from the "ambulance chasers". And yes, they are "ambulance chasers". It's amazing to see the type of litigation that takes place in the United States. Our legal system is a mess. But it works for the most part. Go figure...
Personally, the 19 year old male is at fault. That is where the ultimate responsibility lies. My personal opinion is that men (18 and over) who prey on teenagers and children should be put to rest based on conslusive evidence. If they do it once, they will most likely do it again. Let's see what happens to that 19 year old in the end of all this.
And, on a really personal note, if putting to rest is not an option, then castration and permanent incarceration would be the next viable option.
In this case, I think she was raped, as in "real" rape, not statutory rape so he deserves what he will most likely get, but you can't generalize with ages. If your son, who is 19, dates a 17-yo, that's only a 2 year difference, and he is not a "predator" just because she is 17. In fact, many states have consent ages as low as 15 years old, and the laws vary from state to state: what can make you a "child predator" in one state is perfectly legal if you cross a bridge to the neighboring one.
This is the problem I have with "sex offender" laws and registries. They bundle all of them together: child molesters, streakers, rapists, people accused of groping, people caught urinating in the woods, instead of truly targeting the dangerous ones.
As for my opinion on this, kids to crazy things all the time. I don't know if you folks were ever kids, but I was, and I did stupid things even though I knew better. I survived to learn from my mistakes and I grew to trust my parents because I saw that they were right, but it took disobedience and consequences (read: responsibility for my actions) for me to see that.
Here, this girl made a choice, and that choice had a consequence. She has to live with that. But this case has wider implications than just her own mistake. What is the role of community providers, like MySpace, with regards to the protection of minors? Can they just set up a chat room and say "Go, Play!" and wash their hands? They can't be surrogate parents, and they shouldn't be, but there are predators on their property, they know about it, they need to do something about it.
I hate Myspace, but in this case they are not responsible.
Second, limit minors to posting at most one face-only photo. There's no good reason why strangers of any age should be gawking at semi-nude photos of youngsters living next door, or half way across the country.
A lot of these kids are reaching out to strangers because their parents are too busy to spend time with them.
Also if some one decides to take an online affair offline, what can an online entity do?
If you believe parents can’t keep a 24x7 watch on their kids, then how do you expect a few hundred employees and volunteers of a community of millions to do the same?
Like some one here has posted, if a perv contacts a kid using mobile phone, then is a mobile phone company to blame for that? Should a phone company enable voice and message logging and approval for all the minors, delist their nos and so on?
There is a wider issue at stake here; due you think money is a compensation for some one who has been sexually and mentally abused?
Sueing in this country is so out of control. Everyone feels that are entitled to shift blame to everyone but their own choices. We say that we want to be protected from all the bad things that could happen to us, yet we want to maintain full control of our personal freedom and choices, however I think it has nothing to do with safety, choices and freedom, it is about the money.
