BBC NEWS -- July 31 -- Many schools have already banned social network sites. The Deleting Online Predators Act tries to limit the access paedophiles have to social networking sites primarily at schools and libraries. The act has already been approved by a large majority in the House of Representatives on 26 July. Critics say the act is too broad and could mean a huge number of websites are cut off from users. MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Friendster and many others count large numbers of children among their users. The DOPA Act leaves the final definition of what counts as a social networking site to the FCC. Some MySpace users have created an online 'Save your Space' petition and aims to gather more than one million signatures in a month. FULL ARTICLE @ BBC NEWS
Mark Brooks: Too little, too late. MySpace has been laying low on this subject. Looks like the 'head in the sand' approach didn't work. Constant press attention has morphed into political attention and now into legislation that looks like it will pass. I was surprised the new MySpace Chief Safety Officer didn't show up at the recent San Francisco Internet Dating Convention that was focused on background checks and safety. This bill is getting ramrodded through to the Senate and is a political hot potato. Child safety...who's going to vote against that? What repercussions will the rest of the online personals industry need to deal with in the coming years? Online personals safety is now front forward and on the minds of a lot of politicians. I can see this political attention manifesting. The State Attorney Generals will be on the prowl next. DOPA will be useful only in the short term (3-5 years). Kids use cell phones. Cell phones have internet access. Will cell phones be blocked next? Hey, check out helio.com for MySpace enabled sexy cell phones. MySpace has already circumnavigated school and library computers. FULL TEXT OF BILL
Recent Comments