Tuesday, April 18, 2006

'Perv' This about MySpace

In severe cases convicted child sex offenders have been forced to undergo castration by the state to remove the physical component to a psychological implulse. But who said they should be given another chance! I say 'once gone, say, so long,' in response to a second chance. However social networks may see this slightly differently. Wired News ran the names of convicted sex offenders in the San Francisco area and found 5 that matched in regards to photos, age, height, and locations.

MySpace now faces the challenge of how to exactly go about cleaning up a site that has become home to 70 million users while still maintaining the lure of 'free content.' It appears that absolutely everything goes on MySpace from Spring Break kegstands to butterfly's 'twiterpating.' People can no longer say "Remeber, What happens in Cancun, Stays in Cancun!" Before they do something they may regret.

With a third of the 300 Myspace employees is it realistic they can really keep tabs on the 270,000 new users each day. Come on! The truth is, Myspace really can't do anything about it because it is not illegal. Sex offenders can be forced to stay out of internet chat rooms and out of playgrounds only until there sentence has been served. "Afterward, under typical state laws, the perpetrator's only requirement is to register with law enforcement agencies annually, and upon changing residences, for the rest of his life."

Is this fair or unfair? Do people deserve a second chance? This is after all the land of liberty and freedom? And jail is supposed to be for rehabilitation, it worked for Ol'dirty Bastard right! I am a firm believer in second chances but where do I draw the line. I think that MySpace should be able to ban a user if the crime was serious enough. A governing body at MySpace (dare I say impartial) should determine whether a crime was a one time mishap or a deeply embedded problem that has a chance of recurence.

Like R.Kelly should be ableto get a pass because it really looked like the girl in the Video was at least 19. Joking! But you should check out the 'RKelly trapped in the closet drinking game" on Myspace for a good laugh or great game.

The question remains: Can Myspace play the police without turning it into the next Friendster?
I really think that if they played there cards right and realized that they do not want to go the way of the Dodo it could be accomplished. I do believe that the administrative forces at MySpace do have a moral obligation to keep a site safe that has become the new 'it' place to be young children.

Maybe the way to go about it would be to place real age restrictions on photos. This could easily be targeted by a highly trained college student that comes to work in the same clothes he has worn for last three days because he got lost at the Phish Concert. "Oh look! He isn't 14 he looks 45!" Waala! instant problem alleviation. The next step would be to limit 12 years to people who are within 3 years plus or minus their own age. A special request button for older friends should be assigned that sends the request through a higher level of security. This feature may initself deter convicted sex offenders from approaching youngsters.

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