MySpace May Become Restricted Place: Bill Would Require Parental Approval

May 24, 07:11 AM

Current Headlines: By Andrea Weigl, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

May 24--RALEIGH -- North Carolina may become the first state to require MySpace.com and other social networking Web sites to obtain parental consent before children can join, if the state House passes legislation that the Senate approved Wednesday.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper and other state leaders have heralded the bill as a way to protect those under 18 from sexual predators who troll the Internet for victims.

"This bill will help battle sexual predators and keep our children safe," said state Sen. Walter Dalton, a Rutherfordton Democrat, one of the bill's primary sponsors.

They hope the legislation will help parents keep children safe from people such as Steven M. Diver, a 34-year-old former Wake deputy who prosecutors and his defense lawyer say posed as a 19-year-old N.C. State University student on MySpace.com and other social networking sites. Diver persuaded two Triangle boys, ages 14 and 15, to have sex with him, according to prosecutors.

"MySpace was his playground," said Kayley Taber, a Chatham County prosecutor who helped send Diver to prison for 16 years. "He is not the only one."

Tate Lambe, 18, of North Raleigh supports the legislation on the basis of her own brief experience on MySpace two years ago. Lambe, then 16, got e-mail from a man saying he had just moved to the area and wanted to meet women who like to be dominated. After two weeks, Lambe got rid of her MySpace profile.

"I don't think there should be a way for predators to contact boys and girls," she said.

It was unclear late Wednesday how much support there is for the legislation in the House.

Cooper has made regulating MySpace a signature issue in recent weeks. With 177 million profiles, the site is the world's largest social-networking Web site.

On Wednesday, Cooper also handed to law enforcement officials the names of 245 registered North Carolina sex offenders who had MySpace profiles. Earlier this week, MySpace released to attorney general offices across the country a list of more than 7,000 registered sex offenders whose MySpace profiles have been deleted.

Cooper is co-leader of a group of state attorneys general who had asked MySpace to release such information. MySpace began screening members against names of registered sex offenders earlier this month.

"This law gives us more tools in our fight against child predators and pornographers who are searching for their next victims," Cooper said in a prepared statement Wednesday night.

Cooper's staff members have told lawmakers that the networking Web sites could use existing technology to use public records to verify the age and identity of an adult who gives consent for a child. Adults would be asked such security questions as the color of a car they had owned or a previous address, according to Cooper's staff.

Officials of MySpace, based in New York City, oppose the legislation. They have said the bill should have included provisions to require sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses and screen names; punish those who lie about their age to solicit a minor online for sex; and require Internet safety education at schools.

Last week, several technology experts told lawmakers that the bill would create a false sense of security for parents. They also say there is no technology able to verify the identities of minors, and therefore parental consent will not stop a pedophile from registering as a child and talking to children online.

"My biggest concern is that parents will believe this is a panacea because the state's highest law enforcement officer has given his approval," said John Cardillo, president of Sentry, the company MySpace hired to develop technology to screen its members for sex offenders.

Cardillo and others also argued that older children would easily defeat the security questions by posing as their parents and questioned whether the legislation will survive court challenges.

Taber, the Chatham County assistant district attorney, believes the legislation will help protect children. "That is a wonderful idea," she said.

Taber and Adam Moyers, a Wake County assistant district attorney, both prosecuted Diver, a former Wake County sheriff's deputy.

Moyers explained that Diver would meet the young men online and then arrange sexual encounters with them.

"It was pretty disturbing," said Moyers, explaining that when police searched Diver's car they found maps to two other addresses, including one for the Chatham County boy.

Diver's lawyer, Seth Blum of Raleigh, said, "I defend people but don't support crime. If this protects innocent people, especially innocent children, I don't see any problem with it."

The legislation includes several other measures:

--Prohibits registered sex offenders from changing their names.

--Increases the penalties for possessing, producing and sharing child pornography.

--Requires computer technicians and employees of photo development companies to report child pornography to law enforcement.

--Bans registered sex offenders from using social networking Web sites that permit minor children to be members.

--Makes it a felony to lie to an agent with the State Bureau of Investigation.

Staff writer Andrea Weigl can be reached at 829-4848 or andrea.weigl@newsobserver.com

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