Bluefield Daily Telegraph
December 12, 2006 04:58 pm
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If Virginia’s attorney general has his way, convicted sex offenders in the Commonwealth will have their access denied to MySpace and other online hot spots.
In an unprecedented move earlier this week, Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced plans to seek legislation requiring registration of e-mail addresses and instant-messaging identities on the state’s sex offender registry.
“We require all sex offenders to register their physical and mailing addresses in Virginia, but in the 21st century it is just as critical that they register any e-mail addresses or IM screen names,” McDonnell said in a news release.
We agree.
Social-networking sites provide tools for messaging, sharing photos and creating personal “profile” pages. Such sites are popular with teens and young adults, but worry many parents and law-enforcement officials who fear the youths may be easy targets for sex offenders.
Because users do not have to use their real names, the development of technologies by MySpace to help block convicted sex offenders from the site is hindered
The proposed legislation in Virginia would make matching of e-mail addresses easier. And in an effort to prevent sex offenders from using multiple addresses — registering one with the sex offender listing while using another on MySpace — the bill includes penalties that would be the same as not registering or providing incorrect information, which could lead to a misdemeanor or felony charge.
MySpace officials, as well as Internet safety groups, are welcoming the proposed legislation.
“This legislation is an important recognition that the Internet has become a community as real as any other neighborhood and is in need of similar safeguards,” MySpace’s Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said.
Nigam also said the information would give law enforcement new tools to “employ against predators who attempt to misuse the Internet to find potential victims.”
While U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have announced plans for similar federal legislation to crack down on Internet predators, it will only apply to those on probation or parole.
We believe limiting the federal legislation to those on probation or parole is a mistake, and urge federal officials to consider the Commonwealth’s proposal.
We also encourage our southern West Virginia lawmakers to take heed of their neighbor’s cutting-edge legislation and offer a similar bill in the Mountain State when the 2007 Legislative Session convenes in January.
While such laws will not completely safeguard our youth as they hangout with friends in cyberspace, it is a starting point to begin cracking down on Internet predators.
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