[Infowarrior] - Myspace Safety & Security Statement

[Richard Forno]

From: 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120032570019988591.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Text of MySpace Statement
January 14, 2008 10:57 a.m.

Attorneys General Praise MySpace Safety Efforts and Call for Broad Adoption;
Endeavor to Include New Protections for Teens and Tools for Parents

NEW YORK---January 14, 2008--

In a joint effort to increase the safety of teens online, MySpace and
Attorneys General in the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking
representing 49 states and the District of Columbia today unveiled a Joint
Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Sites Safety designed for
industry-wide adoption. This common set of Principles relates to online
safety tools, technology, education and law enforcement cooperation.

The Attorneys General praised MySpace for its efforts to date, the progress
it has made in improving online safety and its continued efforts to make
specific improvements over the coming months. The Joint Statement on Key
Principles of Social Networking Sites Safety recognizes that an ongoing
industry effort is required to keep up with the latest technological
developments and to find additional ways to protect teens. The Attorneys
General called on other social networking sites and Internet providers with
community features to adopt the Principles and bring their sites up to par
with MySpace in terms of safety.

The Joint Statement on Key Principles of Social Networking Sites Safety was
announced in New York City by Attorneys General Richard Blumenthal of
Connecticut, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Hemanshu Nigam, Chief Security
Officer for MySpace and Fox Interactive Media. They were joined by Attorneys
General Marc Dann of Ohio and Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, members of the
Executive Committee of the Multi-State who participated in the development
and adoption of the Principles. Attorney General Anne Milgram of New Jersey
and a representative of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo were also
present to endorse the Principles.

On behalf of MySpace, Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said, "We thank
the Attorneys General for a thoughtful and constructive conversation on
Internet safety. This is an industry-wide challenge and we must all work
together to create a safer Internet. The Principles we have adopted set
forth what the industry needs to strive towards to provide a safer online
experience for teens and we look forward to sharing our ongoing safety
innovations with other companies."

The Principles of Social Networking fall into four categories:

-- Site Design and Functionality. The Principles incorporate safety
initiatives that MySpace has already implemented (Appendix A attached) and
initiatives it will work to implement in the coming months (Appendix B
attached). Examples of safety features MySpace has in place include
reviewing every image and video uploaded to the site, reviewing the content
of Groups, making the profiles of 14 and 15 year old users automatically
private and protecting them from being contacted by adults that they don't
already know in the physical world, and deleting registered sex offenders
from MySpace. Examples of improvements MySpace will make include defaulting
16 and 17 year old users' profiles to private and strengthening the
technology that enforces the site's minimum age of 14.

-- Education and Tools for Parents, Educators and Children. The Principles
acknowledge that MySpace has already been devoting meaningful resources to
Internet safety education including a new online safety public service
announcement targeted at parents and free parental software that is under
development. MySpace will explore the establishment of a children's email
registry that will empower parents to prevent their children from having
access to MySpace or any other social networking site. In addition, under
the Principles MySpace will increase its communications with consumers who
report a complaint about inappropriate content or activity on the site.

-- Law Enforcement Cooperation. The Attorneys General view MySpace's
cooperation with law enforcement, which includes a 24- hour hotline, to be a
model for the industry. The parties will continue to work together to
enhance the ability of law enforcement officials to investigate and
prosecute Internet crimes.

-- Online Safety Task Force. As part of the Principles, MySpace will
organize, with the support of the Attorneys General, an industry-wide
Internet Safety Technical Task Force to develop online safety tools,
including a review of identity authentication tools. While existing age
verification and identity products are not an effective safety tool for
social networking sites, the Task Force will explore all new technologies
that can help make users more safe and secure including age verification.
The Task Force will include Internet businesses, identity authentication
experts, non-profit organizations, academics and technology companies. Ernie
Allen, President and Chief Executive of the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, has agreed that his organization will serve on the new
Internet Safety Technical Task Force. Said Allen, "Today millions of teens
use social networking sites. MySpace has taken significant steps to be more
secure and private and to identify those who attempt to do harm on their
site. The collaborative effort between MySpace and the Attorneys General is
a major step that will make using social networking sites much safer for
teens."

About MySpace

MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle
portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making
a positive impact on the world. By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant
messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries,
classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums,
MySpace has created a connected community. As the first ranked web domain in
terms of page views(1), MySpace is the most widely-used and highly regarded
site of its kind and is committed to providing the highest quality member
experience. MySpace will continue to innovate with new features that allow
its members to express their creativity and share their lives, both online
and off. MySpace's international network includes more than 20 localized
community sites in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Mexico,
Australia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK,
Denmark, France, Ireland, Netherl
ands, Spain, Austria, Japan, New Zealand and Brazil. Fox Interactive Media
is a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) (NYSE:NWS.A) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV).

(1) Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, November 2007. For
more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com.