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MySpace will turn over names of sex offenders
RALEIGH, North Carolina(AP) -- MySpace.com will provide a number of
state attorneys general with data on registered sex offenders who use the
popular social networking Web site, the company said Monday.
Attorneys general from eight states demanded last week that the company
provide data on how many registered sex offenders are using the site and where
they live. MySpace initially refused, citing federal privacy laws.
MySpace obtained the data from Sentinel Tech Holding Corp., which the company
partnered with in December to build a database with information on sex
offenders.
"We developed 'Sentinel Safe' from scratch because there was no means to weed
them out and get them off of our site," said Mike Angus, MySpace's executive
vice president and general counsel.
Angus said the company, owned by media conglomerate News Corp. had always
planned to share information on sex offenders it identified and has already
removed about 7,000 profiles out of a total of about 180 million.
"This is no different than an offline community," he said. "We're trying to
keep it safe."
Angus said the company had also made arrangements to allow law enforcement to
use the Sentinel software directly.
MySpace is owned by media conglomerate News Corp.
Attorneys general in North Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho,
Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania asked for the Sentinel data
last week.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper's office said in a statement the
information could potentially be used to look for parole violations or help in
investigations.
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