Eight attorneys general sent a letter to MySpace today, asking it to turn over the names of sex offenders who use the site.
The law enforcement officials from Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania also asked MySpace, a News Corporation company, to provide details on what it has done to alert other MySpace users who have communicated with these offenders.
“MySpace is a treasure trove of potential ictims for child predators,” North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement. “Sex offenders have no business being on this site, and we believe MySpace has a responsibility to get them off the site.”
According to a copy of the letter obtained by internetnews.com, Cooper and a group of other state attorneys general believe that data from Sentinel Tech Holdings, a company working with MySpace, indicate that thousands of known sex offenders may have been confirmed as MySpace members.
They gave MySpace till May 29 to respond.
Similar letters from attorneys general were used in a case filed against MySpace by the parents of a minor who alleged she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old she met on the social network. The lawyers for that minor argued that MySpace negligently ignored the warnings of those letters and should have been held responsible for what happened to her.
The judge disagreed. If anyone had a duty protect Julie Doe, it was her parents, not MySpace, the court ruled.
