The social networking site culled some 29,000 profiles from its userbase after finding they had been created by registered sex offenders.
29,000 Sex Offenders Found On MySpace
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper claimed as of July 2007, MySpace has discovered more than 29,000 registered sex offender profiles in its membership.
That figure is four times more than the original estimate MySpace made. As Cooper pointed out, this just accounts for the offenders who registered under their real names.
Many more could be present, registered under pseudonyms, or currently not known to law enforcement as sex offenders yet. Cooper also said a review of publicly reported incidents in media reports of crimes involving adults using MySpace topped 100 through the first six months of 2007.
Cooper wants MySpace to require parental permission for minors to register, and for the site to verify the person giving permission has the authority to do so. MySpace has resisted having such impositions placed upon its signup process.
Several states have pushed MySpace to verify the ages of members signing up for the service. Cooper cited how age verification is in use for alcohol, tobacco, movies, gambling, and financial institutions. He wants to see MySpace follow that example.
MySpace does not want to see its younger userbase threatened, but also resists such verification measures likely because they could push current and potential users away from MySpace to competing websites.
