One person > MySpace at busting sex predators?

[discombobulate]

Amazing... MySpace claims they cannot do what one man did.

aphank, NY -- The computer crimes unit of New York's Suffolk County Police Department sits in a gloomy government office canopied by water-stained ceiling tiles and stuffed with battered Dell desktops. A mix of file folders, notes, mug shots and printouts form a loose topsoil on the desks, which jostle shoulder-to-shoulder for space on the scuffed and dented floor.

I've been invited here to witness the end-game of a police investigation that grew from 1,000 lines of computer code I wrote and executed some five months earlier. The automated script searched MySpace's 1 million-plus profiles for registered sex offenders -- and soon found one that was back on the prowl for seriously underage boys.

That's something that MySpace has said it cannot do.

Wired News: MySpace Predator Caught by Code

That's the first part of the article, I highlighted what I found most interesting. It goes on to say that MySpace basically was attmetping to pass laws to prevent sex offenders fromr egistering, but not bothering about the already registered sex offenders.

[ThaReNeGaDe]

thats crazy, i hate what myspace has became.

edit

myspace now is, porn advertisement, sex preditors, music advertisement, and retarded people i know that are desperate for comments and ****.

[Mr~Pan]

Myspace is a dating service for loser kids and adults that can't make friends in the real world.

Say it isn't a dating service? Then why in the search feature do they ask about sexual traits?

Myspace is stupid.

[Angus]

I have one, just because everyone else I know has one. But it is very stupid. I would never EVER use it to be a sexual predator. How disgusting.

[Magnum Force]

Yea MySpace has been getting alot of crap tossed at them and they are handling it poorly. I have a MySpace, but everyone on mine are friends I know or SOCOM buddies. Only about five people in mine are people I don't know at all and I never talk to them and they never talk to me. You just have to be careful when you are using MySpace.

[Prison Fight]

Same here. I only have a MySpace because everyone else has one. I only have about 60 friends on it, only 4 of which I don't know in real life (Master Shake, The New Jersey Devils...harmless stuff like that). And even if they ARE dangerous, theres no personal info on it anyway. MySpace is gay. Too many people take it seriously.

They are always getting mad at something. 10 years ago it was chatrooms. Now it's MySpace. Get a life people. If you're that stupid to give out personal information to people you don't know on the net (including this place) you're stupid.

[+Evan]

I love how kids have to log into it frequently, even during school, or when they have friends over. That's just pathetic.

That site also lacks moderation, which is something it really needs.

The site is overrun with emos, sex predators, and people desperate for attention/dating.

[RadioactiveMan]

Originally Posted by +Evan

The site is overrun with emos, and people desperate for attention/dating.

What do you propose, quotas on certain types of people? Let them use Myspace if they want because it's certainly not hurting you.

[Prison Fight]

Then why shouldn't chatrooms, instant messenging, and the internet in general, burn down as well? I don't agree with it...in fact, I think it's down right offensive to all six of my senses (that's right...six senses). But if that's what makes them happy, go for it. It's not like it's crystal meth or anything.

[Big Red 11]

It's not so simple. If they try to write a code to do this, they have to be 100% sure it will always work and will never give a false positive. If one person gets falsely accused, they can be sued for millions.