Va. A.G. Wants Sex Offenders to Register E-Mail Addresses, IM Names
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for prohibiting pedophiles from finding children to molest, but this has me a bit worried. Many things could go wrong here. I'm definitely not saying "MySpace" is somehow a constitutional right, but I'm quite concerned that this won't stop here. First off, will convicted sex offenders who have obviously broken the law already, REALLY register every single email address and IM handle they have? Will parents now see places like myspace as "safe" and think they can abrogate their responsibility to check out what their kids are doing online because all the bad guys have been kept out? What about the new ones who haven't been convicted yet?
There are already too many excuses for parents to not supervise their kids' time online. I'm hoping this does not become another one.
Va. A.G. Wants Sex Offenders to Register E-Mail Addresses, IM Names:
RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia is looking to keep kids from chatting online with sexual predators by requiring convicted sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses and Instant Messaging identities with the state's Sex Offender Registry.
Attorney General Bob McDonnell wants the Commonwealth to be the first to team up with MySpace.com. The social networking site is creating a software system that would identify a sex offender should they try to log on to the site.