Watching MySpace

A plan by the popular social networking site MySpace.com to let parents monitor the basic personal information their children give out was met with skepticism by officials considering legal action against the site.

MySpace acknowledged Jan. 17 that it plans to offer parents a free software download that would allow them to track a child’s MySpace user name, purported age and location. The move comes in response to concerns about teens pretending to be older than they are – as well as reports of a few dozen who have been molested or even murdered by adults they met online.

The download is expected to be available in beta form this spring, MySpace officials say.

In a statement, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called the plan “a shortsighted and ineffective response to a towering danger to kids.” He said users “can easily evade” the software.

Blumenthal and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper co-chair a task force of 34 state attorneys general that is considering a lawsuit against MySpace over safety. The group has asked the site to raise its minimum age from 14 to 16 and make users verify their age.

Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace’s chief security officer, wouldn’t comment on the task force but says the new software is being developed in response to parents’ concerns. “They want to be able to have conversations with their teens about safety and security.”

Cooper acknowledges that safety may have improved but says the site is often inappropriate for children. “It’s either going to be a site for children or a site for older people,” he says.