MySpace to Screen Profiles for Sex Offenders

MySpace has made a big splash with a promise to build a database with the names and physical descriptions of convicted sex offenders and an automated search tool to comb the social networking site for matches in MySpace profiles.

This will all happen within the next 30 days, Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace's chief security officer says. Some law enforcement officials have already chimed in to say the move may not be very effective without any way to verify a member's age and identification.

The News Corp. social network is on a mission to convince parents and teens it is making MySpace a place where teens can steer clear of predators. This announcement may do a lot for the public campaign to persuade members that MySpace is serious about making it a safer place. But common sense demands the question: Just how effective will this database and search system be when it's pretty darn simple to disguise who you are on the web?

It may dissuade some convicted sexual predators from having a presence on the site, though it will do little for those who have not come in contact with the law. But as Wired reporter Kevin Poulsen proved when he found 744 confirmed sex offenders with MySpace profiles after running a computer program he wrote, many convicted sex offenders will not change their names and identifying features on the popular site.

Do you think creating a searchable database of sexual predators with MySpace user profiles will make a difference?