MySpace Move: Notification Software for Parents

To ward off a lawsuit by 33 state attorneys general, MySpace will offer free parental notification software that will allow parents to learn what name, age, and location their children use to identify themselves on MySpace.

News Corp. is trying to walk a thin line between appeasing government officials who are concerned that teenagers are opening themselves up to online predators and teenagers who don't want adults looking over their shoulders in their online lives.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the "Zephyr" software will not allow parents to read their kids' email, instant messages, or see their profile pages. Teens, meanwhile, will be notified when their parents request the profile ID information. The software is installed on the child's home computer, but will detect changes even if he logs onto MySpace from another computer.

This move may push some kids away from the social-networking site, but probably only if their friends go, too. It seems a plausible medium between privacy and accountability. It's okay for parents to know how their kids are presenting themselves online without reading their conversations and seeing the pages they put together. Basically, it's a heads-up for parents on what is already public information should they go searching online for their kids' pages.

As Larry Magid, a founder of blogsafety.com, writes for CBS News online, it provides an incentive for parents and kids to talk about how and why the software is being used, and about their activities on MySpace: "That conversation is probably more important than any reporting mechanism, because it helps create a dialog between the parent and the child." He likens it to asking where your kids are going and which friends they will be with, without following them or eavesdropping when they're out with friends.

For MySpace, it is one more gesture to assure law enforcement officials it is serious about safeguarding members as best as possible. In June, the site restricted MySpace users age 18 and older from requesting to be on 14- or 15-year-old members' friends lists. Still, there is no way for MySpace to verify the ages any of its members purport to be.

What do you think about MySpace's latest effort to assuage concerns about kids' safety in a growing online community? Restrictive or ineffective?