MySpace Age-Check Bill Debated In Connecticut

MySpace Age-Check Bill Debated In Connecticut

Intended to protect children from sexual predators, the bill proposed by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal would be the first of its kind in the United States to imposestrict regulations on social-networking sites.

HARTFORD - Connecticut lawmakers debated a bill Thursday that would require social-networking Web sites such as MySpace to verify users' ages and force minors to obtain parental consent before posting profiles.

Intended to protect children from sexual predators, the bill proposed by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal would be the first of its kind in the United States to impose strict regulations on the fast-growing sites, which are a virtual hangout for millions of American teenagers.

"There is no such thing as a fool-proof, magic bullet system," Blumenthal said, "but this one provides a much greater degree of security for children and it empowers parents to protect their children."

His office said 10 to 20 other U.S. states were considering similar legislation.

In Connecticut, at least six alleged sexual assaults involving older men and underage girls have been tied to MySpace in the last year, while there have been dozens of similar arrests nationwide, Blumenthal said.

He said an applicant would submit a driver's license or other form of official identification, and the Internet site should use public information on record to check the age, address and date of birth.

Sites that fail to verify ages and fail to obtain parental permission to post profiles of users under 18 would face civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation, he said.

The legislation also allows individuals to bring private lawsuits against sites such as MySpace, the Internet's biggest social network, which is owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

"This system would be effective in reducing criminal assaults on kids, inappropriate content, and parents failing to know what their kids are doing," Blumenthal, a Democrat, said in testimony to the state legislature's General Law Committee.

The committee in the Democratic-controlled legislature approved the measure to another board for further review. No representative from MySpace or other Internet sites testified.
Committee Chairman Chris Stone, a Democrat, said he supported the measure.

"This is not about putting companies out of business, this is about helping parents," he said. But a Republican on the committee, Len Greene, said some issues were raised with the use of a driver's license as identification.

"It's in the rough stages. There needs to be some more work done on the language, it's very broad right now," he said.