Myspace.com

[Smokin Joe]

Just warn your kids about myspace and make sure that there profiles are sanitized. TS is right on about it being a pedophiles paradise. That place is no joke, several kids have been sucessfully hunted throught that site.

[The Dave]

Originally Posted by Smokin Joe

Just warn your kids about myspace and make sure that there profiles are sanitized. TS is right on about it being a pedophiles paradise. That place is no joke, several kids have been sucessfully hunted throught that site.

Some parents probably don't even have any clue, what kinds of pictures and blogs their kids are putting up. Let alone even having a profile. My boss had an issue with his neice who lives with him, he couldn't figure out what she was doing on the computer. Told him about a program called "Spytech Spyagent". Within a week, he found out what she was up to...and he wasn't happy.

[TFM]

I'm not an advocate

[moobob]

Myspace... is basically a six degrees of Kevin Bacon type thing for young people. People I haven't talked to in 5+ years find me on there, and I randomly find people I know also. You can look up your high school, college, etc and you get a list of people that you can browse through and know someone out of it. There's some weirdos on it that have 100,000 fake "friends", and I don't see the attraction in that, but I have about 80 myspace friends. Of the 80 or so, I actually know 78 or 79, from being a childhood friend or people I've served with in the military. I talk to a friend in Iraq pretty frequently on myspace.

As far as pedophiles, they're out there I'm sure, although I've only read about them in the news. Myspace is basically a big email phonebook with pictures. Kids have to be taught to the use internet responsibly. Since kids are basically irresponsible, they should probably be monitored somehow.


The "Tom" guy is just the creator of Myspace, and he's everyone's first 'friend'. Warrior Mentor, I sent you a friend request! I'm a much better friend than Tom.

[Warrior-Mentor]

By Andrew Romano
Newsweek

April 24, 2006 - As far as Jennifer Joffe was concerned, the party started the night of Feb. 23, when she let four friends raid the liquor cabinet of her mother's Boulder, Colo., mansion—and it ended when she stumbled up to bed.

But the next morning it was clear that Joffe, 18, had missed some revelry. Mirrors were shattered. Walls were spattered with blood. Police say $40,000 worth of property was gone. And Joffe was certain that she'd been sexually assaulted (Joffe is a pseudonym; NEWSWEEK does not name sexual-assault victims). What she didn't know, however, was who was responsible for the rampage—and, without other witnesses, neither did Detective Ali Bartley.

Until she spotted MySpace.com on Joffe's PC. "It was like a Pandora's box," says Bartley, who spent the next few days monitoring Joffe's online network of "friends" (and friends of friends) and assembling a "police lineup" of suspects from the portrait photos displayed on their profiles. By March 14, Bartley had arrested six young men—two of the original partygoers, plus four friends they invited over while Joffe slept—in connection with the crimes.

Meet the point-and-click police. A growing number of ordinary officers are working a new beat, turning to MySpace—an online network of individuals linked through personalized home pages—to collect clues and crack offline cases. Communication between cops and the two-year-old company has surged this year, with MySpace now contributing to about 150 investigations a month, according to Jason Feffer, its vice president for operations.

That's due in large part to the site's size and substance. A searchable, public scrapbook of images, affiliations and written exchanges, it offers detectives raw data on 70 million potential suspects, witnesses or victims (Facebook.com has also served as a source of info, though it is limited to users on college campuses).

MySpace has good reason to cooperate with the cops. In the past year, the site has mounted a corporate campaign to counter its growing reputation as a hunting ground for sexual predators—an effort that culminated last week in the hiring of Microsoft's Hemanshu Nigam, a former federal prosecutor, to oversee security.

Today, a 20-member, 24/7 law-enforcement team fields 350 calls a week from its Rolodex of nearly 800 agencies, helping them surf the site and, if necessary, subpoena a suspect's private messages and registration information. "Criminals are not welcome on MySpace," says Feffer. "And they will be caught." (Under Justice Department guidelines, anything posted online is fair game.)

So far, the vast majority of wrongdoers nabbed on MySpace have been the victims of their own hubris. In January, Palmetto Bay, Fla., cops charged a local teen with attempted second-degree murder after members of his "fighting crew" boasted on MySpace message boards of their violent exploits. In March, detectives in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., were able to arrest 10 alleged graffiti artists because they had peppered their profiles with photos of their work. And earlier this month two boys firebombed an abandoned airplane hangar in Novato, Calif.—then uploaded video of themselves committing the crime.

(Authorities can also probe profiles for insight into a suspect's character; on his page, suspected cop-killer Jacob Robida wrote that his favorite "murder weapon" was a hatchet. Robida was killed in a shoot-out with police.) "Users are posting stuff to impress their friends," says Yahoo! social-media researcher Danah Boyd. "But on MySpace, it's visible to other audiences—audiences that normally wouldn't have access."

As more cops log on, privacy advocates warn that investigative tactics will only get bolder. Detective Rich Wistocki of Naperville, Ill., has two profiles on MySpace: one under his real name (headline: Predator Catcher) and one under a pseudonym. "There's not a day that goes by that I'm not on there," he says. Each month, the site helps Wistocki solve three or four cases; he spends the rest of his MySpace time snooping on suspected drug dealers or checking up on local teens.

By conducting such surveillance, says Electronic Privacy Information Center senior counsel Chris Hoofnagle, an officer risks crossing "the line between crimes that have been committed and crimes that haven't. Next he'll be sucking down information just in case he needs it—and that's the type of action that upsets a user's rights." A company spokesperson says that MySpace will continue to do what it takes to maintain site safety—and that members, so far, have appreciated its efforts. "MySpace is not a police state," says CEO Chris DeWolfe.

Bartley, for one, is unfazed. She's in the thick of a new MySpace case involving child pornography—and she still browses the profiles of the young men she arrested in March. "Honestly, they've had nothing nice to say about me," she confesses. "But it's fun to see what the guys are up to."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12335363/site/newsweek/

[MtnGoat]

Nice find MW

Originally Posted by Warrior-Mentor

Until she spotted MySpace.com on Joffe's PC. "It was like a Pandora's box," says Bartley, who spent the next few days monitoring Joffe's online network of "friends" (and friends of friends) and assembling a "police lineup" of suspects from the portrait photos displayed on their profiles. By March 14, Bartley had arrested six young men—two of the original partygoers, plus four friends they invited over while Joffe slept—in connection with the crimes.

Meet the point-and-click police. A growing number of ordinary officers are working a new beat, turning to MySpace—an online network of individuals linked through personalized home pages—to collect clues and crack offline cases. Communication between cops and the two-year-old company has surged this year, with MySpace now contributing to about 150 investigations a month, according to Jason Feffer, its vice president for operations.

Today, a 20-member, 24/7 law-enforcement team fields 350 calls a week from its Rolodex of nearly 800 agencies, helping them surf the site and, if necessary, subpoena a suspect's private messages and registration information. "Criminals are not welcome on MySpace," says Feffer. "And they will be caught." (Under Justice Department guidelines, anything posted online is fair game.)

(Authorities can also probe profiles for insight into a suspect's character; on his page, suspected cop-killer Jacob Robida wrote that his favorite "murder weapon" was a hatchet. Robida was killed in a shoot-out with police.) "Users are posting stuff to impress their friends," says Yahoo! social-media researcher Danah Boyd. "But on MySpace, it's visible to other audiences—audiences that normally wouldn't have access."

As more cops log on, privacy advocates warn that investigative tactics will only get bolder. Detective Rich Wistocki of Naperville, Ill., has two profiles on MySpace: one under his real name (headline: Predator Catcher) and one under a pseudonym. "There's not a day that goes by that I'm not on there," he says. Each month, the site helps Wistocki solve three or four cases; he spends the rest of his MySpace time snooping on suspected drug dealers or checking up on local teens.

By conducting such surveillance, says Electronic Privacy Information Center senior counsel Chris Hoofnagle, an officer risks crossing "the line between crimes that have been committed and crimes that haven't. Next he'll be sucking down information just in case he needs it—and that's the type of action that upsets a user's rights." A company spokesperson says that MySpace will continue to do what it takes to maintain site safety—and that members, so far, have appreciated its efforts. "MySpace is not a police state," says CEO Chris DeWolfe.

All I can say is ACLU!! They will be having more fun try to tell America why LEO shouldn't be online. LEOs have been doing online "looking", but this will just start up a new cry by them. For the protection of our kids.

[keith]

Originally Posted by The Dave

TS is dead on, the place is a pedophile's paradise. Some of the news stories you hear from people meeting on Myspace can make one sick.

The talk about this makes me laugh because I remember being 13 years old and my mom not letting me use the internet because there were so many stories of pedophiles in AOL chat rooms. Seems like things only change sideways.

Just like the real world, there's always some scavengers trying to feed on the weak, and there's people like us trying to keep them safe.

I think education is the most important part. Despite my mother's efforts, I managed to hack my way onto the internet for two years before she finally let me do it legally. But because of all of the horror stories, I knew better than to respond to people who messaged me with "Hey ASL?", or at least make some BS up.

By the way, I was involved in a case about 7 months ago where a girl met a guy from myspace at a Wafflehouse and when she left she let him get in the car where he raped her right in the parking lot. I didn't work the actual case, but I'm sure that the M.O. sheet was supplimented by color photos and whatever other info was listed on his little myspace page.

Realistically, in this case, I don't see the difference between meeting some random guy at a bar or from a dating website. She allowed herself to trust him, which unfortunately, women can't safely do these days.

[Slantwire]

Originally Posted by Warrior-Mentor

As more cops log on, privacy advocates warn that investigative tactics will only get bolder.

< snip >

By conducting such surveillance, says Electronic Privacy Information Center senior counsel Chris Hoofnagle, an officer risks crossing "the line between crimes that have been committed and crimes that haven't. Next he'll be sucking down information just in case he needs it—and that's the type of action that upsets a user's rights."

It's not like the officer is pulling credit card records from myspace. He's reading information that people have voluntarily and publicly posted. Hoofnagle's scenario is really tantamount to a cop collecting data from the paper's classifieds section. Big deal.

I have to agree with keith, myspace isn't the problem. The problem is kids not being responsible and careful - lacking SA, even. Myspace is just a venue. If a bunch of teenagers started posting personal contact information on PS.com faster than TS could kill them, predators would show up here too. The real solution is not to ban myspace or AOL chat, but to teach kids to think about what they're doing.

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by Pinhead

Myspace is just a venue. If a bunch of teenagers started posting personal contact information on PS.com faster than TS could kill them, predators would show up here too.

Negative.

Unlike myspace.com we have no sponsors, no advertising, no millions of dollars rolling in to this website to prejudice our thinking. We could and would remove children as fast as they show up.

Get a grip pinhead, who the hell do you think is spending the bucks on the advertising at myspace.com and who do you think the target audience is, children, get rid of them, I don’t think so.

Team Sergeant

[Warrior-Mentor]

Originally Posted by TFM

I'm not an advocate

TFM:
Not an advocate of myspace or not an advocate of "Spytech Spyagent"?

[DunbarFC]

Companies are now doing myspace searches as part of background checks

A lot of college seniors are finding that posting about being drunk all the time or half naked slutty pictures might not be the best choice they ever made

[Warrior-Mentor]

Bet you more than one cries "no fair!"

[DunbarFC]

Originally Posted by Warrior-Mentor

Bet you more than one cries "no fair!"

Oh I'm sure

That anyone would put that type of stuff up on a site where anyone can see it is just flat out nuts.

The internet is a great thing. But like a lot of great things it can really bite you in the backside if you fail to understand how powerful it is first

[jon448]

That actually happened to one of my friends, he had posted a drunk picture of himself stealing some sign or something like that and Raytheon called him on it. I have an account on there but it's mostly to stay updated with when some small bands that I like are playing.

[QuietObserver]

I have been a member of Myspace from its inception. There are Pro's and Con's to the site.

Pro's :
1. It is a good place to meet new friends or just find old one's. I have personally reconnected with a number of grade school mates I haven't spoken to in years.
2. The search functions allow you to search your area or other zip codes for people of your age or interest.
3. The group function allows you to search and join groups that are in line with your wown interest.



Con's:

1. There are no guidelines for honesty regarding age, location, sex or pictures which means that anybody joining can be anyone else, including a sexual predator. Big Con!

2. The group function previously mentioned is usually made up of a buch of kid "wanna-be's" who just cuss at each other instead of discussing real issues like adults. Thank you QuietProfessionals!

3. Pictures can be deceiving. On a personal note, I am 22 and have gone on date through myspace. Needles to say, the lady's picture did not quite represent her current physique... by about 30lbs. But then again I met a girl who I had a great relationship with so the possibilities are still there.

In conclusion there are some great pitfalls to Myspace which one must be wary of, especially the nieve young. But it can be a fun tool for finding advice and friends. I recommend you try it out or at least look into it before criticizing it because of what you've sen on tv..