Connecticut AG Asserts Jurisdiction Over Any Web Site With Ads; Wants MySpace To Verify Users' Ages

from the no-id-no-social-networking dept

Thu, Mar 8th 2007 10:32am — Carlo Longino

Politicians continue to point fingers at MySpace in their never-ending quest to protect the children, and now some Connecticut lawmakers have introduced legislation that would force it and other social-networking sites to verify users' ages and get parents' permission before letting minors post profiles online. The initiative is led by the state's attorney general, who describes the efforts with this wonderful quote: "If we can put a man on the moon, we can check ages of people on these Web sites." and says 10 to 20 other states are considering similar laws. The AG says that the state has the authority to enforce the law because ads posted on MySpace and other sites are viewed in the state. That's a pretty questionable assertion, since it would give the state authority over any site on the internet with ads. The bigger problem, though, is that not only is the law unreasonable, but it also just simply won't work. Kids will, inevitably, find a way around the block (such as, oh, just shooting from the hip here, lying about their age), and even if the system did work, it's not particularly clear how it will stop the problem of internet predators at all. That's the problem with all of these sorts of things politicians come up with -- all they create is the illusion of meaningful activity without doing anything to help the underlying problem. Should the law pass, it will be interesting to see how MySpace and its corporate parent, News Corp., respond. MySpace has been making efforts to appease politicians by working with them and instituting some changes on its own, but it's unlikely it would just sit back and swallow this sort of law. The typical response might be for a site to move offshore, but News Corp. probably wouldn't want to take that step, while the Connecticut AG would probably see his assertion of jurisdiction over the internet extend out there as well. Using his logic, if we can put a man on the moon, can't we find a way to stamp out stupid politicians?

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23 Comments

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Duodave, 8 Mar 2007 @ 10:37am

Poor myspace...
It seems like every so often there is a site or thing or group that is targeted by organizations as being the root of all evil. Whether it's Take Two or the pr0n industry or gun manufacturers, suddenly they are the target of the "protect the children" groups. Yadda yadda yadda. Tomorrow I'm sure they will target Verizon, saying that the cell phones our children take to school are rotting their brains. Too late, their parents did that in the 60s by smoking pot in college.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Mar 2007 @ 10:50am

I think its a wonderful idea
In addition to making all these kids divulge their identities, that would make it much easier for me to find them.

Did I just type that with my outloud keys?
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Anonymous of course, 8 Mar 2007 @ 10:51am

I think the AG is wrong
It appears to me that a good argument could be
made that he's trying to regulate interstate commerce.
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The infamous Joe, 8 Mar 2007 @ 11:00am

Bass Ackwards.
Why don't we just teach children some sense about not going to meet internet friends (aka strangers) in dark alleyways?

In an interesting site note, myspace already requests the user's age, and if below whatever their minimum age is, it denies access.

I know this because my darling girlfriend tried to make a myspace page for our dog, who is only 4 years old. Yeah, you read that right. Our dog. It not only told her she didn't mean the age requirements, it locked out the email address she gave from making an accout with a different age. That's plenty good enough for me-- what do they want? A credit card? (Which all adults may not have?) A birth certificate?

If we can put a man on the moon, we can teach our children some [what was once common] sense?
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Witty Nickname, 8 Mar 2007 @ 11:29am

Putting a man on the moon cost millions of dollars, nearly ten years, and several lives.

What did we get for it? Neil Armstrong on a sound stage. (OK, I really don't believe that, but someone was going to say it)
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charlie potatoes, 8 Mar 2007 @ 11:38am

commerce?
have you read the commerce clauses in the constituton? you dont even want to get politicians thinking about interstate commerce... with that in mind they can take over the net. read them some time.. it is frightening how they are interpreted.
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hoeppner, 8 Mar 2007 @ 11:39am

since one can't find a sure fire way its only logical to block everyone from that state... angry constituents for the win. the alternate website could even have his email address.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Mar 2007 @ 11:56am

Try enforcing that on a site not based in the US...
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Nick D (profile), 8 Mar 2007 @ 11:58am

You may as well say that if you can organize the efforts of a couple thousand motivated and educated people, you can alter behavior and enforce unenforceable restrictions on billions of people whose ingenuity will always outsmart anything a small group of people will come up with. This man on the moon quite is the dumbest one I have heard all year.
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mad matt, 8 Mar 2007 @ 11:58am

Ya right.
Ok, so if the technology is there, o wise Connecticut state's attorney general, how do websites verify people's ages accurately? What they have to put in a driver's license number? Wait that means there would have to be a national database to verify against that had open access to all these sites with identifying information about all US citizens? That seems like if could be a slight security risk. And on top of that what stops them from using their parent's?

Oh wait you're probably in support of the Real ID crap without realizing all the problems it causes and all the ones it doesn't solve.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Mar 2007 @ 1:11pm

So the AG wants NASA to verify children's ages? Isn't that a waste of taxpayer dollars?
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Ponder, 8 Mar 2007 @ 1:28pm

So lie....
Well since most of them are lying about their age anyway (all those under 14 are!) it takes very little to lie about you age by more. Since all these predators are lying about their ages anyway, then this needs to be stopped first.
Priorities:
1) stop people lying about their ages and identities.
2) protect minors.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Mar 2007 @ 1:36pm

He is just mad because Tom is his only friend.
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Don Wood, 8 Mar 2007 @ 2:36pm

All you commentators
Why do you folks hide behind all them funny names. Let me see your birth certificates. I believe some of you are being less than honest with them names. Got something to be ashamed of?
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- Ima Pseudonym, 9 Mar 2007 @ 2:40pm
  
  Re: All you commentators
  Why do you folks hide behind all them funny names. Let me see your birth certificates. I believe some of you are being less than honest with them names. Got something to be ashamed of?
  
  I don't know what you're talking about.
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teknosapien, 8 Mar 2007 @ 2:39pm

So where are the parents?
This is exactly what we need, more government intervention to save us from ourselves. As a parent the last thing I want is my children being raised by the state. If a child is hurt by an online profile then its the parents fault for not protecting their young
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- wow, 9 Mar 2007 @ 6:08am
  
  Re: So where are the parents?
  its nice to see that some parents in this world have brains!
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Bill, 8 Mar 2007 @ 3:00pm

Ads
If the criteria is the viewing of ads then the simple solution is for everyone to move on over to Firefox w/Adblock. No more ads will be viewed. Problem solved.
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Dosquatch, 8 Mar 2007 @ 4:42pm

Wait, I've got it!
1. CT AG pwns all sites with teh ads
2. Google has teh ads
3. CT AG pwns teh Google
4. PROFIT!!
ZOMG! That fucking chain is finally complete!
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NiteCloak, 8 Mar 2007 @ 7:05pm

MySpace
My thoughts:

http://nitecloak.wordpress.com/anti-myspace/
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man on the moon, 8 Mar 2007 @ 11:00pm

man on the moon
it cost taxpayers almost 140 billion dollars (todays money) for the GOVERNMENT to put a man on the moon.. maybe myspace can do it for cheaper.. just have them stand up their 160 million users on top of each other.. they'll get there for free and we will know just how old each and every one of those people is -- NOT. pathetic...
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bobwyzguy, 9 Mar 2007 @ 6:30am

Def: Politician = Failed Litigator
I have come to the conclusion that the lawyers who go into politics are the ones too clueless to make a good living in the courthouse.

These guys are great at the quick hip shot solution to any problem, and like most hip shots, there's a lot of noise (sound bite), but it completely misses the target (no useful effect), and usually wounds some innocent bystander (unintended consequences).

A little critical thinking, and real problem solving skills, couple with the ability to accept that all problems may not have solutions would save us from a lot of stupid legislation.

But the legislation today is more about appearing to do something to fool the gullible electorate into returning them to their government jobs, so they don't have to struggle at a real law career, or (horrors) actually doing something useful with their lives, like stocking shelves at WalMart.
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micheal rossiter, 23 Mar 2007 @ 3:05am

why lawyers?
two reasons for political lawyers:

1) once a year most governement departments do an audit, so the lawyers quickly scramble for something to make them look busy since they've been sitting on their asses for the past 11 months.

2) Hell is almost full, so the devil makes space by allowing a few of his most evil heartless demons loose on the earth!
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