In a move sure to cause a lot of controversy, MySpace (NWS) has decided to offer free parental notification software in a move to satisfy critics from the government.
The software, which will be called "Zephyr," will enable a parent to see what description their children use in representing themselves on MySpace. It will include their name, age and location, said Reuters, quoting the Wall Street Journal.
They made the move to try to appease the attorneys general from 33 states which have been considering prosecuting the company if it doesn't raise the age of users being able to join the site from 14 to 16 and putting procedures in place to verify the ages of the members.
Other big Internet companies like Google, (GOOG) Yahoo, (YHOO) Microsoft (MSFT) and AOL (TWX) haven't committed yet to whether they will join MySpace in the same strategy. I don't think it's for any noble reasons, but they'll let MySpace take the heat and then probably join up saying they really had no choice with others participating.
The leverage that prosecutors have over user-generated sites is that advertisers have been jittery about putting their marketing campaigns on the site in concern over what it may end up next to.
If lawsuits started being filed, it would probably put advertisers on the sidelines until it was all cleared up; Something that would probably take a long time.
This has been a problem from the beginning in trying to figure out a way to keep it safe for users while not alienating them at the same time.
According to the Journal, Xanga and Facebook decided not to join MySpace in the decision.
» Families of Sexual Abuse Victims Sue MySpace from TheAlphaMarketer
When we talked about the battle beginning yesterday, concerning MySpace (NWS) announcing that they were introducing Parental Notification Software, I didn't think it would start this quickly.Less than 24 hours after that post, four famili... [Read More]
Tracked on: January 18, 2007 5:29 PM | Permalink to Trackback