Code Catches Predators on MySpace

You may have recently seen the article on the Wired news editor that wrote a program to track registered sex-offenders on MySpace. This line stood out for me.

The Wired News project also illustrates something MySpace could do to make its community safer, she says: hunting down and banning sex offenders from its site.

I don’t think this is a good idea. I think we need to do what we can to make it easy for sex predators hang themselves. If they do not sign up with MySpace, then they may engage in activities which are less conducive to monitoring. I’d rather have a pederast on MySpace than hanging out in parks. Of course, I’m sure MySpace’s board of directors wouldn’t want their site to be a net of this kind.