7,000 Registered Sex Offenders Kicked Off MySpace

It made Page One of my local paper: 7,000 *Registered* Sex Offenders were discovered and kicked off of MySpace because the individual states provided MySpace with their sex offenders database.

To everyone who blithely gives out their phone number, real names, addresses and any RL personal information to people you meet online, please read and heed. If they caught this many registered sexual perverts, how many more unregistered such perverts are out here?

And how many of them do you think are wandering around Second Life?

Not all 'sex offenders' are bad people. You shouldn't tar everyone just because of a label.

An 18 year old having sex with a 17½ year old, for example, would be sufficient to put someone on the sex offenders register in the US if caught and prosecuted. In some states, giving oral sex or owning a vibrator is sufficient to get you on the list as well.

Here's a good current case: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6743303.stm

Now, I'm not saying all on the list are innocent or shouldn't be there either - but perhaps you should actually do some research before issuing a blanket statement like that.

We must, of course, always 'think of the children' - even though a lot of people on the list are there for absolutely nothing to do with children.

How do I know? One of my close SL friends admitted that he was on the list in the US, and explained what had happened (nothing to do with children, actually something that was one of those things that's perfectly legal in most other US states and the rest of the world, but that particular state had a law against it). Didn't change my perception of him in the slightest, and actually strengthened our friendship because he trusted me enough to tell me about it.

Broccoli

Id rather err on the side of caution, especially if children are at risk

Yeah, firstly, there aren't supposed to be RL children on the main grid. Secondly, if they aren't supposed to be on the main grid, then how can they be "at risk?" I'd rather not give up more SL freedoms for the sake of those who aren't even supposed to be here, thank you. If it were an area where children are supposed to be, then I'd heartily agree.

I'd be more worried about the violent sex offenders, especially the ones that have already preyed online. It's still a good idea to never give out too much information about your location. And to know where the off button on your computer when things start getting uncomfortable.

Precisely. Unfortunately, however, if you have a choice of a) hassle to sign up for the teen grid, or b) no hassle to sign up for the adult grid... where do you think most of the teens are going to be? Here, of course, and without parents parenting, they are the ones at fault here. But, no, blame an easy target instead of dealing with their own failings.

Broccoli

*snorts* Yeah, we pointed that out to Linden Labs when they did away with even the CC 'verification' system. But of course, LL refused to listen to us then, because all they saw was that 'one million' number on the front page. They didn't have the hassle for the teen grid at first either, before they realized their 'error.'

Ehm... I don't live in the USA, but I've read that many prostitutes, who are caught in states where prostitution is illegal, also end up on the list of sex offenders. Considering how many people work as prostitutes, they'll largely make the majority of those 7,000. A guy who had fun with a sheep was put on the same list too; someone who screws livestock instead of killing and devouring it will surely also feel the urge to molest children (irony). Not to speak of the case mentioned by Broccoli, the 18 year old with a 17 year old girlfriend. That's totally ridiculous, ruining the future life of a juvenile over an age difference of 1 year or less.

But it's even more ridiculous that these lists are provided to a service like MySpace, which has nothing to do with law enforcement. Should they do the same with all drug users, thieves and other criminals and criminalized people (criminalized because I don't view a drug user as a criminal)? And for what reason does MySpace ban them?!? Even a criminal or a sick person (depending on how you view it) does still have human rights, like the right to not be discriminated against.

who care about this? can't we just let peoples live and let live?

I agree, Kyrah... life would be so much easier for everyone if we could.

The sex offender registry is this century's version of the scarlet letter. It's a disgusting violation of civil rights.

I've once read a list of cases where the supposed offender turned out to be innocent after already being convicted, often years later (German law cases). There were also three cases of child abuse. In one case, a child had accused her uncle in order to protect her father. In another case, a kid with a vivid imagination thought it would be a convenient way to get rid of the new boyfriend of her mother. In the third case, with murder involved, the real murderer (also a relative of the victim) testified against an innocent person, who got convicted instead of him; a murderer got away because a judge decided to err on the side of caution.

I'd rather have a law system not err at all, but since the system is run by humans which are prone to error, I prefer them to err in favour of the defendant. Because one day the innocently accused person might be me.
Especially in countries where the death sentence is still common practice, it would be better to risk that a murderer gets free than turning the whole society into murderers, by killing an innocent person in the name of the people.

By the way, if one of the listed persons turns out to be innocent, I somehow doubt that MySpace will receive a revised list and open their account again.

Unless News Corp just bought SL, this is off-topic for the SL forums. This forum isn't for general discussion; there are many Resident Sites where this discussion is appropriate — Resident Answers is for Resident-to-Resident help. I'll close this thread...

*locks*