have you heard about the case in Vermont? a guy admited to sexualy abusing a 4 year old boy and got probation. that state has some issues.

as far as myspace goes, the parents of these kids should be help more responsible than myspace. its part the parents, and part the asailant. MySpace was just happend to be the middle man and was mis-used.

Isn’t it the internet in general that permits such misrepresentation? What does MySpace have to do with it? The existence of this case has more to do with lawyers and state of the justice system than it does MySpace.

Anyhow, it’s pretty clear that the website is not responsible. The attacker is responsible.

But I wonder, would this still be the case if the website promoted itself as a safe-zone for children (you see them more and more) with security checks and everything. What if something similar would happen?

The problem here is really family education. My daughter is four and I already explained to her that not everyone we will meet on the way home from school is good.
Children who are not given or do not follow such an advice are at risk, wether they meet people via Internet or in the street.

OK, you can feel like you know better those people you met on a social network, but that’s also in the same way than for penpals for example.
In my opinion, there’s no legal issue with MySpace. Nevertheles, I think that suing them is a really wise thing - yes! - since it allows a lot of buzz to be made around those terrible situations, and will raise the awareness of the other kids.

Otherwise, this is akin to someone being abducted in a MacDonald’s parking lot. Would you sue MacDonald’s for not properly securing their parking lot? No. That would be frivolous and silly.