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MySpace announced Tuesday, it will deny the request made by the 8 attorneys general to divulge the names of registered sex offenders (see 5/15/07 blog for further).  According to MySpace, they are prohibited by law to turn the requested information over, without a subpoena, citing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act(ECPA).

"I am deeply disappointed by MySpace's disingenuous refusal to provide information about convicted sex offenders with profiles on its site," Blumenthal said. "No subpoena is needed for much of the information we requested, such as the number of registered sex offenders with MySpace profiles. MySpace's failure to give us this essential data is inexplicable and inexcusable."

"Yesterday, MySpace admitted they've found thousands of sex offenders on their site but they have refused to provide information so law enforcement and parents can do something about it," Cooper added.

"It's outrageous that MySpace chooses to protect the privacy of predators over the safety of children," Cooper said. "We will take action to require MySpace to give law enforcement and parents the information we need to protect our kids."

"We are doing everything short of breaking the law to ensure that the information about these predators gets to the proper authorities," said Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer for MySpace.

In the meantime, what about our children???