Almost 30,000 sex offenders on MySpace, say US officials. [View All]

This, in particular, according to Roy Cooper, North Carolina's attorney-general, as reports Al Jazeera.

"The number is more than four times what was cited by the site two months ago.
After initially withholding data, citing federal privacy laws, MySpace began complying in May after states filed formal requests."

The problem involves cases of adults who use MySpace to prey on children. "Based on media reports, Cooper's office found more than 100 criminal incidents this year of adults using MySpace to prey or attempt to prey on children."

MySpace leaves no comment on the figures but insists it's making all the necessary efforts to remove sex offenders from its site.
Which we believe.

Solutions are suggested, but some may change the nature of the internet.
Parental control/permission for children and a law enforcing age and identity verification: can they work or is it simply impossible to avoid sex offenders on the web?
Is it possible to monitor the internet without changing its nature?
Though I'm for more controls and hard punishment for sex offenders, I would not like that the internet become a place where you're suspected guilty until proved innocent.

The questions of restrictive laws or more controls involve free speech rights and privacy, because compelling age and identity check has been suggested as part of profile registration. It makes the subject a bit more complicated.

As regards a state law proposed by Cooper, critics "say the proposed restrictions are unconstitutional because they prohibit free speech or impede interstate commerce".

It looks like extrema ratio for the sex offender problem. If it must be, then be it.

The link to Al Jazeera article, http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/65CF1CA7-339E-4E15-9D83-487C95CC2F01.htm