AP

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- MySpace reached an agreement with legal
authorities in 49 states -- including North Carolina -- on changing its social networking Web site to help prevent sexual predators and others from misusing it, state officials said Monday.

Several states' attorneys general said in a statement that MySpace will add several protections and participate in a working group to develop new technologies, including a way to verify the ages of users. Other social networking sites will be invited to participate.

"We're joining forces to find the most effective ways to keep young children off these sites and to protect the kids who do use them," North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper. "This agreement sets a new standard for social networking sites that have been quick to grow but slow to recognize their responsibility to keep kids safe."

MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., also will accept independent monitoring and changes the structure of its site.

The agreement was announced in Manhattan by attorneys general from New Jersey, North Carolina, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.

"The Internet can be a dangerous place for children and young adults, with sexual predators surfing social networking sites in search of potential victims and cyber bullies sending threatening and anonymous messages," said New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram.

Legal authorities have long been seeking greater controls for
networking sites to prevent predators from using them to contact
children.

"We thank the attorneys general for a thoughtful and constructive conversation on Internet safety," MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said in a written statement. "This is an industrywide challenge, and we must all work together to create a safer Internet."

He said the agreement includes measures "to provide a safer online experience for teens, and we look forward to sharing our ongoing safety innovations with other companies."

Among other measures, MySpace agreed to:

-- Allow parents to submit children's e-mail addresses to MySpace
to prevent anyone from misusing the addresses to set up profiles.

-- Make the default setting "private" for 16- and 17-year-old
users.

-- Respond within 72 hours to complaints about inappropriate
content and devote more staff and resources to classify photographs
and discussion groups.

-- Strengthen software to find underage users.

-- Create a high school section for users under 18 years old.

Investigators have increasingly examined MySpace, Facebook.com
and other sites where people post information and images and invite
contact from other people.

New York investigators said they set up Facebook profiles last year as 12- to 14-year olds and were quickly contacted by other users looking for sex.

The multistate investigation of the sites -- announced last year -- was aimed at putting together measures to protect minors and remove pornographic material, but lawsuits were possible, officials said.