MySpace should buy this to protect kids

October 20, 2006 By

Brandon Watson CEO/Founder of IMSafer just talked with me on the phone. Funny that geeks are online and available on Friday night. Anyway, one problem with having kids online in social networks like MySpace is that sexual predators can easily meet up with them without parents knowing about it.

His system is interesting because it warns parents when sexually predatory behavior is taking place. Downside? Kids might feel spied on. I think that’s a lame excuse, though. This doesn’t tell your parents when you say something like “let’s go over to Steve’s and drink some beer.” Rather it’ll warn parents when a dangerous situation develops that the child might not be able to deal with.

So, why should MySpace buy this? Because it would demonstrate that they are doing something to try to keep kids safe from predators and, if there is a lawsuit (there already was one) then penalties would probably be lower because MySpace could demonstrate that they tried to do something about the problem (and, this might head off some really nasty stuff anyway).

More about how it works is here.

Filed Under: 1
  • LayZ

    So, what about the perverts that aren’t surfing MySpace, but other IM networks and chat rooms? Don’t the parents of the kids that hang out there need this service?

  • LayZ

    So, what about the perverts that aren’t surfing MySpace, but other IM networks and chat rooms? Don’t the parents of the kids that hang out there need this service?

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    It works for a variety of IM networks. But you would have known that if you followed the link.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    It works for a variety of IM networks. But you would have known that if you followed the link.

  • http://www.imsafer.com/ Brandon Watson

    Robert, you’re doing biz dev and tech support for us. We’re flattered. ;) The IMSafer service supports MSN, AOL/AIM, Yahoo and MySpace IM clients. And you don’t even have to know what your child’s screen names are. We auto detect them. Come on over to our parent focused blog to join in the conversation.

  • http://www.imsafer.com Brandon Watson

    Robert, you’re doing biz dev and tech support for us. We’re flattered. ;) The IMSafer service supports MSN, AOL/AIM, Yahoo and MySpace IM clients. And you don’t even have to know what your child’s screen names are. We auto detect them. Come on over to our parent focused blog to join in the conversation.

  • http://www.mcdevzone.com/ Mike Cohen

    This should be included in Leopard’s parental controls. It would be even better if AOL, Google Talk, etc. incorporated it into their own networks.

  • http://www.mcdevzone.com/ Mike Cohen

    This should be included in Leopard’s parental controls. It would be even better if AOL, Google Talk, etc. incorporated it into their own networks.

  • LayZ

    @2 Duh! No shit! But that’s not what I asked.

  • LayZ

    @2 Duh! No shit! But that’s not what I asked.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    LayZ: it also watches kids who hang out in other IM networks and chat rooms. Not just MySpace. I don’t know what you think you’re asking, but go back and read your question again. The Website DOES answer it.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    LayZ: it also watches kids who hang out in other IM networks and chat rooms. Not just MySpace. I don’t know what you think you’re asking, but go back and read your question again. The Website DOES answer it.

  • http://profilemaster.wordpress.com/ profilemaster

    The more you restrict, the more they desire, lol

  • http://profilemaster.wordpress.com/ profilemaster

    The more you restrict, the more they desire, lol

  • http://admin.support.journurl.com/ Roger Benningfield

    Kudos to IMSafer for coming up with a slightly-less-creepy version of child surveillance. I still see the whole concept as an enabling technology for crappy parents, but at least these folks have *attempted* to find a middle ground, and I applaud them for it.

  • http://admin.support.journurl.com/ Roger Benningfield

    Kudos to IMSafer for coming up with a slightly-less-creepy version of child surveillance. I still see the whole concept as an enabling technology for crappy parents, but at least these folks have *attempted* to find a middle ground, and I applaud them for it.

  • http://steph.wordpress.com/ Steph

    How do you protect your kids from sexual predators offline?

    I think that may be one of the best answers to keeping them safe online too.

    Not commenting on how big/real the online predator threat really is. That’s a whole other can of worms.

  • http://steph.wordpress.com/ Steph

    How do you protect your kids from sexual predators offline?

    I think that may be one of the best answers to keeping them safe online too.

    Not commenting on how big/real the online predator threat really is. That’s a whole other can of worms.

  • Joe

    The Internet is here and taking over just about everything – communications, reading, news and drawing us into online communities. This last part is the one parents worry about most. Kids are creating blogs at places like Facebook, Blogger and MySpace, among others. While parents like the idea of their kids developing the technical savvy and skills, the horror stories are never far from their minds. The big problem here is that Internet is too big for any us to fight it.

    How can we protect our kids online? Why do parents have to tradeoff their kids’ security for information technology skills acquisition? Even attuned parents have had children caught up in online pornography. The problem is a lot bigger (also here and here) than anyone wants to admit. Just when you think the threats to the kids only comes from strangers, think again (also here). One in four US teen girls reported that they met strangers off the Internet. One in seven boys admitted they did as well. The fence at the end of your yard just won’t do anymore. Parents need a virtual fence for the virtual world their kids are creating. You cannot depend on the sites where the kids are publishing content to act as policemen. That’s not their job; they are running a business (link, link, link, link). I don’t want to belabor the point, but the links in this paragraph should suffice to demonstrate the point being made.

    It is up to parents to take care of their kids and protect them from the dark side of the world –whether online of offline. Parents cannot hope that others will bring up their kids and provide the values the parents want. Parenting is the ultimate contact sport. To play requires getting involved on the deepest levels – there is no shortcut. But that does not mean you cannot use technology to fight technology. Smart parents are using tools to create the virtual fence.

    The first step is to research online for ideas. A great place to start is at Protectkids.com, and pay attention to this page. But let’s get to the virtual fence. There are two virtual fence tools I would recommend parents look into. The first is Benetsafe.com and the other is Revealsite.com. Now for the really good news – you can protect your kids very cost effectively. The first of the two tools I recommend costs about $80/year or $20/month. The other tool costs about $99/year or $10/month. In case you are wondering about these two – try this link for testimonials on benetsafe.com and I understand that revealsite.com was used in the United Kingdom to find a missing teenager even though the software was designed to monitor web sites.

    There are probably many other tools or parents to consider. But given the time constraints parents face, these two software tools look like they can do the job.

  • Joe

    The Internet is here and taking over just about everything – communications, reading, news and drawing us into online communities. This last part is the one parents worry about most. Kids are creating blogs at places like Facebook, Blogger and MySpace, among others. While parents like the idea of their kids developing the technical savvy and skills, the horror stories are never far from their minds. The big problem here is that Internet is too big for any us to fight it.

    How can we protect our kids online? Why do parents have to tradeoff their kids’ security for information technology skills acquisition? Even attuned parents have had children caught up in online pornography. The problem is a lot bigger (also here and here) than anyone wants to admit. Just when you think the threats to the kids only comes from strangers, think again (also here). One in four US teen girls reported that they met strangers off the Internet. One in seven boys admitted they did as well. The fence at the end of your yard just won’t do anymore. Parents need a virtual fence for the virtual world their kids are creating. You cannot depend on the sites where the kids are publishing content to act as policemen. That’s not their job; they are running a business (link, link, link, link). I don’t want to belabor the point, but the links in this paragraph should suffice to demonstrate the point being made.

    It is up to parents to take care of their kids and protect them from the dark side of the world –whether online of offline. Parents cannot hope that others will bring up their kids and provide the values the parents want. Parenting is the ultimate contact sport. To play requires getting involved on the deepest levels – there is no shortcut. But that does not mean you cannot use technology to fight technology. Smart parents are using tools to create the virtual fence.

    The first step is to research online for ideas. A great place to start is at Protectkids.com, and pay attention to this page. But let’s get to the virtual fence. There are two virtual fence tools I would recommend parents look into. The first is Benetsafe.com and the other is Revealsite.com. Now for the really good news – you can protect your kids very cost effectively. The first of the two tools I recommend costs about $80/year or $20/month. The other tool costs about $99/year or $10/month. In case you are wondering about these two – try this link for testimonials on benetsafe.com and I understand that revealsite.com was used in the United Kingdom to find a missing teenager even though the software was designed to monitor web sites.

    There are probably many other tools or parents to consider. But given the time constraints parents face, these two software tools look like they can do the job.