How Safe is MySpace?

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Industry and government officials discussed this proposal and others at a social- networking summit last week in Washington. But there is no easy solution when it comes to confirming information about teens, only some of whom have credit cards or a driver's license. Industry watchers say Social Security numbers may not be a cure-all either, in part because of the global nature of these sites--the biggest of which, MySpace, said last week it is expanding into 11 other countries. Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal didn't accept all the naysaying: "Don't tell me it can't be done. If we can put a man on the moon, we can verify age." All 50 state prosecutors are scheduled to meet this week to discuss social networking, and at least one of them is actively looking into filing large-scale consumer-protection suits, according to a source who works with that attorney general.

The social-networking sites are hoping to avoid such an outcome, in part by urging parents to be more proactive and users to do more self-policing. "That's the real story here," says John Hiler, CEO of Xanga, whose 27 million users often report questionable content. "There are a lot of skeptics who say things like 'Youth can't participate in self-policing.' I think the jury is still out on that." In the end, they may be their own best defense.