New York - News Corp.'s MySpace online social network plans to offer free software to parents that will allow them to monitor what name, age and location their children post to their profiles on the site, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The "Zephyr" application would notify children of their parents' actions; it would also not enable parents to read children's e-mail, or even view their profile pages.

However, privacy concerns with the Zephyr application have prompted fellow social networks Xanga and Facebook to bow out of participation, The Journal reported.

MySpace also recently announced plans to introduce features that would identify and block convicted sex offenders from the network.

The Journal said a group of 33 state attorneys general is considering legal action against MySpace, if it does not institute age verification and raise the site's age limit from 14 to 16.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3x3wse (Reuters)