New York - New York may become the first state to enact a mandatory ban on sexual predators from accessing social networking sites like MySpace (NYSE: NWS) and Facebook, after district attorneys from all five boroughs endorsed a bill proposed by N.Y. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

The Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP), which was introduced last week in the state legislature, would also expand the state's sex offender registry to include screen names, e-mail addresses and other Internet identifiers.

"Existing laws protecting children from sexual predators have not kept pace with rapid advances in technology," Cuomo said in a statement.

"Government's primary responsibility is to protect its citizens, and e-STOP will be effective at helping prevent sexual predators from using the Internet to victimize our children."

Facebook in October settled a child safety probe launched by Cuomo, agreeing to independent oversight of how it handles reports of inappropriate content and abuse.

MySpace last month agreed to comply with child safety measures proposed by 49 U.S. state attorneys, and will develop an e-mail registry that parents can use to prevent their kids from creating social network profiles.

Related Links:
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2008/feb/feb12a_08.html

http://tinyurl.com/3xd227 (Reuters)