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MySpace is becoming a microcosm of daily life including robbers, terrorists, rapist, and scam artists...
Following news on Saturday about the "Missing" game, we updated the following news and growing concerns surrounding the MySpace.com issues. We encourage everyone to see the video story about "Missing" because it could be one of the best defenses against being entrapped in the MySpace cesspool.
The MySpace community is not going away -- it has become a huge money-maker for the owners with more revenue-generating visits a day than Google. Yet, as they allow their users to engage in criminal activities the chasm between online good and evil will deepen. Fortunately, it has begun to get main-stream media attention and more people are becoming educated about it. The disturbing part about this story is that about 80% of the people inhabiting MySpace.com have no idea of the underlying evils lurking there, and the other 20% know exactly what the vulnerabilities are and intend to exploit them for profit. This could eventually rank up there with spam and Phishing as the top criminal activities on the web. Following are just a few of the most recent headlines we found deserving a second look...
Terror Group Increasingly Using Internet to Connect, Plan and Execute Attacks, a March 10, 2006 abcnews.go.com story:
"When they raided what they had been told was "Al Qaeda's command center" in a remote compound in South Waziristan's Shakai valley in June 2004, Pakistani special forces made a surprising discovery -- confirming what they already knew: the organization relies on modern information technology and, more specifically, the Internet."
: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ (Print version), or
: http://abcnews.go.com/
ABC News reports
"beginning in "early 2002, al Qaeda quickly switched to hiding its online operations within more legitimate bulletin boards and Internet sites offering free upload services or connecting through such popular social network sites as Orkut and MySpace."
: http://thinkprogress.org/
This report filed by Ethan Smith, Leaderadvertiser.com Staff
"It's a popular place for teens to hang out at, but a perusal of dozens of MySpace.com sites shows that many local teens might not be as Internet-savvy as they think they are, with many of them posting personal information that could jeopardize their safety, cause them to get kicked off a high school sports team or in many cases, reveal more about them than their parents might prefer."
: http://www.leaderadvertiser.com
* March 13 story at: www.decaturdaily.com
Nis Kildegaard (March 9, 2006) for www.mvtimes.com [Quote]
There comes a stage in the lives of most teenagers when their parents are a public embarrassment, adults are a distrusted life-form, and they retreat into the company of their peers. For parents, extracting information about the life of an adolescent child can sometimes be so frustratingly difficult that it's tempting to dig under the mattress for that secret diary.
This basic dynamic of adolescence hasn't changed for generations, but lately, technology has been transforming the ways Island teenagers share their lives with each other. And curious parents have a whole new window into their children's world. Because what was once the secret diary isn't under the bed anymore - it's been posted on the Internet.
Myspace.com, a website with more than 56 million members, bills itself as "an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends." Signing up with the site is easy and free, and gives you access to search for members using many criteria.
: Continue reading...
Jon Dunn, KSL, reports on this rather disturbing new trend called "spoofing" in MySpace.com...
"Spoofing has become a big part in the comedy world. But now, spoofing is becoming a part of the internet networking world as well. You will be surprised and disgusted to hear who is being spoofed and how."
: www.ksl.com
: Listen to Jon's report [MP3 Audio File]
MySpace is that they don't have a filter system. Anyone in the world can see it, and I have a problem with that as a parent.". Hilton Head High School Principal ...
: www.islandpacket.com
USA Today, Associated Press story:
"A group of boys who posed as a 15-year-old girl for an Internet prank ended up helping police arrest a 48-year-old man who tried to meet the fictitious teenager for sex, authorities said.
The five boys had created a fake profile of a girl on MySpace.com Ñ a social networking website Ñ to cheer up a friend who had recently broken up with his girlfriend. But soon, a man began sending messages to the "girl" and their conversations began to have sexual overtones, said Fontana police Sgt. William Megenney.
: Keep Reading
As we run across important stories, we'll pass them along to you. Stay tuned.
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