MySpace Says: will give information for subpoena

When a group of eight state attorneys general sent MySpace a letter May 14 demanding information collected by the site about sex offenders who use the social network, MySpace publicly said they could not provide the information without legal guidelines being followed. However, they encouraged all of the state attorneys to follow the legal necessities so that MySpace could give them what they wanted.

On Monday May 21st 2007 MySpace announced they will indeed now provide the information requested per subpoenas. MySpace Executive Vice President and General Counsel Michael Angus says the site always intended to provide its sex offender information to the attorneys general but couldn't respond until required to by law. In other words, the company wanted the states to subpoena it for the data. They are after all a business making money and as a matter of law, officials at News Corp.'s (nyse: NWS ) social network said, they could not provide details like the names and addresses of convicted sex offenders who use the site.

However Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sings a different tune.

"I am pleased that MySpace has heeded our demand, now by subpoena, to provide information about convicted sex offenders and confirm steps to remove them from the site," Blumenthal said in a statement. "Our subpoena compels this information right away--within hours, not weeks, without delay."

Blumenthal said there are currently 5,000 registered, convicted sex offenders with MySpace profiles.

MySpace Vice President and General Counsel Michael Angus says

"For each state it is different, but in some cases we would need a subpoena in order to get this information to them." It has to go through the proper legal processes, and we've worked with the attorneys general to help them determine the right language to make the request."

MySpace has been working with the attorneys general for over a year and began deleting sex offender MySpace profiles on May 2, using its Sentinel SAFE system for checking databases.