Archive for August, 2008

MySpace Intervenes and Locks Accounts Without Notice

There have been a few cases rumored around the net of people being blocked on MySpace, without notice, or without apparent reason.  The latest case comes from Slo, California where a local woman could not login to her MySpace profile and feared her account had been compromised.  After contacting MySpace she found out that MySpace had been contacted by local officials to lock up her profile because she was under investigation, as a potential lead to a rape case.

On the other end of the line was Detective Chad Farr who told George that she had been locked out while under investigation for intimidating a witness in a rape case.

This precaution is taken on behalf of MySpace routinely to save information on the profile.  By blocking the user the profile can be kept in identical condition and incriminating evidence safe.

Shiloe George is still under investigation and as of this posting has yet to get access back to her punk rock profile.  Furthermore Shiloe has yet to have charges brought up against her, but is being blocked from removing her children's pictures from the site which will start gaining popularity as news spreads.

“There’s photos of my daughter on there that I can’t take off if I want to,” George said. She went on, “You have such a false sense of security … you think this is my space.”

MySpace Deletes Sex Offenders

In another move to prove that MySpace is supporting law enforcement in the continued effort to keep child molesters and other sex offenders off their social network, they have deleted more than 146 profiles. These 146 sex offender profiles were all from Nebraska, so it's just one small move, but will send a message that hopefully soon all will be removed.

MySpace has a social responsibility and that means keeping potential threats away from underage children. Just as in town's where the offender needs to be kept away from schools, they need to be kept away from our children's online presence as well.

In some states it's actually illegal for sex offenders to take part in social sites like MySpace. This is true for any site that may place the offender in contact with underage children, so FaceBook and Hi5 are not excluded. This law is more important than you may realize, considering statistics show that 1 in 11 children are sexually harrassed or solicited online. Keeping our children as far away as possible from these vile individuals should be priority one. I'm personally glad to see MySpace stepping up to the plate to do their part.

Technorati Tags: myspace, sex offender, ban, banned, profiles, social network

Dane Cook on Myspace

I'm going to start a new section on the Obscene Caffeine blog which chronicles celebrity myspace sites.  Essentially this will be a section to come to and find out where celebrities hang their MySpace hat and what's going on in their pages.  So let's get started with one of my favorite comedians, Dane Cook.

Dane Cook has been on MySpace for several years now and made it public during his Supa Fly HBO series.  he also mentioned that he personally updates and comments on his page, so no stand ins here, just direct contact with the raunchy comic himself. *pickles*

It's great to check out your favorite celebrities MySpace profile because often you can find images you can't find anywhere else.  Above is a photo of Dane when he did a USO show in Iraq for our troops, which has not been widely circulated in popular news outlets.

Visit Dane Cook's Profile Here

Autographed Dane Cook Items for Sale

Private Comments Not Safe on MySpace

It looks like there is a new security hole in MySpace that allows hackers to see private comments left for you by your friends.  Experts suggest that this same vulernability could also be used on Facebook to access pages and delete bulletins that are not the owners.

"MySpace is committed to keeping all users as safe and secure as possible. Today, MySpace was alerted to an issue within the MySpace Mobile WAP site and is working to roll out an immediate fix,"

Let this be a reminder that no information is safe on the internet.  There will always be a new vulernability that allows access to your personal postings, especially on high traffic sites like MySpace.  It's a huge target, so be careful what you post and always keep your passwords safe.