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June 21, 2006
MySpace.com is being sued for $30 million on behalf of a 14-year-old Texas girl who says she was sexually assaulted by someone she met through the site.
The suit claims MySpace was negligent for not verifying the ages of users and for failing to prevent strangers from contacting users under 16.
The defendants are MySpace, its corporate parent News Corp., and Pete Solis, the 19-year-old accused of sexually assaulting the teen. The girl's lawyer said the damages requested reflect one percent of the site's estimated worth.
MySpace has been the target of criticism and legal actions lately by educators, parents and some state attorneys general who say the site isn't doing enough to safeguard its users.
It's not for lack of trying. MySpace has been trying to clean up its act for months and recently hired former Microsoft executive and onetime federal prosecutor Hemanshu Nigam as chief security officer as its chief security officer.
The site is expected to announce a series of new safety and security, including heightened measures for the 14-15 year old set, new options for privacy and age-approporiate advertising placement.
Published reports of the changes say that anyone over 18 who wants to contact members under 16 will need to know the first and last names or the email address in order to make the connection.
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