California Legislature Debates Predator EMail Registry

April 23, 2007

A new proposal in front of the California legislature requires the state to require registered sex offenders to report their e-mail addresses and Internet identities to the state.

Once this is done, these email addresses and other identifying info would need to make them available to MySpace as well as other social networks.

MySpace and these other networks would then be expected to block access by these individuals. In fact, MySpace is supporting this legislation.

"It is not a divine right that someone who is a registered sex offender should have access to a chat room of 15-year-olds," said Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena.

Portantino and Assemblywoman Shirley Horton, R-Lemon Grove, are pushing AB841.

Opponents argue that the state should not distribute personal identifying information to a profit-making firm, that AB841 has some free speech concerns, and that former prisoners who have completed their legal obligations are still being targeted for punishment.