<div id="subtitle">Sex offender database matching yields results, officials say</div><div><p> New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says he is sending letters to 14 Web sites that primarily cater to children, urging them to provide further protections against the threat of sexual predators online. Cuomo says the sites should screen their member lists using e-STOP data, a compilation of registered sex offenders.</p><p>So far, says Cuomo, the database has resulted in the removal of thousands of accounts. At the end of 2009, for example, he announced that Facebook and MySpace removed 5,385 accounts linked to 3,533 sexual predators from their rolls. </p><p>Cuomo now says an additional 6,336 online profiles linked to approximately 803 additional New York state registered sex offenders have been removed from popular social networking sites. The e-STOP measure has now resulted in the removal of 11,721 profiles associated with 4,336 dangerous sexual predators registered in New York, he said. </p><p>"New York is once again leading the way in ensuring that social networking Web sites use the data that is now available, thanks to the e-STOP law, to keep kids safe," Cuomo said. "So far, thousands of sexual predators who had opened thousands of accounts have been purged from social networking sites. I am now taking this important protection a step further. I am calling on sites that specifically cater to children to screen users to reduce the threat posed by dangerous sexual predators." </p><p>In December, Cuomo announced that Facebook and MySpace removed accounts associated with a combined total of 3,533 registered New York state sex offenders from their sites. Shortly thereafter, 13 additional social networking sites, including those owned by Google, Yahoo! and AOL, agreed to use e-STOP to purge sex offenders. Cuomo also called on Friendster, Buzznet and eSpin to commit to using the list. </p><p>These social networking Web sites have successfully removed hundreds of accounts tied to registered sex offenders with Cuomo’s law: </p><p>•MyLife/formerly Reunion.com -- 2,001 offenders (2,100 accounts) </p><p>•Tagged -- 854 offenders (950 accounts) </p><p>•hi5 -- 169 offenders (575 accounts) </p><p>•BlackPlanet -- 114 offenders (570 accounts) </p><p>•Bebo/AOL -- 253 offenders (542 accounts) </p><p>•Flixster -- 441 offenders (508 accounts) </p><p>•Flickr/Yahoo -- 343 offenders (448 accounts) </p><p>•Friendster -- 255 offenders (271 accounts) </p><p>•eSpin -- 103 offenders (120 accounts) </p><p>•Orkut/Google -- 62 offenders (113 accounts) </p><p>•Stickam -- 102 offenders (109 accounts) </p><p>•Buzznet -- 13 offenders (18 accounts) </p><p>•Fotolog -- 10 offenders (12 accounts) </p><p>Along with Facebook and MySpace the two largest social networking Web sites, this sweep constitutes the overwhelming majority of these types of sites operating in the United States. </p><p>Additionally, Cuomo called on popular Web sites that cater to children to screen their users. Although these sites have some safeguards in place, Cuomo said they should add to those measures by screening their rolls using e-STOP information. These sites include: </p><p>•AllyKatzz </p><p>•BarbieGirls </p><p>•Build-a-Bearville </p><p>•Club Penguin </p><p>•Girlsense </p><p>•Neopets </p><p>•Secretbuilders </p><p>•Stardoll </p><p>•Supersecret </p><p>•Teen Second Life </p><p>•Toontown </p><p>•Tootsville </p><p>•Webkinz </p><p>•Whyville </p><p>e-STOP was passed unanimously by the New York State Assembly and Senate and went into law in 2008. Authored by Cuomo, it is the first law of its kind requiring convicted sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses and other online identifiers with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services’ (DCJS) New York State Sex Offender Registry. That information is then made available to social networking sites.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=68425400&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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