In a story that confused me to no end originally, MySpace has now reversed its decision. The social networking giant is going to provide law enforcement with data regarding registered sex offenders who had accounts on the popular site.
MySpace agreed Monday to provide the information to all states after some members of the group filed subpoenas or took other legal actions to demand it. The company said last week such efforts were required under the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act before it could legally release the data.
The legislation in question, the ECPA, covers wiretapping computers to include electronic data in transmission. This is also the act that gave way to the infamous National Security Letters which have since been ruled uncontitutional. As far as I’m aware the company was never served with one of these letters. Rather, they were subpoenaed by several states. I’m still confused by the reaction by MySpace. Ah well, at least they are now helping to hunt down these criminals.
[tags]MySpace Sex Offenders, Legal, ECPA, Electronic Communications Privacy Act, National Security Letters[/tags]
