The predators' web

Anyone not stuck in a bunker the last few years knows the perniciousness of sexual predators who stalk the Internet for young victims. In some cases, like that of a 15-year-old Cary boy, the end of the story is violation by an adult. The former Wake County sheriff's deputy who was convicted last year of having sex with the teenager found him on MySpace.com, a Web site that acts as a meeting spot for teens and young adults. Fortunately, state Attorney General Roy Cooper is in a position to do something about the problem, and he is following the right course.

Cooper is leading attorneys general in 41 other states in negotiating with social networking sites to require parents' consent for teenagers to get the free accounts. Youngsters also would have to verify that they are at least 14 years old to open bio pages on sites such as Facebook and Xanga. MySpace says 14 is the minimum age for a youngster to post his or her personal profile on the site, but the company does nothing to check ages.

Cooper began the initiative last May and has won some concessions from the sites. MySpace, for instance, hired extra staff to spot sexually explicit content. But the companies have balked at parental consent and age verification. Experts are nearly unanimous in urging parents to be tuned into their kids' computer activity. And sites themselves set minimum ages. Why do so if the minimum isn't checked?

Social networking sites on the Web owe it to their customers to act responsibly by providing a basic level of protection -- especially since they seek out teenagers as users.

Cooper has joined with state Sens. Walter Dalton of Rutherfordton and John Snow of Murphy in proposing that parental consent and age verification be required if companies won't do so voluntarily. Federal laws for the same purposes are being considered, thanks to Cooper and his colleagues.

It would be a shame if government were forced to increase its regulation of the Internet. Said another way, it would be in Internet companies' interest, and the interest of vulnerable youngsters, to willingly adopt stringent protection methods.