• January 15, 2008

MySpace has reached an agreement with 49 states and the District of Columbia aimed at protecting minors from online predators, the company announced Monday.

The agreement includes allowing parents to block children from signing up for MySpace profiles by submitting their children's e-mail addresses to the site. MySpace also will make the default settings of all users under age 18 "private," so only people they have invited can see their profiles.

The company also said it will create a task force to study the development of age verification technology to help it enforce its policy banning children under the age of 14 from creating profiles. MySpace also promised to review all images and videos uploaded, and to delete profiles of sex offenders.

Greg Abbott, the Attorney General of Texas, declined to sign on to the agreement. He said that without a better age verification system, children under 14 can easily sign up for the site.

--Wendy Davis