Shoutbox

quote:

---

Originally posted by mess.be

One-click sex offender report button added to Messenger

dwergs says:
     

Almost three years ago Microsoft shut down most of their MSN chat rooms because sex offenders were abusing the service to get in touch with under-aged users. The suggested alternative for online chatting at the time was MSN Messenger which allowed buddy list control. Needless to say sexual predators, often by posing as fellow teens, have found their way onto contact lists and police fear that more than 50,000 potential sexual predators are online at any given moment.

Last month 21-year-old Lee Costi from the UK was jailed after persuading a 13-year-old girl to perform sex acts for him to watch via his webcam. An examination of Costi's computer found more than 350 logs of online conversations with young girls in chat rooms and MSN Messenger, as well as with paedophiles around the world. And this is just one case of many, leading the US Congress to debate banning the sale of webcams to those under 18 (the idea has been dismissed by online child protection experts).

"Enough is enough", Microsoft and the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) must've thought, and they joined hands to safeguard children from online sexual abuse and grooming. The result: a Windows Live/MSN Messenger tab with a big red REPORT ABUSE button, and a weekly online safety tip for youngsters.

As for the moment, the tab is only available to people with UK accounts. But the London-based internet child protection watchdog CEOP has up to 100 staff and tracks sexual predators domestically and across international borders, using strategic partnerships and legislative powers to bring them to account.

In similar fashion, Amsterdam police has plans to employ Windows Live/MSN Messenger to investigage crimes involving youngsters or track missing teenagers. According to a spokesperson there are quite a lot of cases in which young people are the most important witnesses. Whether this will turn out to be a Messenger tab as well remains unknown.

---