E-Commerce Law: E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of May 14, 2007

E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of May 14, 2007

This week, it’s all about MySpace.

MySpace has announced a new "feature called ‘Take Down, Stay Down’ that would prevent copyrighted content from being re-posted after it has been taken down by the copyright owner."

(Link: MySpace adds new anti-piracy feature at SilliconValley.com)

Eight state attorneys general have asked MySpace to turn over data pertaining to registered sex offenders who use the social networking site. The attorneys general of Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania made the request in a letter sent on Monday. The letter indicated that the attorneys general suggested that there were "thousands" of registered sex offenders using MySpace "to lure children into face-to-face encounters and other dangerous activities."

On Tuesday, MySpace issued its formal response, indicating that it was doing everything it legally could to discover and remove the profiles of registered sex offenders. However, MySpace has declined to provide the requested information, citing concerns that complying with the request would violate the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). MySpace offered to produce the requested information, but only if its production did not violate the law.

(Links: State AGs to MySpace: Turn over sex offender data and MySpace responds to states' request for sex offender data at CNET News).

E-Commerce Law Briefs is a weekly feature appearing each Friday afternoon on E-Commerce Law. Each week, E-Commerce Law Briefs will provide a brief summary and commentary on recent legal news affecting e-commerce businesses.