Sex Offenders to Register Emails in Virginia

Isaac Bowman writes "The Washington Post is reporting that Virgina has a proposed law that would require sex offenders to register their email and IM screen names in an attempt to monitor and control their presence on social networking sites like MySpace."

Cops and Lawyers...

[robcfg]

...cannot protect your children because they're too far away from them plus I think you don't want an agent in your home watching what your kids do. Protecting children is parents' responsability. they should teach them properly so the chances of getting offended or getting into unadequate web sites will be drastically reduced. No cop and no lawyer can make the parent's job.

Re:Paid in full?

[voice_of_all_reason]

Government only has the power to make sure it protects your civil rights. They have no authority to dictate the same between private citizens.

Re:Security Theater.

[Politburo]

even the most retarded Al Qaeda operative is probably going to think of using a false name.

Actually some 9/11 attackers were on FBI watch lists and used the names on the watch list to buy tickets. However they were not on the "no fly list" which was grossly expanded after 9/11.

Re:Comments

[bogjobber]

A friend of mine mooned somebody from one of my other friends' car when we were in high school. A police officer happened to see this and arrested my friend for indecent exposure. The judge let him off easy, but he was told that it was possible he could've been forced to register as a sex offender.

Re:Security Theater.

[2short]

The list was dramatically expanded after 9/11, as agencies rushed to put all sorts of people on it. If it was at all useful before that, it sure isn't now.

14 of the 9/11 hijackers were added to the list, along with many other people known to be dead. But they didn't add anyone they suspected of being a active terrorist agents; because the names of those people are secrect, and the list is too widely disseminated to allow that.

The no-fly list wastes a lot of money to make trouble for people who happen to have the same name as someone on it. It won't stop any terrorists because while it's trivial to circumvent, they wouldn't have to because their names aren't on it.
   

Re:Comments

[Jzor]

There are far too many things that get someone called a 'sex offender' under the laws.

Here's a story about the friend of a (deceased) friend:
Guy was out drinking, and got into a bit of a drunken brawl. He was now a bit scuffed and bloodied up from the fight. Riding back with a buddy, they stopped at the local Quick Trip on the way home. He needed to use the restroom, but since he was all bloodied he didn't want to go inside. So he walked around the back of the store to pee behind the dumpster. Unluckily, two old ladies happened to drive around back there and saw him. They called the cops.
He was charged with indecent exposure thanks to these two old ladies who happened upon him taking a leak, and had to register as a sex offender for it.
I dunno... maybe he shook it three times?