MySpace refuses to provide sex offender names to attorney generals

In a letter this Monday, attorney generals from 8 states sent a letter to MySpace asking it to provide names of registered sex offenders who use the social networking site. MySpace has finally responded, and the answer is a nyet. Citing federal privacy laws (Electronic Communications Privacy Act), MySpace refused the request from the attorney generals, and instead passed the blame onto them in terms of the attorney generals not following the law. As per MySpace, they can only provide information after a proper legal process is followed, not on the basis of a letter.
MySpace is one of the leaders of the social networking websites, but it is not following all the security measures about preventing minors from logging on (and minors are very influencable, and hence the need to make sure that they are not allowed easy access where predators can get at them), for example, people under the age of 14 are not allowed to create a profile, but the only check is that the user has to certify whether they are above or below 14, hardly a very water-tight security measure.
On their side, MySpace proclaims that they are very proactive about removing registered sex offenders; and while denying the request of the attorney generals, claim that they still want to follow the law and make their network safe for everyone to access. Refer this story:

Citing federal privacy law, MySpace.com said Tuesday it won't comply with a request by attorneys general from eight states to hand over the names of registered sex offenders who use the social networking Web site.
"We're truly disheartened that the AGs chose to send out a letter ... when there was an existing legal process that could have been followed," the security officer, Hemanshu Nigam, said in an interview.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday blasted MySpace for refusing to share the information and said no subpoena is needed for MySpace to tell the attorneys general how many registered sex offenders use the site "or other information relating to possible parole violations."
Christian Genetski, an attorney who has represented MySpace, said the Electronic Communications Privacy Act requires subpoenas, court orders or search warrants, depending on the information sought.

A contradiction between wanting to make its network safe (and it would do almost anything to preserve that reputation) while also ensuring that it follows the complete law even when cooperating with legal authorities could prove difficult for MySpace. It might have to buckle down.