Letters to the Editor
Just Jake
Published Letters: 61 Editor's Choice: 8
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What often passes for age verification
[Read the article: The front line in the fight against online sexual predation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Certainly there is no good online method for verifying age. Even the method used when someone is in-person holding a driver's license is far from fully effective.
I'm going to presume you are actually asking how they would implement something. Based on things I've seen several sites do that need to make an effort to confirm identity or restrict mature content, there is one frequent low bar: credit card verification. A card does not need to be charged to validate it, but something like a one time $1 charge can also be useful. Most cc company statements allow a line of added transaction info; picture a $1 charge with a detail line like 'MySpace age verification for member dhfkshf'. That would tip-off a parent one would hope, and be a disincentive to use a stolen card. However, for a free site that would be a high barrer for entry, because even in the USA where credit cards are so common they still aren't universal. Also, such a system costs money to operate that would probably be excessive if not selling directly.
For identity verification like eBay uses for the 'verified' feature, the transaction is passed to a credit bureau that asks questions including things like mortgage/rent payment, car payment, ssn, etc. Answering all the questions would probably be harder for a minor than just getting a cc number. That would be an even more unreasonable barrier to entry because different solutions would be needed for different countries I'd imagine, and who'd provide such info just to join MySpace?
However, it reads like that AG wants MySpace to verify being underage, i.e. that those claiming to be 14 years old aren't really 40. I can't envision any current technological measure that would validate that either. The closest I can think of is having schools issue some unique ID #, and you could only claim to be under 18 if you had an ID # which would also verify exact age. Somehow I don't see that happening, at least not globally.
I expect MySpace to tell them to take a hike on that request, since it would single them out from every other site that doesn't have to do this why... simply because another site isn't currently as popular? What the heck kind of policy puts special burdens on a particular company just because its product/service is popular? Last I knew the US law only requires treating 13 younger differently when the visitor claims to be under that age. Isn't that why the youngest reported users are 14, because MySpace avoids that issue by not registering younger visitors? I guess they could do what some alcohol companies do: ask what year you were born before entry... ooh now there's a toughie.
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Sensationalism
[Read the article: Are you addicted to semen?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Whew, thank goodness you resisted the temptation to use a trashy, sensationalist headline. Oh wait, nevermind.
As for the question, isn't everyone addicted to semen in one way or another? Not me though, I only drink it for the taste.
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Just a teaser to buy her book
[Read the article: The art of snooping]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To the people concerned she was paid for this, fear not. For the people bothered by the [lack of] journalistic quality, that's because it isn't journalism. The editor's note explains all.
This 'article' is a brief teaser to convince us how interesting it is to be a snoop, especially a P.I. And well, look at that, the author just happens to have written a whole fictional book on the subject. The article is basically an ad, Salon got an item it could post free, or it may have been part of a bigger marketing deal.
In actuality many/most book excerpts or related stories work like this, the primary difference being that in the past on Salon such items were often interesting and of better pedigree or substance. At least I hope to heaven that's what happened here -- I'd be horrified if someone paid for this article.
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Obligation
[Read the article: It has been 10 months and he still won't say "I love you"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The LW has turned what should be what someone says because they are moved to express it into an obligation. When someone in a relationship has tried to force me to do or say something, the most fitting term for that has seemed to be 'controlling'.
Some guys have great difficulty expressing feelings through words, and may even find such expressions hollow. Such a guy might express the same feeling by washing your car, watching romantic comedies with you when he can't stand them, by being faithful, etc. Maybe LW could watch the movie Ghost, and look upon another guy who clearly cared but had trouble with the words. It is fiction, but that quirk comes right out of real life.
Also, the boyfriend's family may have been as averse to the phrase as LW's family is in love with it, and so it unnatural for him. Really though the reason may not matter. LW has cried over this. She has written an advice columnist about this. It sure sounds like a deal-breaker for her, and even if she forces him to say it she will then have to reflect that it meant nothing because he said it to get her to shut up about it.
If it is a deal breaker, then she should move on. To me, that would be supremely silly if everything else in the relationship is good, but each of us has to decide what is most important to us. If she does end it, it is quite possible the next guy will say it as freely as breathing, while bedding her sister / best friend / random strangers on the side.