Tim Japlit, now 15, opened an account on MySpace two years ago. To get one, he lied about his age.
His younger brother Daniel is 13, but he, too, has an account – despite minimum-age rules set by the hugely popular online social networking site that are aimed at protecting children from sexual predators who troll the Internet.
Until now, MySpace has relied on an old-fashioned honor system, but in these days of worry about online predators, the company said Monday it would create a task force to come up with ways to better protect children and vowed to develop software to help enforce the site's often-violated minimum age requirement of 14.
The steps were part of an agreement with attorneys general from 49 states, including California, that aims to better shield children who use the Internet as a modern playground.
"Unfortunately, I don't always have the time to monitor everything they do on the Internet," said Tim and Daniel's father, Gilbert Japlit of Elk Grove, "but I do talk to my kids about it. And, so far, the trust has not been broken."
The admonition is the same whether in public or in the seeming privacy of an online chatroom – don't talk to strangers, Japlit said.
"Sure, Web sites should do what they can, but really it's the responsibility of parents," Japlit said.
Japlit conceded he was unaware of the minimum-age rule when his son Tim opened his MySpace account two years ago.
His sons, like many others on social networking sites, often don't use their real ages – sometimes to circumvent those rules, but also to increase their sense of anonymity on the Web.
Like the Japlit boys, 12-year-old Anthony Apreda of Teaneck, N.J., lied about his age to create a MySpace account two years ago. He said he was 18.
"When people go on MySpace they lie about their age. Everyone lies about their age," the sixth-grader said. "You just put an age and a date and you just put it on there."
The move by MySpace was hailed as another step in making the Internet safer for youngsters, many of whom spend hours in front of computer screens chatting, sharing snapshots and dispatching e-mails to online buddies, family and – to the alarm of parents and law enforcement officials – sometimes to virtual strangers.
"It's not going to prevent all crime by any means, but it's a step forward," California Attorney General Jerry Brown said. "The Internet is the Wild West, and there's only so much you can do."
Last year, an Assembly committee squelched a bill that would have required registered sex offenders to report their e-mail addresses and other online identities to the state, which would then have made the information available to such social networking sites as MySpace.
Debate over the measure centered on the cost of maintaining the database, privacy and free speech.
Monday's agreement was announced in New York by MySpace officials surrounded by attorneys general from Connecticut, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania and by members of a committee who developed a collection of principles meant to guide MySpace and other social networking sites.
The agreement comes after two years of talks that have forced MySpace to address accusations that it was being lax with safety.
In Texas – the only state not a party to Monday's agreement – the company is being sued by teens who were allegedly raped by men they met on the site.
"We thank the attorneys general for a thoughtful and constructive conversation on Internet safety. This is an industry-wide challenge, and we must all work together to create a safer Internet," Hemanshu Nigam, the chief security officer for MySpace, said in a statement released by the company.
He urged other social networking sites to follow suit.
Facebook said it welcomed the increased vigilance.
"We are happy to work further with the states to develop and deploy strategies to protect kids online," the company said in a statement.
The deal comes as sites such as MySpace and Facebook have grown exponentially in recent years, with teenagers making up a large part of their membership. Parry Aftab, executive director of Wiredsafety.org, a children's Internet safety group, said the agreement was a good first step but could have unforeseen consequences.
"There's no system that will work for age verification without putting kids at risk," she said. "Age verification requires that you have a database of kids and if you do, that database is available to hackers and anyone who can get into it."
On the same day the agreement was announced, New York prosecutors announced charges against a couple who allegedly used the site to lure two girls under 15 to their home. Authorities say the couple plied the pair with alcohol, engaged in group sex with them and took them to a strip club where the girls had to dance on stage.
Owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., MySpace – which boasts more than 200 million registered users worldwide – had more than 114 million visitors in June 2007. Facebook had more than 52 million visitors that month. Investigators have grown increasingly interested in the sites in their search for sexual offenders.
Two Sacramento police investigators are assigned to possible online crimes, said spokesman Sgt. Matt Young. They routinely monitor sites frequented by teens, such as MySpace, sometimes initiating chats with potential predators, he said.
MySpace says it already has safeguards in place, including reviewing every image and video uploaded to the site. It also automatically makes profiles of 14- and 15-year-old users private and plans to do the same for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Call The Bee's Bobby Caina Calvan, (916) 321-1067. The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
