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MySpace getting a bit tighter

Popular social-networking site MySpace.com said it is taking additional steps to improve security amid calls for stricter access.

Chris DeWolfe, MySpace chief executive officer, said in an interview last week that the company soon would add crime-preventing technology to better screen how its 60 million members use the site, Reuters reported. Specific plans formally will be announced in the coming weeks, according to an interview by Reuters.

In addition, the company soon plans to hire a c-level administrator who will oversee the site's security and safety education programs.

DeWolfe's comments came just hours after federal authorities charged two men with using MySpace to arrange sexual rendezvous with two female minors.

Federal officials on Thursday charged Sonny Szeto, 22, of New York, with using the site to meet an 11-year-old girl and Stephen Letavec, 39, of Pennsylvania, with using it to meet a 14-year-old girl, according to Reuters.

Richard Blumental, state attorney general of Connecticut, where the charges were announced, called on MySpace to restrict access and improve its age-verification system, Reuters said.

MySpace already bans children under 14 from using the site and limits access for 14- and 15-year-olds. The company also uses software to identify prohibited users by flagging words that might be used by children under 14.

DeWolfe said he believes education is the best tool to prevent criminal use of the site.

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