Can you actually "delete" online predators?

MySpace.com's security officer seems to think so, MySpace won't turn over names of sex offenders:

"Everybody needs to get together and delete online predators," Nigam said, adding that MySpace supports state and federal legislation requiring sex offenders to register e-mail addresses. "The attorneys general's concerns and our concerns are exactly the same."

To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of MySpace.com's Electronic Communications Privacy Act argument. Seems a bit frivilous, perhaps I'll have to look at it a bit more, but it doesn't seem that they AG's are asking for intercepted information.

What is probably true, however, is that they don't have to turn over records without a subpoena, and they may be using this as a reason not to do so. I may have to look at Myspace's terms of use as well.

Myth of the superhacker?

Paul Ohmwrites that too much law and policy is based on a fictious person that doesn't exist.

For example, law enforcement officials talk about the spread of zombie “botnets” to support broader computer crime laws. Privacy advocates fret about super-hackers who can steal millions of identities with a few keystrokes. Digital rights management opponents argue that DRM is inherently flawed, because some hacker will always find an exploit. (The DRM debate is unusual, because the power-user trope appears on both sides: DRM proponents argue that because they can never win the arms race against powerful users, they need laws like the DMCA.)

These stories could usefully contribute to these debates if they were cited for what they were: interesting anecdotes that open a window into the empirical realities of online conflict.