So MSN is to close its chatrooms in the uk

[gerry]

Just caught abit of this story on the radio there which got me thinking could MSN not put some sort of software programme where you can ONLY use their chatrooms as long as you are using a web cam.By doing it this way you can see the person you are speaking to and this could cut down the amount of people that go on the net pretending to be younger when they are really older.I hope it doesn't sound too daft what do you think? Thanxs

[5029]

They say that they are closing them to halt child molesters, but the real reason is so that they can't put charges on the people using them and therefore get more money. I dont think webcams are a good idea, couldn't they just point it elsewhere? And it wouldn't stop people exposing themselves, flashing or worse, at children, in fact it would just give them another medium to do it!

[Chinajan]

To (mis)quote David Aaronovitch, "..and it would be helpful if all paedophiles wore dirty raincoats.."

[gerry]

5029 i know what you mean i guess it was a spur of the moment idea i had at the time.

[gerry]

Who is David Aaronovitch ?

[andy hughes]

It's a nice idea, but as you realise, difficult to put into practice. The genius, and curse, of the Web is the inability to police it properly, and as an adult i say amen to that. As a father though, I have the usual concerns, and applaud Microsoft's decision, which I do not believe is motivated by lack of profit potential - heaven knows they've got enough of that - but a genuine desire to do the right thing. More power to them.

[Hippy]

Good old Microsoft, just like any other commercial organisation, does nothing for the good of it. I am sure that the marketing spin of shutting the doors on paedophiles is good for the image, but in truth there are far more paedophile opportunities on AOL and Yahoo with their proliferation of unmoderated "neighbourhood" chat rooms than MSN ever offered.

If you look at their site information you will see that this withdrawal is not world-wide, and notably not in the USA and Canada. This move is about re-organising Microsoft resources to more profitable and lucrative revenue streams.

I will applaud this move if it does prevent just one paedophile pervert from contacting a victim, but we will never know that for sure. There needs to be a concerted effort in moderating the chat rooms, either by voluntary or, if necessary, paid for people. The trouble with that is that when (and it would happen) that the moderation fails, the individuals affected would be likely to sue the chat room operator. No chat room provider is going to take that risk and so they will remain largely unmoderated.

[Hippy]

David Aaronovich is a professional writer who contributes to, among other publications, the Observer and The Guardian newspapers. He shows balance and uncovers political cant, reducing complex issues to understandable arguments without demeaning the subject or the reader. He is also a scriptwriter for TV, perhaps most famously for contributions to "Casualty", a serial Medical Drama on BBC1. Gritty, hard-nosed, cr*p cutting come to mind. For a recent example see:

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/kelly/story/0,13747
,1003391,00.html Enjoy!

[archbishop]

Totally agree with roastyuk. Policing the sites would cost too much and the other sites will probably go the same way.

[Znoober]

They're not closing down MSN Messenger aswell are they?

[gerry]

MSN messenger as far as i know will be still be up and running.