u235

It's not exactly Caveat Emptor, but a digital version of it. The difference in this case is that the buyer isn't accidentally naive but deliberately so. If you choose to ignore the rules, then getting burned by them isn't anyone's fault but your own. At least that's what logic would dictate, but no, we live in America where blame is an anathema and getting money for blame is the holy grail.

The girl is being called "Julie Doe". Why? Because she's 14. But when she went on MySpace she claimed to be 18. She decided to meet up with someone she'd met online and the guy decided (who knows what she was thinking) to have a go at it anyway. The parents found out and got him thrown in jail (20 years is a long time to think about "Well maybe I should have booted her out when I found out how old she was").

Now the parents want $30 million, yes thirty million, from My Space because they should have done "more". More? How exactly do they do that? How to you validate someone's age online? Believe me I'm 21! Actually, ok, you got me I'm only 11 but a genius! Ok, ok, actually I'm 57, but I've still got it... How do you "ask" someone without demanding proof that's impossible to provide?

Gregory Coleman, a lawyer for the girl's family, said the law only gives MySpace a ''limited shield'' from liability.

''It has a responsibility to (protect) children,'' he said.

Wrong dickhead. The *parents* have the responsibility, not MySpace, and not when little Jezebel decides to lie about her age in the first place. Parents need to get a grip, maybe they should take a paddle to their fourteen year hold who decided to go see some guy alone in his truck in a parking lot. The only criminals I see in this picture are the parents who want to make some money off their daughters stupid decision. Honestly, they're the ones that need some social adjustment, even more than their daughter.