Sex offenders may have to register e-addresses

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut and more than a dozen other states are considering whether to require convicted sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses as part of efforts to combat online sexual predators.

Three states – Virginia, Arizona and Kentucky – already require sex offenders to provide law enforcement with their e-mail addresses, as well as their home addresses.

The bills have support from the popular social networking site MySpace.com, which has been under increasing pressure to ferret out convicted child molesters and stop them from creating online profiles.

Connecticut’s proposal would require sex offenders to register any e-mail addresses, instant message addresses or other Internet identifiers with the state police. Those who don’t report the information would face up to five years in prison.

It also makes it a felony for any person to misrepresent his or her age on the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.

MySpace is lobbying for similar legislation on both state and national levels.