Man arrested for soliciting minor on IMVU

[PurestSeraphim]

not really off topic, carrying on where Bethany left off...just stating that ppl need more morals... O:) O:) O:) or brains...

[Link4009]

"They can direct and star in their own video. "
What'd I'd like to know is have parents actually been on this?

"Characters can also give different types of hugs and kisses."
Which most are not even usable unless your a buddy

"During a decoy operation, investigators allege a man approached an officer posing as an underage girl for sexual contact"
You know, the children can't really be sexually contact without a Access Pass right?

"it enables children as young as 11 to create"
You know, if it did that it'd be shut down because its breaking a law 13+ Kiddies only!

"Parents are also concerned because each character has the ability express different actions such as flirty, bashful or angry"
Oh my god! Bring out the pitchforks and and torches! Children can display moods! Come on, nothing bad unless the children have an access pass, which they can only get by credit card and lying bout their age, if they have an access pass, its obviously that the parents are bad for just handing their credit card away.

"IMVU says it has added other safety features that include terms of service that govern customer interactions, a way for people to report abusive or inappropriate behavior quickly, and it encourages users not to share personal information."

This is not going to stop anything, I assure you those kids are asking for online rape or else someone would actually use these!

[FoxyMcCloud]

Anyone can buy the access pass. They just need the parents to say its ok...  :umm:

[WingedZephyr]

...Or rather, they need to steal their parents' credit card, have parents that don't care if they're strutting around on IMVU, or they need to trick their parents into thinking it's no big deal.  

[KajiKitsune]

...Or rather, they need to steal their parents' credit card, have parents that don't care if they're strutting around on IMVU, or they need to trick their parents into thinking it's no big deal. ÂÂ

They must be really good tricksters (or the parents are really stupid to do such a thing to their own kids), 'cause again, you have to be 18 years old in order to get an access pass, and even by lying about age in IMVU won't even work 'cause if a concerned parent would happen to peer in this Access Pass, they would wonder why their kid, who is definitely NOT 18, would want to have this pass to get these erotic items.

Then there's stealing the parent's credit card. Suuure, they got it, but does the kid know the 4 digit password to get to the account and transfer the money into IMVU?

Only if the parent REALLY trusts the kid OR that kid would want to go to the local bank to the ATM just to know the 4 digit number... I doubt it so.

Kids these days... becoming perverts and thieves just to look "cool." How pathetic.

[Link4009]

...Or rather, they need to steal their parents' credit card, have parents that don't care if they're strutting around on IMVU, or they need to trick their parents into thinking it's no big deal.  

I don't know about you but if I stole my moms credit card you'd never see me online anyways
the other two reasons you have is an example of bad parenting.
If parents are going to freak out they should actually take careful checks on what their children are doing!

[Link4009]

...Or rather, they need to steal their parents' credit card, have parents that don't care if they're strutting around on IMVU, or they need to trick their parents into thinking it's no big deal.  

They must be really good tricksters (or the parents are really stupid to do such a thing to their own kids), 'cause again, you have to be 18 years old in order to get an access pass, and even by lying about age in IMVU won't even work 'cause if a concerned parent would happen to peer in this Access Pass, they would wonder why their kid, who is definitely NOT 18, would want to have this pass to get these erotic items.

Then there's stealing the parent's credit card. Suuure, they got it, but does the kid know the 4 digit password to get to the account and transfer the money into IMVU?

Only if the parent REALLY trusts the kid OR that kid would want to go to the local bank to the ATM just to know the 4 digit number... I doubt it so.

Kids these days... becoming perverts and thieves just to look "cool." How pathetic.

I agree, parents are going to see on their Bill 20$ for IMVU and ask what the hell they bought.

Also if they stole the credit card, chances are they are not going to know the digits.

And it is pathetic, since when is thievery cool? Wheres the line? Will my children think Murder is cool?

[WingedZephyr]

 arf I wasn't being that serious. That's what the   was for. Yeah, of course, most parents wouldn't let their kids do anything like that. But you have to admit there are some younger kids who do get some of the more "mature" items on IMVU without their parents' knowledge of what they're really up to, and that there are some parents who don't care. I wasn't saying there are no parents who care or pay attention to these things.

And having to be 18, does IMVU really do anything to prove kids are really 18 ? There have been many occasions where I've seen people labeled as "16" or something and on their homepage say "I'm not 16, I'm really 13" or something like that. You would think the age requirement wouldn't be much of a deterrent for a kid who really wants to dress like they're "mature."  :umm:

[Link4009]

...Or rather, they need to steal their parents' credit card, have parents that don't care if they're strutting around on IMVU, or they need to trick their parents into thinking it's no big deal.  

I don't know about you but if I stole my moms credit card you'd never see me online anyways
the other two reasons you have is an example of bad parenting.
If parents are going to freak out they should actually take careful checks on what their children are doing!

the sad thing is there are a lot of "parents" out there who just don't give a flying fur ball what their kids are doing because the are to busy to be parents.  i've noticed in the past 20 or so years since women have been spending more time at work and making careers there is less parenting in the home. (not saying women shouldn't work) but I think there should be some sort of  government help for working families that allow for stay at home mom's or dads Canada & USA. ... we need people to look after their kids. because right now, it's not doing them kids a lick of good raising themselves.

Media is today's babysitter, and I'm sick and tired of Parents complaining about what their children are learning/doing because they can't take five minutes to look at what their kids are getting into

[ephemral]

"During a decoy operation, investigators allege a man approached an officer posing as an underage girl for sexual contact"
You know, the children can't really be sexually contact without a Access Pass right?

That probably meant that the guy tried to meet face to face for sexual activity.

And having to be 18, does IMVU really do anything to prove kids are really 18 ? There have been many occasions where I've seen people labeled as "16" or something and on their homepage say "I'm not 16, I'm really 13" or something like that. You would think the age requirement wouldn't be much of a deterrent for a kid who really wants to dress like they're "mature".

They rely on the user's testimony and agreement to the TOS. If the user is found in violation they are held responsible.
In this case the parents are held accountable. But since when have rules been a deterrent for immoral behaviour ?

[Melina]

Hmm typical over reaction, alright I'm not saying that such things don't go on they do. it's just that it seems many chat programmes and genrally the internet is blamed for a great deal of these cases. No matter what system you have implace someone is going to abuse it and make problems for others.

Quote
"During a decoy operation, investigators allege a man approached an officer posing as an underage girl for sexual contact"

Hmm just shows how diffent things are over here in the UK. That would never stand before a judge it would be thrown out faster than lighting. Officaly the UK police have to list it as entrapment.

It seems to me as open minded person it's the usual story of a company getting into 'problems' and resolving it with knee jerk reactions. In the long run this kind of thing of not thinking things throught, and having a quick reaction to problems like this are only going to do one thing Harm the users. I think IMVU and other chat companies need to think things out before running into the usual treadmill of a quick responce to be seen that they are doing something. I agree with PurestSeraphim on most of her remarks. The biggest problems today are that socity as a whole has no view of what should be happening. The things that seem to be missing are Morals and common sence...or maybe it's just me that thinks that.  Parents I have ten words for you,  be responcible for where you let your 'precious' child surf. It's not that hard to childlock your computer so they can't use IMVU. or does that take tro much effort on your part hmm?


Quote

Many area parents have expressed sincere concern regarding the chat room as it enables children as young as 11 to create a three-dimensional character using different.

Hello...am I missing something here, maybe it might be an idea for IMVU to delete the account and ban the IP of anyone if they find out that an a 11year old kid is using the chat?

Looks like 9News did not read the rules of IMVU. You must be 13 to join IMVU. True MaxBeniot but you'll find most news services sooner not read the rules and just whip eveyone up into a frenzy. Kinda remind me of that scene in "Frankenstine' where the villagers get into a frothing fury and head up to the castle with torches and pitchforks. Makes for better news that way you know.....

[cybercat]

Not to whip a dead horse, but it doesn't take an Access Pass to 'TS' on any chat program.  Just because someone can't do certain  3d actions doesn't mean they can't type out what  they would like to do to another person/avatar.

Face it, children need to be protected. Unfortunately most parents are stupid, don't monitor / treat their children properly and should have their spawning licenses revoked.  So does that mean because some kid's parents are stupid or ignorant we should let innocent children be hurt by sexual predators? No.

As much as I might fancifully favor people being allowed to 'Drawin' themselves to death, we can't just allow that to occur especially when it involves kids. Because one way or another if we do, it will affect us.  

It is true that people need to take up more personal responsibily, but until they do the rest of us will have to take up the slack. If that means  being a bit more proactive on tripping up sexual predators or being more severe on limitations then that's what we'll have to do.. As long as it is done yes, with common sense and a level hand.

[ephemral]

Hmm just shows how diffent things are over here in the UK. That would never stand before a judge it would be thrown out faster than lighting. Officaly the UK police have to list it as entrapment.

The article isn't really detailed on exactly what charges the man was brought up on and how he was caught. Having a chat isn't going to get you thrown in jail all by itself. We simply don't have the resources for that. The article implied something that the police do often.
They troll the waters of cyberspace (the shallow end) for people that shouldn't be there. They find who they are looking for when that person willingly violates the law and attempts to physically set his or her intentions into motion. It's not exactly entrapment. They carefully watch what they say to avoid that. That's why they said the man solicited the minor. It wasn't all about what he said. It was more about what he attempted to do.(and what he was doing at the time of arrest.)


But most importantly check the date of any article you find about IMVU. It's still in beta and goes through many changes.
You'd be surprised just how far it's come already. I'm not saying this article is old or anything. I've found several articles about IMVU
nearer to it's first release.

[Melina]

Not to whip a dead horse, but it doesn't take an Access Pass to 'TS' on any chat program.  Just because someone can't do certain  3d actions doesn't mean they can't type out what  they would like to do to another person/avatar.

Face it, children need to be protected. Unfortunately most parents are stupid, don't monitor / treat their children properly and should have their spawning licenses revoked.  So does that mean because some kid's parents are stupid or ignorant we should let innocent children be hurt by sexual predators? No.

As much as I might fancifully favor people being allowed to 'Drawin' themselves to death, we can't just allow that to occur especially when it involves kids. Because one way or another if we do, it will affect us.  

It is true that people need to take up more personal responsibily, but until they do the rest of us will have to take up the slack. If that means  being a bit more proactive on tripping up sexual predators or being more severe on limitations then that's what we'll have to do.. As long as it is done yes, with common sense and a level hand.

I totally understand what your saying Cybercat, it's just that 'decoy' operations have always been very close to breaking the law themseleves within the UK. Until the law is changed on these activies of the police they are kind of borderline. I guess it's always going to be on of thoes issues where such things maybe looked upon in a dim light by the law courts but seen as fair game by the mass public.

I know I was lucky to have good caring parents, my father would go balstic about some of the things I got up to as a kid. It's just a bit of a shame not everyone has the same moral out look on life. But I guess no matter how good or closely we watch our children such...people that 'troll' the net are going to happen. Yes it is the responsibily everyone to see this doesn't happen, I just don't think knee jerk reactions are going to help anyone.

I guess we can't expect a perfect world when you have idiots urinating in the genepool