International Law

Over at Google Watch, Clint Boulton looks at MySpace's recent pledge to 49 states' attorneys general to better protect minors and suggests that it was "not just a gesture of self-preservation" but rather was an act that foreshadows the future of social networking:

The protection MySpace has "agreed" to provide will take on greater importance over the next several years because if you believe the popular thinking, social networks will become the hub of people's Internet access experiences.

I'm not certain what form this will take, but at some point, we may well be shopping online through our social networks, connecting with Amazon and eBay through MySpace and Facebook.

We will eventually conduct business transactions through our social networks, which, as the Plaxo folks suggest, will be an aggregate of people, family, colleagues and business associates.   

Is this so difficult to believe? How often do we hear that someone has stopped using regular e-mail in favor of Facebook, or LinkedIn? Companies such as TalkShoe are adding voice to social networks.

Social networks are getting rich enough to warrant use beyond simple communications.

Every time someone builds an application for Facebook, MySpace, or any of the other sites that enable programmers to build on their platform, he or she is adding another layer of functionality to the network.

Beyond the virtual food fights and digital sheep throwing, developers are creating ways to hold virtual conferences on these social networks. The convergence of virtual reality avatars with social networks is happening now.

What better way to do your banking, online shopping and business deals from your social network, which will become your own personal Yahoo or Google?

We are years away from this, but if vendors start baking in the appropriate layers of security now, it can become a rapid reality.

Read more here.