Back in the day, San Francisco closed the bath houses as a proactive measure aimed at containing the spread of HIV. The unpopular decision simultaneously protected many who demonstrated symptoms of another illness, the it-won't-happen-to-me disease.
On those same lines, to "protect the children", the global three--AOL, Google, MSN, along with the rest of their ilk--should simply close the chat rooms. Or--at the very least--the "romance" chat rooms.
Their cloak of subterfuge gone, cyber cops can declare the War on Predation won as arrest numbers plummet and the reframe game begins. Computers can be relocated to squad cars and these officers can get back behind the wheel to hassle the general community and wage a new war on God Only Knows.
Many persons-- whose naivete (or penchant for risk-taking behavior) will be saved from themselves. Those who look a gift horse in the mouth may resort to trolling reputable rooms, like the ever popular Ravelry.com.
And those who get stung in such a place, well, all I can say is....
Knit one. Pearl two.
