MySpace, the country’s largest social-networking Web site, has agreed with attorneys general of 49 states to take new steps to protect children from sexual predators on its site. It also agreed to lead a nationwide effort to develop technology to verify the ages and identities of Internet users, officials announced Monday.

The agreement is the latest attempt by law enforcement officials nationwide to shield children from online dangers, including the risk of encountering inappropriate sexual content or receiving sexual advances through sites like MySpace and Facebook. The sites, increasingly popular among college, high school and even younger students, allow any Internet user to create a profile to display personal information and build networks of friends online.

Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, announced the deal at a news conference in Midtown Manhattan, along with a MySpace executive and Roy Cooper, the attorney general of North Carolina. Also present were Attorney General Anne Milgram of New Jersey and the attorneys general of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Mr. Blumenthal said the voluntary agreement went further than the one struck in October between New York’s attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, and the Facebook Web site.

“It’s stronger, broader, a very significant step or even a milestone in making the industry aim higher to keep kids safer,” Mr. Blumenthal said in an interview.

He cited steps in the new agreement to separate children’s profiles from those of adults and to seek ways to verify users’ ages — steps that he called for after the Facebook agreement, when he and Mr. Cooper had said that stronger measures were needed.

Mr. Cuomo said the MySpace agreement built on Facebook’s acknowledgment that it bore responsibility for protecting users.

“The Facebook agreement broke the ice,” he said.

The most important new measure, Mr. Blumenthal said, is that MySpace will create and lead a task force to find ways to verify ages and identities online. The task force, which will receive input from competing sites, child protection groups and technology companies, will report back to the attorneys general quarterly and issue recommendations at the end of this year.

Facebook, in its agreement with New York prosecutors, promised to respond more speedily to complaints about sexual messages and to warn users in stronger language that the site could not guarantee children’s safety.

The new agreement with MySpace, signed by 50 attorneys general — the top prosecutors of the District of Columbia and every state except Texas, includes similar provisions, and more.

“This is an industrywide challenge, and we must all work together to create a safer Internet,” Hemanshu Nigam, the chief security officer of MySpace, said in a statement.

MySpace, which says it has about 70 million users, agreed to install safeguards that require an adult user to prove that he or she knows a child user in order to contact that child, for instance by typing in an address or phone number.

Profiles of users under 18 will automatically be set to “private,” preventing casual browsers from seeing them.

Cushman & Wakefield represented Crowell & Moring in its space evaluation and lease negotiation. The team was led by executive vice presidents Jonathan Serko, Mitchell Barnett and Mark Minich, and director David Malawer. The ownership, Edward J. Minskoff Equities Inc., was represented in-house by EVP Jeffrey Sussman.

According to Serko, a relocation to 590 Madison Ave. offers the law firm several benefits over comparable alternatives. The building is centrally located, modern and highly efficient, Serko explains. It also immediately accommodates the firm’s expansion requirements while allowing the flexibility for future growth.

“For Crowell & Moring, 590 Madison was the most practical and economical option,” Serko says. “As corporate tenants move further west to Sixth and Seventh avenues and beyond, Madison Avenue offers a central location in close proximity to clients in a wide range of industries. In addition, the space is already built and furnished, which reduces the typical expenses associated with expansions and relocations.”

http://www.crowell.com

A former pub landlord accused of murdering five prostitutes has appeared in court for a second day ahead of the start of his trial.

Steve Wright, 49, of Ipswich, Suffolk, denies murdering Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

Wearing an open-necked white shirt and a single-breasted black suit, Wright listened intently as the lawyers in the case discussed legal issues for 20 minutes at Ipswich Crown Court.

The jury of 10 men and two women, who were sworn in on Monday, did not attend Tuesday's proceedings.

The prosecution, led by barrister Peter Wright QC, is due to open its case against Wright at 10.30am on Wednesday.

Wright's defence team is headed by Timothy Langdale QC.

The five women were found at remote locations near Ipswich during a 10-day period in December 2006.

Instead, the Superior Court commissioner heard a day of closed-door testimony from Kevin Federline and witnesses to a bizarre situation this month in which police took the pop singer to a hospital after a standoff in her home when she refused to return the boys to Federline's bodyguard after a visit.

Commissioner Scott Gordon then ruled that a Jan. 4 emergency order suspending her visitation rights and giving custody to Federline would remain in effect. He scheduled another hearing for Feb. 19.

"The word victory is not something Mr. Federline or his counsel would ascribe to this. There is no joy. This is a grave situation for all," Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, said outside the courthouse.

Although Federline thought the ruling was correct, Kaplan said, "his goal, his hope for the future is at some point he will be able to parent the children with the participation of their mother."

Kaplan would not answer questions.

Court spokesman Allan Parachini said those who testified were two Los Angeles police officers; Paula Strong, the court-appointed monitor who was present for the visit at Spears' home; Lisa Hacker, a parenting coach who has been working with Spears and Federline; and Lonnie Jones, the bodyguard.

Parachini did not reveal what the witnesses said during their testimony.

Gordon's order noted that during an officer's testimony there were two exhibits, one described as a photocopy of a police report and the other as a "photocopy of Application for 72-hour Detention for Evaluation and Treatment." All exhibits were ordered sealed.

Neither Spears nor Federline were required to attend, but Federline arrived early, sporting a mohawk-style haircut and dressed in a suit. Spears didn't arrive until early afternoon.

A sport-utility vehicle took her into a civic center garage, but only her attorneys got out before it left. It later stopped outside the courthouse, where Spears got out of a passenger seat and took over the driver's seat. It was not clear in the crush of photographers whether she or a companion was at the wheel when it left.

Gordon scheduled Monday's hearing at the same time he issued a Jan. 4 order suspending Spears' monitored visits with sons Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, and giving full legal and physical custody to Federline, who previously had temporary custody.

Gordon issued that order the day after police were called to Spears' home when she refused to return the children to Federline after a monitored visit and officers had paramedics haul the pop star off to a hospital for undisclosed reasons. She was released after a day and a half at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Police officers monitoring the paparazzi outside the courthouse warned them to stay on the sidewalk, and several were issued citations for being in the street.

Spears married Federline in 2004 and filed for divorce in 2006. Throughout 2007, her behavior was erratic — and highly public, as a train of photographers trailed her everywhere.

A court ordered her to undergo random drug and alcohol testing, and to temporarily give the boys to Federline. Spears' attorneys asked the court this month to be relieved as her counsel because of a "breakdown" in communication. That motion is scheduled to be heard on Feb. 4.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to consider a ruling that terminally ill patients have no right to be treated with experimental drugs not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration -- even if that means the patient will likely die before the medicine is approved.

The court, without comment or recorded dissent, let stand a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which said the terminally ill have no constitutional right to drugs the agency had considered safe enough for additional testing.

The justices questioned whether evidence in criminal cases should be suppressed following arrests that violate state laws. At issue is the cocaine conviction of David Lee (Chubs) Moore, who was pulled over by Portsmouth, Va., detectives who suspected he was driving on a suspended license. Instead of sending Moore on his way after writing a court summons -- as required by Virginia law -- police arrested him and found crack cocaine in his jacket. The Virginia Supreme Court threw out the case and overturned his five-year prison term after concluding the search following his arrest was unconstitutional.

Three law firms have filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of victims of last weekend's Fernley flood - the second such complaint in two days.

In their suit filed Friday in Lyon County District Court in Yerington, the Reno firms of Maddox & Associates, Leverty & Associates and Dunlap & Laxalt are seeking unspecified damages from the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District.

The complaint came a day after Reno lawyer Robert Hagar filed a
suit in Washoe County District Court on behalf of Judy Kroshus, whose home was among hundreds flooded after a storm-swollen irrigation canal ruptured Jan. 5. That suit, which also seeks class-action status, names the irrigation district, local governments and homebuilders as defendants.

Both lawsuits allege that the irrigation district did not properly maintain the canal and failed to minimize damage once the breach occurred in the fast-growing town 30 miles east of Reno.

Ernie Schank, TCID president, said the district reacted as quickly as possible after learning about the rupture, which was reported at about 4:20 a.m.

"This will be a complex case," lawyer Cal Dunlap told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "A lot of this is unknown territory. It's not immediately clear which laws apply."

Judges will have to certify the lawsuits as class actions, meaning that the suits represent all plaintiffs affected by the flood.

"It's unusual for two class actions to be certified," said Jeffrey Stempel, a law professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "Filing first is always an advantage."

Stempel maintained the irrigation district generally would be liable for flood damage.

"If you've penned up an animal and the animal escaped and hurt
someone, it's usually your responsibility," he said. "In this case, the district penned up water and it got away from them."

The irrigation district operates the canal under a contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns it.

Schank has said he realizes the district will be targeted by lawsuits, but was unsure whether it's liable for flood damage.

Betsy Rieke, area manager for the reclamation bureau, has said her agency thinks the district would be liable.

Rieke's agency continues to investigate the cause of the breach, which occurred after unusually heavy rain.