First, regarding politics. The original law, the one that imposed content filters on schools and libraries in the first place, was signed by Bill Clinton and I was if anything angrier over that one. Same thing with the Communications Decency Act and its descendants. So it's not about which party is in power -- Democrats do this kind of thing too, and it makes me just as crazy.

Now, the MySpace issue. I've done some research on this, both because I am interested in the evolution of the 'Net and because I work with college students, and it seems to me that it boils down to teenagers behaving irresponsibly. Are there ways that MySpace (and LJ, and other online communities) could do more to discourage kids from putting up their personal information? Probably, but teens will always find ways to rebel and use poor judgement. The more controls you put in their way the more effort they will put into defeating them. I don't think cutting them off is the answer, because that just makes it ever-more tempting forbidden fruit. Far better to *educate* them -- explain to them *why* it's a bad idea to post half-naked photos and then give out your real name and real-world contact information.