KEEPING YOUR KIDS SAFE ONLINE SERVICE MONITORS MYSPACE CONTENT FOR PARENTS.

Byline: JULIA M. SCOTT Staff Writer

SHERMAN OAKS -- Stories about innocent teens being preyed upon by molesters and stalkers through the social networking Web site MySpace.com scared two parents into using their tech skills to do something about it.

Last week, Michael Edelson and Brad Weber launched BeNetSafe, a subscription service that e-mails clients a cut-and-dry list of all the data divulged on up to three MySpace profiles. Now, they say, they have hundreds of subscribers.

``If you're over a certain age, it just doesn't make any sense,'' said Edelson of his daughter's MySpace page. ``But I did see enough to scare me.''

Unlike filters that block unsavory elements from a range of Web sites, the service only scans MySpace pages. Personal information divulged on the site, such as names, schools or phone numbers, is marked with a caution or warning flag.

The service might well have flagged the profile of Brandon Menard, the 21-year-old Northridge man charged last week in the slaying of his parents and kid sister.

Menard wrote on his MySpace page that his most overused instant messenger phrase was ``I'm going to kill you'' and that he got along ``OK with my parents ... unless they're on one of they're (sic) SCHIZO stages.''

MySpace officials declined to comment on the subscription service but said they encourage open dialogue on Internet safety between parents and teens.

``How parents choose to monitor their teen's activities is an individual decision parents must make based on what is appropriate for their family,'' said Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer at MySpace, in a prepared statement. ``Every page on MySpace provides a link for parents to access safety tips and ways in which they can have an online safety dialogue with their teens.''

Still, there are plenty of eye-catching statistics about youths and the Internet.

Roughly 14 percent of youths received unwanted sexual solicitations in 2005, according to a recent study by the University of New Hampshire. That's down from 20 percent in 1999 and 2000.

Almost half of children who go online have received e-mails with links to pornographic sites, according to BeNetSafe.com. About a third of teens say they know someone who has met a person online.

Sharing even minor personal details can have consequences, said Detective Bernell Trapp, who investigates online predators for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

``If they have their picture, their home address, there is probably someone looking at them,'' Trapp said. ``It's probably just a matter of whether they are (a predator's) preference.''

For the worried parent, there are a trove of products that block unsavory or disturbing Web sites.

NetNanny claims to protect children from ``upsetting and unwanted material'' for as low as $3.50 a month or $39.95 a year. It blocks porn sites and rough language that would slip past BeNetSafe, spokesman Peter Feriolo said.

``This is something that is very specific and very targeted,'' Feriolo said of BeNetSafe. ``If it's inappropriate content, NetNanny already blocks it.''

Other software, such as STOPzilla, blocks pop-ups and removes spyware.

The creators of BeNetSafe, Edelson, 48, and Weber, 46, believe their service is one of a kind. It costs $9.95 a month or $49.95 for an entire year.

``All the competing products are software that you have to install and only work on that individual computer,'' Edelson said. ``Nothing goes out and monitors Web sites.''

Debra Kramerage, whose 16-year-old daughter, Kelli, has a MySpace page, signed up because she was curious about her daughter's page even though it seemed innocuous. When the first report landed in her inbox, she found something unexpected.

``My daughter does have a separate account, and her cell phone is listed,'' Kramerage said of Kelli's second, secret page. ``We had a long, hard talk.''

Knowing about the second page explained a dozen long-distance phone numbers that mysteriously appeared on Kelli's cell-phone bill, prompting Kramerage to change the number and keep a close eye on MySpace.

``I do watch it constantly,'' she said. ``And my daughter knows that now.''

julia.scott(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Teens Shai, left, and Tess Castro peer through the arms of stepfather Brad Weber, a founder of BeNetSafe.com.

(2) Brad Weber, here with wife Stacy, helped create the service BeNetSafe, which tells parents what teens, such as his stepdaughters Tess and Shai Castro, are revealing on MySpace.com.

Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News

Box:

A cyber safety net?

SOURCE: www.benetsafe.com

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist