Microsoft Offers Tips to Keep Kids Safe On Xbox Live

vansau

Mortician of Love
May 25, 2010
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Microsoft Offers Tips to Keep Kids Safe On Xbox Live



After a sexual predator bypassed some parents' precautions to make Xbox Live safe for their child, Microsoft wants you to know all the available options you have.

<a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103121-Sex-Predator-Uses-Xbox-Live-to-Victimize-10-Year-Old>Earlier this week, it was reported that a 22-year-old man had sexually victimized a 10-year-old boy through the use of Xbox Live. In case you missed the story, here's the short version: Timothy Hammerstone of Polk City, Florida, managed to convince a kid he was playing with to send him nude photos in exchange for Xbox Live credits. The police proceeded to bust him and (hopefully) he won't get out of jail for a long, long time.

Microsoft clearly wasn't thrilled with the news that someone managed to manipulate the system in order to commit such a heinous crime. While the parents of the boy in question apparently tried to safeguard their kid's online activities - since Hammerstone created a new Live account to circumvent the parents' watchful eye - the story could easily be twisted to make it look like Xbox Live is totally unsafe for children.

This, of course, is not the case. If you're a parent and want to make sure that your child isn't at risk for a situation like this, there are a number of controls that you should be aware of. A representative from Microsoft's Xbox PR team contacted The Escapist to offer some tips about how adults can keep their kids safe when they're using Live:

The Live settings do allow parents or guardians to block Xbox Live membership creation, which prevents users from signing up for a new Live account or recovering accounts on a console unless they have the "secret passcode" (parents own the master account with the passcode). Additionally, the technology allows parents to:Block the visibility of a child account to online users (the child's gamertag cannot be seen by others).
Manage and approve a child's online "Friends List" (Friend requests come to the parent for approval).
Restrict or Block the use of the "Xbox LIVE Vision Cam" and the type of communications your child can engage in (like voice or video chat).
Block online access entirely.
Block specific online users.
Block videogames and movies based on ESRB and MPAA rating systems.
I thought your readers might benefit from this additional information so they can be empowered to take the necessary steps to create a safer gaming environment for their children. Parents can also find more information about Xbox 360 Family Settings on www.GetGameSmart.com. [http://www.GetGameSmart.com]

It's good to see that Microsoft isn't just sitting on its haunches in the aftermath of this event and is working to make sure kids stay safe while they game online. Hopefully these tips will help prevent another situation like this from happening.

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Quiet Stranger

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Feb 4, 2006
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This is good news but I can't help but not feel for the kid, his own fault really, when I was his age there was thousands of kid friendly websites telling us not to do these things
 

Cliff_m85

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Feb 6, 2009
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Microsoft shouldn't have to do a thing about this. Parents should KNOW to monitor their children. It's ridiculous that this even happened.
 

Giest4life

The Saucepan Man
Feb 13, 2010
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Can't really blame Microsoft, here. I'm willing to bet that he (the kid) DID know that sending nude photos to a stranger (or to anyone for that matter) might not be the smartest, or the most appropriate thing to do.

Just glad that he's safe.
 

Dogstile

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Jan 17, 2009
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A PR guy contacted the Escapist? Good thought, but useless considering most, if not all people here know how to use family settings on a console.
 

lee1287

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Apr 7, 2009
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At 10 years old i knew not too get naked for strange men. Not for MSP anyway. The kid is basicaly a prostitute. His own fault.
 

vansau

Mortician of Love
May 25, 2010
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dogstile said:
A PR guy contacted the Escapist? Good thought, but useless considering most, if not all people here know how to use family settings on a console.
You'd be surprised. I have a number of non-gamer relatives with kids who don't know the first thing about parental settings. Besides, if this article keeps even one kid safe from something like what happened with Hammerstone, I consider it worthwhile.
 

JordanMillward_1

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May 19, 2009
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I have to agree, it does seem to be the kid's/parents' fault that this was allowed to happen. Microsoft put everything in the hands of the parents to stop this from happening, and they didn't use it. Plus, at age 10, I knew getting naked for people wasn't something you should do.
 

Vilcus

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Jun 29, 2009
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No tips on how to keep me safe from the kids on Xbox Live who scream at everyone?

This is terrible, and I'm glad the sick bastard got caught. I feel bad for the family, but at least he never found where the kid lived. It's puzzling that his parents don't know how to protect their children online, and they should have monitored him while he was playing.

Owell, the world is messed up, and no one was physically harmed, so life goes on.
 

soapyshooter

That Guy
Jan 19, 2010
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sorry for the caps in advance but I am pissed:

WHY DOES A 10 YEAR OLD HAVE XBL? are the parents fucking retarded?
 

Omikron009

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May 22, 2009
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This whole thing is the fault of a stupid kid with too many privileges. I mean, what kind of person is stupid enough to do that? Even at age 10.
 

Baron_BJ

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Nov 13, 2009
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I don't understand how the child got off with this, what he did essentially counts as the sale and distribution of child pornography (as in he was giving away nudes of himself in exchange for the credits). Children have been arrested for this before and for far less, for example 17 year old teens have been imprisoned for the distribution of child pornography because they have sent nudes of themselves to their girlfriend/boyfriend (Their parents would often check their phones, leading to this issue).
 

Not G. Ivingname

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Nov 18, 2009
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vansau said:
dogstile said:
A PR guy contacted the Escapist? Good thought, but useless considering most, if not all people here know how to use family settings on a console.
You'd be surprised. I have a number of non-gamer relatives with kids who don't know the first thing about parental settings. Besides, if this article keeps even one kid safe from something like what happened with Hammerstone, I consider it worthwhile.
You know if Microsoft sent this message to other gaming sites, such as sites meant for parents? If not, why not forward this article to them? More likely to help there then here.
 

Infinatex

BLAM!Headshot?!
May 19, 2009
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Wow they should use this technology to block XBL chat for anyone under 15 so I don't have to listen to them when I'm playing online!
 

Neuromaster

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Mar 4, 2009
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soapyshooter said:
sorry for the caps in advance but I am pissed:

WHY DOES A 10 YEAR OLD HAVE XBL? are the parents fucking retarded?
To play Madden NFL 11 with his cousin in Denver? I dunno, just making something up.

I don't think it's XBL that's the problem any more than having internet access on the family PC is the problem. For starters, the kid deliberately went around some of the barriers his parents had set up to protect him.
 

vansau

Mortician of Love
May 25, 2010
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Not G. Ivingname said:
vansau said:
dogstile said:
A PR guy contacted the Escapist? Good thought, but useless considering most, if not all people here know how to use family settings on a console.
You'd be surprised. I have a number of non-gamer relatives with kids who don't know the first thing about parental settings. Besides, if this article keeps even one kid safe from something like what happened with Hammerstone, I consider it worthwhile.
You know if Microsoft sent this message to other gaming sites, such as sites meant for parents? If not, why not forward this article to them? More likely to help there then here.
Good question. I'll follow up with them in the morning and find out :)
 

Not G. Ivingname

New member
Nov 18, 2009
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vansau said:
Not G. Ivingname said:
vansau said:
dogstile said:
A PR guy contacted the Escapist? Good thought, but useless considering most, if not all people here know how to use family settings on a console.
You'd be surprised. I have a number of non-gamer relatives with kids who don't know the first thing about parental settings. Besides, if this article keeps even one kid safe from something like what happened with Hammerstone, I consider it worthwhile.
You know if Microsoft sent this message to other gaming sites, such as sites meant for parents? If not, why not forward this article to them? More likely to help there then here.
Good question. I'll follow up with them in the morning and find out :)
Good, let me know how that turns out.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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I can appreciate this, but here's one tip to offer kids: Don't send people nude photo's of yourself.

Again, appreciate the PR guy contacting the site even though MS didn't have to do anything wrong.