Facebook and MySpace, two of the most popular social networking websites, have identified and disabled the accounts of over 3,500 registered sex offenders in the state of New York on the back of a recently passed law which demands that sex offenders must register all their e-mail addresses and online aliases with the state. The development had been confirmed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, at a press conference on Tuesday.

Mr. Cuomo share that while Facebook has disabled accounts of 2,782 registered sex offenders, News Corp. owned MySpace has trashed as many as 1,796 accounts. Some offenders, the companies discovered, had accounts on both the sites.

Mr. Cuomo said that by using networking websites, many offenders were violating their parole as they are prohibited from interacting with youngsters. "Whether it's a playground on the street corner or a playground in cyberspace, it doesn't matter", he stressed.

According to authorities, Facebook and MySpace have been the most active social networking websites to have sought access to information compiled under the latest e-Stop Law, and Mr. Cuomo confirmed that his office is currently in the process of sending letter to 17 other networking sites to follow the lead of FB and MySpace and take advantage of the data put together under the law, including classmates. com and Friendster.