MOUNT VERNON — MySpace officials have been busy in the nation’s capital, advocating proposed federal legislation that would require sex offenders to register their e-mail addresses with the National Sex Offender Registry.

The bill, titled the Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators (KIDS) Act of 2007, would require a convicted sex offender to register “any e-mail address, instant message address, or other similar Internet identifier the sex offender used or will use to communicate over the Internet.” It requires the offender to update the information before changing any of these addresses.

Failure to register under the new bill could result in a fine or prison term of up to 10 years.

The bill would also make it a crime, with a prison term of up to 20 years, for any adult to knowingly misrepresent his or her age on the Internet for the purposes of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor.

MySpace.com has been one of the chief advocates of e-mail registration for sex offenders and the company’s chief of security, Hemu Nigam, recently spoke out in favor of the new legislation.

“We can no longer unwittingly provide an advantage to predators online,” said Nigam during a Jan. 30 press conference. “To protect all of our communities, we must require convicted sex offenders to register their online addresses in the same way that they are currently required to register their physical addresses.

“The KIDS Act of 2007, along with Sentinel Safe and the e-mail verification we’ve just implemented, will better allow us to quickly identify convicted sex offenders and block them from membership,” he added. “Those that don’t follow the law, and register and use that online address, will get a ticket back to jail, just like they do in the physical world.”

The bill would not allow the offender’s information to be released to the public, but it could be passed along to social networking sites provided they agree only to use the information for “comparing the database of registered users of that commercial Web site against the registry information in order to protect children from online sexual predators.”

“As technology progresses, we must remain vigilant in our efforts to protect children,” said Ohio Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) in a written statement. “Requiring sex offenders to register their on-line identities and allowing social networking Web sites strict access to this information will better protect children from being stalked by predators.”