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["Gill, Megan L." <>]

MOREnet to Host Nationwide Internet Safety Night October 23, 2007, 6:30-8:30 p.m. CDT

 

September 18, 2007 – Columbia, Mo.  The Missouri Research & Education Network (MOREnet) is hosting Internet Safety Night to raise awareness of online dangers and crimes, and provide resources for keeping families safe online. Gentry Middle School in Columbia, Mo will host the national event, and sites from around the country will connect via interactive videoconferencing or pick up the live streaming broadcast online.

 

“With increased news of Internet predators and other online crimes such as cyber-bullying and identity theft, it is vitally important that parents and community members, as well as students, understand the dangers associated with some online behaviors,” said Randy Raw, Manager of Security Services for MOREnet. “The goal of our event is to encourage communities throughout the country to come together and talk through these issues, and we’re helping provide resources so they can be successful.”

 

Speakers for Internet Safety Night include Chris Pickering, Chief Investigator in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office; John Wood, US Attorney for the Western District of Missouri; Detective Andy Anderson of the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force; Lt. Joe Laramie, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and Lou Ann Stovall, FBI Kansas City Cyber Crimes Task Force.

 

The program will begin with a keynote presentation, then break in to a panel discussion and Q&A session. The remote sites may connect to Columbia for any portion of the broadcast, but the hope is that their panels and audience members will stay connected and interact with the others, creating a live national discussion on Internet safety issues. The entire program will be broadcast live via streaming video, so if there is not an event in a given area, anyone with an Internet connection can participate.

 

“The ideal situation would be for all the sites around the country to have independent but connected events – truly engaging parents, students, educators and law enforcement who are all facing the same issues in different communities,” said Raw.  “The key is to make resources available and get people working together to understand the risks and dangers, and the best ways to stay safe.”

 

For information about hosting an Internet Safety Night event, or attending an event in your area visit http://besafe.more.net. MOREnet launched this website in January as a location to accumulate information and resources to help families stay safe online. Internet Safety Night events are free and open to the public.

 

Internet Safety Night is sponsored by the Zimmer Radio Group stations (Clear 99, Y107, Eagle 93.9, The Rocker 96.7, and 1580 KTGR) and Lightspeed Systems, Inc which offers a versatile continuum of school network solutions, meeting the security, reporting, and management needs of K-12 technology administrators as well as the comprehensive online safety concerns of school boards and superintendents. Now installed in more than 400 school districts, its software protects more than six million children while at school. To extend that protection to the home, Lightspeed now offers the Lightspeed Guide – a new parent-friendly, easy-to-install-and-use desktop Internet filtering and reporting software.

 

About MOREnet

MOREnet links Missouri to a world of knowledge through a statewide research and education network. Schools, public libraries, academic institutions and state agencies linked to the network have access to a secure broadband Internet connection, staff training, technical support and electronic resources, making equitable access possible across Missouri.

 

 

Megan L Gill

Marketing & Communications Manager

Missouri Research & Education Network (MOREnet)

573.882.0054