'We are committed to lowering the barrier to entry for developers around the world to build a more collaborative and dynamic Internet,' said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace, 'while empowering our members to take control of their online presence in new and exciting ways.'  DeWolfe was speaking as MySpace today announced the launch of the MySpace Developer Platform Site, which he described as 'a place for developers to connect and learn about, build, test, and deploy MySpace applications.'

“The future of the global social Web will leverage the creativity of the masses to produce meaningful and diverse social experiences, pushing the industry to be more innovative and progressive,” DeWolfe added.

Over the next month, he explained, MySpace will take an active role in helping developers create applications and build a rich economy within the Platform.

"Developers will be able to interact with the MySpace development team, and give feedback on the entire process. The MySpace development team will additionally focus on how the applications being created will affect security and the quality of the user experience on the site. "

Additionally, the company announced, MySpace will be deploying new technology designed to ensure that applications are safe for end-consumers. This technology has been developed in-house over the last several years, and in conjunction with partners like Google. One key technology is Caja, a javascript sanitizer being developed by Google in cooperation with MySpace. Caja’s purpose is to make Javascript safer for use on sites like MySpace, so that developers can create rich, full-featured applications in a way that is secure and trusted for our members.

“Applications will be governed by the same privacy controls that are in place for members,” said MySpace CTO Aber Whitcomb. “An application will never have access to information that cannot be found on any member’s profile page. Applications will also go through a rigorous safety review process before going live to our members.”

Additional features will also roll out as the site develops, but for now the MySpace Developer Platform Site includes:

Three sets of APIs:

1. OpenSocial with MySpace extensions to enable JavaScript and HTML
2. Action scripts to allow flash to speak directly to MySpace APIs
3. REST to enable server-to-server communication (speeding up applications)

Developer Team Blog:
A place to hear about product updates, platform news, developer insight and commentary, and to interact with the MySpace Developer Team (http://developer.myspace.com/Community/blogs/devteam/ default.aspx)

Documentation: All available information about the Developer Platform

Forums: MySpace developers will answer questions and provide feedback to third-party developers

Test harnesses: Developers can test applications on a limited number of profiles in a functional environment

MySpace will kick off the program tonight by hosting an event at their new offices in San Francisco where developers will get firsthand experience with the Platform. The event also signifies, says the company, "the beginning of a one-month application development period to democratize the development process for the industry and allow them to build and test their applications."

During that time applications will not be visible to the MySpace community in order for developers to install, iterate, and test the security of their applications in a live environment.