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Ready to have your mom surf your photo galleries or be 'poked' by someone who is not a college student? Facebook.com is set to become accessible to anyone with a valid e-mail address, company executives say. The change will come within a month, but no specific date has been announced yet. Facebook spokespeople declined comment, citing a barrage of media inquiries. The Palo Alto, Calif.,-based company launched its Web site in February 2004 and spread to colleges throughout the nation. Subsequently, high-school students and members of some corporations were allowed to join. According to their Web site, the Facebook now has over 9 million users. In a statement released when company networks were added, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that "the number-one request we receive from people is to have the ability to invite friends outside their college network." Co-founder Chris Hughes told The Associated Press that when Facebook makes this next major expansion, 500 networks will include the various regions of the world, with geographically smaller and more specific regions making up the United States. Users will not be able to view other users' full profiles unless permitted to by a profile's creator, much like the current system. College senior Zachary Kern said he did not like the proposed change, but feels confident that the site will incorporate adequate security measures. "I'm kind of a die-hard fan of how it used to be," Kern said. "It was OK having colleges, but adding high schools has changed the culture." College senior Shelly Lawes was also disappointed that the site will no longer be "exclusive." "I'm not too partial towards it, but it's not going to ruin my life," Lawes said.

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