Fraud in Internet Dating Prompting Regulation

anaesthetica writes "According to the Washington Post, an increasing tide of fraud in internet dating is prompting lawyers and lawmakers to examine possible regulations and consumer protections. Wire fraud scamming, plane ticket ripoffs, fraud perpetrated to fund trysts, fake "date bait" messages -- these are just a few of the issues the courts are beginning to deal with. Dating websites were immunized from lawsuits over false statements by the recent Communications Decency Act. Other attempts to regulate internet dating, such as the 2005 'mail-order bride' legislation, are already being challenged in court, but an increasing number of states are sponsoring their own legislation."

Comments

With regulation, dating sites will look like this:

[SpecialAgentXXX]

Man Seeking Woman

His Qualities

• Age: 30
• Hair: Balding
• Eyes: Bloodshot from staring at PC too long playing MMORPGs; glasses
• Body Type: football... that is the shape, not the athlete
• Education: Trade School - DeVry's Technical
• Income: $25,000 - $30,000
• Housing: Lives with parents
• Social Style: Introverted, shy, nervous around women
• Sexual Behavior: N/A, virgin

Your Qualities

• Age: Barely Legal
• Hair: Blonde
• Eyes: Blue
• Skin: Tanned
• Body Type: Athletic
• Housing: has her own place
• Sexual Behavior: anything past 1st base would be nice

Obligatory bash.org quote.

[Anonymous Coward]

Welcome to the Internet, where men are men, women are men, and 16 year old girls are FBI agents.

(Paraphrased)

Re:WTF?

[MyLongNickName]

Lawmakers make laws. That is what they do! Politicians need to be seen as "doing something about the problem"... even if they know that more laws won't help

We should pass a law against this kind of behavior...