General News

The Department of Justice announced in November that it will not prosecute people for lying online. Watch out online daters: that means that anyone who fibs about him- or herself in a profile on a dating site doesn't have to worry about being locked up.

Richard Downing, the deputy chief of the Justice Department's Computer Crime section, told Congress that although federal law could be interpreted to mean that fabricating on the World Wide Web is a crime, the DoJ has no plans to pursue such cases. "The DoJ is in no way interested in bringing cases against people who lie about their age on dating sites, or anything of the sort," Downing explained to a House Judiciary subcommittee. "We don't have the time or resources to do that."

The law in question is the CFAA - or "Computer Fraud and Abuse Act" - which criminalizes "exceeding authorized access" of a computer. The CFAA was initially created to prohibit the hacking of sensitive databases, but the DoJ has since argued for a wider interpretation of the law that makes it illegal to break any rule set by a computer's owner. Under that more expansive interpretation, checking Facebook on a work computer when an employer has forbidden it could be a federal crime. Violating a Web site's terms of service - like the rules about lying that are found on most, if not all, dating sites - would also be a federal crime.

The CFAA has traditionally been used to prosecute individuals who used a computer system they had legitimate access to for unauthorized purposes. Take the case of Lori Drew, the 50-year-old woman who used a bogus MySpace profile to harass a 13-year-old girl who later committed suicide. Because MySpace prohibits the impersonation of others in its terms of service, Drew was convicted under the law, though the conviction was later overturned.

Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University who also testified before the House Judiciary subcommittee, raised concerns that the DoJ would not keep its word, and noted that he is confused as to what the Justice Department's current position actually is. "I'm still not sure DoJ has disavowed such prosecutions - it's hard to know what DoJ's position is," he told POLITICO.

Downing offers minimal clarification: "What we do need to be careful about is to make sure... that we don't harm the ability to bring cases that everybody in the room would agree are proper and appropriate ones," he testified. "We are highly concerned about the effects of restricting the definition of 'exceeds authorized access' in the CFAA to disallow prosecutions based upon a violation of terms of service or similar contractual agreement with an employer or provider."

How do people treat relationships nowadays?

That's the question the team at Lab42 asked before embarking upon a survey of 500 social network users over the age of 18. Relationships are more public than ever. With the rise of social media, friends, family, and ex's can find out far more about your love life than you would ever knowingly tell them. So how does all that transparency affect our dating habits?

Lab42 asked a range of personal questions and created an infographic (see it here) called "The Relationship Status Update" to display the participants' answers. Here are some of the survey's most interesting findings:

When asked to share the most important trait a significant other should possess, physical attractiveness ranked last, with 11% of the vote. Emotionally attentive (12%) and similar humor (13%) came next, followed by strong family values (20%) and same personality (21%). The majority of respondents (23%) chose something other than the proscribed answers, like political views, religion, taste in music, and financial stability.

Cheaters - at least those willing to fess up to it - are still the minority of the dating population. 68% of men and 77% of women said that they have never cheated, meaning that 32% of men and 23% of women have stepped out on their partners. The numbers don't quite add up, however, when the participants were asked if they had ever been cheated on:

• "Yes:" 48% of men, 53% of women

• "No:" 37% of men, 35% of women

• "Unsure:" 15% of men, 12% of women

Then came the moment if truth. "If there was no chance of getting caught," Lab 42 asked, "would you cheat?" 76% of women answered with a resounding "No," along with 58% of men. But 24% of women said they would cheat if their actions didn't have consequences, as did 42% of men. There's no need to lose faith in love and romance, however. When asked if they believe that there is one true soulmate for every person, a clear majority of survey respondents (75%) said "Yes."

With the basics out of the way, the Lab42 team moved on to the main event: social media and other technology. How should delicate subjects like the Facebook relationship status be handled by modern daters? What is contemporary breakup etiquette? How do couples prefer to communicate? And how popular is Facebook stalking anyway? We'll answer those questions, and more, in Part II.

Sugar daddy dating sites are on the defensive again, after another news story paints the service in a negative light.

In September, an episode of Dr. Phil took on sugar daddy dating, calling it "the Internet version of the world's oldest occupation." Now Inside Edition is following suit, saying that sugar dating arrangements are a last resort for college students who can't afford the rising cost of tuition. Lisa Guerrero and the I-Squad launched an investigation into the sugar lifestyle, determined to find out exactly what goes on behind the scenes.

They began by interviewing a young woman who joined a site called EstablishedMen.com in hopes of finding a man who could help her pay off the thousands of dollars she owed in college loans. Her search payed off - two full years of her college tuition were paid for by a man she met on the site, who also covered expenses like rent. She said she understands why some would be concerned that sugar daddy arrangements amount to nothing more than prostitution, but insists that her own experience has shown that that's not the case.

Another young woman, who went by the name of Kelly, decided to go undercover on several sugar daddy Web sites, in hopes of exposing men who were exploiting vulnerable young college students. A man from SeekingArrangement.com was one of many suitors who responded to Kelly's profile. He met Kelly at a cafe while Inside Edition filmed their encounter, and proceeded to explain exactly what he wanted out of the arrangement. "I'm looking for slightly unusual things to do" he said, in exchange for covering Kelly's tuition, rent, and bills, before asking about her pain threshold. When questioned by Inside Edition about offering money for sex, the man explained that he what he was really looking for was friendship and companionship.

Despite that experience, positive views came later from the first woman interviewed by Inside Edition, who said that "everyone can set their own boundaries and everyone has the ability to decide that this is something they want to do." The CEO of several sugar daddy sites also added that women who choose to become sugar babies make a "conscious decision about what would make them happy in life."

Brandon Wade, Founder & CEO of SeekingArrangement.com, says that "The media is always focused on casting a negative light on the Sugar Daddy and Sugar Baby relationship. The fact is, if the media coverage was balanced, it would feature thousands of positive personal stories that come about from people who meet through our dating website."

So what's going on here? Was the man who met with "Kelly" a simple case of one bad apple spoiling the bunch? Are all sugar daddies looking for "unusual things?" Is there anything wrong with that in the first place, or do consenting adults have the right to enter into whatever kind of relationship they wish?

What do you think?

When people head to conventions for genres like comic books or science fiction, they might be concerned with the logistics of keeping their costume together. Maybe they're thinking about arriving in time to secure a place in line to get their favorite star's autograph, or hoping to score a good deal on rare merchandise. Still others, however, are wondering if they're going to meet someone special, someone who has the same passions.

The idea of finding love at a convention may sound strange, but it's not a bad idea at all. Everyone there likes at least something about the genre, so chances are you have common interests already. Conversation-starters abound, from crazy costumes to the prices of merchandise to speculating about the direction a series will take. The only problem is that conventions are often so hectic, and people so driven with their own agenda, that often people feel intimidated about approaching someone and starting a conversation.

Speed dating has begun to catch on in conventions as an easy way to bring like-minded singles together - and it has apparently caught the eye of TV's TLC Channel producers. A new show, "Geek Love", will premiere on December 18 in America on TLC. The show will focus on people who attend Ryan Glitch's Sci Fi Speed Dating events at conventions.

On the one hand, the premise of the show itself isn't a bad one. On the other hand, TLC, known for featuring reality shows about "unusual" families, medical anomalies and other gems such as "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant," often walks a fine line between educational and exploitative. Do the producers of the channel really intend to show us a group of passionate people, deserving of love, or do they think people will enjoy laughing at a "bunch of nerds"?

The trailer for the show seems like it could go either way; the convention-goers don't seem particularly extreme or exceptionally awkward, but when the man leading the speed dating event shouts "Normal people suck!" one has to wonder if the "geek acceptance cause" wasn't just set back ten years. Either way, whether it's to root on those seeking love or pick up some basic do's and don'ts for speed dating, "Geek Love" might be worth a try.

Earlier this month Zoosk released a iPad version of their dating application which quickly ranked in the top 20 list for Social Networking Apps in the United States. Like their dating apps for other platforms, this app is available in 25 languages and offers the user the ability to search, browse and communicate with other Zoosk members. It is also optimized for the iPad and takes into the account the larger screen real-estate available.

Zoosk also noted that their mobile apps have been downloaded over 2.5 million to date. Search algorithm changes over the last year have also increased communication on the dating service by increasing message replies 133 percent.

For further details about the service please check out our review of Zoosk.com.

"Friends don't let friends date solo."

That's the premise behind DuoDater.com, a new San Francisco-based dating site that launched in August of this year. DuoDater aims to take the awkward out of online dating by promoting a more social environment in which users partner with friends to form what is aptly known as "a Duo." After pairing up, they create a Duo profile, find potential matches in other Duos, and start going on DuoDates. It's as "easy as me, you, and a lucky two!" the site proclaims.

The DuoDater team hopes that using the buddy system will counteract the stigma that is often attached to online dating, and will also help ensure the safety of DuoDater members. Double dates, the site believes, will help mitigate the awkwardness that many online daters feel when it comes time to move their interaction from online communications to a real-world meetup. Double dates also offer the advantages of reducing the danger of meeting a stranger offline, and of giving daters the opportunity to rely on friends - and not an impersonal algorithm - to help them find a suitable match. And although online dating was created to facilitate socializing, sitting at a computer and hiding behind an anonymous screen name can in fact feel very isolating - DuoDater encourages singles to connect their love lives with their social lives once again.

Michael Parikh and Andrew Flachner, the co-founders of DuoDater, believe that there are fundamental problems with current approaches to online dating, despite how popular the service has become. In response, they designed DuoDater for men and women in their 20s and 30s who are looking to socialize and meet new people - with the support system of a friend and co-pilot. By allowing users to have this support system by their side during a date, Parikh and Flachner hope that they will be encouraged to be more natural and less awkward as they socialize, make new friends, and find potential partners.

Committed to making online dating less intimidating, Parikh and Flachner developed a profile that that is simple and quick to fill out. The "Duo Profile" only requires users to write a few sentences about themselves as individuals, so that the focus is placed firmly on the joint description that the duo creates together. The founders also believe that their model promotes accountability in a world that is famous for its lies. By signing up with a close friend and knowing they could easily be caught, Parikh and Flachner have explained, users will be less likely to use old or altered photos of themselves and less likely to exaggerate or lie in their descriptions.

It's too soon to tell whether DuoDater will revolutionize online dating, but it's certainly an interesting approach to finding love online.