Legal

Two years ago, New Jersey created the Internet Dating Safety Act. Now, New York State has done the same by creating a very similar act designed to make online dating safer for its single citizens. New York State now requires online dating services to post internet dating safety tips on their websites along with the fact if any criminal background checks are done on members.

JetPlace, the owners of the Australian dating and swinger site Red Hot Pie, was ordered by the federal court to remove 1,371 fake profiles that they had on their website. Jetplace must also disclose to its Red Hot Pie members that they had misrepresented the number of users on the dating site. Members who registered between December 2004 and November 26, 2008 will also receive notices via email of this information. These same users can also apply for a refund if they can show that they were mislead by these fake profiles.

These fake profiles created by Jetplace contravened the Australian Trade Practices Act of 1974 since the dating site engaged in misleading conduct. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said they would have gone after Red Hot Pie in civil court where penalties are more severe but the conduct of the dating site happened before the new Australian Consumer Law. In their defence, Red Hot Pie said these profiles were created over a 4 year period and only a small number were active at any one time. They were used by the dating site's User Security Suite.

For more information on this story, read The Sydney Morning Herald.

The Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, has launched an investigation into an online dating site. While this is a Canadian probe it does not mean it is a Canadian owned and operated dating site, it could be a dating site that offers services in Canada. This is the first time the Privacy Commissioner has investigated a dating service, but they have investigated social networking sites before. Facebook was investigated last year (see Story) and was found to be in violation of Canadian privacy laws.

The unnamed dating site is being investigated on how it handles members profile information once the membership has been deactivated. This was the same reason Facebook was under investigation. A complaint filed 6 months ago prompted the investigation of the dating site. The privacy issue was not resolved through mediation with the company and the Privacy's Commissioners office, so an official investigation was started. More news about this case will be released soon.

On March 26th the owner of Executive Dating, Barrie Turner, was arrested (see Story) when he attempted to cross into the United States from Canada. He ran over 200 web sites for dating and was trying to reach his postal mailbox in the United States where members send their fees.

Over 100 consumer complaints have been filed against Executive Dating web sites where members paid almost $1000 for 6 month memberships and where matched with people that did not exist. Barrie Turner collected $1.2 million in fees before his arrest and has now pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a Seattle court.

Sentencing will happen on September 24th where Barrie Turner will face a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

For more on this story, check out the following forum posts, here and here.

Great Expectations franchises continue to get into trouble (see Story) and this time it is in Bellevue in Washington. The Washington Attorney General's Office and a dating service in Bellevue, which is a licensee of Great Expectation, have reached a settlement which provides partial refunds to disgruntled customers and restricts how they can market their service. No admission of wrongdoing was included.

The settlement requires Great Expectations not to misrepresent the number, ages or locations of its membership. That settlement requires the company to display up-to-date photos of active members and to check on members' status at least once every two months.

The agreement requires the dating service to disclose the fees for services such as photos, events and Internet access that aren't included in the basic package. The dating service must also obtain written permission before accessing a prospective member's credit history.

Some of the contracts Great Expectations had with clients cost upwards of $8,000. Clients of this location may be eligible for pro-rated restitution if they have filed a recent complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or the Attorney General's Office. To become eligible for any restitution you must file a complaint by September 13, 2010.

For more on the story, read The News Tribune.

Executive Dating LLC seems to be in some legal trouble. Barrie Turner of British Columbia Canada is alleged to be in connection with the company which has over 200 dating sites offering executive dating services. Turner was arrested after he crossed the border to pick up mail at a U.S. post office box where customers are told to send payments.

In the last 5 years there have been more than 100 people who have filed consumer complaints about the company for fraud. They accused Executive Dating of not providing any legitimate matchmaking services that they had paid for. It is estimated that the Executive Dating sites received more than $1.2 million in revenue.

For more information check out our forum topic about the matter.