The world of online dating has its major, reputable operators, but also a whole array of not-so-reputable operators as well. One of the most common scams we see in online dating is the offering of different pricing schemes to different categories of people.

For instance, a site might offer a lower price to women within a certain age group, or perhaps a discount for men who fall within a certain category of age, location, or other vital statistics. They do this in an effort to attract certain kinds of people to their online services but according to a new law making its way through the State of Maryland government these types of pricing schemes are unfair and misleading.

Under the proposed new law the use of gender-specific pricing schemes will become illegal. What is not so clear at the moment is whether this law will apply only to those online dating members who live in Maryland or whether it will apply to any online dating service that does any business at all in Maryland. Under this latter scenario potentially every online dating service will have to abide by the law simply because they may have some members who live in Maryland.

I don’t know, this sounds like a good idea at first because goodness knows there are plenty of online dating sites that love to mess around with their pricing schemes. But really, is it realistic to expect a law in just one state, Maryland, to apply to all online dating sites out there?

What do you think?

News & Views Dating Law, Government, Illegal, Legislation, Pricing, Scams

Just as when you used to go out on dates in your teen years, there is a question of whether or not you need a ‘chaperone’ to help you as you enter the online dating world. Recent legislation is trying to control the dating site’s responsibility to let their users know that background screenings and other security measures may not be effective in all cases.

The plus side of this bill is that it might cause online daters to be more aware of their behaviors in terms of talking with strangers on the site. If you were to be told that people on the site might be lying to you, perhaps it would be more effective than having to remember that fact yourself.

On the other hand, knowing that the site isn’t necessarily doing the background checks that they claim to do can also be bad for their business. Sites might not make this information readily available to new and old users, causing the legislation to be useless in terms of its initial intentions.

The question of personal responsibility has come up many times in relation to conversing with others on the ‘net. Do you always trust what you hear and see or do you become skeptical of everything? It’s a tricky discussion with clear sides and yet no real answers.

Perhaps the only solution is to create rules for yourself when you’re entering the dating world. By taking the time to get to know a person before actually meeting them or sharing your personal information, you can save yourself a lot of trouble.

And not require the help of the government to get a ‘real’ date.

News & Views Background Checks, Fake, Legislation, Online Safety, Scams, Screening, Trust