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Declan McCullagh, who covers poli-tech, writes about True.com on News.com.
Hightlights:
A California bill introduced last week covers any Web site offering “compatibility” or “social referral services”–a sweeping definition that encompasses everything from high-school reunion site Classmates.com to a matchmaking site for a tennis doubles tournament. Under the California proposal, social referral services Friendster.com and Google’s Orkut.com would be on the hook for fines of millions of dollars a day if they declined to post a warning similar to the one above on California members’ ads or profiles. The proposed Michigan law, which cleared the state House but died in the Senate, similarly regulates companies providing “social referral services primarily through the Internet.”
Match.com spokeswoman Kristin Kelly:
They’re trying to legislate their business model, and quite frankly it’s a weak business model, It would be just as easy to argue that True.com should be required to post labels on each page: “WARNING: TRUE.COM’S BACKGROUND SEARCHES WILL NOT IDENTIFY CRIMINALS USING FAKE NAMES. AND THE COST TO RUN THEM MAY BE PASSED ON TO YOU.”
According to CEO Herb Vest, True.com now boasts 2.3 million members and is growing by 8,000 to 10,000 new members per day.
