Online Dating Insider delivers cutting-edge insight and commentary on all aspects of the online dating industry. Topics include industry news, site reviews, emerging trends, analysis of dating site features, discussion about safety safety, finance and other issues important to the online dating market. Don't miss our Startups directory, useful to anyone running dating or social networking sites. Subscribe to the RSS feed (you can subscribe via email as well). Your comments and suggestions for stories are welcomed.
We offer consulting services to dating sites and social networks as well.
From Rich Gosse, founder of the International Association of Dating Websites:
It is my sad duty to inform you that the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) was enacted by Congress and signed into law. It will go into effect on April 1, 2006. This law will be disastrous to those dating services that specialize in matching foreign women to American men as their primary business. The law requires mandatory criminal and marital background checks be performed on each American man, and that each foreign woman must receive and approve of this information before her email address can be released. There are probably hundreds (if not thousands) of mainly mom and pop businesses in the U.S. that will now go under because of this ill-sighed legislation. Many of them were barely surviving before this draconian measure was approved by Congress. Please note that this legislation goes far beyond the legislation proposed by True.com that requires that online dating sites either do background checks or publish on their home pages, in large letters, that do not perform these checks. IMBRA makes these checks mandatory. If you own a dating website that does not specialize in foreign women meeting American men, you can relax, for now. IMBRA doesn’t affect you immediately. But this is just the first step in a very strong push nationally to mandate that all dating companies, including dating websites, require these expensive background checks. It is interesting to note that the giant online dating websites in the U.S. did not fight this legislation, since they were able to place an exception for them into the bill. This is very short-sighted. IMBRA is just a “foot in the door” of a concerted plan to require all dating services and websites to do mandatory background checks. To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls–it tolls for everyone in the dating industry.” We lost this battle. Let’s not lose the war. I urge all of you to write to your representatives in Congress and President Bush asking for the repeal of IMBRA. Citizens Against Dating Discrimination (CADD) is leading the charge. You can visit them at www.online-dating-rights.com.
For more info.
Technorati Tags: legislation
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
To say that this is a foot in the door to mandatory background checks is quite a stretch. TRUE has found it isn’t as easy to get this type of legislation as they may have thought it would be.
By the way, what is the International Association of Dating Websites? Who out there are members?
I use the foreign dating sites to meet pro-American conservative women and enter into serially monogamous relationships with them.
In other words, it is great for my sex life.
The commenter got it wrong: the guys who use these sites are mostly the top 2% socioeconomically of Americans and the feminists want to stop the best American men from ignoring them themselves. The concept of some loser bringing a golddigger to the USA and losing her and then hitting her…that is only 1% of such marriages where 7% of domestic American marriages are filled with violence.
Anyway, the IMBRA Law is going down today. It is unconstitutional.
Because most gorgeous Russian women on the Internet DO NOT HAVE EMAIL, this law would remove them from the Internet and it would be impossible to meet them. It is not a question of whether the websites could afford the “form process” in terms of money…it would be the 12 week turnaround times for forms to be sent by snail mail into the Russian postal system that would destroy the industry.
The Republicans are vying for the feminist vote, which is a fatal mistake.
If the IMBRA issue could only get publicized, single men will withhold their votes for the Repulicans in November.
The first step will be in removing the RINO Republican Congress (or is it the arch-conservatives who are our enemy on this because they don’t want us having sex?) and replacing it with Democrats…as long as the Republicans would even UNDERSTAND that single men decided not to vote for them anymore until they turn away from feminism.
I don’t think those who support the law understand that this is a 911 moment for a lot of us. I view the feminists as more dangerous than the Muslim extremists. Taking away my right to contact foreigners is like putting me in a room and blowing cigarette smoke into it to torture me.
The feminists may not know it yet, but they have awoken a sleeping giant. This law’s passage drew blood figuratively for the first time.
You don’t mess with other people’s social lives. Period.
We only need to get a billionaire on our side now.
Fox News and Freerepublic.com have stabbed men in the back on this issue. They, like the Republican Party, have abandoned men on the issue. They are keeping this under wraps…as if men will just accept the law if the judge today removes the restraining order on it.
The feminists only saving grace has been that this has not been publicized.
Keep track of things at http://www.online-dating-rights.com
Most men that find international romance do it because they no longer can relate to American women. The have chosen a different path in life. That does not give the government the right to strip search them in order to say “hi” to a lady.
Imbra is already going down to defeat in court and will soon be retired to the useless Federal Regulation graveyard.
“men wanting a servile wife that they believe culturally will bow to their every whim”
This quote above is more feminist sensationalism that you buy into because you are lazy and/or uneducated on the subject.
The constitution was written to protect common folks like me from people like you that create regulations just because they make you feel warm and fuzzy inside
US government should be more concerned about protecting US Citizens rather the US government is more concerned about a foreign person who wants to marry an American.
This Law is going way too far. It would hurt already married persons as the government agencies gets involve in their life by delaying the process and disclosing their personal records to a third party in a foreign country.
It needs a commonsense. Does a person with no criminal history will never be abuser or a person with criminal histoty will always be abuser?Moreover are the persons coming from foriegn country can never be abuser…? Are the only american citizens in the entire world could be the abuser? Where are the CIVIL LIBERTIES of the American citizen who votes for the Government of America?
A growing number of men now make no apologies for rejecting any modern feminist women. The enormous risks incurred in marrying an American feminist are simply not justified by minimal or no rewards that these relationships bring. An American gentleman now has to walk through a minefield of risks including false abuse claims, financial bankrupcy (from divorce), and denial of child visitation rights. Thus, any intelligent and self-respecting man would reject this modern feminist paradigm of marriage.
http://www.online-dating-rights.com/blog/lestat/index.php?
I have travelled widely to Europe and Asia and I want to share this well-known observation - American feminist women have a terrible reputation among men around the world. They are widely perceived as obese, selfish, spoiled, boorish and emotionally demanding. They are also considered rather overbearing and hysterical. It’s well known amongst expat communities around the world that American feminist women are shunned by men outside of U.S.A.
On the contrary, decent and well-off American men are generally viewed as the “cream of the crop” - highly coveted and desirable…. These gentlemen enjoy a great reputation among foreign ladies who perceive them to be respectful, nurturing, responsible, well-educated and financially secure. In addition, these women believe that American men make great husbands, especially in contrast to native men, who are often disrespectful, abusive and unfaithful.
The problem in this country is that the “best in the world” are often paired up with the “worst in the world”…. a complete mismatch. It’s like a highschool Prom King dating an ugly, domineering and boorish girl. It’s very unlikely that this type of relationship will work out. Sadly, this seems to be the case, as the marriages “made in America” have a higher divorce rate (55 to 60 percent) than in the cross-cultural marriages (15 to 20 percent). So why is the risk of divorce so much lower when an American gentleman marries a “mail-order bride”? In a nutshell, it’s because our Prom King is marrying a Prom Queen, who is beautiful, intelligent, feminine, appreciative and devoted.
A growing number of affluent American men are rejecting American feminist women and going overseas to embrace loverly, young foreign brides. A nearly fourfold increase in foreign women entering the U.S. on fiance(e) visas (over the last 7 years) supports this contention. It’s no secret that by pursuing foreign women, men can find much younger, more attractive and devoted partners than what’s available at home.
Take Tiger Woods, for example. This man has essentially rejected all American women and instead, he went overseas and married a lovely Swedish woman. Tiger is a one very smart gentleman…. I bet he knows (that) marriage to a foreign lady would mean a lower risk of future divorce!
Let me tell you about the relationship between my loverly Russian wife and myself. Despite our 21 year age difference, our relationship is based on mutual love and admiration…. our love is real and valid. Also, our bond is strengthened by our common interests, continual romance and mutual respect for each other. As with most Russian women, my wife is independent and has a strong will. Our relationship is a 50-50 equal partnership. There is no control and no domination.
My experience, as described above, is very typical of most marriages to “mail-order brides” - in contrast to many marriages “made in America”, there are no bitchiness or nagging, no hysteria or drama and no belligerant or confrontational behaviors…. only mutual love and admiration.
Therefore…., when a decent and affluent American gentleman marries a young, loverly foreign bride, what’s created is truely, a match made in heaven - the best matched with the best….
And IMBRA is really a scornful feminist response to growing international romance.
http://www.online-dating-rights.com/blog/lestat/index.php?