PALM
BEACH POST -- Apr 16 -- True has hired a well-connected lobbyist from
Tampa --- former Secretary of the Department of Management Services Cynthia Henderson --- to push the background checks measure. True routinely rejects 5% of possible daters identified as felons. Rapsheetsasserts that the checks are derived from 17 different public records
sources but the DOC database hasn't been updated since August, and
rapsheets.com searches only 16 of the state's 67 counties. "These
background checks are not perfected and could create a false sense of
security," said Sen. David Aronberg, D-Greenacres, who voted against the bill. The House sponsor, Kevin Ambler, said his measure (HB 1035) is an attempt to "bring our laws into the 21st century to protect consumer safety." Last
month, a New Jersey man who had a profile on match.com was charged with
murdering a co-worker, her sister and her 3-year-old daughter.

But Eichinger, the man accused of the killings, would have passed such
a screening with flying colors, according to Kristin Kelly, match.com
spokeswoman who said he had no arrest record until the charges and has
not been convicted of a felony. Other opponents appear to include
two dozen Internet and technology companies, who last month sent the
lawmakers a letter calling the legislation "an ill-advised approach"
that also "discriminates against internet business models by applying
only to dating services that operate primarily online." The unsigned
letter was written on behalf of such internet giants as Microsoft,
Google, eBay, Amazon.com and Yahoo!, as well as match.com. FULL ARTICLE @ PALM BEACH POST

Mark Brooks: The legislation is listed at www.idate2005.comand calls for dating sites to disclose prominently if they don't do
background checks, or offer them. Fast forward 6 months.
True pushes this legislation through, background check companies knock
themselves out to provide online dating companies with new levels of
background checks services...and True loses it's differentiation.
Then what? Your comments please...