OT: Match.com's Message System Exposes Private "Outside" Email Addresses

[Lisa Kachold]

See Article:

Match.com Lawsuit Update, And Thoughts

Norah hart lawyer OPW -- June 22 -- OPW had a chat with Norah Hart,
the attorney representing Sean McGinn, the 'cuddly but toned' man who
filed a recent lawsuit against Match.com. This is the lawsuit that
says Match.com misleads consumers about potential matches with
inactive members. It is Hart’s assertion that “Match defrauds the
consumer of their time and personal investment every time a person
pays Match’s subscription fee and writes to a member who won’t have
the ability to read what they wrote or see their profile.”

The one main thing that they seem to be pinning the case on is the
fact that when you look at a profile, you cannot tell if a person is a
subscriber or a free member. You also cannot tell how long its been
since they’ve logged onto the site beyond three weeks. It is this
practice that they want to go after Match.com for. Should they win,
this would have a significant impact on every dating site that doesn’t
list subscriber status or caps activity reporting on their members at
three weeks or so.

Norah Hart contends that, “When a subscriber cancels their
subscription, their profile continues to appear to be that of an
active subscriber. Nothing indicates to the viewer their limited
access to read e-mails or respond to them.”

The problem with this argument is that just because someone cancels
their paid subscription to a site, it does not mean that they are
canceling their membership. They might be paring back their
involvement in the site because they are evaluating a new
relationship. They may just be taking a month off the subscription
because they want to save money. It also does not take into account
winking, which is a free feature on Match for all members, regardless
of paid status.

Internet dating is like fishing.  Those with paid memberships just
cast out further and more frequently. Those with idle unpaid
memberships are waiting for the big fish.  The question is, should the
dating site identify the pro fishermen from the amateurs?  I think the
amateur fisherman would rather keep their hooks in the water. The
fish, meanwhile, would want to see when someone last logged in. That's
the best indicator of activity and the potential to respond. Still, is
3 weeks long enough?  How about 3 months? Anyone who hasn't been
active in 3 months would be very unlikely to respond.

Hart goes on to contend that her client is, “The perfect example of a
man who is really attractive, extremely eligible and gainfully
employed. He’s writing to people and hears nothing back from them. Is
that because they’re not interested? That’s highly unlikely.”

What she isn’t taking into account is that there could be numerous
factors contributing to his failure on the dating site. His photo,
profile, what he says in his emails, and even his dating strategy
could be letting him down.

As Hart is seeking a Jury trial, it will all come down to what the
people decide and how strong Sean McGinn’s claims of anguish can sway
them. Of course, the argument may be diluted by the fact that he did
eventually find his girlfriend on match.com according to a recent
report on Fox News.

From:  http://www.onlinepersonalswatch.com/news/2009/06/matchcom-lawsuit-update-and-thoughts.html


On 6/26/09, Bob Elzer <bob.elzer at gmail.com> wrote:
> Was it Match.com
>
> LOL
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: plug-discuss-bounces at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> [mailto:plug-discuss-bounces at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us] On Behalf Of Stephen
> Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 9:51 AM
> To: Main PLUG discussion list
> Subject: Re: OT: Match.com's Message System Exposes Private "Outside" Email
> Addresses
>
> Hey i used to be Tech support and very competent... then the incompetent
> company fell apart... its still there but a disaster of a company.....
>
> On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 9:48 AM,
> kitepilot at kitepilot.com<kitepilot at kitepilot.com> wrote:
>>>> if actually READ by a competent person would tell the tale ...
>> C'mon, you're kidding us, are you?
>> "competent person" in "technical support" of "Corporate America" is
>> just an overblown fairy tale...
>> ;-)
>> ET
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from
> rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
>
> Stephen
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