Legalities of running gay dating sites

[mrmax]

We started talking about this in another thread and thought it best to make it's own thread.

I'm aware that some dating sites have been sued by members, but I was wondering if any gay dating sites have been sued. Im assuming that most of the people who filed lawsuits are women on straight sites, but gay men and straight women are a different animal when it comes to dating and sex.

Have gay sites been sued? Manhunt? Outpersonals, gay.com, adam4adam, bear411, gayfriendfinder, etc?
All huge gay sites, Have they been sued by members because they had a bad date?

Most of the profiles have items listed talking about sexuality (I am a top, seeking a bottom, who is into ws, fucking, oral only etc). So members going there and signing up know its a gay site, and by putting those things in their profile are saying that theyre looking for sex.

Also here's the disclaimer from Craigslist:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/...i?category=m4m
Do you think that's good enough?
CL must have had lots of lawyers look at their open personals system.

Basically for dating, I would say that gay dating has to be the safest kind of dating site to run. Right?

thanks

[chadknowslaw]

You really need to pay for legal counsel from an attorney who knows and understands adult online issues. If you are starting a dating site there are things that you must commit funds -- you cannot start any business without spending money. Do not think that legal advice is one of those expenses you can skimp on or put off until the business is generating revenue. Legal advice should be an upfront cost that is just part of opening your business.

I say this without any ulterior motive. I am not taking any new clients and I don't get any benefit from referrals to other lawyers.

[longboardjim]

agreed , seek legal counsel , and regardless of gay/straight the obvious liability would be members using pics/video's that were not their own. ( interpreted: it's easier opening up a "gym" with private "video booths" where ..."what you see is what you get!"... )

sincerely ..."does this towel make me look fat?"...

[chadknowslaw]

sincerely ..."does this towel make me look fat?"...

Yes, so you should take it off :angel:

[mrmax]

A few years ago I ran some populer avs sites and met with one of the Big 2257 lawyers who charged me $3,500 for like 2 hours of work.
And the "work" was the same stuff he repeats to everyone else. So It's not like I got anything custom made for me.

I dont really see why its necessary to hire an ultra expensive lawyer when others who work in the same industry can share experiences. The law for me will be the same laws for someone else.
So Im hoping to save myself another $3,500 by asking on the board.

[chadknowslaw]

The number of lawyers that fits that description is a short list. There are definitely billing machines masquerading as adult lawyers who seem to be on every trade show panel and usually charge you thousands to say the sky is falling.

When I was in private practice I doubt I ever charged more than $500 for an initial consult. You need to shop around and you need to get real legal advice.

A lot of amateur board legal advice is just plain wrong from "experienced" webmasters.

[gaybucks_chip]

There's an old saying, "the person who represents himself has a fool for a client"

I look at legal advice like insurance... by paying for good advice, I'm likely to avoid future legal hassles and liabilities that might otherwise cost me hundreds of times the value of that insurance.

Of course, you're free to follow the advice you get from people in the industry, but each situation is different, and a prudent business person would probably see the value of that investment (which should be relatively small if you find the right attorney) as worthwhile in the overall planning of a new business.

BTW, $3500 for a couple hours of advice, if that's really all you got, is a travesty. There are plenty of knowledgeable First Amendment/adult industry attorneys that bill at $250-300/hour and should be happy to do short consults with you at those hourly rates.

[mrmax]

Thanks, yeah I felt like I got taken to the cleaners. I was so pissed at the end of it.
At the end of the consultation he basically said to get out of adult and go sell on eBay if I wanted to continue making money online.

It seems from the hints Im getting here is that the problem is with people making fake profiles.

I checked this out
http://dating.about.com/b/2008/04/09...ting-sites.htm
And the judge agreed with Adult Friend Finder in all but one of the judgements.
So that's good.

I mean, if I had so many members that someone was making fake profiles I think I'd be happy. I bet 30% of the profiles on the sites I visit now are fake. So Im not going to worry about it.

And it looks like no one else here works with dating sites so cant chat about experiences with it.

[sc32803]

mrmax, I'm with you. I see no problem with asking legal type questions on boards like this. A lot of people do it and I think thats one of the benefits that forums can provide. As you said, other people have already gone to the expense of hiring a lawyer so if they're willing to share what they learned, I think thats great.

Yes, it makes sense to get a lawyer once you take the plunge and start the site, but during the fact-finding phase using boards like this is a great idea.

[mrmax]

Yes, it makes sense to get a lawyer once you take the plunge and start the site, but during the fact-finding phase using boards like this is a great idea.

Thats what I say.

I have a mainstream site and I was on a mainstream webmaster board talking about how to do contest giveaways to my members on the site.
I was bombarded with "Get a lawyer!" and told how dumb I am to ask on a board and not talk a lawyer.

I rolled my eyes and said fine, and I called my state's atty general and consumer protection office to ask them and they were like yeah whatever, do your contests as long as youre not charging for them or doing gambling. No problem.
The consumer protection office said that the internet doesnt fall under state regulations. There are no hard drawn lines for what I was doing on the web.
The FTC handles spam, but Im not spamming.

Saved myself $500 right there, .

[basschick]

the judge did agree - but you can bet that aff spent BIG bucks on attorneys to get that far.

i've dealt with a number of adult attorneys and talked to more. i've never talked to one who charged more than $500 per hour. are you sure the attorney you talked to wasn't charging you for research?

Thanks, yeah I felt like I got taken to the cleaners. I was so pissed at the end of it.
At the end of the consultation he basically said to get out of adult and go sell on eBay if I wanted to continue making money online.

It seems from the hints Im getting here is that the problem is with people making fake profiles.

I checked this out
http://dating.about.com/b/2008/04/09...ting-sites.htm
And the judge agreed with Adult Friend Finder in all but one of the judgements.
So that's good.

I mean, if I had so many members that someone was making fake profiles I think I'd be happy. I bet 30% of the profiles on the sites I visit now are fake. So Im not going to worry about it.

And it looks like no one else here works with dating sites so cant chat about experiences with it.