He’s got dreamy eyes, and it was only manslaughter…

This would be funny if it weren’t true:

Instead of competing head-to-head with his rivals in the business world, [True.com owner Herb] Vest has veered into the political world by pressing for new laws that would put True.com’s competitors at a severe disadvantage.

Vest has managed to convince legislators in states including California, Texas, Virginia, and Michigan to sponsor bills that would target rival dating sites like Match.com, Yahoo Personals, Spring Street Networks, craigslist and eHarmony.

Those sites would be required to stamp this stark warning atop every e-mail and personal ad, in no less than 12-point type: “WARNING: WE HAVE NOT CONDUCTED A FELONY-CONVICTION SEARCH OR FBI SEARCH ON THIS INDIVIDUAL.”

On second thought, it is funny, regardless.

The online-dating service True.com, no surprise, does perform such background checks–for felony and sexual convictions–while rivals like Match.com do not. But as Declan McCullagh reports, True.com’s background checks can be easily foiled: just provide a fake name. Any felon searching for love (or an easy mark) online should be able to figure that out.

Interestingly, the legislation, as proposed in California, would apply to any “social referral services,” including social networking sites (e.g., Friendster) and conceivably even message boards. Social software, a broad field now thriving with startups and energy, would be severely hamstrung. Could garage-stage entrepreneurs really afford to screen all their users? Would they want to?

So anyway, besides all the obvious concerns, there are two other problems with this particular proposal, assuming it could be made to work.

First, are mandatory background checks really in keeping with the free-for-all nature of the ‘Net? For many online flirts, a certain sense of freedom would be lost.

And second, shouldn’t consumer preferences matter? Should anyone visiting this site (or one of the many like it) really be forced to pay for a background check?

In the end, McCullagh’s conclusion is spot-on: “Leave love alone. It has enough problems flourishing without ‘help’ from politicians.”

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