... in response to Re: MARRIAGE BROKER REGULATION ACT OF 03..., posted by OkieMan on Sep 5, 2005It was a rather stupid bill, proposed by some of the very people you were railing against this morning. It basically said that a US citizen man was not allowed to contact any woman (via email, postal, telephone or in person) that he learned the contact information of via a foreign based agency that used the internet to disperse the contact information and or/solicit customers/members and/or arranged in person meetings, untill and unless he had provided the woman in question with his criminal history and previous martimonial history. (All of this obtained at his expense, of course. You don't think the cops and courts are going to do the required research gratis, do you?).
In other words, it would effectivly shut down agencies, thereby effectivly ending your ability to meet anybody, unless you just went overseas on your own (remember, the agency wouldn't be allowed to help you with the travel arangement, even if they were still in business) and hoped to meet her in a shopping center or while riding the bus. Of course US based agencies were exempt (How convient. Don't want to piss off Match.Com, they have enough money and clout to fight it). Odly enough, it only prevented MEN from contacting WOMEN....the bill said it was OK if a man wanted to contact a foreign man or a woman wanted to contact a foreign woman (wouldn't want to offend 'certain' people, if you know what I mean).
Anyway, it won't really affect you, since it didn't pass (THIS time, they might try again).