LOS ANGELES TIMES - Apr 21 - Daniel Levine paid $5k to the dating service Master Matchmakers to help him find true love. Now, instead of a soul mate, he has a sworn enemy in the form of the company's CEO, Steven Ward. Levine also turned to Google and Yelp. He posted reviews saying that Master Matchmakers "takes advantage of people, offering a service they do not perform." Master Matchmakers had a so-called non-disparagement clauses - provisions that increasingly cropped up in consumer contracts in recent years that forbid people from saying bad things about a company, including on review sites such as Yelp. But a new federal law, the Consumer Review Fairness Act, took effect last month. According to the Federal Trade Commission, it "protects people's ability to share their honest opinions about a business's products, services, or conduct, in any forum, including social media." The law doesn't give carte blanche to post opinions that are harassing or abusive in nature, or that are "clearly false or misleading."
by David Lazarus
See full article at Los Angeles Times
Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team
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