Roomie Site Can't Match by Gender, Sex Preference

Roommates.com is violating fair-housing laws by asking users their gender, sexual preference, and whether they have children, and using that information to match them,  a US Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. Judges said such questions would be illegal if a real estate agent asked them over the phone and don't "magically become lawful when asked electronically," the Los Angeles Times reports.

A similar fair-housing case against classified ad site Craigslist was thrown out recently, but the judges said the difference is that Roommates.com requires users to choose from a menu containing preferences, making "answering the discriminatory questions a condition of doing business." Dissenting judges said the ruling could threaten all interactive sites and harm the Internet's growth. (More housing stories.)