Unethical meme?
Oct. 14th, 2003 06:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ambitious_wenchIt seems that there was a meme that made the rounds not too long ago; it simply listed your friends (from your friends list, obviously) and several options on a drop down list by each name.
The options:
Never crushed
Secret crush
Public Crush
Ex-Crush
Ignore
You chose the appropriate response, and it then gave you stats of your types of crushes. You can find the meme here:
Secret Crush Meme
(Not workplace friendly because of an ad for an adult content website)
Now there is *this* gem of a meme, from the same folks who gave you the first one:
Who has a secret crush on me meme
From the opening page:
From the faq:
How do you feel about your answers being sold without your permission? Did you give consent? What about intellectual property?
I'm tempted to offer to tell you if I have a secret crush on you for $4. That's much more ethical than giving the money to someone who got the information through nefarious means.
But no. If you want to know if I have a secret crush on you, email me. I'll tell you in direct terms just what I think of you.
Edie
The options:
Never crushed
Secret crush
Public Crush
Ex-Crush
Ignore
You chose the appropriate response, and it then gave you stats of your types of crushes. You can find the meme here:
Secret Crush Meme
(Not workplace friendly because of an ad for an adult content website)
Now there is *this* gem of a meme, from the same folks who gave you the first one:
Who has a secret crush on me meme
From the opening page:
Remember about 3 weeks ago when LJ Secret Crush Meme dominated your friends page? Remember wondering about who might have a silly crush on you? Now that all the data has been collected, it's time to find out exactly how many people have secret, public and old crushes on you. Because I'm unemployed and can't pay my gas bill, I'll even tell you exactly who has these crushes on you (for $4). Hell, fer four bux, I'll tell you who has crushes on any name you type in! Of course, finding out how many crushes on you is trivial, so just enter your username below to get the info!
From the faq:
You've ruined my life because my husband found out that I have a secret crush on his best friend! What do I do?
Boo F[masked]ing Hoo. You probably shouldn't have been putting that information out on the internet, huh? Feel free to complain here, or just buy your husband's results.
How do you feel about your answers being sold without your permission? Did you give consent? What about intellectual property?
I'm tempted to offer to tell you if I have a secret crush on you for $4. That's much more ethical than giving the money to someone who got the information through nefarious means.
But no. If you want to know if I have a secret crush on you, email me. I'll tell you in direct terms just what I think of you.
Edie
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-10-14 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-14 03:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-14 05:15 pm (UTC)And if you're making me pay, it'll have to be in Canadian currency, and only once we can meet face to face.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 07:00 am (UTC)and I still think "culinary apocalypse" is a stroke of pure genius.
Edie
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-14 09:42 pm (UTC)But...how much does two bottles of mead and a tape-to-.mp3/CD rip buy me? :-)
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 07:06 am (UTC)A spanking.
Edie
That's what everyone gets for trying to buy my answers!
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 03:27 pm (UTC)Promise?
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 01:39 am (UTC)Implicit, alas, unless the site actually had a privacy statement which he's now ignoring. Of course, there might be a Data Protection Act issue in the UK as it's computerised, unless the pseudonyms would interfere with that protection, about which I'm not sure.
Still pretty low, but not necessarily wrong.
What about intellectual property?
Unless your name is a trademark, not an issue. Names can't be copyrighted.
Alistair (tm)
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 07:14 am (UTC)No, it *is* wrong. It's just (probably) not illegal. There is a difference.
And how do you justify implicit consent to have your answers sold? I'm sorry, but I can't see it. You cannot have consent without full disclosure. The lack of a privacy statement is NOT full disclosure.
As a participant in any information gathering project, I have the right to know what that information is going to be used for, and if it will be sold. If it is to be sold, I want a part of the cut.
What does the name have to do with it? It's the selling of answers that is the violation here, I think.
Violation of what is the question.