On the other hand, in the ether world there is a still a substantial proportion of ‘new’ users on the net, and they are likely to fall for dodgy free offers of this nature. The people responsible are also likely to make more from a not-quite money-spinner of this nature than they are from a traditional off-line scam simply due to exposure. However, it’s not just the perpetrators and the individuals who are involved when it is unethical business practice online. To a certain extent it affects all online ventures.
OK, so that’s a big statement, but think about it for a second. *Pretend* that you were relatively new to the web, or at the very least not the RIA/Mobile/Search Master you are, and remember what it was like when the net was new to you (assuming you are over 25). It can be a bit scary. As you become a little less concerned about security issues, and a little more adventurous, you may even buy something on line and risk your credit card details being flashed-around-the-world-and-made-public-to-all-and-sundry. That’s a big step if you’re uncertain.
So you get into a little comfort zone and see a free offer. Unfortunately its one of these. You get irritated. You try to find a way around it. You spend an hour of wasted effort trying to sign up for your free 42inch HDTV, only to pull out at the end because you can’t process your free claim without buying over 500 dollars worth of crap you really don’t need. So now you’re pissed off and a little disillusioned, but you’re a resilient cookie and you get over it.. until you open your inbox in the morning and find 63 spamails. How did they get your details? Who else have you given details to? Better not do that again… What else is now free knowledge. Better cancel that log-in info on Amazon and that nice ring-tone site you found last week. Maybe you aren’t quite ready for the net… Sustainable profits in a legitimate business requires ethical, reliable business practice. Debating the point is a bit like analyzing bribery in the same manner. Sure, bribery to get a positive outcome might be considered a viable means to an end in a corrupt environment. The point is that a positive outcome does not validate the means of attaining it. It is the environment that is corrupt.
Participating in corrupt behavior to achieve something positive only compounds the overall situation. That may be the moral high ground, and in many real life instances [e.g. Zambia, Zimbabwe, Iraq] it is simply not possible to survive without sacrificing one’s morals to a certain extent, but debating whether or not business practice in a ‘normal’ civilized environment requires ethical behavior as normally defined by the ‘reasonable man’ is both stupid and dangerous if the people most responsible for the way the web is presented and managed determine that unethical business practice is acceptable because profits come first.
