Regulate Free Web Services? Let's see why that's wrong, and dumb.

http://seaneby.com/regulate-free-web-services-lets-see-why-thats

by bradgessler • 16 years ago

15 6 16 years ago

jlcgull• 16 years ago

I have to say I agree with Sean here... Read the fine print before you commit your digital life into the hands of strangers... Yes, even if they come dressed in slick Web2.0 shininess, they are still strangers and once you hit that "I Accept" button you actually (surprisingly!) do accept those Terms & Conditions... and almost always the T & C fine print has the information that says this website/company/service may be gone without warning anytime !!!

Don't expect to be bailed out just because you were dumb... Oh wait, this is the USA, people expect to be bailed out all the time here, don't they?

BTW, a very true saying, quite relevant in the USA is: "VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS"... if you don't like a service, don't support it... and if you do like the service, be ready to vote for it with your $$$s.

dshafer• 16 years ago

I agree completely with your observation about Ts&Cs. OTOH, I have a legal background and I know that agreements like this one (they used to be called 'rip-and-sign' back in the days of packaged software) are hard to enforce. I know of the problems and I still seldom do more than scan them to see if they contain an egregious paragraph or two that I look out for.

I'm not sure if Americans "expect to be bailed out all the time," but I do know that we expect as consumers not to have our rights trampled on arbitrarily. As a nation of laws, that's inconvenient sometimes but it's vastly preferable to any alternative I've seen.

chbarts• 16 years ago

> I'm not sure if Americans "expect to be bailed out all the time," but I do know that we expect as consumers not to have our rights trampled on arbitrarily.

Right. Personal responsibility means companies must be held responsible if they don't follow ethical standards, something that goes strictly beyond obeying the law. Personal responsibility is thus the foundation of a free market.

Regulate Free Web Services? Let's see why that's wrong, and dumb.

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