MarkHoffman

Well, Adam, the facts are that your friends are running what can best be characterized as a shady business. Perhaps they didn't break the law, but I find it saddening to see Hashrocket folks fall over themselves to defend business practices such as these. Makes one question what kind of business-ethics Hashrocket encourages, doesn't it?

I think it's a bit much to suggest that your friend's business is just an innocent victim of an overzealous and incompetent law enforcement system. The complaint has enough facts contained in it to at least suggest that there is something shady going on. The very nature of their industry is suspect.

Defend them all you want, but consider that it only encourages people to associate the accused (and their ethics) with those with the people at Hashrocket.

Obie is probably right and wrong.

He's probably right about the prosecutor being a grandstanding twit with little interest in justice, but only concerned about his own political career. I've been involved in (though not a party to) two criminal cases and neither case left me with much admiration for prosecutors. I realize they are just doing their job, but it's clear their own interest are placed far above the needs of justice.

But Obie is wrong about the nature of these types of directory businesses. As a business owner, I've come in contact with these type of companies and the most gracious description of them would be "ethically challenged". While they may operate under the letter of the law, they rely upon naivete and/or lack of scrutiny. They are no better than those companies that add a charge to your phone bill and hope you don't see it.

I can understand why people are disappointed to learn that Obie has decided to associate himself with people that are involved in these types of shady businesses. I also see why people would be concerned that Obie has partnered with these kind of people in building Hashrocket.