Bypass Compulsory Web Registration

That is a good thing because as I see it, information should be free.

 

Food for thought ... is that ethical??? I am not taking a position on it. It just came to my mind.

 

Well..... It is it an invasion of civil liberties for sites to demand your email address and a compulsory registration? I am leaning to yes.

 

I would lean towards no, since no one is demanding it. They are offering somethign to you. If you don't want to give your email and registration info, you don't have to. This is a free market exchange. They don't have to offer you anything, but when they do, they have a right to ask for whatever they want (be it an email address or a million dollars ... or anything in between).

After thinking about it, I lean towards this being unethical. The provider is providing information based on an implied agreement.

 

It depends on their requirements Jonathan. I am not sure about it ... I learn towards unethical. What is the problem with typing an email address? I have one I use for junkmail. You probably do too ...

 

What is wrong with typing in your email address is that you leave yourself wide open for Spam and Viruses. These companies sell email addresses to spammers who are now using viruses to get there message across, you get a virus, and your pc is then used as a remote to attack other pc's with viruses. By not giving your email, you are saving alot of people alot of trouble, I had a friend who got a virus on his pc, and it was enough to ruin it to the point where he had to spend $700 for it to be fixed!

 

Two easy solutions to that:

1. Anti virus ...
2. Web-based email such as excite or yahoo. That is the address I give out to anyone I don't know. I have managed to keep my real address fairly clean, though I get maybe 2 or 3 a week.

I honestly don't know ... and really don't care ... it is just an interesting point of applicational ethics ...

 

Part of my point goes to your first post about "As I see it, information should be free."

My response is that your view of it is good for you. And when you start a website you may certainly make it free. But these sites have to pay bills somehow. Some do it by charging you; others do it through advertising, including spam.

The point is when someone else has a product, you don't get to set the price for it. You can decide whether or not you want to pay their price, but you don't walk in a store and pick up a piece of merchandise because "you think it should be free." (That was the whole issue in music file sharing.) Nor do you pay for it with fraudulent currency simply becuase you think they are charging too much. Your options are pay what they want, talk them down to an agreeable price, get it somewhere else, or do without. This is no different as I see it. Their "price" is your email address. You can decide that the information is worth that price, or you can decide that it isn't. But the one thing you can't do, IMO, is act fraudulently by bypassing something they require. To me, that is unethical. And the fact that "everyone does it" or "it is only information" or "no one prosecutes" or "the company expects it" is irrelevant. To me, it goes to the issue of moral integrity ... (without intending to slam anyone who disagrees with me).