

Spacelocker, A Social Network To Avoid Like The Plague - cwan
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/08/07/spacelocker-a-social-network-youll-want-to-avoid-like-the-plague/

======
flatline
It seemed clear as day to me which would do what from just looking at the
registration form. It is however reprehensible to ask a user to divulge their
email password for any reason, and this is not the only site to do so by a
long shot. The only difference that I can see between this and (facebook?
twitter?) is that they actively spam your contact list and send you a rude
(but personalized!) service email when you complain. Stupid user, for giving
up her email password.

~~~
raphar
Facebook & LinkedIn also ask for your email password, and they use it to spam.
Whats interesting is that techcrunch never complains about it. Perhaps it is
not wise to write harsh support letters to them ;-). stupid user though.

~~~
varikin
Facebook and LinkedIn display a list of contacts from your email and allow you
to select which ones to send invites (spam) to. And it is usually an optional
step that can be skipped.

In my eyes, this is OK because it the page is clear about what they want and
that it will email your contacts that you select.

Of course this is what I recall from when I signed up a while ago, so I could
be wrong.

~~~
kam
However, Facebook is reportedly storing contacts imported but not selected,
and using them for friend suggestions - see
[http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/06/12/facebook-now-
sugges...](http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/06/12/facebook-now-suggesting-
friends-found-in-imported-contact-lists/)

Personally, I'd never give an email password to a third party, no matter what
they claim they'll do with it.

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knightinblue
It's ironic that they questioned Lee's grasp of English while their own
tagline says 'one place to all your online stuff'.

~~~
pavel_lishin
The whole online stuff?

~~~
alexgartrell
And all of your base!

------
jwhitlark
Repeat after me: I WILL NOT ABUSE MY CUSTOMERS, EVEN IF THEY DO SOMETHING
STUPID.

You'd think some of these companies are paying you, instead of the other way
around.

------
cwan
Another really unhappy camper: [http://nospinpr.com/2009/06/09/spacelocker-
the-social-media-...](http://nospinpr.com/2009/06/09/spacelocker-the-social-
media-train-wreck/) \- I think what gets people even more is the level of
arrogance in the customer support replies.

It's a downside of using your email and password to log into sites - and
obviously spacelocker does this deliberately given the number of complaints
you can find on the net and their unwillingness to make their sign up clearer
(or separate). Being a bit lazy, if it's a trusted site, I'm almost afraid to
admit I've done it myself since it's convenient - I use my email and password
to log into HN.

------
vegashacker
I think the news here is that this company sent that support email to a user.
It's pretty unbelievable. In fact, I'm not sure I do believe that it's real.
Would someone really write that?

~~~
scott_s
I have no problem believing the same people who would design a purposefully
confusing interface to spam people's contact lists would also abuse their uses
through customer service.

------
vijayr
I have no clue about law, but I think there should be a law that doesn't allow
"PS" and "footers" or "*" in a different font size, whether it is a website or
a printed form or billboard. Their font size should be at least as big as the
least other font size used in the page.

The lawyers that frame these footers don't want us to read, and so do
everything possible to "help" us "ignore" these.

~~~
anigbrowl
Yes, I too find that irritating. They do it on radio commercials too, by
either using software or actors who can speak fast to rattle off the T&C.
Restrictions on this tend to be regarded as an intrusion on free speech, but
I'm not sure that commercial solicitations should enjoy the same protection as
other kinds.

~~~
vijayr
how is it intrusion? All I am saying is, if the lowest font size (other than
the fineprint) in a page is 10, then the fineprint font size should be a
minimum of 10.

That said, nothing stops them from adding a single line of useless info, slap
the font size at 8, and add the fineprint too as 8 font size.

Something better can be thought of, but there _needs_ to be some law. Those
fineprints are read by only those damn lawyers who write them.

~~~
anigbrowl
Oh I think your idea is entirely reasonable - but reason doesn't stop lawyers
from making illogical or counterfactual arguments on behalf of their clients.
You might find this very interesting - a (serious) discussion of bullshit
promises in legal contracts:
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1262477>

