AboutUs.org - Is it Ethical?
Ajay 
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AboutUs.org is a new wiki on the block that has information for every domain in the world. But is the concept ethical? Join in the discussion.
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I don’t particularly like that they are collecting site info like this…
[Reply] TechZ (11 comments.) — 08/24/2006 @ 3:43 pmWhat would be unethical about it? I mean, my site is on the internet for everyone to see and domain registration information is public. I imagine it will become a useful tool for spam artist though, and therefore I am not a fan of this site.
[Reply] Smoove D (1 comments.) — 08/24/2006 @ 11:01 pmUnethical, because your site content and personal information is gathered very much without your permission.
And you already spoke about spammers
[Reply] Ajay (39 comments.) — 08/24/2006 @ 11:46 pmA few weeks ago when I found about this wiki while checking my own domain names throught whois.sc, I edited and deleted every page there about me or my domains.
[Reply] Ozh (74 comments.) — 08/25/2006 @ 1:25 amCompletely unethical, because while it sucked the content from my pages, it conveniently removed the copyright notice posted at the bottom of them.
[Reply] Lisa (1 comments.) — 08/25/2006 @ 11:48 amI do not like AboutUs.org, I started to delete my entries, a few days later they were back on there. It looks like a spammer’s paradise!
[Reply] mal (1 comments.) — 08/26/2006 @ 4:56 amIt would be unethical, in my opinion, if it started listing information not publicly available about you and your website. This is very much possible since it allows people to edit any website’s information.
Scenario: John B. Average becomes miffed with Jane B. Average (his competition) and decides to post all of her private information on the site. Jane B. Average has no idea this site exists, but starts wondering why strange people are e-mailing her, calling her, or even driving by her home. See where I’m going with this?
As is stands now, I don’t believe AboutUs.org is unethical, but I don’t care for it.
It’s not a registrar or whois look-up service; the owner should give website owners the ability to opt-out of appearing in the list. Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and even The Internet Archives give webmasters a way to opt-out of their directories, and so should AboutUs.org.
My 2 cents.
~ Teli
[Reply] Teli (24 comments.) — 08/27/2006 @ 11:51 amKudos, Teli. Couldn’t have said it better.
[Reply] Jonathan (76 comments.) — 08/28/2006 @ 5:11 pmTo Opt out of AboutUs please visit this page http://www.aboutus.org/How_can.....AboutUs%3F
[Reply] Simon — 09/5/2006 @ 1:26 amIt is not ethical. And the hole idea behind it is disgusting. Because what they actually do is stealing other peoples effort. They don’t care about copy rights either. Some people like those behind aboutus.org can’t contribute any thing of their own. They can only copy. What a pitty…
[Reply] Mads Myhrvold — 12/4/2006 @ 6:36 pm