Comment by freshfunk
15 years ago
In a morally-flexible environment, it's easy to confuse the two.
For example - Zynga selling offers (for credits) with very fine print that signs you up for paid services. And the fine print is so convoluted/tiny most people don't read it. Helping or hurting consumers?
- Facebook hiring a PR firm to highlight questionable privacy practices by Google. Helping users or hurting Google?
- Subprime mortgages. Helping or hurting homeowners?
In a morally-flexible environment
You're assuming your conclusion. Punctiliously following convention doesn't make you good. It just safely ensconces you near the mean. Not a promising place for startup founders to reside.
Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes is naughty. He's not evil or even "morally-flexible".
Perhaps you should look to real business rather than comics for examples. It would be more convincing.
I think the rule is, "Write to your audience."
Dropbox lying about their security guarantees ....
The fact that they are a Y-combinator company makes this far and away the best example given.
Except that they didn't lie.
English isn't a computer program - there are many interpretations possible. I suspect that they didn't even see the other interpretation of their language around security until someone pointed it out to them.