Do You Violate Your Friends' Privacy By Using Plaxo?

Grok Headline matches for Do You Violate Your Friends' Privacy By Using Plaxo?

Reading over your friends' friends'
shoulders

Reading over your friends' friends'
shoulders 04/09/2004 04:11 PM
Just for fun, I've (temporarily) added a small link after those sites on my "not recommended" list in the sidebar whose editors have Kinja public digests. Just look for the (k) after the site names. That way, visitors to kottke.org who like what I have to say can read sites I recommend and then check out what those recommended people are reading. That's right, all that mumbo jumbo means I've...

New arrival Easy to keep in touch - but
do babybl0gs violate privacy?

New arrival Easy to keep in touch - but
do babybl0gs violate privacy? 04/19/2004 06:54 AM
BBC Apr 19 2004 11:11AM GMT

Plaxo - NOT

Plaxo - NOT 04/10/2004 04:45 PM
Mo' Plaxo?.

As a followup to my entry earlier this week about opting out of Plaxo, Stacy Martin from Plaxo commented "Thanks for using the Service. We've offered the Opt-out capabilities for about 6 months now..."

Umm. Stacy. One thing.

I never used Plaxo. I never used the service. I didn't appreciate the unsolicited mail and I never wanted to share anything. I never should have been forced into Plaxo in the first place and Plaxo shouldn't be trying to lever my personal information into a business model.

I never should have had to opt-out in the first place!!

And remember folks - friends don't force friends to use Plaxo, friends use Friends< /A>.

If you want my contact info, <A href="javascript:openWindow(http://www .byte.org/blog/cmd=view_user/username=ross, 'info', 450, 600);">click here instead. If you need more contact deets, become my friend ;)

[Random Bytes]

You go Ross - tell um like it is.  That guy left comments for me too. They're using they're $20M of VC money for something at least!

How to Opt Out of Plaxo

How to Opt Out of Plaxo 04/09/2004 04:00 PM
I hope, having gone to this opt-out page on the Plaxo site, I'll never, ever be subjected to another one of those annoying update-your-contact-info requests.

More Hype For Plaxo

More Hype For Plaxo 06/15/2004 03:32 AM
You can always tell when a lazy PR person has been given the job to hype up some random startup in Silicon Valley. That's when the "profile" piece comes out, focusing almost entirely on the 22-year-old founder of a company, rather than the company itself or what it does. It looks like that's the latest strategy to hype up Plaxo, with a story that focuses on its young co-founders and the similarities the company has to Yahoo and Google - namely founded by two Stanford students and funded by Michael Moritz. Of course, the article leaves out the differences - such as the fact that a fair number of folks find Plaxo's service both annoyin g and creepy< /a> - and they're still searchi ng for a business model. It also leaves out the fact that one of Plaxo's founders was recently forced out of the company, suggesting that not all is well at Plaxo central. I still fail to see how Plaxo is any more than a small feature of an email system - and the only thing I learned from this article is that the company likes to compare itself to multi-billion dollar companies that actually do have business models.

Opting out of Plaxo

Opting out of Plaxo 04/09/2004 03:56 PM

Apologies to friends who use Plaxo, but I'm opting out of Plaxo since it has become a source of spam for me and I feel like I'm doing all the work. Anyone who wants to find my contact info can just Google me or find it on my wiki page.

via Dan Gillmor

Opt out of Plaxo emails

Opt out of Plaxo emails 04/09/2004 04:11 PM

Wow!  Somebody's listening.

How to opt-out of Plaxo emails. Dan Gillmor points to this page on the Plaxo website, where you can permanently opt out receiving "Hey, I'm updating my contact information..." emails from the service. Link [Boing Boing]

Apparently, I joined Plaxo.

Apparently, I joined Plaxo. 06/29/2004 10:23 AM
I received a surprise email from Plaxo today, updating me on the status of my account. I'd forgotten I'd once joined, in the spirit of adventure. So, I went to the Plaxo site where they've prominently posted reassuring information about their privacy policy. I found where I can opt out of receiving update requests, although it results in the following almost-funny error message: The e-mail address you are trying to opt-out from (self@evident.com) has already been claimed by another user (possibly you). You will not be able to opt-out at this time. (A search of their knowledge base turns...

Plaxo Does Have A Business Model... But
Not Really

Plaxo Does Have A Business Model... But
Not Really 05/24/2004 03:05 AM
I'll admit that I have not been kind to Plaxo in the past. Ever since the service was first announced, it sounded like a bubble era pointless dot com. There was a lot of hype about the young founder (previously founded Napster!) and the "service" itself didn't seem like much of a product. At most, it was a feature of a larger product, and that larger product might just turn out to be something like Microsoft Outlook. If the system was remotely useful, you would think that Microsoft would just build it in to Outlook. However, it didn't even seem that useful. If anything, I expected it to be annoying - and has it ever been annoying. I now block all Plaxo requests, but for a while, the amount of Plaxo spam was ridiculous. Then, of course, there's the privacy question. While Plaxo now goes to great lengths to swear up and down that they keep your info private, they don't seem to understand the real privacy complaint: when your friends give your address to some 3rd party service, are they violating your privacy? It's a question that's not entirely clear. In the meantime, this was all made worse by the fact that Plaxo still didn't have anything remotely resembling a business model (shades of the bubble era again...). Well, now they claim they've solved that issue, and have announced that their business model is a $20/year paid version for which you'll get such great features as... well, they actually don't seem to know yet. You will get better customer support though. It always worries me when companies decide that better customer support is a premium "feature," because they've just set up the incentives to mean that they give the absolute worst customer support to anyone not in that tier. This doesn't seem particularly compelling. They're basically saying their new business model is that they'll annoy me less if I pay? No thanks...

Congrats to Mark Jen, now at Plaxo

Congrats to Mark Jen, now at Plaxo 03/14/2005 05:02 PM
It looks like Mark found himself a new job (Plaxo) after a whirlwind of media attention and job interviews. Congrats, Mark. Lemme know if you want to drop by Yahoo for lunch again sometime....

Yahoo Invests in Plaxo

Yahoo Invests in Plaxo 05/24/2004 03:48 PM
"Plaxo integrates Yahoo's search engine directly into the Outlook e-mail program. Under the deal with Yahoo, Plaxo will get paid for channeling people to Yahoo's search engine."

Plaxo Business Model

Plaxo Business Model 05/24/2004 12:50 PM
Plaxo is out trying to explain they have a business model and are addressing privacy concerns. A premium service at $20/month that includes support and, well, what else they are not saying or don't know yet. Techdirt: They're basically saying...

plaxo wants to support FOAF

plaxo wants to support FOAF 02/19/2004 02:55 AM
and needs to know how to make it work. clue them in.

Creating a Privacy Policy Compliant with
the New Online Privacy Protection Act

Creating a Privacy Policy Compliant with
the New Online Privacy Protection Act 12/12/2003 07:51 PM
IRMI Dec 12 2003 6:22PM ET

EFF Privacy Coalition Presses Congress
for Hearings on Air Traveler Privacy

EFF Privacy Coalition Presses Congress
for Hearings on Air Traveler Privacy 02/17/2004 02:34 PM
Electronic Frontier Foundations Feb 17 2004 6:22PM GMT

Sean Parker kicked out of Plaxo

Sean Parker kicked out of Plaxo 04/21/2004 03:26 AM

Although I had some problems with the Plaxo model, I hate hearing stories like this. Sean Parker, the founder and visionary behind Plaxo was kicked out rather rudely by the VCs. I don't know the details, but it sounds bad.

San Jose Mercury

The company sent out an anonymous, terse statement that Parker is ``no longer with Plaxo,'' but called him a ``visionary, creative entrepreneur'' and ended with: ``We thank him for his hard work and wish him well.''

In reality, though, a source said Parker has been locked out, and everyone at the company has been instructed not to talk with Parker, except by way of the company's lawyer, Ray Hickson.

When contacted and asked whether this arrangement is ``normal,'' Hickson said: ``I can't discuss a client personnel matter with newspaper reporters.''

Parker himself issued a terse statement: ``While the company is moving to a new stage of its growth, the management team remains committed to executing my original vision,'' he said. ``The company remains in capable hands.''

I've founded several companies and as companies grow, the skills required to be the chief executive change. When I've founded (or helped found) companies in the past, I've usually stepped aside to allow someone with better administrative and sales skills to lead the company after it's up and running. This was the case with Digital Garage and PSINet Japan and to a certain extent Infoseek Japan. I seem to be the most useful getting things going, not running them.

As a VC/investor, I've seen my share of visionary CEOs who can't run the company, but we usually try to keep them involved in some way and stay on good terms so we can invest in their next good company. I don't see how you can continue being a VC in the valley being cruel to serial entrepreneurs.

Pierre Omidyar of eBay is probably one of the best examples of knowing when to bring on a real CEO, but staying involved as the founder. I think he and his investors were smart about this.

Ja son Calacanis blogs about this on thesocialsoftwareweblog

Can You Violate A Patent With 16
Characters On An M&M?

Can You Violate A Patent With 16
Characters On An M&M? 12/22/2004 01:16 AM
It's that holiday time and the makers of M&M candies have decided to let you print your own message on an M&M -- limited to 8 characters each on two lines (which seems pretty tight for the size of an M&M anyway). It's not surprising that there's a ton of legalese added about what you can and cannot print in your 16 characters, but as LawMeme points out, how exactly would someone go about violating a patent in those 16 characters?

Greenlight Wireless signs deal with
Plaxo, Inc.

Greenlight Wireless signs deal with
Plaxo, Inc. 09/16/2004 03:28 AM
Development is underway to "Plaxo-enable" the award-winning Skweezer service, providing access to the fastest-growing contact management software and network. [PRWEB Sep 16, 2004]

Start-up Plaxo sketches out business
plan

Start-up Plaxo sketches out business
plan 05/24/2004 12:03 AM

Plaxo, Yahoo make deal on search

Plaxo, Yahoo make deal on search 05/24/2004 10:38 AM
San Jose Mercury News May 24 2004 2:30PM GMT

Does Shareware X-Chat for Windows
Violate the GPL?

Does Shareware X-Chat for Windows
Violate the GPL? 08/30/2004 05:44 PM

Does Playboy Interview Violate Google
IPO?

Does Playboy Interview Violate Google
IPO? 08/13/2004 10:44 AM
Search Engine Journal Aug 13 2004 2:10PM GMT

TiVo Doesn't Violate Patent On Pausing
TV

TiVo Doesn't Violate Patent On Pausing
TV 02/11/2004 02:36 AM
Not much in the way of details, but it appears that TiVo has won a case against yet another patent shop that claimed to own the patent on pausing live TV. The article doesn't say why the case was decided in TiVo's favor, but TiVo is asking that the patent shop pay all of TiVo's legal fees. Once again, this was a patent that probably never should have been issued. Rather than "encouraging innovation" it appears to have slowed it down by dragging the company that actually was doing something into court.

Does Adblock Violate A Social Contract?

Does Adblock Violate A Social Contract? 04/15/2005 03:39 PM

11,173 Violate Intellectual Property
Rights

11,173 Violate Intellectual Property
Rights 06/28/2004 04:52 AM
Hankooki Jun 28 2004 8:58AM GMT

Google Says Story May Violate IPO Rules

Google Says Story May Violate IPO Rules 08/13/2004 09:16 AM
AP via ABCNEWS.com Aug 13 2004 1:33PM GMT

U.N. Says U.S.-Led Forces Violate Rights
in Iraq (Reuters)

U.N. Says U.S.-Led Forces Violate Rights
in Iraq (Reuters) 06/04/2004 07:16 AM
Reuters - The United Nations top human rights official said on Friday U.S.-led occupation forces had mistreated many ordinary Iraqis and called for the appointment of an international jurist to monitor their behavior.

Altnet says P2P spies violate patent
rights

Altnet says P2P spies violate patent
rights 11/11/2003 09:14 PM
The company, which legally distributes files through Kazaa and other peer-to-peer services, has sent legal threats to nine companies that monitor or meddle with file-trading networks.

Did RealNetworks Violate The DMCA With
Their Music Player?

Did RealNetworks Violate The DMCA With
Their Music Player? 01/16/2004 01:03 PM
The folks over at DRM Watch believe that RealNetworks must have violated the DMCA to create their latest RealPlayer 10 software that can play songs downloaded off of other music download stores like iTunes or Napster 2.0. No matter what you think of the DMCA, though, I don't think that's true at all. The point of the copy protection technology used by iTunes and Napster (and others) is to prevent copying of the songs. If you're playing the song from the same location with a different application, then no copying has occurred. The only issue is building a player that recognizes the specific file formats - and Apple with their AAC files and Napster with their WMA files are pretty well known file formats. I don't think either application was designed so that songs downloaded to them could only be played within their software. So, am I missing something, or is this article off-base? If they are off-base, then it means it's the second time in a row - as the whole point of this article was to correct a mistake in the guy's last article, where he claimed that RealPlayer 10 couldn't play songs from iTunes or Napster.

Google Says Playboy Story May Violate
S.E.C. Rules

Google Says Playboy Story May Violate
S.E.C. Rules 08/13/2004 09:10 AM
The company did not indicate if it would delay its much-awaited initial stock offering set to begin this morning.

Intel accuser alleges 150 others violate
chip patent

Intel accuser alleges 150 others violate
chip patent 04/26/2004 04:50 AM
Patriot spreads its net

Court rules ISP didn't violate law by
capturing, copying e-mails

Court rules ISP didn't violate law by
capturing, copying e-mails 07/02/2004 04:33 PM
In an e-mail privacy case that could have broad implications, a federal appeals court ruled that an ISP didn't break federal law when it used special code to intercept and copy some of the e-mail messages it processed for customers.

Writing Software? Setting Up A Website?
How Many Patents Do You Violate?

Writing Software? Setting Up A Website?
How Many Patents Do You Violate? 01/22/2004 03:07 AM
The stories of stupid patents seem to be showing up every day, and this article points out that if you're writing your own software or setting up a website, it's likely that you violate a ton of patents already. The article has the story of someone who wanted to set up an online video store, only to realize that just about every part of the store violated some patent. The cost of "licensing" all of those patents made the business impossible. Note that all he was trying to do was build the fairly obvious idea of an online video store. He wasn't "taking" any intellectual property - but because of the way the patent system is designed, his site never got anywhere. We're certainly beating a dead horse, but it's apparently not dead enough - because there's no real talk of changing the patent system. If the entire point of the patent system is supposed to be about promoting innovation - and it's clearly not doing that, why isn't anyone talking about changing the patent system?

Xinnet's Free Domain Names Violate Rules

Xinnet's Free Domain Names Violate Rules 01/05/2005 03:11 AM
ChinaTechNews.com Jan 5 2005 6:41AM GMT

RatherBiased.com | News | CBS's Clinton
Profits May Violate FCC Rules.

RatherBiased.com | News | CBS's Clinton
Profits May Violate FCC Rules. 06/27/2004 12:45 PM
RatherBiased

ratherbiased.com/news/content/view/135
track this site | 3 links

The war on privacy, Act II

The war on privacy, Act II 03/16/2003 03:12 AM
You talk to your spouse on the cell phone, and the government eavesdrops and writes down your conversation. In the privacy of your home you Google. ...

"Privacy"

"Privacy" 07/02/2004 08:10 AM

One pie, no privacy

One pie, no privacy 04/27/2004 07:18 AM
USA Today Apr 27 2004 11:37AM GMT

LNR Wants Privacy

LNR Wants Privacy 08/31/2004 01:58 PM
Cerberus Capital Management's purchase shows the dangers for minority public shareholders.
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Do You Violate Your Friends' Privacy By Using Plaxo?

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