Seth Godin: "The honor system"

Notable Marketing Guru Seth Godin has a hand in the online publishing and community website Squidoo.com. Recently squidoo suffered from a large-scale spamming 'attack' that violated the rules of the site, but nevertheless was able to be carried out before being dealt with. Squidoo has responded well and kept people up to date. What may be even more interesting is Seth's personal perspective on the situation:

Excerpt: "...So, online, you're between a rock and a hard place. The first opportunity is to treat your friends better than ever, because word of mouth online is incredibly powerful. The Net brings significant leverage--you can spread ideas farther and faster.

The temptation is to embrace only the advantages of the web and insist on eternal vigilance against the possiblity of getting ripped off. To act as if everyone online is a criminal. To assume that the moment you are generous or trusting, squadrons of bad actors will exploit your generosity. I don't think that's the answer. If you treat people like criminals, the good ones will leave, because people have a choice.

There's a different path. Awareness of the potential problem helps you keep your eyes open. You can watch the trends, be aware, but still embrace the honor system. Realize that the vast majority of your customers will always want to do the right thing. Look both ways before crossing the street... but still cross..."
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