6 ms·

The only thing less useful than an internet petition is... actually I can't finish that sentence because I can't think of anything less useful than an internet

by hugh3 15y ago

The only thing less useful than an internet petition is... actually I can't finish that sentence because I can't think of anything less useful than an internet petition. But I'm sure the White House had a fun time harvesting all those email addresses to spam throughout the coming fourteen months of election season!

ugh 15y ago
Why do you think that is going to happen? Their privacy policy doesn't seem to allow email addresses to be used for that purpose. I do not think the Obama campaign could take this lightly, and not only because of the privacy policy. Use of government resources for an election campaing is another issue, one more than just privacy activists care about.
- burgerbrain 15y ago
  "I do not think the Obama campaign could take this lightly" Taking what people think lightly is a skill practiced by all politicians. They are very good at it.
- hugh3 15y ago
  Why do you think that is going to happen? Because harvesting email addresses is pretty much the ultimate purpose of all online petitions. Their privacy policy doesn't seem to allow email addresses to be used for that purpose Which part excludes it? Use of government resources for an election campaing is another issue, one more than just privacy activists care about. In a world where the President can take Air Force One to go to a campaign fundraiser, I don't think that this is taken all that seriously any more. There are certain rules regarding what's "politics" and what's "government", but if the White House has your email address you're certainly gonna be getting a lot of emails going "Gosh, what a good job I'm doing as President. What a pity those darn Republicans are to blame for everything that's going wrong" et cetera.
  - icebraining 15y ago
    >Because harvesting email addresses is pretty much the ultimate purpose of all online petitions. Says who? I've been registered on more than one petition websites for years using an email just for them ([name-of-site]@mydomain.com) and I haven't ever got a spam email. In a world where the President can take Air Force One to go to a campaign fundraiser, I don't think that this is taken all that seriously any more. There are certain rules regarding what's "politics" and what's "government", but if the White House has your email address you're certainly gonna be getting a lot of emails going "Gosh, what a good job I'm doing as President. What a pity those darn Republicans are to blame for everything that's going wrong" et cetera. Do you have an evidence of this ever happening, or are you just defaming?
- wisty 15y ago
  I'm not sure about email addresses, but political parties often have exemptions in lots of laws about privacy, fundraising, etc; for reasons which are obvious.
DanielBMarkham 15y ago
> The only thing less useful than an internet petition is... actually I can't finish that sentence because I can't think of anything less useful than an internet petition. Oh! I know the answer to that one! The only thing less useful? An online political statement that doesn't actually accomplish anything! And my opinion has nothing to do with the White House. In fact, it stems from my only time petitioning my congressional representative. I begged him for no form letters and no additions to any email lists -- and a I got a form letter and put on an email list. Now I get emails every month or two telling me what an awesome guy he is.
unfletch 15y ago
You may have seen something about the Air Mag auction over the last few weeks. (Nike's limited edition run of the sneakers Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future 2.) When the auction popped up in the news I ended up on Nike's promotional site and read that the idea was born when "...in 2005, [the shoe designer]’s attention was caught by an online petition asking that the shoes come back." (http://www.back4thefuture.com/#!shoe http://www.back4thefuture.com/#!shoe) It struck me as the first time I'd ever heard of an online petition achieving its goal. Here's hoping this becomes second time.
cabalamat 15y ago
I agree. The UK government has had an online petition system for a number of years, and I am not aware of a single policy that has changed because of it.
biafra 15y ago
Here in Germany an internet petition helped raising awareness for a problem (internet censorship via DNS-Spoofing) that did not have enough attention before. I think it was very useful in doing that. https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/index.php?action=petition;sa=details;petition=3860 https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/index.php?action=petition;s...

by hugh3 15y ago

ugh 15y ago

Why do you think that is going to happen? Their privacy policy doesn't seem to allow email addresses to be used for that purpose. I do not think the Obama campaign could take this lightly, and not only because of the privacy policy. Use of government resources for an election campaing is another issue, one more than just privacy activists care about.

burgerbrain 15y ago
"I do not think the Obama campaign could take this lightly" Taking what people think lightly is a skill practiced by all politicians. They are very good at it.
hugh3 15y ago
Why do you think that is going to happen? Because harvesting email addresses is pretty much the ultimate purpose of all online petitions. Their privacy policy doesn't seem to allow email addresses to be used for that purpose Which part excludes it? Use of government resources for an election campaing is another issue, one more than just privacy activists care about. In a world where the President can take Air Force One to go to a campaign fundraiser, I don't think that this is taken all that seriously any more. There are certain rules regarding what's "politics" and what's "government", but if the White House has your email address you're certainly gonna be getting a lot of emails going "Gosh, what a good job I'm doing as President. What a pity those darn Republicans are to blame for everything that's going wrong" et cetera.
- icebraining 15y ago
  >Because harvesting email addresses is pretty much the ultimate purpose of all online petitions. Says who? I've been registered on more than one petition websites for years using an email just for them ([name-of-site]@mydomain.com) and I haven't ever got a spam email. In a world where the President can take Air Force One to go to a campaign fundraiser, I don't think that this is taken all that seriously any more. There are certain rules regarding what's "politics" and what's "government", but if the White House has your email address you're certainly gonna be getting a lot of emails going "Gosh, what a good job I'm doing as President. What a pity those darn Republicans are to blame for everything that's going wrong" et cetera. Do you have an evidence of this ever happening, or are you just defaming?
wisty 15y ago
I'm not sure about email addresses, but political parties often have exemptions in lots of laws about privacy, fundraising, etc; for reasons which are obvious.

DanielBMarkham 15y ago

> The only thing less useful than an internet petition is... actually I can't finish that sentence because I can't think of anything less useful than an internet petition. Oh! I know the answer to that one! The only thing less useful? An online political statement that doesn't actually accomplish anything! And my opinion has nothing to do with the White House. In fact, it stems from my only time petitioning my congressional representative. I begged him for no form letters and no additions to any email lists -- and a I got a form letter and put on an email list. Now I get emails every month or two telling me what an awesome guy he is.

unfletch 15y ago

You may have seen something about the Air Mag auction over the last few weeks. (Nike's limited edition run of the sneakers Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future 2.) When the auction popped up in the news I ended up on Nike's promotional site and read that the idea was born when "...in 2005, [the shoe designer]’s attention was caught by an online petition asking that the shoes come back." (http://www.back4thefuture.com/#!shoe http://www.back4thefuture.com/#!shoe) It struck me as the first time I'd ever heard of an online petition achieving its goal. Here's hoping this becomes second time.

cabalamat 15y ago

I agree. The UK government has had an online petition system for a number of years, and I am not aware of a single policy that has changed because of it.

biafra 15y ago

Here in Germany an internet petition helped raising awareness for a problem (internet censorship via DNS-Spoofing) that did not have enough attention before. I think it was very useful in doing that. https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/index.php?action=petition;sa=details;petition=3860 https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/index.php?action=petition;s...