suzifreecycler’s Recent Comments

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  Hypogristy & Freecycle TM

  So let's see. Grist (R) Registered Trademark is fine because the creator wants to protect his intellectual property. Even though it is is supposed to be a free, public forum. One wouldn't want a competing blog/zine to have a very similar/identical name and cause confusion among users, right? But for some reason it is morally wrong for the Freecycle inventor/organizer to trademark their group? Sounds like a major case of hypocrisy!

  As for Deron Beal accepting a modest stipend from an environmentally related corporation- this man has put in full time hours for years, thousands of uncompensated hours, building Freecycle from nothing into the huge national org is is today. Don't you think most directors of large nonprofits accept a salary in the $40-50k range? (Or two, even three times that amount!) Where do you think THAT money comes from? Lots of grants from corporate foundations!

  Next time you particpate in ANY nonprofit's event, check out all the corporate sponsors. Makeup companies like Avon and pharmaceutical companies like Glaxo Wellcome sponsoring breast cancer "walks" etc. Would it somehow have been considered more ethical for Deron to dissociate himself from Freecycle altoegther and then have the group spend a ton of money (that it doesn't have) to conduct a national search to hire and train a professional nonprofit director- who would be paid by the same corproate grant? And the point would be - what? Duh, why not give the job to the guy who created the job, and has been doing it for years for FREE!

  As a Freecycle (TM) moderator of a 5000 member group (with 40-50 new members applying every week)I know there are darn good reasons for our "rules". We could not run the board without some fairly firm ground rules. Like 'no wildcat offers' (junk left on the street with a "come & get it" address posted to 5000 people) wastes gas & trash on the street like broken glass from monitors- that's bad for the environment; wastes time of multiple members since in our city, likely it'll be gone before the post even hits cyberspace). Like posts only for tangible items- not free concerts, barter of services,'coupons' that are really come-on advertisements, etc.

  Just like the GRIST has its terms of service and RULES for use of the site, so does Freecycle. Have to agree to those terms in order to register & use the site. But, somehow if Freecycle requires members to abide by groundrules - well then, they are bad & wrong.

  Uh-oh, there's that hypocrisy thing again!

  And FYI all you Freecycle bashers- our large group DOES debate certain rules, like whether to allow postings re: pets (no, flunks "the landfill reduction test") and whether to allow signature lines that contain links to posters' businesses & websites (can get very spammy). We DO allow majority vote on certain issues.

  If one doesn't like Freecycle rules- simply use craigslist, the free newspapers, the paperback book swap groups, or just leave the crap on the street. Or start your own group that has different rules.THAT is freedom of speech- not stealing and corrupting someone else's intellectual property.
  On freecycle: TM, and R.I.P. posted 3 years, 4 months ago 31 Responses