You can be deceptive without outright lying. Yes. That is what I meant.
-Josh
I find the distinction difficult to parse.
It's like me hanging a sign out front saying "FREE BEER" and when you ask for one, I bring it to you. Then, cold beer in hand, I tell you only the first sip is free, but the rest of the glass will cost $10.00. Wouldn't you feel deceived? Lied to?
In the case of these software vendors, it's not an honest mistake. They KNOW what "free" means and clearly they're engineering things to deceive people into believing they're getting free beer. Er, software. That's lying, isn't it?
We've all gotten wise to the scam and our cynicism filters out the millions of "free" offers we encounter every day. But the fact that some very savvy folks here were caught by surprise tells me the game's ramping up. The levels of deception are getting deeper.
In my mind drawing a distinction between "lying" and "deceit" simply makes things worse. I don't care what *kind* of lie it is, or that everyone's doing it... it's still wrong. Debating the quality or magintude of the lie dilutes the underlying principle.
And yes, I understand I don't have to click on the link and nobody's focing me to install anything. But representing it as one thing up front then springing the "fine print" on me after the deed is done, that's not only wrong... that's stupid. Because companies that engage in (or condone, or sponsor) that kind of behavior damage their credibility.
[pant, pant, pant]
Okay, I'm off to find a beer.
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