Websites

April 2008

"Fake" websites

Fortune Magazine's blog Legal Pad", written by Roger Parloff, flagged a clever and just-short-of-legally-unethical practice that is increasingly popular with plaintiff's law firms: the establishment of "informational," "public interest" web sites designed to attract victims of various diseases…especially the asbestos-caused lung disease mesothelioma. This deadly disease is a long-time meal-ticket for the plaintiff's bar. The ethical problem with the sites isn't that they don't convey useful information: they do. But they also go to some lengths to disguise the fact that law firms set them up and operate them.

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March 2008

missbimbo

The Scoreboard was made aware of several frighteningly unethical sites in March, but the month's winner has to be "missbimbo," a revolting site created by a French entrepreneur who seems to be hell-bent on reinforcing all negative stereotypes about French values. (Next up: "Miss Surrender"?) His website encourages girls as young as 9 to appreciate plastic surgery and dieting as a way to achieve female Nirvana: a perfect figure, popularity, and a rich husband.

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February 2008

BestFakeDoctorsNotes

The cheating, lying and misrepresentation websites on the web are revolting enough, but the posturing of their creators give them a yucky frosting of smirking insincerity that makes them doubly revolting. For example, Mark Marquisi, the genius behind the new fake doctor note-generating web site that was launched this month, says his site is "for entertainment only." Yeah, when I'm in need of a chuckle, there's nothing like a phony doctor's note. "I simply saw a demand on the internet and created a product to fulfill that demand. My products are for entertainment use only, but if someone chooses to use them in other ways, that is their decision. I do not encourage illegal use of my products," Marquisi states, winking away.

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