7/28/2019
ratings-sites-flourish-behind-a-veil-of-anonymity.pdf
1/2
30/07/10 3:3atings sites flourish behind a veil of anonymity -
The Boston Globe
Page
ttp://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/09/20/ratings_sites_flourish_behind_a_veil_of_anonymity?mode=PF
THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINT
Ratings sites flourish behind a veil of anonymity
By Sacha Pfeiffer, Globe Staff | September 20, 2006
The phenomenon began with websites like RateMyProfessors.com,
which lets college students nationwide evaluatefaculty by posting
anonymous comments that are often entertaining and sometimes
scathing.
There's the Bunker Hill Community College acting instructor
described as ``a wicked, old, grumpy hermit." Or the CurCollege
management lecturer who ``dresses like a slob." Or the Tufts
University physics professor whose ratingsinclude this succinct
advice: ``AVOID!!!"
Now, in hopes of replicating the popular and commercial success
of RateMyProfessors.com and RateMyTeachers.comwhich caters to
middle and high school students, the world of online ratings has
expanded to law, medicine, car repasummer camps, child-care
centers, real estate agents, nightclubs, and beyond with a network
of online forums wherethe public can rate businesses and
professionals behind a veil of anonymity.
The sites provide a wealth of easily accessible, virtually
uncensored information that can help consumers choose a
doctor, lawyer or other service provider. But they are denounced
by critics who say they don't provide enoughprotection from angry
clients, dissatisfied patients, disgruntled students, jealous
colleagues, or estranged friends andrelatives who can use them to
post malicious comments, or from manipulation by people who give
themselves highrankings to falsely inflate their reputations.
``Too many of these ratings sites are basically forums for
blowing off steam, and they're not random samples of howthis
professor or lawyer or doctor is really doing," said Michael
Rustad, a professor at Suffolk University Law Schoolwho specializes
in Internet law. ``And because they're anonymous there's no way to
ensure that a professor or lawyeor doctor or one of his minions
aren't doing the postings themselves."
Several of the sites -- particularly LawyerRatingz.com and
RateMDs.com, where some postings suggest that the rateprofessionals
may have committed legal or medical malpractice -- raise thorny
questions about freedom of expressionas the fast-evolving Internet
tests the boundaries of existing law. The federal Communications
Decency Act protects
Internet service providers from lawsuits over materials posted
by third parties, and most ratings sites permit all butracist or
obscene comments to remain online.
That means New Bedford lawyer Stephen Swaye has little ability
to defend himself against this online comment abouhim: ``I would
recommend a cadaver over this guy!!!"
Swaye, who was unaware of the posting until he was contacted by
the Globe, said he's letting it roll off his back.
``I believe in free speech, whether it hurts or helps or
somewhere in between," said Swaye, a general practitioner in
one-man shop. ``People have the right to express themselves, so by
all means go ahead."
Conversely, it means Boston lawyer Joel Sowalsky benefits from a
top score by a lone anonymous visitor who madethis online remark:
``He's a cool dad too!"
Asked by the Globe whether one of his children had posted the
comment, Sowalsky laughed heartily and said, ``Yesabsolutely."
``It was probably my daughter," he added, ``because I can't
imagine either of my sons thinking I'm a cool dad."
LawyerRatingz.com, Mechan-icRatingz.com, RealtorRatingz.com, and
similar sites that rate music, wine, televisionshows, prescription
drugs, radio programs, restaurants, and more were created by
Ratingz Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.,company founded by Internet
entrepreneurs John Swapceinski and Bob Nicholson, who are also
developing sites thatrate veterinarians, camping and RV parks, and
retirement and nursing homes. The sites depend on advertising
for
7/28/2019
ratings-sites-flourish-behind-a-veil-of-anonymity.pdf
2/2
30/07/10 3:3atings sites flourish behind a veil of anonymity -
The Boston Globe
Page
ttp://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/09/20/ratings_sites_flourish_behind_a_veil_of_anonymity?mode=PF
revenue. Swapceinski was the original creator in 1999 of
RateMyProfessors.com, which he sold last year, and is apart-owner
of RateMDs.com and RateMyTeachers.com.
The sites rely on volunteer administrators to delete ratings
that violate online guidelines, such as prohibitions
againstobscenity, racially derogatory comments, references to
pending legal action, explicit allegations of illegal behavior,
aninformation identifying the rater. But Ratingz Inc. has only
about a dozen administrators to patrol its 13 sites, anddespite its
goal that ratings be reviewed daily, ``sometimes moderators don't
get to them for a day or two," Nicholsonsaid.
To weed out fraud, the sites screen for multiple ratings
originating from the same Internet address or commentscontaining
similar language or sentence structure, which suggest that one
person is masquerading as multiple raters.
``Unfortunately, one of the problems with sites like this is
that they're magnets for abuse," Nicholson said. ``But we'renot
trying to hide anything. If you get useful information from the
ratings, great. That's what we hope happens. If youlook at a rating
and say, `Boy, these were obviously all written by the staff in
this guy's law office,' then take it for whit's worth."
Anonymity for online users and immunity from lawsuits for online
service providers is ``absolutely vital to allowing theInternet to
function as it does," said Kurt Opsahl, a staff attorney for the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit SaFrancisco digital
rights group. ``You couldn't have services like ratings sites or
Craig's List or message boards orAmazon's user feedback oreBay's
reviews of sellers without it."
Opsahl also noted that many ratings sites offer anyone who feels
they have been maligned a chance to post a rebuttIf they believe
they have been defamed, they can also file a lawsuit against the
poster if they can determine his or heidentity. Practically
speaking, that is difficult to do because critiques can be offered
anonymously from any computerhooked up to the Internet, where they
can exist forever. Nicholson said Ratingz Inc. has never been sued,
although itbeen threatened with lawsuits many times.
``Hundreds and hundreds of people have told us their lawyer's
going to be contacting us, and we've gotten a fewcease-and-desist
letters from law firms," he said, ``but that's as far as it's
gone."
Still, detractors warn that anonymity can lead to lack of
accountability, and insist the public would be better served
ifcomplaints about negligent lawyers, doctors, and other service
providers are directed to disciplinary bodies like theBoard of Bar
Overseers and Board of Registration in Medicine.
For now, the sites rating lawyers and doctors have far few
visitors than the explosively popular ratings sites frequentby
students. RateMyTeachers.com, for example, contains ratings of more
than 1.2 million teachers, whileRateMDs.com has ratings of 34,000
doctors and LawyerRatingz.com has ratings of only 1,300 lawyers
nationwide.
But as the sites attract more visitor traffic, the legal issues
they raise will become more prominent.
``The body of law right now is on our side, but there's very
little court precedent for many of these issues," Nicholsonsaid.
``Really, the test for the law in our society is what's the greater
good? Do we want this type of forum to beallowed to exist or
not?"
Sacha Pfeiffer can be reached [email protected].
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyrightmailto:[email protected]://lawyerratingz.com/http://ratemds.com/http://ratemyteachers.com/http://boston.stockgroup.com/sn_overview.asp?symbol=EBAYhttp://boston.stockgroup.com/sn_overview.asp?symbol=AMZN
