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> Perhaps part of the confusion here is that we're talking about two
> different users.
>
> Sharon correctly points out that the Flare user (the MadCap customer)
> has the option of turning off the feedback feature when the Help is
> created.
>
> Robert correctly points out that the user of the Help created by Flare
> (the MadCap customer's customer) has no such option, or even awareness
> that the feature exists.
>
> This sounds like a good reason for the Flare user not to enable the
> feature, but I hardly think it calls MadCap's ethics into question.
I completely agree that the ethical burden is on the MadCap customer --
especially considering what Fred said about Feedback (which was news to
me; earlier discussions led me to believe that it was a feature you
could enable in Flare). And I understand there are legitimate uses for
this kind of capability, like those Sharon mentioned.
I'd have no problem with MadCap if they clearly and forthrightly laid
out the ethical and legal considerations that their customers should be
aware of in deciding when and how to deploy Feedback. But instead,
they've obfuscated, denied that there are such issues, and played the
"everybody does it" game (the false web server analogy).
It may be unwitting, but they're in effect encouraging their customers
to use Feedback improperly.
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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