Game over for Scrabulous? The ethics issue.
So I read on News24 that US and Canadian users have been cut-off to Scrabulous in the face of a lawsuit by game maker Hasbro Inc.
“Scrabulous, introduced on Facebook a year ago, has become a phenomenon, sucking productivity in offices and schools around the globe. The game has become one of Facebook’s dozen most actively used programs, attracting 500 000 daily players.”
What’s the deeper issue here for entrepreneurs?
The lesson is that business has rules and if you break the rules to get ahead you most times get burnt.
That includes copyright, Privacy, data ownership and many more areas of business ethics.
So the lesson is - Keep it clean and you may be ok. If not your business may crumble overnight.
Slightly related is the issue of Facebook apps in themselves -and the risk associated. Facebook can change the rules at any point - so it is important to understand the risks your business may be build on.
Or you may base a business on having access to an open API - that could potentially be shut down at any stage.
It’s a tough balancing act. When you are new and hungry “corner-cutting” is appealing when you have to box clever and be enterprising and sometimes necessary - but just make sure your business is not build in a house of cards.
There are of course exeptions to the rule. Youtube streaked around the copyright issues of professional content and the prediction has always been that they will die by the hand of litigation but the power balance has swung so vastly that many broadcasters realise that their content HAS to be on Youtube as an important content distribution. - but these examples are few and far between.
So - keep it clean and avoid pain later.
Elan Lohmann was Publisher of News24, moved on to social media @24 and ran Sunday Times online in another life. He has been a leading online professional for almost a decade. 
August 11th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Hi Elan
I agree with your sentiments, but its also worth looking at the mistake I think Hasbro has made here. 500 000 users now think they are a bunch of chops. 500 000 users don’t care about patents and trademarks, they care about Scrabulous and Hasbro has taken that away from them.
If I was Hasbro I would have first looked for a partnership or purchase of Scrabulous. Clearly the people behind Scrabulous are smart and quick moving. Hasbro could have brought those brains onto their side if they had been a little more cunning. Instead they are likely to put the brakes on the fantastic momentum which Scrabulous has built up. Thats bad business in the 21st century…
That said, with my bosses hat on I say three cheers for Hasbro for bringing back my office productivity!
Cheers
Rob
August 11th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Good point Rob.
August 16th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Interesting take but I can’t say that I agree. If start ups followed the rules Skype or Napster would never have been born. There is a desperate need for disruptive technologies that bend and at times break the rules to subvert old social orders and protectionist pockets of the economy.
And lets face it business doesn’t always play by the rules, now does it?