Rottenneighbor.com

RottenNeighbor.com was launched in July 2007 by website developer Brant Walker. Designed for users to post information about their neighbors and fund information about new potential neighbors before moving, RottenNeighbor.com brought controversial attention to itself from the beginning. [Arleene Barrios (2007)"Web Site Exposes Bad Neighbors", KFOXtv.com [http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/13841137/detail.html View Article] ] Walker stated in a [http://voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/05/17/news/walker051708.txt/ May 2008 interview] that the site was inspired by conflicts with his own neighbors.

Public opinion

Opinion on the site has varied. Proponents of the service have said that they felt that RottenNeighbor.com would be a useful resource. An author at KillerStartups.com thought it was a joke when he first heard about it. [Unknown Author (2007)"Are Your New Neighbors Cool?", KillerStartups.com [http://www.killerstartups.com/Search/rottenneighbor--Are-Your-New-Neighbors-Cool/ View Article] ] Others have suggested that the website encourages people to take private squabbles public, or to make anonymous comments that might not be backed up by fact.

Common complaints

The site's functionality is limited. Users can post comments, and once a comment is submitted it cannot be edited. A month and a half after releasing the site, a "beta" tag appeared over the logo, suggesting that there may be a re-launch with new features available. Profy.com released an [http://www.profy.com/2007/09/08/rotten-neighbor-find-the-bad-neighbors-before-you-move/ article pointing out the illegitimacies] of RottenNeighbor.com as-is.

Legal concerns

During several of the radio interviews (such as the [http://www.kdkaradio.com/pages/15220.php KDKA Morning Show interview] ) with Brant Walker, he was asked about the legal concerns [PerfumeMe (2007)"If You Have a Rotten Neighbor, Tell the World", PerfumeofLife.org [http://perfumeoflife.org/index.php?showtopic=18896 View Post] ] - what if people post their real names? Can the site be sued? Brant said no. When a website allows a third party to add information to their database, the site is not responsible for the content added by the third party.

ex Offender Registries

In summer of 2008, the website added a new function- visitors to Rotten Neighbor can find houses where registered sex offenders are listed as residing. This adds a new layer of controversy to the site, since publicly-accessible sex offender registries have themselves been the subject of much debate.

External links

* [http://www.rottenneighbor.com/ Official site]

References