[nodesocket]

Really, you are getting something of great value for free in return for your e-mail, and feel obligated to try and contort and "screw" them? This is the exact sort of mentality that frustrates me as an entrepreneur. If you don't like the terms, then simply hit back. You're not entitled to anything. end of rant

[jaabe]

I’m an enterprise architect in a place which operates more than 500 different IT systems. I’m on the receiving end of the kind of things this signup will lead to, a lot, really you have no idea how many times I’m contacted.

It’s completely anecdotal but contacting me the way nginx and parters will after I’ve received the free ebook will only do them harm. My department has never taken anyone up on the offerings, and if they don’t include a working unsubscribe link, then you end up blocked companywide.

The free ebook is a lot of good will though, and I’ll remember where it came from. So if it’s good it was a much better investment than whatever usage they’ll get from my email.

[chme]

Well the value of personal contact data can everyone decide on their own, but personally I would not rate that as free.

If you think your contact data (personal email and phone number) has no value, please share them here. You will probably get great value from it!

[dwild]

His email is available on his profile, so he essentially already shared it for free...

I agree that it's not exactly free because it has a value, just like your comment right now has one. However it doesn't represent a monetary loss from you (just like your comment right now), which I believe is what he meant by free.

If you believe your personnal email and phone number has a value higher than this ebook, than yeah, don't exchange them, that would be absurd.

[chme]

Well he put his email in a not so easily readable format in there, so someone has to take effort and invest time to generate a correct email address from it. With this time investment getting to the email address costs money. So not for free ;)

But of course now we are definitely nitpicking on a philosophical level.

My point basically if someone says something is free, but requests your personal data in return, then that is not free.

[geggam]

At some point entrepreneurs need to run into the fact their business model wont work.

Any effort to control the distribution of digital media on the internet is doomed to fail. It is not our job to prop up failed business models.

or should we just give you money because we feel sorry for you not realizing this ?

[wadkar]

> Really, you are getting something of great value for free in return for your e-mail

No, I am not getting it as “free”. That’s misleading at best and I personally think it’s disingenuous. We need to call out the cost of personally identifiable information.

Instead of getting frustrated, say you’re giving the information (book in this case) for the cost of being able to hold your personally identifiable email address for X period of time for Y purpose.

It’s not “free”, let your audience know and advertise it so.

[sourcesmith]

Yet another JavaScript heavy and so flakey form to implement a basic task. So tried to provide details but it did not work. So I am grateful for the link.

EOR

[ivanhoe]

Well unless you plan to read their future marketing emails you've "screwed" them anyway, leaving the email or not.

[cedivad]

That's the feeling I have reading every single comment around here lately.

[chme]

You have an issue with people taking companies at their word and providing ways to get things for free just as they claimed it would be?

As I said in the other comment, everyone can value their contact information themselves, but I guess that most people value them >0. And >0 is not free, otherwise the company would not have any reason to get them.