[dollarsigns]

You would have a factual point if AirBnB prominently displays on relevant pages "We assume you are not stupid enough to rent out your primary residence. Make sure you don't since we are NOT in the insurance business and take NO responsibility for any damages".

[blub]

This is the kind of situation that leads to 'Keep away from fire' labels being added to t-shirts.

To me renting your home to a stranger and then failing to check up on them for an entire week is incredibly naive. 10 year old naive. I don't care if airbnb said that they would provide 100% insurance, I would still not do this, it is simply against how I know the world works. And don't tell me about the 'good human being assumption', this is a fairytale, anyone making that assuption will get burned sooner or later.

[cookiecaper]

Your post is a bit cynical. Most people are good in most interpersonal matters. This doesn't mean that you should take the gamble, however, on something as personal and important as your primary residence. We should recognize that while most people will not trash your home if you let them stay there without any supervision for a whole week, some people will. I don't know the exact proportion, but even if the chance is small, you may want to think carefully about whether you want to take that chance.

It's important to have a belief that most people are not looking to screw up your life specifically. It's also important to not be so naive that you take dangerous gambles, like the ones made in EJ's story. Better safe than sorry.

There's an important equilibrium to be struck here.

[Uchikoma]

In Russian roulette most chambers ARE empty. Most pulls on the trigger will NOT kill you.

I'm sorry, but I can't understand this "most people are good" argument in this context.

[dollarsigns]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_oblige

Call me old fashioned, but I personally believe that we, the technical elite who effortlessly can integrate new tech into our lives and understand the deeper implications of technology being used -- here is looking at you Google founders in context of privacy -- are a form of a pseudo nobility and have responsibilities to our less fortunate brethren (who yes, sometimes DO need big warning stickers on comforters and coffee cups containing excessively hot liquids).

imho, this affair is simply a manifestation of a larger problem:

the profit motive has diluted hacker ethics.