[nbarry]

Crowdsourcing can be used nefariously, too. The specific opportunity of squatting on public parking spaces, then "selling" them to higher bidders, exists because parking is sometimes priced below market rate. And even if it's priced at market rate, the market rate will be artificially boosted if squatters suddenly take up all the spots.

But opportunities like this exist all over the place. Crowdsourcing and coordination are great when they lead to new opportunities, but it kind of sucks that companies like this are out there coordinating for the sake of monopolizing some existing resource.