Geek Gestalt

At Demo 09, Purewire presented its Trust service, a Web-based system that aims to add a reputation system to people and places.

(Credit: Purewire)

PALM DESERT, Calif.--If you've spent any time online, you've almost certainly found yourself wondering about the trustworthiness of the people and Web sites you encounter every day.

Already, individuals are often rated on many sites, like Slashdot or eBay. But it can be difficult to easily discover whether you can trust what you come across, regardless of where you go online.

That's where a company called Purewire and its Trust service come into play. The service, which Purewire announced Tuesday here at Demo 09, is intended to give people a way to quickly and simply see whether they can feel safe dealing with others online, visiting certain sites, and buying items on auction sites, Craigslist or others.

If Purewire Trust gets a critical mass of users, it could be very effective. But that does present a classic chicken-and-egg problem.

(Credit: Purewire)

Essentially, Purewire Trust is an across-the-board reputation system that collects intelligence about a wide range of people and sites based on the wisdom of the so-called crowds. It's designed to track and monitor behavior, looking for patterns and reporting back what seems like fairly straightforward and easy to understand trust metrics.

As an example, Purewire CTO Paul Judge said the system could be used for things like someone wanting to buy something on Craigslist, for a parent wanting to be sure that his or her kid's friends are safe, or for a college admission officer wanting to know more about an applicant.

Similarly, Purewire Trust could be used to get more information about the reputation of someone who makes a Facebook friend request. By clicking through, a user can see how others have rated the Facebook requester--whether that person is trusted, untrusted, or has some negative ratings, but is largely viewed positively. With that information in hand, Judge suggested, people can make more informed choices about who they interact with.

The same idea can be applied to a seller, say, on Craigslist. Before buying something, a user can look and see if others have had experiences with the seller, and if so, how they're viewed.

This is basically a broad version of the eBay ratings system, but not owned by any specific site. It can be used not just to check on other people, but also on whether Web sites are considered safe--as in whether they contain malware or viruses, all without needing any external software.

It seems like this could be a very useful system, but like so many collaborative intelligence types of systems, it really requires a critical mass of users' participation before it becomes effective. And that creates a chicken-and-egg problem: without the users, others won't get involved. And so forth.

But if Purewire finds itself with a large number of users, then it could be something that provides the intelligence that is sorely missing across the broader Internet, and that would only be a good thing.

Having had two separate eBay auctions to sell his rare Xbox Live gamertag yanked off the site for apparent terms of service violations, a New York State man is now moving his business to Craigslist.

Earlier this week, as first reported here, Chris Graziano had put his gamertag, "Hitman," up for auction on eBay. Graziano, a student at SUNY New Paltz, had been hoping to capitalize on the rarity of the moniker to score a big payday, and indeed, in the hours after his auction went up, more than $500 was bid for the gamertag.

After having two eBay auctions to sell his rare Xbox Live gamertag, Hitman, pulled off the site, Chris Graziano is now trying to move the account on Craigslist.

(Credit: Chris Graziano)

"Don't bid on this item if you don't want to be the center of attention of every game lobby you're in," Graziano wrote on the original eBay ad. "You'll regularly hear comments of 'You're the original Hitman?' and 'Wow, how did you get that gamertag?!'"

But eBay wasn't amused and quickly pulled the auction, claiming that the attempted sale of the Hitman account violated its ban on the traffic of virtual goods and assets, Graziano said.

"EBay doesn't allow the sale of virtual items," Graziano said eBay told him in an e-mailed explanation. "This includes--but isn't limited to--online game characters, accounts, currency, codes that can be redeemed for in-game items, and related software."

Undaunted, Graziano felt he had another way to approach the problem. Rather than selling the account itself as a purely digital good, he figured that he could probably attract buyers by offering up an Xbox memory card--a physical item--that just happened to contain all the data associated with the Hitman account.

"This is an auction for my memory card," Graziano wrote in his second eBay auction. "I used the memory card to bring over to my friends' houses in case we played Xbox Live online. So on the memory card along with a few saved games and rosters is my XBL gamertag. I'm not selling that since Microsoft owns the rights to it, but it is on the memory card. I recently purchased another year of gold service, so whoever wins the auction will be able to play using the 'Hitman' gamertag...People sell a year of gold service all the time on eBay, so now you have it on the tangible form of a memory card.

"Just like if you were selling a computer on eBay, you sell the computer, and with it comes a hard drive with random stuff." Graziano continued. "I'm selling a memory card. With it comes saved games, sport rosters, and my XBL Gamertag--Hitman. It's a pretty cool gamertag by the way. No extra letters or numbers. I was an XBL beta tester years ago and was one of the first to sign up, so I got the most popular phrase used in gamertags all by itself, Hitman. This memory card along with its contents would be great for any hardcore gamer looking to steal the spotlight in all of his online games."

But yet again, eBay disallowed the auction, this time at the behest of Microsoft, which bans the sale or redistribution of any part of the Xbox Live service.

"In accordance with the Xbox Live terms of use," said David Dennis, an Xbox 360 spokesperson, "Xbox Live Gold subscriptions are not transferable and cannot be resold for commercial purposes."

EBay did not respond to a request for comment.

Now, despite getting some unsolicited offers for the gamertag of several hundred dollars, Graziano is determined to get what he thinks could still be four figures for the account. As such, he has offered it for sale once again, this time on Craigslist.

"I'm trying to sell this memory card I have for Xbox 360," Graziano's new Craigslist ad begins. "On the memory card, along with a few saved games and rosters is my XBL gamertag. I'm not selling that since Microsoft owns the rights to it, but it is on the memory card. I recently purchased another year of gold service. So while I may not own the gamertag, I do own the right to use this gamertag on XBL for the next year as long as I abide by their terms of service."

While it's too early to tell what will happen to the post on Craigslist--a representative of that service did not immediately respond to a request for comment--it stands to reason that Microsoft will once again pull rank. Graziano's attempt to, oh by the way, include the gamertag with the Xbox memory card is similar to efforts by some to auction off tickets to the 2000 World Series between the New York Yankees and New York Mets by including the tickets for free with a Yankees cap.

EBay had pulled all such auctions at that time because of restrictions on the site against scalping tickets.

Graziano is aware that Microsoft may tire of his persistence and simply unilaterally close his Xbox Live account.

"That's what makes me want to just take an offer now and run with it," he said.

Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron is selling his Twitter account on eBay. As of Sunday morning, the account--which includes 1,506 followers--was up to $560 on eBay.

(Credit: eBay)

Here's an interesting question: In the world of social media, how important is identity? For example, if someone "friends" someone else, does it really matter who the friendee is?

Well, we might be getting a bit of an answer to this question. That's because Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron has announced he's selling his Twitter account--which includes more than 1,500 "followers"--on eBay. And as of Sunday morning, the auction had already gone up to $560.

"I really love my Twitter account but I feel like I haven't been using it the way I want to," writes Baron in the eBay auction description. "Quite honestly, I feel sorry for all of my followers because they wind up with my tweets in their timelines and I haven't been able to utilize the medium the way I want to. I also participate in another Twitter account over on Rocketboom so I'm thinking I'll post more over there and start up a new account to do what I want to do next.

"It would be silly to just delete this account I have here, especially if there is someone out there that had like interests and had something to say or wanted to get involved in some relevant conversations. In terms of monetary value, I have no expectations or needs at all so I decided not to put a minimum bid on this. Whatever will be, will be....The winner of this auction gets my account with all of my followers."

One thing he points out is that Twitter allows users to change their account name so that whoever ends up buying his account can alter the ID but still retain the 1,500-plus followers.

"So basically it's like getting a new account with your own name," he wrote, "but having a pre-installed audience."

Another interesting element to this saga is that he's actually attracted a fair number of new followers since he put the account up for sale on eBay. At that time, he said in his auction description, the account had 1,397 followers. And now it's over 1,500.

On the other hand, he acknowledged that his followers are following him.

"Also, as with any dynamic group, there is obviously risk," he wrote. "My followers could jump ship at anytime. There is no guarantee on this part. People will come and go, that's just the way it is."

This is definitely the key point. It's true that he has attracted a rather large audience of followers on Twitter--though, according to Twitterholic, a site that tracks the most followed Twitter accounts, he's not in the top 100 accounts--but those people are interested in him and what he has to say.

Yet, the fact that the auction has already fetched $560 is noteworthy. People seem to want those followers, and it will be interesting to see what happens when the auction ends and the transfer occurs.

But in the meantime, as the auction proceeds--it doesn't end until April 22--Baron is offering two-day guest hosting spots on his Twitter account for sale on Craigslist for $150.

Barron is also offering two days of guest hosting on his Twitter account while the eBay auction is still running. He's asking $150 for the guest host spots.

(Credit: Twitter)

"Are you really creative and feel as though you have a lot to offer online culture? Are you interested in online video, social networks, blogging, technology, art and design? If so, this could be a great chance to take a stage and say something," he writes on the New York Craigslist site.

"I'm selling a 2-day guest host spot on my Twitter account to someone who meets just the right profile. I'm looking for someone that my colleagues, friends and others will benefit from in a culturally and socially valuable way. Maybe you have some great videos or a great album of music, or have a story you want to tell. Maybe there is a great cause that you want to spread. Maybe you even have a great product that needs improvement and would like to leverage a great brain trust of interested and capable people."

This is very odd. In some ways, this is more interesting, and at the same time, more cynical. Guest-hosting blogs, of course, is a well-known sport, but selling the slots? And at the same time as the account is up for complete sale?

Well, for someone like Baron, who is sometimes adept at publicity, this is quite the attempt to get some. And of course, here I am helping him.

For me, however, this isn't about Baron at all. It's about the nature of identity and the question of how valuable identity is and whether people in social networks are really willing to be sold like customers of a product being hawked to another company. My guess is that, on the surface, they're not.

But I also am willing to bet that Baron's Twitter followers will give the buyer a brief honeymoon to establish whether he or she has something valuable to say. If so, they may stick around. If not, it'll be sayonara, and too bad you spent those Benjamins to buy the account. Stay tuned.