Digg Malaysia: What is the real harm?
So my good friends Ditesh and Colin have written up posts with regards to the recent finding of Digg Malaysia.
Just to make it clear, my position on this issue is that though I am against the direct copying (stylesheet, logo, etc…), I personally think there is a lot to be gained from a localized version of Digg. It is an untapped market. Hints and suggestions? Make it in at least both Malay, and English. If you want include the other languages spoken in Malaysia.
Ditesh brings the point I would like to discus:
I suspect that this is because there is no real harm. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
No harm to Digg? What harm could possible be done? Tarnishing the brand of the Digg image perhaps? Besides the branding can be easily fixed by changing the logo, name, and a few more things. Hell call it ‘Korek’, and you might have a sure winner.
About the same harm done to a bootleg Nike shoe. Sure it may tarnish the image, but generally people know they are buying cheap knock offs anyway. Petaling Street anyone?
But how does it play on the web? Would the brand of the original be tarnished by a knock off? Some more when usage of the site is free, no subscription, nothing.
In this case, if the user was unsatisfied with the knock off, he can easily (at no charge and drawbacks ) use the original site. Similarly if the knock off did do well, wouldn’t it also bring publicity to the original?
Some things to ponder about for a while about the real harm of Digg Malaysia. In the mean time go read Ditesh’s post on Of Mice and the Malaysian Digg.
korek? korek hidung
Mar 28th, 2007 at 1:21 am