Another niche demonstrates the power of the libertarian paradise!

[elfs]

NPR this morning had an article about how a fraudster with a phone bank has been filling up the yellow pages of cities where there is no licensing or regulation of locksmiths, creating dozens of "drop box" addresses with local phone numbers and overwhelming the services listings with his own contacts, and then dispatching unqualified "contractors" to fix locks on people who call those numbers. The contractors frequently do poor or no work, and bill as much as five times the fee charged by legitimate locksmiths.

The power of the market should be sufficient to notify people that hey, those numbers are fraudulent, and you should know that. Other locksmiths, after all, could raise their rates just a little to publicize which numbers are local, and which are outsourced to contractors. And the victims of the overpriced contractors? There's no law against charging what the market will bear. There's no law stating that a locksmith must deliver a minimum amount of service for the charge rendered. If they don't like the service, hey, they don't have to call that number again; there are plenty left in the phone book. If they don't know which numbers are "good," there's always Google, which we always returns the most legitimate retailers and service people first. There's no way to game the system. The fraudsters don't need to be regulated, and locksmiths don't need licensing; that would just be a drag on the whole system. The current one is much more preferable.

Libertarian paradise for the win!

Comments

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

except that Google is OFTEN gamed... all you have to do is create a server with 100 websites on it, each refering to the others and each with link pointing to Bob's Fishmarket and Locksmithing, and tada, google sees hundreds of links there, thus putting it at the beginning of the search displays. This is old news.

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

I think Google actually has that covered? Sites that do that get their rankings tanked. Badly. Google doesn't like it when people try to game their system, and since it's their ball, they get vindictive.

[rick-bannerman.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that those who profit from this sort of libertarian frolic seem to thoroughly enjoy their schadenfreude as well as their profit. "Fools! They be fools! Look at the little lemmings bringing me my plunder!"

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

There's a role for reputation services. Government should not get a monopoly on them, however.

I'd be happy if all high hazard service providers had to get a nominal government license, but to be taken seriously had to get industry credentials as well.

A doctor may have a license, but is she board certified and does she have local hospital privileges? A locksmith may be licensed, but is he a member of BBB and of ALOA?

[shaterri.livejournal.com]

But where has government monopoly come into this discussion at all? I don't think anyone is suggesting that the government should be the only purveyor of licensing services, just that there are industries where a 'trusted' government licensing body is an appropriate response.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

*snerk!*

(Psst! Hey Elf: Dontcha just love how nobody noticed that you were being sarcastic? Me too. ^_^)