Defending Reputation On The Internet: Reputation Defender

With the recent abuse, I decided to email the author of 'The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet', Daniel Solove - the de facto leader in reputation on the Internet who also blogs over at Concurring Opinions. I sent him a link to what I had written up as a matter of interest - it almost look like it fell out of one of his books.

He pointed me at ReputationDefender.com, which polices your reputation for you. This I found pretty interesting - a niche market of people who wanted their reputations defended. A quick look through their FAQ is interesting:

• International clients are supported.
• They go beyond cease and desist letters, but if it becomes a legal matter they refer people to lawyers who they have gotten competitive rates with.

The entire FAQ makes it look like the representation of their service is quite realistic and workable. I haven't subscribed yet because I'm awaiting responses from the folks who I did contact - they are probably just settling into their chairs with their first cup of coffee within the next hour.

$9.95/month for the research is pretty realistic, I suppose - and considering the amount of work that could go into having content destroyed, $29.95/destroy does seem realistic. I'm not one to open my wallet without being certain of the value - and in the present situation, I'm not altogether of the mind that I cannot handle it myself. It is all in beta - but then they tell you that, too - a lot of companies don't. That they don't do work for businesses but focus on individuals, I think, is a very reasonable line to draw in the sand.

It's an option, and people who feel that they are being misrepresented can look into the option. With Daniel Solove's recommendation, they do carry some weight to me... and as I consider it, this may simply be the cost of doing business on the future web. Especially the parts about children.
Go take a look at ReputationDefender - it is worth, at the least, a look. If and when I do use them, I'll post about them again. I do applaud that they identified the niche. That is, quite simply, brilliant.

For now, I'll wait and see if these companies respond to me. I figure 72 working hours is a reasonable length of time to wait, which gives them until Wednesday.