25 July 06

Stealing an idea / Modifying an idea

When does an adoption of another persons concept cross the line from becoming an modified idea to a stolen one?

Let me explain my situation. I was invited to preview a brand new social network called Vox by Six Apart – yes, just what the world wants, another social networking site. I checked it out regardless. It’s basically a very-slightly-prettier MySpace minus the very-slightly-demented community. Minus any community at all in fact, but that’s to be expected as it’s only a beta (how very Web 2.0). I did notice one concept – that’s the best way to describe it – that the site had that I thought was absolutely genius.

Now, I’m not going to say what the concept is, but I think that Six Apart are missing a massive opportunity. A big opportunity that I might possibly exploit depending on time and effort. It won’t make me a millionaire, even if it becomes MySpace-sized, but I feel it’s a good concept that would be better off in the open community rather than “a nice idea” on a very small blog site.

So the point is at what point does an idea like this stop becoming a rip-off and into its own separate entity? Does the internet hold no boundaries and every idea, however similar, is its own distinct concept? Should we feel guilty for taking another persons idea and modifying it?

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