This was on Slashdot recently. Basically a newly elected president of Indiana University (which is a public school) Michael McRobbie was on the board of directors of ChaCha, people-powered web search company). Now he is switching the entire university to use this search system in favor of Google. Definitely smells like a conflict of interest!
The company is run by Scott Jones , a Carmel, IN millionaire who graduated from IU and maintains strong business ties with it, as we can plainly see 
Do you think this sort of thing is legal?
Bookmark/Search this post with:
The IU press release says
The IU press release says "... this new partnership will incorporate the collective knowledge and experience of the university's library and information technology staff into ChaCha's new search engine architecture..."
So, am I getting this right, he will be using university employees to improve ChaCha's system?
They even put up an FAQ about this new partnership!
Some interesting points from it:
How will this partnership benefit the IU academic community?
Every time a guide answers a question, the answer will be added to the search system, building a base of knowledge from which others can draw. The ability to repurpose this accumulated knowledge extends what is currently available at Indiana University and offers a valuable new service to the academic community.
What will the agreement cost IU?
For the pilot, costs will be limited to the development and deployment of the IU ChaCha search deliverables. Future costs and compensation are still to be determined.
Sad, really.
Um... why is it a conflict
Um... why is it a conflict of interest exactly?
Not the first time a large
Not the first time a large interest influences public representative's decision making. Alas, not the last...
If you ask me, it would not
If you ask me, it would not be illegal but just unauthorized. Being a public institution, any transaction entered are subject to bidding. It's okay if they will favor something over something but it should be done in a proper process and a bidding is the proper process. This way, you can avoid any misconception like political, kickback or that sort of thing.
Cannedguds ( University of Michigan checks )
Post new comment