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Instant Messaging Giveaway

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the a/s/l dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft is planning on giving away $1000/hr randomly to users of the new MSN messenger. They are going to send instant messages to the winners. I can just see it now, 'You've won $1000 in the MSN Messenger giveaway, just go this website and enter your SS# and credit card info for verification.'" Where's Ed McMahon with the big check when you need him?

5 of 426 comments (clear)

  1. No Purchase Necessary? by Thoguth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Most giveaways are explicitly required to have rules that allow people to be eligible to win without purchasing a product. If such a rule applies to this contest, they'll have to have a way for people to enter without purchasing Windows, won't they?

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  2. Re:What about other clients? by Ironstud · · Score: 3, Interesting

    But think of what you save from not using it:

    You have to give SS# and Credit Card, so those could possible be submitted for a nice spam. Or better yet they will take 1000 from your credit card to give it back to you.

    If you are going to be given a prize you should not have to give vital informaiton (SS#) or financial informaiton (Credit Card).

  3. 9am to 7pm PST? by anicklin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That makes sense. Run a contest during business hours to encourage people to chat with each other instead of... getting work done. The majority of the winners will be housewives, stay-at-home-for-the-summer kids, and whoever else can run the software through their firewalls...

  4. Could be illegal in some countries... by the_germ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In Germany a company cannot hold up a lottery where only users of it's product can participate.

    So if for example Coca-Cola puts some random numbers on the inside of their bottles and makes some kind of lottery of it, it must provide the same winnning chance to people who just call in though they haven't bougth the product (and not obtained a number).

    So Microsoft would need to provide the same chance for getting the bucks to everyone who's using another IM as well.

    Don't know how it's handled in other countries, but I think it's like that in many European countries.

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  5. Microsoft Strategy by Poltras · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well... This is all in MS strategy: why spam when someone else can spam for you instead?

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