So I received the following offer sent to me from NextCard, an online credit card company. It promises to give me $25 for everyone who uses the link to sign up for a card (which I believe is free). So it struck me: why not use this to some good. So for every join that I get credit for, I will donate the money to the law schools summer money fund, to support students who want to work in public interest. Note, to be valid, you must sign up by TUESDAY. So dont delay.

Dear Lawrence,

Many of our customers have been referring their friends, family, and colleagues to the NextCard Internet Visa. As our way of saying thank you, we'd like to offer you a reward every time you refer a new customer to NextCard.

We will credit your NextCard account with $25 every time you refer someone who becomes a NextCard customer. This offer is only good for 30 days!

We have attached an email message below. Feel free to edit and forward this message to your friends, family members and colleagues. When one of your friends clicks on the specially coded hyperlink and signs up for the NextCard, we will credit your account.

We hope you find the Refer-A-Friend program to be valuable. Please feel free to send your questions or comments to feedback@nextcard.com

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Hi there,

I wanted to send you a quick note and let you know about a new Visa card I received. It's called a NextCard Internet Visa. It has excellent online features and is a great value.

NextCard's website is: http://www.nextcard.com/index.html?ref=etene

-- Anonymous, November 20, 1998

Answers

nice point

But (1) wouldn't you have a cause of action against me? And (2) shouldn't the summer fund have a cause of action against me if you do?

-- Anonymous, November 24, 1998

hyperlink lack

the message you posted did not report the hyperlink, so by just going straight to the address the credit is not placed anywhere (i.e., it does not ask who referred you...). the message talks of a special hyperlink that should keep track of who used the referral. we'll need that for the subversive mission.

-- Anonymous, November 20, 1998

full link

Dont know why it didnt post, but here it is again:

http://www.nextcard.com/index.html?ref=etenextraf&9820400395

-- Anonymous, November 21, 1998

Prof. Lessig --

It seems that your decision to donate the money would constitute a gift to the summer fund, but that you would be under no contractual obligation to actually donate the money since the summer fund is not offering anything back in consideration and is not suffering any detriment. How can we be sure that if we sign up for a credit card that the money will actually be donated?

-- Anonymous, November 21, 1998