Web Site Makes Millions By Connecting Cheaters

NPR -- Mar 12 -- AshleyMadison.com, which caters to men and women who are already in relationships and are looking for something more, is the largest dating service of its kind. The Toronto-based company has made more than $20m since 2002 by helping people cheat on their spouses. Users buy credits ( $55/100 credits) and then each e-mail they initiate costs five credits. Their tag line gets right to the point: "Life is short, have an affair." "Monogamy is not in our DNA," says Chief Operating Officer Noel Biderman. "Women come to a service like Ashley Madison because they haven't been sent flowers in God knows how long. Framingham State College sociology professor Virginia Rutter urges people to take the time and energy that it takes to troll a cheating Web site, and re-invest it in their existing relationships. FULL ARTICLE @ NPR

Comments

[Jim]

How would you like to be married to one of the employees of Ashley Madison? Would you have a lot of confidence in their fidelity?

[Sam Moorcroft]

Good point, Jim. I, for one, want to lie on my death bed some day (far into the future, of course:) and look back at how I have made the world a better place - not contributed to its decline.

What a legacy for Mr. Biderman and his employees - helping to destroy relationships.

"Well", they'll respond, "We're just meeting a demand." Yeah, so do crackheads dealing in school playgrounds. That doesn't make it right.

"Victimless" crime, I keep hearing, e.g. Spitzer and that hooker. Yeah, tell that to his wife and 3 daughters - and the families of the cheaters on AshleyMadison.

We'll all stand before our Maker some day and account for what we have done on earth. I wouuldn't want to be in their shoes - or those of their customers.

[Stuart - Australia]

Since Ashley Madison is not kidding, then I am reasonably guessing that they stand for nothing – no sense of trust, fairness, respect when someone’s back is turned - in short no absolutes.
If that’s the train of thought Ashley Madison has in facilitating affairs and cheating, then they should be that last to squeal when it eventually happens to the owners, employees and clients.
Because it will.
Clever bit of censorship actually, anyone who dares question or criticise is labeled a prude or some out-there fanatical religious person.
Except Ashley Madisons facts are wrong. This is dangerous ground and it’s wrongly marked with a “Freedom” signpost
Freedom has always been intertwined with responsibility – it’s impossible to separate. $20 million is the cheapest part of the business. Wrecked lives, devastated kids, broken families… that’s the real cost.

[Jon Sandler]

They're not the only ones a uk company called letscheat.com also has a similar site for cheaters

[Sam Moorcroft]

Jon, your name is a link to letscheat.com - a shameless bit of promo for you, hmmm?

[Sarah Brown]

I would never go to this website because I am not a cheater. Sam do you think that there will be less cheaters without AshleyMadison? ChristianCafe is for Christians. People go there because they want to meet Christians. They don't go there because they want to turn into Christians.

[Sam Moorcroft]

Sarah, by your logic, we should have crack dealers selling in playgrounds, because there will always be crack heads...

[Michael]

If it is harder for someone who may be tempted to cheat to find someone to cheat with than there would likely be fewer cheaters.

I also think that Christian sites like ChristianMingle.com and ChristianCafe help people lead a better Christian life and in turn help bring non-Christians closer to Christianity.

Which cause would you rather promote?

[Stuart - Australia]

Sarah’s point is half correct, but still makes it not right.
What the site is flushing out is those with a propensity to be grubby and untrustworthy. Those characteristics are never just tied into relationships, they reflect in all the other areas of a person’s life. Things like business dealings, income tax, and barefaced lying.
Unfortunately, it is also tempting ordinary people who are being lied to by their site. That the action of cheating is fun & adventurous, that “everybody is doing it”.
The real results are conveniently left out. If two cheaters cheat, clearly there can be no long term trust between them.
As for the original relationship, I haven’t known too many that have never been finally caught out and eventually break up, maybe that should read demolition. There’s no good thing that can emerge from this. It’s simply a time issue.
Just as Ashley Madisons people are seeing this blog, a good lawyer will have a field day suing Ashley Madison.

[Sarah Brown]

What is a better Christian life? I heard that Christians are staying together longer because they are taking marriage seriously, but the bad news is they're putting up with a lot more pain and ending up getting divorced anyway.

[Michael]

So instead of trying to improve a marriage and possibly going through pain one should just commit adultery instead? I'm sure adultery doesn't create pain at all, right?

[Sarah Brown]

No Michael, I am not supporting the adultery here and I am not supporting Ashley Madison at all. If somebody goes to the website, there is already something wrong with his/her marriage. People who are happy in their marriages would not consider signing up for this website. The site is not responsible for the broken hearts.

[Sam Moorcroft]

By your logic, Sarah, neither are crack dealers in playgrounds, as they are dealing (pardon the pun) with people who are already addicts...

[Glenn G. Millar]

I am not a born again Christian - I'm not affiliated with any religion in fact, but that doesn't stop me from thinking that sites like Ashley Madison are reprehensible.

In one sense, Sarah is right that people who go to that site are already thinking about cheating. But my argument is why make it easy for them and isn't profiting from these people's behavior morally wrong? Thus, the validity of Sam's argument; just because kids are going to sell drugs doesn't mean anyone should be in the drug selling business.

The collateral damage cheating can do to children of the cheater's marriage can be so severe, it becomes a societal problem and something we should all be concerned about.