IBM have started making their developerWorks section available only if you sign up. This is fair enough, they have a good resource and they have the right to track the comings and goings of their readers.

However the thing that riles me every time I have to log in is their practice of taking me to a page where I can “review my contact information” – like it changes regularly – but there are two tick boxes at the bottom of the page, both unchecked:

  • Please use e-mail to send me information about other offerings
  • Please do not use this data to send me information about other offerings

It is sooo infuriating having to tick the bottom box on each log in because I know that if I forget, even just once, I will be buried under an avalanche of spam. While it may not be illegal it certainly isn’t friendly.