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Cathar · 08-14-2005, 01:42 AM

The technology is interesting. That is not in question.

What is needed here now is a disclaimer on every cooling based review that has been done at overclockers.com in the last 2 years, something to the order of:

"The author of this review is actively engaging in the prototyping, development and future production of a CPU cooling product that will compete with the product that is the subject of this review".

That disclaimer should be the first thing that people read in every cooling review that's been posted in the last 2 years at OC.com.

Look, there is nothing wrong with being an enthusiast and straddling the lines between research and development and commercialism. I open admit that I do such myself. Four years ago I was doing occasional forum based reviews of water-cooling equipment. However the moment that I thought that I would possibly be selling stuff that I made, even if it wasn't for profit, I informed those who had sent products to me that I would not be reviewing them due to a direct conflict of interest, and offered to return their products.

This is just a basic concept of reviewers, and the absolute duty of care that they owe to their readers. To do anything less than give full and open disclosure to both readers and companies sending you products for review is questionable in the extreme. The numbers may not lie, and I never said that they did, but it is the lack of transparency in light of a direct conflict of interest that is at issue here.

The technology is sound. The ethics at OC.com have been compromised. Pure and simple.

Oh - one last thing. A review/results are NOT independent if the source is not revealed.

08-14-2005, 01:42 AM	#73
Cathar Thermophile Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,538	The technology is interesting. That is not in question. What is needed here now is a disclaimer on every cooling based review that has been done at overclockers.com in the last 2 years, something to the order of: "The author of this review is actively engaging in the prototyping, development and future production of a CPU cooling product that will compete with the product that is the subject of this review". That disclaimer should be the first thing that people read in every cooling review that's been posted in the last 2 years at OC.com. Look, there is nothing wrong with being an enthusiast and straddling the lines between research and development and commercialism. I open admit that I do such myself. Four years ago I was doing occasional forum based reviews of water-cooling equipment. However the moment that I thought that I would possibly be selling stuff that I made, even if it wasn't for profit, I informed those who had sent products to me that I would not be reviewing them due to a direct conflict of interest, and offered to return their products. This is just a basic concept of reviewers, and the absolute duty of care that they owe to their readers. To do anything less than give full and open disclosure to both readers and companies sending you products for review is questionable in the extreme. The numbers may not lie, and I never said that they did, but it is the lack of transparency in light of a direct conflict of interest that is at issue here. The technology is sound. The ethics at OC.com have been compromised. Pure and simple. Oh - one last thing. A review/results are NOT independent if the source is not revealed. Last edited by Cathar; 08-14-2005 at 02:03 AM.