What? As someone who frequently puts in random names for reservations, I fail to see what is unethical about this…
Why on earth does a random restaurant deserve my real name? The transaction going on there is on a different level than that.
> It's easy for restaurants to defeat this: just require diners to show an ID to claim their reservations.
Again, no. If a restaurant demands ID before they seat me, that is a restaurant I will never patronize.
Well, it's not unethical like you're injecting babies with a controversial drug. It's quite mildly unethical - a reservation is a promise. Promising something with a fake name is a little unethical - you're asking someone to do something for you, but offering no avenue of recourse if you don't hold up your end of the bargain. I think in this case that it's unethical to the same degree that taking some ballpoints home from work is stealing.
Maybe because some asshat is selling reservations without their permission or consent?
"So in the interest of ethics and fairness, I want to talk to restaurants about working with them directly on a better reservation system."
It's not likely that a restaurant (or anyone else) would want to go into a business partnership with someone who has clearly demonstrated that they're willing to lie to make a buck.
Also, as a commenter in the Valleywag article[1] pointed out, it's easy for restaurants to defeat this: just require diners to show an ID to claim their reservations.
[1] http://valleywag.gawker.com/restaurant-reservation-scalping-...