I don't see how Groupon can be considered long term viable, if this is the kind of press they're getting.
Additionally, I imagine there are quite a few people like me out there who only use groupons with businesses I already patrionize regularly. I find myself waiting for the next groupon to show up before purchasing what I would have gotten without it anyway. Great for Groupon, but not so great for the business in question. Doesn't much sound like a sustainable model to me.
Protesting doesn't always work. It's not a novel concept. Doing things to break the law aren't going to get them what they want in this case either. You're not always going to get what you want, no matter how you try and get it.
The reality of the situation is that UK's budget deficit in 2010 was almost 12% of GDP. Of course some things are going to get cut. I'm not sure why the students are so surprised. Budgets across the board in the UK are getting slashed. They can be pissed off all they want and protest to express their feelings, but it doesn't change the reality of the situation. I'm not saying it doesn't suck, just that going out and breaking the law doesn't make anything better. It's a knee-jerk response that helps no one.
Do you suffer painful elimination? -- Don Knuth, "Structured Programming with Gotos"