Applied Piracy As Business Model?

One Internet publisher is coping with piracy affirmatively rather than defensively, by integrating the dark side of human nature into his basic business model. Greg Stolze, author of the game Meatbot Massacre, withheld publication of his new creation until a "ransom" was collected from potential customers within a specified time limit, or, he cautioned, the game would not be published and any money collected would be donated to charity. After Mr. Stolze received sufficient compensation for his work, and the game was published, the anticipated theft did occur, but with less damage to Mr. Stolze's profits than would have occurred using the conventional shareware model. In fact, his 'free'ware customers will be among the first to learn of his next product, from whom he will be demanding a higher ransom. Geogg Keighley, "Pay Up, or the Monster Game Gets Whacked," in Business 2.0, Sept. 2005. In the absence of effective anti-piracy legislation, SPN applauds entrepreneurs who are pressing forward to tackle piracy head on with creative new business models.

Disasters Inspire Fraud

Internet users should be especially wary of fraudulent email correspondence and bogus websites during and after major disasters. Within hours of Katrina's strike, websites sprang up which purport to collect funds to assist storm victims. Some of these websites and spam emails instead are funneling money into private accounts, and some are even more insidious, seeking instead to use disaster relief as a front to collect private information for further attempts at general identity theft. Some websites are purely malicious, using disaster relief-related links for no other purpose than to install viruses and other malicious programs. Florida's attorney general, Charlie Crist, last week filed a lawsuit against a man in Yulee, FL after intercepting donations to several of his new Katrina-related websites which were apparently funding the man's private PayPal account. The Federal Trade Commission in addition has advised that Katrina victims who lost personal identification during the disaster are especially prone to further identity theft at a time when they are most vulverable and least able to defend themselves or even detect that theft has occurred. Those interested in sending disaster relief donations via the Internet are advised by law enforcement to always type in the website address of a known and trusted entity into the address bar of their browsers, and never click on a link received in an email, even if the email seems legitimate. The Better Business Bureau's Wise Business Alliance lists legitimate charitable websites on its Give.org website, and the American Red Cross website at RedCross.org also provides helpful information to those wishing to assist victims of Katrina. For more information and additional links, read: Les Christie, "Beware Hurricane Katrina Scams," in CNNMoney, Sept. 1, 2005.