is it a scam ... ?
From Webster:
Pronunciation: 'skam
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
Talking with some folks, I hear "scam = Internet" ... and in too many ways, I cannot argue with them : )
The Internet is the new "Wild West" - governance is not fully formed.
Who should "govern" the Internet ?
" In the beginning, there are no rules. " ... save for those basic ethics and morals given each of us by our mothers, and sometimes by fathers ...
... assumes everyone honors those gifts and lives by them, which they do not.
Add to that common sense and survival skills, which in my view are less than evident within some individuals.
A new movement online states as its aim to " ... educate key groups of the community about the true nature of illegal internet investments in order to help eradicate these programs and protect as many people as possible" - good idea as far as that goes, and I do not mean to abuse anyone personally so I will not here give a link or more info about that "movement" ...
... because I see that statement as short-sighted. Aside from the fact that the particular website is "penance" (for which I cannot gauge its sincerity), an underlying view seems to be that the SEC [United States Securities and Exchange Commission] governs the Internet. Certainly the SEC has a role to play - particularly in regard to proliferation of scams on the Internet, and SEC has answers for Americans ( who pay for its existence ). Having said that, SEC has no jurisdiction outside the U.S. SEC does NOT *govern* the Internet. The Internet is a phenomenon which crosses / disregards ( not outside of, but beyond ) all physical geographical borders.
What is best for the U.S. government is not necessarily what is best for the human beings of the world ... and before you think I am lapsing into politics here, realize that my focus is on what is best for people - everywhere. If the SEC truly has answers for the entire world, then perhaps it would find "within its jurisdiction" opportunity to say or do something in regard to the $400 million ($400,000,000) retirement package given to Lee Raymond at a time when Katrina survivors are still in a daze, when children are being orphaned every day in so many places around the world ... when so much misery could be at least moderated in some way.
In fairness to Mr. Raymond, I do not know what charities ( if any ) he makes contribution to.
Short of yet deciding what is *legal* on the Internet, I believe it relatively easy for you and I to decide what is a SCAM on the Internet. Just because an idea does not fit tidily within some law book does NOT make the idea a scam, nor mean it is illegal. If an idea reveals itself to be fraud [specifically : intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right b : an act of deceiving or misrepresenting : TRICK] then the perpetrator is revealed and will be dealt with.
New ideas, different ways of doing things, are not easily understood when they come to us outside of our usual frames of reference. The tendency for some of us is to not trust, not get involved, and nothing wrong with that - "wait and see" harms no one.
Innovation [1 : the introduction of something new 2 : a new idea, method, or device : NOVELTY] can make significant difference in quality of life and how systems operate, but innovation needs a place to begin to grow. The Internet must be maintained as such a place. In a free environment, market forces will decide success or failure.
Those clever enough to perpetrate "cyber violence" - deceive and steal from you - will exist wherever there is sufficient return from such violence. Others will ferret them out - no reason for you to tolerate such activity any more than you would a physical assault. It is up to us to inform each other to dry up a crooks profit.
In this "Information Age" Kusum in India can know the same thing I know in Oregon at the same time the rest of you know that same thing wherever you are, with no distortion from any agency which might wish to deflect us from knowing.
You do not yet realize how much you are a formative part of a new age in human existence. It will be a century or two before someone will boldly proclaim the "old era" has gone, and for now most of us will deny that what we have known is passing away - too much for most of us to wrap our minds around just yet ...
Pronunciation: 'skam
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
: a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
Talking with some folks, I hear "scam = Internet" ... and in too many ways, I cannot argue with them : )
The Internet is the new "Wild West" - governance is not fully formed.
Who should "govern" the Internet ?
" In the beginning, there are no rules. " ... save for those basic ethics and morals given each of us by our mothers, and sometimes by fathers ...
... assumes everyone honors those gifts and lives by them, which they do not.
Add to that common sense and survival skills, which in my view are less than evident within some individuals.
A new movement online states as its aim to " ... educate key groups of the community about the true nature of illegal internet investments in order to help eradicate these programs and protect as many people as possible" - good idea as far as that goes, and I do not mean to abuse anyone personally so I will not here give a link or more info about that "movement" ...
... because I see that statement as short-sighted. Aside from the fact that the particular website is "penance" (for which I cannot gauge its sincerity), an underlying view seems to be that the SEC [United States Securities and Exchange Commission]
What is best for the U.S. government is not necessarily what is best for the human beings of the world ... and before you think I am lapsing into politics here, realize that my focus is on what is best for people - everywhere. If the SEC truly has answers for the entire world, then perhaps it would find "within its jurisdiction" opportunity to say or do something in regard to the $400 million ($400,000,000) retirement package given to Lee Raymond at a time when Katrina survivors are still in a daze, when children are being orphaned every day in so many places around the world ... when so much misery could be at least moderated in some way.
In fairness to Mr. Raymond, I do not know what charities ( if any ) he makes contribution to.
Short of yet deciding what is *legal* on the Internet, I believe it relatively easy for you and I to decide what is a SCAM on the Internet. Just because an idea does not fit tidily within some law book does NOT make the idea a scam, nor mean it is illegal. If an idea reveals itself to be fraud [specifically : intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right b : an act of deceiving or misrepresenting : TRICK] then the perpetrator is revealed and will be dealt with.
New ideas, different ways of doing things, are not easily understood when they come to us outside of our usual frames of reference. The tendency for some of us is to not trust, not get involved, and nothing wrong with that - "wait and see" harms no one.
Innovation [1 : the introduction of something new 2 : a new idea, method, or device : NOVELTY] can make significant difference in quality of life and how systems operate, but innovation needs a place to begin to grow. The Internet must be maintained as such a place. In a free environment, market forces will decide success or failure.
Those clever enough to perpetrate "cyber violence" - deceive and steal from you - will exist wherever there is sufficient return from such violence. Others will ferret them out - no reason for you to tolerate such activity any more than you would a physical assault. It is up to us to inform each other to dry up a crooks profit.
In this "Information Age" Kusum in India can know the same thing I know in Oregon at the same time the rest of you know that same thing wherever you are, with no distortion from any agency which might wish to deflect us from knowing.
You do not yet realize how much you are a formative part of a new age in human existence. It will be a century or two before someone will boldly proclaim the "old era" has gone, and for now most of us will deny that what we have known is passing away - too much for most of us to wrap our minds around just yet ...
posted by JamesB at 9:00 AM
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