2 Jun 2001
EarthLink's 1998 "Get Out of AOL Free" campaign, which targeted AOL
members the last time AOL raised its price. (hehe)
http://www.onclave.org/people/children/Steven_Hatch/children/mailing_lists/children/MediaGrok/
EarthLink Co-Founder a Pyramid Schemer?
Can anyone explain the recent rash of white-collar crime expos=E9s?
First a Cisco boss got fired and busted for embezzling. Former leaders
of Christie's and Sotheby's were indicted for auction price-fixing.
Lernout & Hauspie's founders have been languishing in Belgian jails
during their investigation for stock manipulation and fraud. Now a
co-founder of EarthLink has been tied to a bizarre Ponzi scheme
involving day-trading and Scientology.
The Los Angeles Times broke the story that Reed Slatkin, venture
capitalist co-founder of the ISP EarthLink, is accused of bilking
investors of more than $35 million. Slatkin is not registered with the
SEC as an investment advisor, but he still persuaded more than 100
people to invest more than $300 million in a day-trading operation
promising annual returns of up to 60 percent. It seems he used money
from earlier investors to pay later investors - the same theory behind
those chain letters that promise to make you rich if you send five
people a dollar. Slatkin, a Scientologist, is also accused of ripping
off a group of fellow church members to the tune of $250 million.
EarthLink hurried to explain that Slatkin quit the company's board
last week, wasn't part of the company's daily operations, and didn't
use EarthLink money in the scheme.
Meanwhile, observers continued to ponder EarthLink's rollout of
satellite Net access. The NewsFactor Network quizzed an analyst, who
said rural customers craving broadband will sign up for the costly
service because they can't get cable modems or DSL. (But how many such
customers are there?) "EarthLink now offers virtually every kind of
consumer Internet access imaginable," said the Motley Fool, but it's
still having trouble keeping up with behemoths such as AOL and
Microsoft. Well, EarthLink, if you need come quick cash, we know this
great day-trading program with 60 percent return ... - Jen Muehlbauer
Co-Founder of EarthLink Is Accused of Investor Fraud
http://www.latimes.com/business/20010502/t000036899.html
EarthLink Co-Founder Accused of Fraud (AP)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5804116.html
EarthLink Wants High-Speed Growth (Motley Fool)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/567446.asp
Internet by Satellite: Will It Fly?
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/9412.html
Lernout Co-Founders in Jail for a Month (Bloomberg)
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5792625.html
Former Auction Chiefs Indicted
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34700-2001May2.html
--------
incidentally, here's an interesting phrase used to market Earthlink several
years ago found in this current article:
Switch Behemoths, Save $1.95
As of Grok's press time, few writers seemed to remember that ISPs
other than AOL and MSN even exist. The AP and the Washington Post did
mention third-place provider EarthLink. (The Post's Alec Klein
provided further much-needed context by describing the "long-standing
rivalry" between Microsoft and AOL.) Nobody seemed to recall
EarthLink's 1998 "Get Out of AOL Free" campaign, which targeted AOL
members the last time AOL raised its price.
If you have anything to say about the following information, you're
doing better than most journalists: Microsoft is launching a $50
million campaign to lure AOL customers to MSN. Maybe reporters were
still hung over from Memorial Day barbecues; most of them phoned in
this one.
MSN's selling point is AOL's upcoming price increase from $21.95 to
$23.90 for a month of unlimited access. Microsoft will offer AOL
converts three months of free MSN access and a locked-in $21.95 per
month rate until Jan. 1, 2003 - but only if you're a new subscriber.
We wonder if that means existing MSN users might see a price hike of
their own in 2002, but apparently we're the only ones.
It took a confessed Microsoft shareholder, Rex Moore of the Motley
Fool, to blow MSN's free media ride. MSN's rate "is no bargain," said
Moore, since AT&T's WorldNet service costs the same, EarthLink is
cheaper, and "there are ISPs that offer dial-up access in every state
for less than $15 a month." Picky, picky. - Jen Muehlbauer
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Feisty
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