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Danish P2P Site The Honest Thief Revealed As Hoax Publicity Stunt

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 3, 2003 - 3:21am.
Arnhem, the Netherlands -- The Honest Thief, a Dutch peer-to-peer file-sharing service that purported to be taking advantage of a recent Dutch court ruling in favor of the legality of file-sharing services, has been revealed by its creator to be a hoax and publicity stunt for his book of the same name. Pieter Plass, founder of Internet services firm PGR and president of construction company CBB, revealed the hoax that duped his PR firm, press release distributor Business Wire, and publications including The Wall Street Journal, CNET News.com, Wired News and Digital Media Wire, on April Fool's Day. "The Honest Thief" is also the title of Plass' book on management strategies. "Our goal was first and foremost to get some attention for our book: The Honest Thief," Plass wrote in a note on TheHonestThief.com. "Secondly we wanted to confront the public with the practice of honest stealing: the tools that everybody uses to have success." "That's not the way PR is done in this country," Steven Phenix, senior director of PR agency Alliant Group, told Wired News. "I have a long list of people I have to apologize to." http://www.thehonestthief.com
tags: P2P | Danish | Hoax | The Honest Thief |

Canadian Convicted in 3D Display Hoax Now a Fugitive In Czech Republic

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 14, 2003 - 6:46am.
Calgary, Alberta -- Wired News on Tuesday reported on the guilty verdict rendered against Sheldon Zelitt, chairman of a Canadian firm called VisuaLabs that bilked investors with a glasses-less 3D display technology. Zelitt was convicted by an Alberta judge of 11 securities violations, including misrepresentations in press releases, prospectuses and annual information forms. Although Zelitt faces a maximum fine of $11 million and nearly five years in jail, he currently resides as a fugitive in the Czech Republic and heads Enhanced Display Corporation, a company making similar claims as the now more or less defunct VisuaLabs.
tags: 3D | Czech Republic | Canadian | Hoax |