Hundreds of thousands of people can’t be wrong… Right? Wrong! At least according to Snopes regarding the latest internet hoax that Facebook will begin charging membership fees this year.
It’s amazing how many people latch onto every internet rumor and hoax and take a stand against something that’s not true yet crawl up into the fetal position when it comes to real life issues like unemployment, bank bailouts and a failing economy. Where’s the outrage there? Global warming? How about child abduction and slavery, is that too boring? Is the fact that a communist country is positioned to be the next super power ok with everyone? (For the slow ones I’m referring to China) God forbid Facebook charges a monthly fee for a service like it was a business or something, we wont stand for that.
Now, with that cleared up, I think Facebook would be crazy not to offer some type of paid upgrade or ‘pro‘ membership like Flickr and many other sites do. Even though people are beating their chests right now over a silly rumor, when it comes down to it thousands will be open to paying for special treatment or an upgraded version of the free service. I wonder how many members that protest group will get? That’s Right, I Said It! Now do your part and voice your opinion below.
Was eBay’s Top Affiliates Indicted for Fraud?
I’m very reluctant to post on this issue because I cannot find a single legitimate news report about it. There are tons of blog and forum posts but is this even real? There are reports on sites like AuctionBytes.com and ReveNews but where are the main stream media reports?
Basically, the story is that eBay sued [allegedly] three of its top affiliates, including Shawn Hogan of Digital Point, for cookie stuffing fraud. The suit is on hold while federal charges take their course. After a FBI investigation, Shawn Hogan and Brian Dunning were [allegedly] indicted by a California grand jury for various accounts of wire fraud.
I just finished reading Shawn Hogan’s blog post on DigitalPoint. First of all, I can’t believe his attorneys let him post that, if indeed he was the actual author. It seems like it could eventually backfire, or maybe it just doesn’t matter anymore.
Click To Read: Shawn Hogan’s Post On DigitalPoint
Anyway, the entire story smells wrong. Shawn would have everyone believe he was an innocent pawn of eBays and was trying to do the right thing. Little things like him paying $50,000 for an eBay employee’s car to get them to ‘stop complaining about a car’ seem a little ridiculous. And why would someone earning a million dollars a month need to point out they had ‘a crappy TV and crappy laptop‘? Everything doesn’t seem to add up. How does a grown man say he kept saying ‘no‘ and eBay wouldn’t accept no for an answer [paraphrased]. No one was forcing him to be an affiliate. I mean, unless eBay works like the mafia of something. I suspect it would be very difficult for anyone to turn away from that kind of money.
This is all speculation on my part and I’m in the dark as much as anyone but it seems like someone smart enough to build that much money would cover their own ass. If I’m being asked to break someone’s own terms, I’m getting that request in writing. Otherwise you’re jeopardizing future earnings when they suspend or revoke your affiliate status later. If they ask me to violate the law or illegally hurt another person/company, I’m walking away, period!
If you have found any legitimate news report on this issue please share it in a comment. Feel free to link to it.
What do you think? Is the story real? Does the post on DigitalPoint ring true? Who do you believe? Go ahead and have your say.
Special Thanks to Yan Susanto and Mitch Mitchell for their Facebook conversation that led to this post.