Re: Another Hidden Issue Here

> Did you catch this paragraph from the StartUp Journal article (from
> MaaMaw's first post):

> "In a statement issued yesterday through her attorney, Ms. Johnson
> (note: Charis Johnson, the owner of 12DailyPro.com - Tom) blamed a
> commercial dispute with StormPay for the unavailability of funds owed to
> 12dailyPro members. Ms. Johnson said StormPay demanded it be the exclusive
> provider of payment services for 12dailyPro, then soon after froze the
> accounts and funds after 'falsely accusing us of misrepresenting our
> business model.'"

> This is another huge issue: StormPay demands that they be the exclusive
> payment processor for just about anybody that uses them -- and THEN they
> freeze accounts after the autosurf companies put all of their financial
> "eggs" into StormPay's basket. Not nice at all!

> From reports that I've seen on other websites (including a direct quote
> from StormPay that was distributed to all PayDotCom.com affiliates and
> merchants, of which I am one), StormPay did not give any advance notice
> for this and pretty much demanded immediate compliance.

> If it turns out that an autosurf company is legitimate and was forced out
> of business due to StormPay freezing their account, it could get real
> interesting, Terms of Service notwithstanding.

> At this point, from my perspective, it looks like StormPay resorted to
> extreme trickery to bring the autosurf industry to its knees. And I don't
> care what the circumstances are, two wrongs do NOT make a right. StormPay
> abused its power here, and regardless of the outcome of the autosurf
> situation, StormPay should be publicly punished -- and severely -- for
> resorting to this dirty trick.

> My reaction? I will only use StormPay when absolutely necessary in the
> future (even if it means lost sales) and will ensure that I do not carry a
> balance there. I don't need a bunch of vigilantes holding my money
> hostage. I respectfully suggest that others here that do business with
> StormPay review the situation (don't just take my word for it -- do your
> own research) and make the decision that is best for your business.

> Just my personal, biased, completely uninformed subjective opinion,
> Tom

> DISCLAIMER: Good post by MaaMaw -- don't join an autosurf thinking that
> you're going to get rich. I have joined one autosurf, which I will not
> name here, and have purchased only a small upgrade. I did this because I
> am experimenting with alternate forms of traffic generation and also out
> of sheer curiousity. And that program was the only one that, to me, seemed
> even remotely legitimate. My primary motivation (other than curiousity)
> was to advertise one of my sites there and track responses to see if
> people actually responded to the ads. So while I think that an autosurf
> program COULD have a legitimate purpose, almost all of the ones I
> researched seemed to be Ponzi-oriented and a waste of time.

I want you to think about this carefully.

Suppose that "DailyPro" really is a ponzi scheme and StormPal is their innocent banker. At some point DailyPro will have to pay out more money than it has in its bank account, and make such a demand on its bank -citing future payments or receivables as collateral. Not surprisingly the bank will freeze its funds.

Thus, the evidence that you cite from the Wall Street Journal is equally consistent with both DailyPro being a ponzi and it being legitimate.