For those too lazy to scroll or short of time, this is a summary of the discussions so far:
TGC has opened www.dbourse.com on Sealand; an exchange that trades shares of an IPO of TGC. I raised concerns about sketchy rules and made a few suggestions about what I thought was needed, if and only if DBourse was to become more than a item trading place. // While DBourse says that there are no initial plans to do so, their whole online trading interface suggests otherwise, as it's built to permit a selection between listings and available shares of each listing. Craig 'Snowdog' (can we have www.thegoldindex.com listed in your golddirectory, please?) initially thought I was some kind of closet fashistic neo-socialist crook that was trying to impose law and order (perish the thought) on poor Sealand, or alternatively help Sealand to suppress free markets and tell private companies what they can and can not do. After a few exchanges we agreed that somehow we both were actually mainly concerned that some crooks woul use this new vehicle and spit into the soup for everyone. Basically snowdog thinks that DBourse should regulate itself, and while I agree in principle, I think Sealnd should make rules 'if' and only if DBourse doesn't do it iteself - al pronto and public ;o) Again, rules to protect gullible investors and rules that stipulate how other companies could list on DBourse if that becomes an option in future. Not more, not less. Adam gave a different perspective as did Mr. Free-Markets himself, such as pointing out the recently discovered shortcomings in a closed market system where insiders and indeed traders were trading ahead of their clients' orders to profit from it. As someone who was formerly involved in the scene and left in digust I can only say, people you have no idea what those guys are 'really' doing - with sanction of their overseers, trading desks and indeed companies. In almost two years. But this would blow the scope of this discussion... In essence we all seem to agree (already?) that it's a great thing and that maybe, just maybe, a few more basic rules wouldn't be such a bad thing as long as nobody restricts free trade and the freedom of economic beings (humans) to trade in any way they wish - as long as they don't rip anyone off in the process of it. It does appear that there are several other ventures who gave similar things a go - with mixed, even negligible results, it seems. Which now prompts me to ask if the reason they weren't more successful is the inherent lack of clear rules in every one of them ;o) To sum up, I feel that TGC and DBourse have the technical knowhow and the financial clout to actually give us a *real stock exchange* but they may opt not do so for whatever reason - and there is nothing we can do about that, pitty as it may be. And Craig, I don't think that Heir-apparent and ruler-in-residence Michael (wasn't it?) would be very ristrictive in imposing rules. But, I feel if DBourse is to grow to what many of us hope it would be or could be, then either they make clear rules, or 'the court' should. And by the way, for those not so deeply involved in it all, there is another place that fosters open exchange and is operated by some of the most trusted meembers here: http://www.gold-price.net/e-gold/Robert S.Z..php No frills, just a platform to trade through discussion and exchange. Cheers, Robert. budget & privacy website hosting http://www.cyberica.net budget & privacy domain registrations http://www.u2planet.com --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
