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> From: David S. Isenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: February 10, 2006 11:39:13 AM EST > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: More on Re: [IP] Blog Buzz on High-Tech Start-Ups Causes > Some Static > > Dave, > > For IP per judgement of Editor: > > I am on FON's USA Advisory Board and I think WSJ Reporter Rebecca > Buckman, the WSJ reporter who wrote the story took mainstream > reporting to new lows. I was interviewed by Buckman and a subject of > her FON story. I have never felt more abused in an interview with > a reporter in my eight years talking to the press than I did with > her. She asked me the same questions over and over like she was > badgering a hostile witness, even after I answered her in a > complete, frank, transparent and detailed way. It felt to me > like she had an agenda. It did not feel like she had honest > curiosity to learn the facts. > > And I am really pi^H^H angry that Ms. Buckman's story compared the > FON advisory board to Armstrong Williams and other paid political > propaganda flacks. Read the WSJ story carefully, ignoring the > innuendo, and you will see Buckman turned up ZERO evidence of > anything but frank disclosure among us foneros. > > Fact: Every FON advisor who blogged the FON announcement > disclosed their advisory relationship. Reporter Buckman took > us to task for not saying explicitly that we were compensated > as advisors. In fact, technically, we are NOT compensated, as > no written agreement is in place, just a nonspecific verbal > intent. We don't know if we're getting warrants or options > or stock. We don't know how much. We don't know the terms. > We trust FON founder Varsavsky to figure out something fair > because he is our friend. Plus, if you say, "I work for > (consult for, advise) foobar, inc.", doesn't that imply > you've got some kind of quid pro quo going? > > More importantly, just about every FON advisor who blogged > the announcement expressed some kind of heartfelt skepticism > or doubt about the FON launch. It was very fast, very untested, > and a pretty risky thing to do so early. We told Varsavsky > our concerns in confidence before the USA launch, and we told > the world after the launch. If that's paid publicity, he should > hire more compliant lackeys. > > I blogged it here: > http://isen.com/blog/2006/02/blogging-conflict-of-interest-and.html > FON advisor David Weinberger blogged it here > http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/mtarchive/ > wsj_on_fon_disclosure_and_my_f.html > Here's Varsavsky's blog posting: > http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/fon/a-dream-come-true.html > Here's the made-up-news WSJ Buckman story > http://tinyurl.com/9pam5 > Here's FON advisor Ethan Zuckerman's very different take > http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=368 > Here's FON advisor Rebecca MacKinnon's take > http://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2006/02/ > the_revolution_.html > > 'nuf said. In my mind, this thread is closed. FON has more important > things to think about. > David I > ------- > > > > On Feb 9, 2006, at 2:30 PM, Dave Farber wrote: > >> >> >> -------- Original Message -------- >> Subject: Blog Buzz on High-Tech Start-Ups Causes Some Static >> Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2006 14:18:42 -0500 >> From: Seth Finkelstein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: Dave Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Ip Ip <[email protected]> >> >> Blog Buzz on High-Tech Start-Ups Causes Some Static >> http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113945389770169170.html >> >> "But the tiny company [FON] also got publicity from another source: >> influential commentators on the Internet who write blogs -- >> including >> some who may be compensated in the future for advising FON about its >> business. >> ... >> The avalanche of blogging about FON, much of it from people now tied >> to the four-month-old company, highlights the rising influence of >> blogs in shaping opinions about tech start-ups, particularly in >> Silicon Valley. It also reveals the possible conflicts of interest >> such complicated relationships can dredge up." >> >> -- >> Seth Finkelstein Consulting Programmer http://sethf.com >> Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/ >> Interview: http://sethf.com/essays/major/greplaw-interview.php >> >> ------------------------------------- >> You are subscribed as [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> To manage your subscription, go to >> http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip >> >> Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/ >> interesting-people/ > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFD70DXh0VyAToQeqERAuIAAKCwqB888yB8YRLuhHUAs+n8oLxqsACfSmwl UngeTjYpXdCKws3tlGCfgBU= =khC5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as [email protected] To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
