ASD Conference Calls: Bowdoin Signs Off
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The embattled president of Ad Surf Daily no longer will participate in conference calls at the advice of his attorneys, ASD members report.
Andy Bowdoin held his final conference call night, predicting that ASD would be cleared and announcing that the company will hold a series of contests and award advertising credits to winners, members said.
Meanwhile, Clarence Busby, the embattled head of Golden Panda Ad Builder, announced that his lawyers would meet with government lawyers Friday. This would be the second such meeting. Busby earlier declared in court papers that Golden Panda was separate and distinct from ASD.
Busby has exuded confidence that Golden Panda will return to operation. Yesterday's dispatch from Busby at the Golden Panda news site again spoke of his Christian faith and asked members to pray for favor from prosecutors.
Golden Panda was touted as a Chinese version of ASD, but it's far from clear if Golden Panda was "China-ready."
Golden Panda was born in a brainstorming session with Andy Bowdoin in a Georgia fishing lake in April, according to Busby. By July, it was promoted as the China option -- and a week into its launch its U.S. business practices were challenged and its financial assets seized. If Golden Panda couldn't comply with U.S. law, how plausible is it that it was in compliance with China law and how plausible is it that Golden Panda even understood the China market?
And plausibility always is the question in examinations of the autosurf business. Anybody who has followed autosurf news in recent years knows that autosurfs routinely invest money in other autosurfs. In the CEP Ponzi case, for instance, money was placed in 26 other autosurfs.
Investigators know that autosurfs often act as feeder systems for other autosurfs, keeping cash in constant circulation and creating the illusion of profitability and sustainability. It's just another element of the wink-nod nature of autosurfs.
Was Golden Panda really a plausible Chinese option -- or was it just a feeder autosurf for ASD and perhaps others?
Elsewhere, the AdSurfZone -- a forum favored by some ASD members because of aggressive moderation that stifled ASD debate -- has closed its doors. Some of the members said they joined a separate forum that promotes ASD's point of view.
People are free to moderate forums as they see fit, of course. What we never understood about AdSurfZone is why members scolded other members for using terms such as "investment" and called people names such as "infiltrators." Some of the behavior over there was thuggish, even paranoid.
We enjoyed visiting AdSurfZone, although we weren't members and didn't post. The forum provided a vast -- though unbalanced -- ASD education.
Labels: Andy Bowdoin and Clarence Busby, Andy Bowdoin conference call, ASD conference call, China ready, Chinese autosurf, Golden Panda news, US State Department
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 10:16 AM,
