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Tag: Business Benefit Package

  • DNA Now Says It Is Selling ‘Protective Spray’ To Block ‘Wrongful Ticketing’ From Red-Light Cameras; Simultaneously Announces ‘Alert Button’ To Protect Abducted Children

    A Florida multilevel marketing (MLM) company that says its license-plate data system can help law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program locate abducted children now says it is working against cities “worldwide” in their efforts to enforce traffic laws.

    Data Network Affiliates (DNA) announced that it was offering “DNA Protective Spray” by the case to distributors. The spray is applied to license plates to obscure the view of cameras that take photographs of cars that run red lights. DNA said the spray protected against “wrongful ticketing by city cameras worldwide.”

    DNA did not explain the incongruity of saying it supported law enforcement in its efforts to locate abducted children while at once working against law enforcement in its efforts to enforce traffic laws.

    Even as DNA was announcing the availability of its purported “Protective Spray,” the company announced it soon would adopt a browser-based “DNA World Wide Alert Button” to let members know when a “child is reported missing in your immediate area.”

    DNA purports also to be in the mortgage-reduction business, claiming it is the “MORAL OBLIGATION” of churches to spread the word about the money-making program and perhaps use it to raise church funds.

    This morning the Federal Trade Commission announced three settlements in cases that banned “deceptive marketers” from selling mortgage-relief services. In one of the cases, a judgment of $11.5 million was entered against one of the marketers. A judgment of $6.2 million was entered in the second case, and a judgment of nearly $5.3 million was entered in the third case.

    DNA said distributors would be able to order its protective spray “very soon.”

    “This product has sold millions for $29.95 a can which is good for up to 3 or 4 applications when done properly,” DNA said.

    The product falls under the umbrella of a series of products that purportedly can help DNA members “RETIRE BY CHRISTMAS 2010,” the company said.

    DNA also said it soon would offer “The New DNA Phone & Fax Module,” which purportedly “will make MAGIC JACK & SKYPE OBSOLETE.”

    In April, DNA announced that it was offering an “unlimited” cell-phone plan with a free phone for $10 a month. The company later withdrew the offer, acknowledging it had not studied cell-phone pricing before announcing it had become the world’s low-price leader.

    Some DNA members have implied the company was backed by Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump and Apple Inc. No evidence to support the claims has emerged.

    DNA has compared itself favorably to Walmart, Google, Facebook and Amway. Curiously, the company once claimed it offered a Business Benefit Package, which it dubbed the BBP. The company now appears to be referring to the package as the BBB, using the acronym associated with the Better Business Bureau.

  • FIRST, TRUMP, OPRAH, APPLE: Now, PP Blog’s ‘Breaking News’ Graphic Used In Video Pitch For Data Network Affiliates’ MLM Program

    A rep for Data Network Affiliates, an MLM program, copied the PP Blog's "Breaking News" graphic and used it in a video pitch that claimed DNA offered "Branded" iPhones from Apple. Reps for the company also have claimed Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump endorse the firm. It is common for some MLM purveyors to claim or imply business ties where none exisit as a means of disarming potential critics and of creating legitimacy by leeching off the brand names of well-known people and entities.

    A sales rep for Data Network Affiliates (DNA) used the “Breaking News” graphic from the PP Blog to supplement a sales pitch for a nonexistent cell-phone plan that  touted “unlimited” talk-and-text service for $10 a month, plus a free phone.

    The unauthorized use of the Blog’s intellectual property in a sales pitch raises troubling, new questions about the company and its purported army of multilevel-marketing (MLM) affiliates. DNA recently has claimed that churches have the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to pitch its products.

    DNA affiliates previously have implied that Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey endorse the company. Their images appeared for 10 consecutive minutes in a YouTube video for DNA, and affiliates also have implied the company had a special “branding” deal with Steve Jobs-led Apple.

    DNA, which previously used a free Gmail address to conduct customer service, has removed the address from its website. It has been replaced by a prompt that reads in part, “All other question (sic) or issues must be submitted to Data Network Affiliates through our Customer Support area in your DNA Back office available via the Support Tab on the Main Menu in all Affiliate Back Offices.”

    There is no effective way for nonaffiliates to contact the company. Earlier this year DNA affiliates repeatedly spammed the PP Blog.

    In an undated video that promotes DNA, the Blog’s “Breaking News” graphic was used to introduce a pitch for DNA’s purported “See Through IPhone.”

    “It’s (sic) very own Branded Iphones,” the pitch crowed.

    Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

    Even as the PP Blog’s “Breaking News” logo is being misused in a video slideshow for DNA, the company is instructing members to “make believe” its March launch never occurred. The firm reinstalled a launch countdown timer on its website, saying it will launch July 26. DNA actually launched March 1 after missing two February launch dates. The firm asked existing members in March to reimagine the launch as a “beta test,” even though it was advertised for weeks as a full launch.

    Dean Blechman, DNA’s original chief executive officer, resigned Feb. 24. The company withheld the news of his resignation for nearly a week, and Blechman later complained about the company’s “bizarre” conduct.

    Because DNA now is advertising a July 26 launch date, incoming members may not know the company actually launched in March — after Blechman’s resignation and after he described the firm’s behavior as puzzling.

    It is not believed that DNA has any affiliation with Trump, Winfrey or Apple. It is clear, however, that a DNA pitchman in a February conference call planted the seed that the company was well-connected.

    “This is the guy,” the pitchman said of the former DNA chief.  “He rolls with the Donald Trumps; he rolls with the big boys. I mean, you know, he has [inaudible] certain people on speed dial that’s incredible.”

    Blechman resigned within two days of the pitchman’s conference-call claim.

    On March 4, in an interview with the PP Blog, Blechman complained about DNA “bull” from a “backdoor guy.”

    He also complained that the company misspelled his name after finally announcing his departure six days after he left and then mangled the facts surrounding his departure.

    Weeks after Blechman resigned, the company suddenly announced in early April that it was in the cell-phone business, declaring “GAME OVER — WE WIN” despite the fact it had no experience in the industry. DNA started out as a company that collected license-plate information for entry in a database that purportedly could help the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children.

    DNA declared itself the world’s low-cost leader in cell phones, advertising a “free” phone with “unlimited” talk and text for $10 a month. By April’s close, the company announced that it had not even studied cell-phone pricing before releasing its plan, withdrawing the offer and blaming its inability to deliver on a vendor it apparently had not vetted.

    Meanwhile, the firm has done other odd things. An upgrade plan it initially named the Business Benefit Package — using the acronym BBP — later was dubbed the BBB. BBB is the acronym used by the Better Business Bureau.

    “6 OF THE 10 WILL BUY THE B.B.B. AND GET 1 OTHER TO BUY THE B.B.B. WITHIN 24 HOURS,” DNA declared last month.

    Since that time, DNA has repeatedly called the BBP package the BBB package.

  • Data Network Affiliates’ Upsell Includes ‘PRO’ Module To Enter License-Plate Numbers; Company Describes Its ‘FREE’ Module As A Clunker

    You might find yourself a rank amateur in the new business of writing down the license-plate numbers of your neighbors for entry in a database if you don’t pay Data Network Affiliates (DNA) a one-time fee of $97 and a monthly fee of $29.95 for the right to use what the firm describes as a “PRO” data-entry module.

    News about the “PRO” module began to spread yesterday, only days after DNA told members who listened to an “Oscar” night conference call that the company’s “free” affiliates would “receive the same kind of commitment and respect from our DNA management team” as paid members received.

    Whether the company’s current membership roster of 69,000 — all members of which were targeted in ads and presentations to join DNA for free — will consider the appeal for them to reach into their pocketbooks for $126.95 an example of commitment and respect to free members is unclear.

    The “PRO” module is part of what the company is dubbing the “Business Benefit Package” (BBP), which DNA described as an “awesome” value.

    “Upon close inspection of the B.B.P. you will find a minimum of 10 times the cost of such package to the end user in value savings and benefits,” DNA said in an email to members. “The two that stand out the most is (sic) the FREE 1000 REWARD DOLLARS with FREE REFILLS and the $402 Travel Agent Value Package for only $49.”

    Indeed, DNA is cross-pollinating the data-entry portion of its business with other opportunities, according to the email.

    The “PRO” module is included in the BBP upgrade package “at no additional charge . . . to make DATA ENTRY simpler, easier, faster and less time consuming,” DNA said.

    DNA’s “free” members may remain as such or get started with the BBP package for an initial outlay of $126.95, including the one-time fee of $97 and the monthly fee of $29.95.

    DNA described the free data-entry module as a clunker, compared to the “PRO” module, which the firm asserts has bells and whistles and crunches information faster.

    Here is how DNA described the benefits of the upgrade package (italics added):

    With PRO Upgrade Software an entry takes up to 1 minute. Without takes up to 3 to 5 minutes.

    With PRO Upgrade Software you may repeat address for entry with a click of a button. Without you need to re-enter all address data manually.

    With PRO Upgrade Software many fields will be already filled in. Without you need to re-enter all address data manually.

    With PRO Upgrade Software you may enter as many entries as you wish at one time. Without you are limited to 5 entries per day.

    With PRO Upgrade Software you may enter data for others who also have PRO Upgraded Software. Without you can only enter for yourself and not receive any entries from anyone else who may wish to help.

    DNA’s email yesterday also implied that it might not be able to trust some of its own members who entered license-plate data. The company, a multilevel-marketing firm that does not have a contact form on its website and uses an address from Google’s free gmail service as its support address, urged its data-collectors in the field to be honest.

    “WARNING,” the company blared in yesterday’s email. “Anyone caught entering bogus tag data information will be automatically suspended from D.N.A. pending a 30/60 day review. We are not talking about a possible error or a potential mistake. We are talking about outright fraudulent entries. You may say who would do such a thing. We say hopefully no one.”

    The company did not explain why members caught entering “outright fraudulent” data or “bogus tag data” would merely be suspended pending a review that could take up to two months, rather than banned immediately for life and reported to the police for a criminal attempt to defraud the company.

    DNA pitchmen have described the parking lots of major retail stores, churches and doctors’ offices as excellent places to record license-plate numbers. Implicit in the pitches is the suggestion that license-plate data is public information available for the taking from virtually any venue by any DNA member.

    Some DNA promoters have suggested that the company’s plate-recorders should behave “inconspicuously” when writing down numbers with a pen and pad or taking pictures of them with cell phones and video cameras for later entry in the database.

    The claims have sparked privacy concerns that the data could be used to create profiles on the movement of people. If the data is sold to a company in the business of repossessing automobiles, for instance, the repo man might be able to determine where a car owner shops, receives medical treatment, picks up prescriptions for medicine, receives psychological or spiritual counseling and visits for any purpose under the sun.