UPDATED 12:24 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Is Dean Blechman no longer the chief executive officer of Data Network Affiliates (DNA), an MLM firm that purports to be in the business of recording license-plate numbers of cars as they move from destination to destination?
Blechman, who identified himself as the CEO in an audio recording and was identified as the CEO in DNA marketing materials, no longer is listed on the website as an officer in any capacity.
An audio recording in which Blechman suggested he was monitoring “everyone that’s a distraction out there and anyone that’s printing stuff on the Internet or anywhere†and perhaps preparing to sue critics also has been removed from the website.
DNA has become the subject of criticism amid concerns about privacy and the propriety, safety and legality of recording license-plate numbers. The information purportedly was being collected for sale to companies that repossess automobiles. Because DNA customers would receive the addresses at which license-numbers were recorded by members, it raised the specter that repo men — or any data customer of DNA — could determine where car owners went to church, shopped and received medical care, including psychological treatment.
Some critics have said they believed Phil Piccolo, a notorious figure in MLM, was associated with the firm.
DNA’s website lists an address in the Cayman Islands.
It was not immediately clear if Blechman had resigned. Also unclear is why the recording was removed from the front page on the website. Blechman’s name has been removed from a roster of officers published on the website, leaving only the names of Arthur M. Kurek and Donald Kessler as officers.
Anthony Sasso is listed as a special consultant and founder. The site no longer lists a CEO. Blechman’s name was removed from both the main page of the website and from a page that appears after visitors click on an “About Us” tab at the top of the page.
The move occurred about three days prior to DNA’s claimed launch date of March 1. The launch date was postponed twice in February.
Video promotions for DNA have used images of Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey. It is unclear if Trump and Winfrey approved the use of their images. At the same time, DNA members have made videos that identified stores such as Walmart and Target as the source of a ready supply of license-plate numbers.
Meanwhile, promoters have suggested that churches and doctors’ offices also were sources for license-plate data.
Blechman did not respond to the criticism. At the same time, threats to take legal action could be construed as a bid to muzzle affiliates to prevent them from writing anything less than a flattering review of the company in Blog and website posts, and in emails sent to prospects.
AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin's threats to sue critics backfired, exposing the company to even more scrutiny.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Repping for Data Network Affiliates or Narc That Car, two companies in the business of recording license-plate data? Here are some things you might want to consider . . .
UPDATED 2:21 P.M. ET (March 5, U.S.A.) Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and Narc That Car (NTC) both say they are soliciting members to record the license-plate numbers of cars for entry in a database. Both are multilevel-marketing (MLM) companies. Both have become the subject of scrutiny by web critics who have raised issues of propriety, safety, legality and privacy.
Both companies should thank their lucky stars that the criticism, so far, largely has been contained to the web.
Last week, Dean Blechman, the chief executive officer of DNA, came out firing against the critics. Painting with a brush that was almost unimaginably wide, Blechman suggested the company is monitoring “everyone that’s a distraction out there and anyone that’s printing stuff on the Internet or anywhere†and perhaps preparing to sue. (Emphasis added.)
Yes, a company whose members say is in the business of establishing a database so customers can monitor cars as they move from Walmart to a “doctor’s office” to other locations (including churches) now says it is monitoring “everyone” and “anyone” who poses a “distraction.”
“I’ll tell you one thing,†Blechman warned in an audio recording posted on DNA’s website, which lists an address in the Cayman Islands. “They better be very, very careful of what they write . . . [b]ecause I have every intention of policing and pursuing every legal ramification . . . against anybody that’s reporting any information inaccurate to try to tear down what I’m trying to build here.†(Emphasis added.)
So, a company with a domain that uses a Cayman Islands address and does not say where its corporate offices are located — and a company that does not have a working Contact Form on its website and, according to members, is in the business of recording license-plate numbers in the United States in the parking lots of retailers such as Walmart and Target, supermarkets, churches and doctors’ offices — is sending a clear message to critics.
Blechman’s remarks also might have the effect of chilling DNA affiliates. Some are apt to interpret his comments as a warning that they’d best raise no questions about the company if they’re writing about it in Blog posts or in emails sent to prospects. Customers of DNA and Narc That Car are ill-served by sponsors who might be inclined to write reviews that are anything less than flattering because such reviews might upset management of the companies.
DNA’s own pitchmen have identified Walmart, Target, supermarket parking lots, parking lots at churches and doctors’ offices and “anywhere” cars are parked in a group as the sources of license-plate numbers.
One of the pitchmen who introduced Blechman in the recording in which Blechman warned critics was the same pitchman who told listeners in a previous call that the company envisioned an America in which DNA members would record the plate number of a hypothetical “red corvette” parked at Walmart, and then record the plate number again an hour later at a “doctor’s office” — and then record it again three hours later when it was parked elsewhere.
Blechman said nothing about the pitchman’s comments in the recording in which he threatened critics. Nor did he address a DNA video promotion by the company’s top affiliate that suggested DNA members should behave “inconspicuously” while snapping photographs of “cars” and plate numbers at Walmart on their iPhones, Blackberrys and notepad computers.
Whether affiliates need the permission of retailers, patrons, clergy, worshipers, physicians, patients or any party is left to the imagination. How the company can prevent abuses also is left to the imagination.
Instead of addressing the criticism, Dean Blechman turned his focus on the critics, thus creating the appearance that the company has no problem with its members taking photos of cars and license plates at Walmart, at places of worship and at doctors’ offices.
Until Blechman speaks on these issues publicly in a news conference or addresses them in an official news release available to the media and DNA members, it is not unreasonable for Americans to believe that, if they are seeking the private counsel of clergy, their license-plate number may be recorded while they’re inside their place of worship pouring out their souls — and the number will be entered in a database used to track the movement of vehicles.
And it’s not unreasonable for Americans to believe their plate number will be recorded while they’re inside the office of their physician, surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, attorney or other professional.
What’s more, it’s not unreasonable for Americans to believe their plate number will be recorded wherever they do their shopping or reading, including retail outlets large and small, libraries and shops that sell adult videos and magazines.
Blechman needs to speak to these issues before the MLM program launches March 1. And he needs to make it plain whether he approves of the practice of writing down plate numbers (or recording them on video) where Americans shop, worship, receive medical and legal advice and spend their casual time.
How does DNA plan to guard against invasions of privacy? How can it prevent database customers from abusing data it provides?
DNA’s own pitchman offered up the possibility that the company wanted to create records of the movement of automobiles and offer that information for sale to database customers. If this is so — and if you don’t want anyone to know you’re seeking the counsel of clergy, a medical professional or a legal professional — you should know that DNA appears to be building a database that will record various sightings of your license plate.
If you owe money to a finance company and are having money problems, the repo man very well might learn you are seeking the counsel of your clergyman or even your therapist. The repo man will get the addresses. He will know if your car was parked at the office of a psychologist or a heart surgeon, a rabbi or a priest, the public library or the adult bookstore, the City Hall building or the casino, the curb in front of your house or the curb in front of friend’s house.
If your name is Daisy, if you’ve recently had heart-bypass surgery and fell into clinical depression and are having trouble paying your bills because you aren’t healthy enough to return to work or you’ve been laid off, the repo man might be able to tell his client:
“Hey, Daisy’s car was parked in a surgeon’s parking lot. Then it was spotted in her shrink’s parking lot. Then it moved to a credit counselor’s parking lot. Then she visited her daughter. Then she visited the Catholic parish down the street from her house.
“You won’t believe where the next sighting was. The Salvation Army soup kitchen! Daisy is broke — and she’s a nutcase to boot!”
And what if the availability of the info is not limited to the repo man or finance companies? The United States could become a country of paid snoopers who recruit other paid snoopers.
Blechman’s response was to threaten to sue critics. One of the pitchmen who introduced Blechman said the company had recruited 37,000 members in just a few weeks. The database product is not yet available, but the manpower to populate it is — and members by the thousands are being urged to write down plate numbers.
Some members already have a supply on hand: NTC launched before DNA, which Blechman described as his “unbelievable vision.” From appearances, it looks as though NTC had the vision first — and DNA now is in position to benefit from plate numbers submitted by NTC members.
Leading with an elbow normally is frowned upon in business and often leads to even more intense scrutiny. Ask AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, who announced that the company had amassed a giant money pot to punish critics.
Here, according to federal court filings, is what Bowdoin told ASD members at a company rally in Miami on July 12, 2008:
“These people that are making these slanderous remarks, they are going to continue these slanderous remarks in a court of law defending about a 30 to 40 million dollar slander lawsuit. Now, we’re ready to do battle with anybody. We have a legal fund set up. Right now we have about $750,000 in that legal fund. So we’re ready to get everything started and get the ball rolling.” (Emphasis added.)
Yes, Andy Bowdoin publicly threatened to sue critics. He, too, painted with a wide brush, saying his warning applied to “anybody.”
Less than a month later, the U.S. Secret Service raided ASD. Prosecutors said the company was operating a $100 million Ponzi scheme and engaging in wire fraud and money-laundering.
Bowdoin’s lack of PR skills later contributed to other nightmares for members. Bowdoin, for example, described the Secret Service seizure of his assets as an attack by “Satan.” And he compared the government’s actions to the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
He later said his fight against the government was inspired by a former Miss America.
The concerns about the propriety, privacy, safety and legality of both DNA and NTC are real. The BBB of Dallas and the district attorney of Henderson County, Texas, have opened inquiries into NTC.
Because DNA is competing in the same arena as NTC, it is not unreasonable to ask the same sort of questions.
Dean Blechman is a longtime businessman. He could learn a few things from the PR mistakes of Andy Bowdoin, one of which was to attack the critics before addressing the issues and making the company’s operations crystal clear and transparent to thousands of affiliates and members of the public.
Video cameras? Cell phone cameras? Notepad computers? Pens and pads?
Professional complexes? Walmart? Target? Adult bookstores? Libraries? Church parking lots? Doctors’ offices?
UPDATED 10:31 A.M. ET (U.S.A.) The chief executive officer of Data Network Affiliates (DNA) has come out swinging against critics, threatening to take legal action.
“There are some distractions I’m hearing about out there,” said CEO Dean Blechman.
An audio recording of Blechman’s remarks is posted on DNA’s website. Two DNA pitchmen warmed up listeners by exchanging compliments with each other and lauding Blechman for nearly seven minutes before he offered his remarks.
Blechman described DNA as his “unbelievable vision” — for which he had come out of retirement to make come true. “I have a chance to make that really happen,” he said.
“My 30 years of my reputation in business stands for itself, no matter what distractions are out there towards Data Network Affiliates,” Blechman said, after mentioning his background in the natural-products industry with a company known as TWIN LAB.
Without specifying the distractions and what the critics have gotten wrong, Blechman suggested he’ll sue, targeting his remarks at “everyone that’s a distraction out there and anyone that’s printing stuff on the Internet or anywhere.”
“I’ll tell you one thing,” he warned in the recording. “They better be very, very careful of what they write . . . [b]ecause I have every intention of policing and pursuing every legal ramification . . . against anybody that’s reporting any information inaccurate to try to tear down what I’m trying to build here.”
DNA’s domain lists a Cayman Islands address, as does a companion domain: TagEveryCar.com. A “Contact Us” link at the bottom of the DNA website resolves to a page that says, “Contact Data Network Affiliates[:] Information is coming soon!” The TagEveryCar domain redirects to the DNA website.
DNA has delayed the program launch twice this month, and now says it will launch March 1. DNA says it is building a database of license-plate numbers.
In recent days, critics have raised issues ranging from propriety, affiliate training, safety and privacy to the ownership of the company and why the domains listed offshore addresses. A multilevel-marketing firm, DNA says it has signed up more than 37,000 participants to gather license-plate numbers.
Pitchmen for the company have identified the parking lots of Walmart, Target, churches, doctors’ offices and “anywhere” cars are parked as sources of plate data.
Promoters have provided little instruction on matters such as whether DNA members are required to obtain the permission of store managers, church pastors and physicians before recording the plate numbers of patrons or congregants or patients, whether members should obtain additional insurance protection or consult with an attorney before entering the license-plate number recording business and how members are required to behave if confronted by store managers and patrons, church pastors and congregants, doctors and patients and police.
Lionel Cesaire, one of the DNA pitchmen who introduced Blechman in the recording, previously described DNA as a company with members who would record the license-plate number of a hypothetical “red corvette” parked at Walmart at noon, a “doctor’s office” at 1 p.m. and “somewhere else” at 4 p.m.
Privacy advocates may take a dim view of the approach, raising concerns about both propriety and legality. Some DNA members have recommended that affiliates record plate numbers with video cameras. Such information easily could end up on the Internet, exposing people to invasions of privacy and triggering lawsuits. At the same time, DNA members who collected information for the company could stockpile it and offer it for sale to other companies.
Blechman thanked Cesaire for his introductory remarks, but did not reference Cesaire’s remarks in a previous conference call about recording numbers at churches, store parking lots and doctors’ offices.
In a promotional video on YouTube, Florida-based DNA promoter Jeff Long — whom DNA says has recruited more than 700 members — suggested prospects should behave “inconspicuously” when snapping photographs of license plates at stores such as Walmart with iPhones, Blackberrys and notepad computers.
Cesaire also has used the word “inconspicuous” when describing the recording of plate numbers, suggesting that members might want to be seated in their cars when writing down plate numbers in retailers’ parking lots.
Describing his own experience collecting plate numbers at Walmart by taking pictures of them while strolling through the parking lot, Long said in a DNA promo on YouTube that store patrons looked at him “weird.”
“People looked at me kinda weird. But I didn’t care. You kind of do it inconspicuously. . . . because . . . you know, everybody, ‘Why are you taking a photo of my car?’†Long said.
As Long’s video narration continued, he said, “Who cares what people think? Who cares what people are going to . . . look at you weird? Whatever. Because as you do this, and you record 20 license plates, the company’s going to pay you $25.â€
The video promo continues to appear on YouTube. A similar video featuring Long in which the words referenced in the paragraphs above appear to have been edited out was removed from YouTube “by the user” in the past several hours, according to the YouTube site.
The video also was removed from a webpage operated by an individual DNA affiliate believed to have spammed the PP Blog Thursday.
A link to the now-removed YouTube video was sent to the PP Blog in a pure spam post Thursday at 10:05 p.m. The sender targeted a DNA discussion thread, but attempted to post an ALL-CAPS sales pitch (italics added):
“WANT TO JOIN DNA’s TOP TEAM AND LEARN THE TRADE SECRETS OF BUILDING A HUGE ORGANIZATION FAST AND FREE?
TO QUALIFY YOU MUST REGISTER TO BECOME A FREE AFFILIATE AT
[**SPAMMING LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN**]
SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
Later, a possible shill entered the thread, saying he was “tryin to sign up.” After that, a third poster left a sales URL in the same thread. The PP Blog attempted to contact DNA through its website to report the spam, but the site did not have a contact form.
In the recorded conference call, Blechman said members should be confident in the program.
“I am leading this company; I’m the CEO. I’m in charge. Every big decision is made by me and my partner, Arthur Kurek.
Kurek is president and chief financial officer of DNA, Blechman said.
In the call posted on DNA’s website, Blechman did not address any of the issues raised by critics. It is unclear if he approves of the Jeff Long video and Long’s plate-number collection method. Long has been identified in a DNA conference call as the company’s top recruiter.
Long recorded a similar video to recruit members for Narc That Car. The headline on the video now says, “NARC That Car – Don’t Join!” In the upper-right corner of the YouTube site, this message appears:
“This video talks about NARC That Car… IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON MARKETING THIS BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET DO NOT JOIN!!!!! NarcThatCar CANCELED AND DISABLED My distributorship because I put this video on YouTube…I’m now the #1 leader and sponsor in their BIGGEST COMPETITOR’S BUSINESS…DataNetworkAffiliates. Again…don’t join NarcThatCar if you plan on marketing on the internet!!!!!!”
Narc That Car is a Dallas-based business. Like DNA, Narc That Car says it is in the business of gathering license-plate data.
UPDATED 12:24 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Is Dean Blechman no longer the chief executive officer of Data Network Affiliates (DNA), an MLM firm that purports to be in the business of recording license-plate numbers of cars as they move from destination to destination?
