(pardon the typos, I’m writing this between meetings at work; also pardon the length)
Anybody here a fan of the show Arrested Development?
Last season we learned a little about George Michael’s software project, “Fakeblock.” You may recall that Fakeblock was a farce (read up on Fakeblock if you need a little more background:
http://arresteddevelopment.wikia.com/wiki/Fakeblock). Incidentally, there are two issues related to Georege Michael’s Fakeblock con that are worth noting as a preface to my larger point: 1) George Michael did not intend to let the con continue because he always planned to deliver; and, 2) despite the intentions, the con was profitable – he gained some riches overnight.
Where am I going with this? There appear to be many threads announcing Fakeblock-like products, or worse (I will call them “Fraudblocks” for now – scam companies), in the Mining Forum (and elsewhere in the Bitcointalk community). In other words, many companies introduce products with good intentions, but no realistic plan for sticking to their representations (which may have been unrealistic to begin with); and, many companies seem to be announcing fake products in hopes of scamming the community. Despite the number of Fakeblock and Fraudblock product announcement threads, there are not many threads promoting uniform strategies for deterring or reducing said announcements. My aim is to use this thread to discuss and debate various strategies for deterring and reducing the amount of Fakeblocks and Fraudblocks being promoted on Bitcointalk.
I’ll go first; feel free to lend your support, critique, offer new ideas, etc.
THE CASE FOR PROACTIVE ACTION BY IDENTIFYING, PROMOTING, PRACTICING COMMUNITY NORMS
It is easy for individuals to join the community and promote their company or products without disclosing any verifiable background information about their project or credentials. Sometimes the lack of information is harmless, but other times it is not. It seems that harmless instances have made lack of disclosure acceptable thereby increasing the prevalence of harmful instances.
At a micro-level, the harm is that some innocent community members lose fiat, coin, time, or some combination thereof. At a macro-level, an inefficiency in decentralized digital currency is exposed (that’s not to say this inefficiency is unique to Bitcoin), possibly hindering Bitcoin’s widespread acceptance (e.g., negative press about Bitcoin being a vehicle for bad actors). Finally, sometimes the harm is inflicted unintentionally and sometimes intentionally.
Scam threads are one way of shaming bad or negligent actors into good behavior. Tough questions on product announcement postings are another way of dealing with Fakeblocks and Fraudblocks. However, scam threads and tough questions may have limited effectiveness because they are REACTIVE NOT PROACTIVE. In other words, they come after damage has possibly been done. Some might argue that Newbie requirements are proactive, but I disagree. Newbie restrictions are not that effective because they don’t deter bad behavior after said restrictions are lifted. Further, I think we should welcome and encourage newbie participating throughout the forum, not erect artificial barriers to entering the community.
From what I have been able to find in searching the forum (very slowly by the way, the search feature is frustrating), there is nothing much to deter the Faceblocks and Fraudblocks from posting at Bitcointalk. In my humble Newbie opinion, this is a gap that can and should be filled. Obviously, filling this gap on Bitcointalk will not end Faceblocks and Fraudblocks per se, but it will help to limit their exposure on this particular forum and possibly save a few folks some fiat, coin, and time.
One way we can proactively deter Faceblocks and Fraudblocks is by identifying, promoting and practicing community norms. I searched the website for threads with “Norms” in the title and found nothing quite like what I have in mind (if my research was not thorough enough, I apologize), so please keep reading and offer your feeback. Here are few practices that could be adopted to produce new norms:
1. Product announcement privileges being contingent on disclosing information necessary for a consumer to make an informed choice about the product (i.e., officers and their credentials; whether the company has signed a production contract/has partners; to what extent it is capitalized) – we could draft a standard form/template that has to be reviewed by a mod or other trusted person before posting.
2. Appointing a panel of trusted and knowledgeable individuals to investigate new companies or products with the intent of evaluating their viability through a ranking system (mining pool directors might be good panel members) –like analyst reports for public stocks.
3. Campaigning against the practice of pre-orders by encouraging community members to avoid placing pre-orders without certain protections (see #5 below, escrow, etc.).
4. Campaigning for certain caps on the amounts of pre-orders (i.e, 50% of unit’s cost - many building contractors only get half up front, the other half a the end).
5. Campaigning for alternatives to pre-order structure. It has occurred to me that pre-orders could be restructured as loans (bonds) or ownership positions (with payoff by refund or producing the product). I don’t see why it’s acceptable for companies to get wealthy overnight without having a firm plan for producing their products – I cannot think of another industry where this is acceptable. There does not seem to be a good incentive for a company to deliver as promised in the current pre-order scheme. Changing this practice via changing consumer expectations offers a vehicle for change.
6. Commissioning a few folks to study product/service announcements made to highlighting some common practices of legit companies as well as bogus companies. From there, best practices and consumer resources might emerge.
To summarize, to me it is clear that without defined community-wide standards, Fakeblocks and Fraudblocks will continue on this forum. Deterring product offerings by Fakeblocks and Fraudblocks by employing community norms, including standards for product announcement and pre-orders, might help the community – including those George Michaels out there that have good intentions but let their excitement get in the way of realistic representation.
Thanks for reading.
