StormPay Policy Change - Now Only an Auction Service

StormPay has made an official change to their terms of service which now makes it only a site that allows money to be sent and received for auctions sold within their site. Any other outside payments or any other types of payments are not allowed. This seems to leave only PayPal and possibly e-Gold as the few online payment processors that are still in existence and are licensed to transfer money.

Important StormPay Policy Change:
23-Mar-2006 14:21

Dear Valued StormPay customer,

Effective immediately StormPay Inc. will no longer accept payments for sales made outside of StormPay Auctions. If you are an online seller who wishes to sell your product or service through the StormPay system, your item must be sold using the StormPay Auctions feature. Listing in the StormPay Auctions is FREE of charge unless utilizing our inexpensive upgraded listing options.


Q: Why has StormPay implemented this new policy?

A: StormPay has rendered certain policy changes to insure a safer online experience for both buyers and sellers. This policy change allows StormPay to more closely monitor the products/services sold, insuring that sold items are within StormPay’s acceptable use policies.

Under these new policy guidelines, customers may no longer log into a StormPay account for the purpose of sending money to another online user, or “offsite” website sale. All “spends” and “receives” are and only can be for the specific purchase of a user’s auction listing and successful purchase of.

Subscriptions (recurring billing) is no longer supported by the StormPay system. All current subscriptions have been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

We appreciate your business. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

StormPay Inc.

This change is most likely being done to limit damages and liability for purchases done outside of their network since there were such a huge amount of complaints made against them to state & federal agencies after they froze 12DailyPro's assets. This move officially kills StormPay as a payment processor. Many people will probably disagree with me, but I feel that this is unfortunate. It seems more and more online payment processors are disappearing, which leaves only PayPal to operate as an exclusive system to move money back and forth between users, as well as being used as an online shopping cart system for people who don't use merchant accounts.

Survey on Steroid Usage and Mood

There is a new web based survey being conducted by Rutgers about AAS use and mood. You can take the survey here:

http://websurvey.rutgers.edu/training/

It is apparently about 30 minutes long, so be sure you have some free time before you start. This survey is being conducted to show the relationship between taking anabolic steroids and how they effect your overall mood and well being. This might help dispell some of the rumors of "roid-rage" and show that steroids actually help improve your mood and aid in relieving depression which has been anecdotally reported for years by bodybuilders and powerlifters.

You can read more about it at MESO-Rx here:
Survey on Role of Performance-Enhancing Drugs on Mood Changes Experienced by Bodybuilders and Powerlifters

FreePay Changes its Look & Settles Case of Selling Customer Data

Free site company, FreePay, seems to have changed the look of part of their site. Just recently, after changing their terms of service to limit the ability of its customers to receive prizes by changing the amount of time they have to complete the requirements to get the merchandise. Now, when a user visits a page for their referrals they are getting with a graphic showing how many "steps" they have completed towards finishing the site. The promised method that was supposed to allow users to get referrals easier seems to be a simple mass mailer where a member can enter in email addresses of people and a personalized message.

This does not seem to be a really great method for getting referrals, as the anyone can send emails through an email client using the CC or BCC functions just as easily. The way completed and non completed referrals are shown is also different, and there is a short FAQ below the section informing users of how referrals and the rest of the site works, making it somewhat easier since less explanation is required once people are signed up.

Another development is that FreePay/Gratis recently reached a settlement with the NY State Attorneys office for breaching its privacy policy and selling it's customers data to spammers. FreePay lost it's TRUSTe privacy license in February of last year. They were supposedly back in business with them, but TRUSTe's website says otherwise. Although the settlement forced the spammers, Dratan Media, to delete all Gratis's sold mailing list, it may have already been passed on to third and fourth parties. I, personally, have been receiving a great deal of opt-in spam mail coming from Conxion.net and twotimesnever.com, all of which I report through SpamCop. This is email I never opted in too, and will not use the opt-out function for fear of receiving more spam from this unscrupulous company.

My FreePay petition seems to have been a total bust as I was flamed and ignored for starting one. Many people also decided to start their own, thus making the effort to fight FreePay completely disorganized and worthless. None the less, the fact remains that FreePay seems like it's losing money. From selling their mailing list, to limiting customers ability to get free prizes, it seems to be close to the end for FreePay and possibly other free sites.

'Free IPod' Takes Privacy Toll: Wired News
TRUSTe REVOKES SEAL FROM FREEIPODS: Press Release from TRUSTe
Settlement Reached In Internet Breach of Privacy Case
The End of FreePay - ToS Changes Limit User's Ability to get Prizes

How The Mighty Have Fallen - StudioTraffic Near Collapse

Another large auto-surf, StudioTraffic, is starting to crumble under pressure and lack of new customers. A recent announcement made by owner "John Horan" shed light on the problems ST is facing and the fact that individuals who are "in profit" should not expect to get paid.

Studiotraffic was at one time, considered the most solid and only stable auto-surf/HYIP available, as it had been in operation for several years, running several side companies which claimed to help keep it in profit.

Hello,

I received this news few hours back. Our top management has resigned. This means that offices in US, Canada and Spain will be closed.

With this shocking news and with recent problems with stormpay, I am sad to inform some changes which will affect members.

Members, who are in profit, please stop surfing as we can no longer afford it. We hope you will understand that we have done our best and this is something similar to natural disaster which is beyond our control. If you have funds in studiopay or in your studiotraffic account, please take note that in our TOS, we have never guaranteed payout. Your payout is determined based on our advertising revenue. Less advertiser revenue means that we need less people surfing. You can, however, still use your account for advertising purposes.

I am sure there are people who lost money with stormpay. We are victims too. Stormpay is still taking money from us everyday, we are not sure when they will stop and have expected that we lost our reserves (hundreds of thousands) we have with stormpay.

All is not lost as we can still depend on local funding from our offices worldwide. However, with top management resigning and offices closing down, we will lose almost 90% of funding.

Members who are not in profit, please send email to notinprofit@studiotraffic.com. What we will do is that in the coming months, we will seek venture capital and raise funds. Once we raised these funds, we will send it to you. Do take note that we are not obligated to do refunds or to send you back what you sent in. When you upgrade, you are getting accesses set with different account level so you can advertise your products or services better. When you upgrade, we have a refund policy where we will return you what you sent in, in the first 7 days. After the initial cooling period of 7 days, we are not obligated to do any refund as it is assumed that you accepted what you received.

We are doing this because we want nobody to lose any money with us. Please give us a reasonable time to do this as we need time to get it arranged. You can, however, still continue to use your account for advertising purposes which you have paid for. There is no need for you to continue surfing. All of you will automatically receive shares to all studio programs. If we cannot manage to raise venture funds, we will sell your shares in all studio programs and pay you back so it is the same.

We will close down studiopay website for a couple of months because with Studiopay staff resigning, we do not have enough manpower to handle it. We will do a complete restructuring with a new management team in it. Once ready, we will bring studiopay to public.

I hope all members will understand that we have done our best and what happened is something beyond our control. All studio programs will continue to run. We will continue to allow signups to basic accounts. Most of our current advertisers have mentioned that they do not need high level account holders to surf. As long as we can get a lot of people to see their ads, they are willing to continue to advertise with us. Our expenditure will be reset to the lowest because we will be getting only basic accounts members to surf.

After this, we will, most likely, have less than 15 staff working on this. Due to shortage of manpower, we can only attend to non profit members for the time being. Please send to notinprofit@studiotraffic.com.

As for other members, once we get everything back, we will continue to get you back to surf. Please give us some time to work things out. Please do not send emails because we do not have enough manpower to handle it.

Members please do not worry. As long as we start afresh, we are confident to turn things around and it will be better than before. Many of our staff has indicated that they would like to continue to help out without any payout. If you like to help us further, please email to support@studiotraffic.com.

I hope all members will understand that we are doing the best we can. We will continue to work hard and make sure no one loses money with us.

Sincerely,
John

It should now be clear to anyone who is involved or associated with ST that is simply another auto-surf ponzi, just like 12DailyPro and needs to be shut down completely. If you have a StudioTraffic account, I recommend immediately emailing the administrator and demanding that your money be withdrawn and your account be closed. It is also important to complain to the authorities in the United States, where the program is supposedly based. You can complain to the following agencies for fraud at Studio Traffic - even if it doesn't recover your funds, it might help stop anyone else from signing up for this site.

Internet Complaint Center
Federal Trade Commission
SEC - Investment Fraud
National Fraud Center
GPT Boycott
Ripoffreport.com

StudioPay was/is acting as an unlicensed payment processor which is illegal in many states. You can find out where to report StudioPay to at this thread on TG.

Unfortunately, there is only sketchy information on the address of ST and it's associated companies. I have no idea if the below information is correct, but was taken from individuals on talkgold.com and from domain registration records. If anyone has the correct information, please forward it to me or post it in a comment.

Administrative Contact:
Domain Registration
Ben Stellar (admin@studio5000.com)
+1.5413453276
Fax: +1.5413453276
Ramon Arias Avenue, Maheli Building,
Office 12-E,
Panama City, NA
PA

Address:

214 Courtwright St.
Fort Erie
Ontario, L2A2R8

Phone number:

(905) 994-1066

Fax number:

(905) 994-6699

Tax ID: 203117670

Lorraine Brennan Yahoo IM: impatientlywaiting2001
Jennefer Cullinan Yahoo IM: dreamcatchersps

John has changed his yahoo id, used to be studioplayer2005.

They have a variety of domains that include
www.studiotraffic.com
studiopay.com
studiowalker.com
studiorocks.com
studiocafe.com
studiocares.com
studiohug.com
studiotraffic.org

A sample complaint letter should look something like this

On xxxxx (date) I signed up for the Studiotraffic.com web site program which is advertised as being an 'auto-surf' program that pays you to view ads (rotating websites) at a certain percentage per day. Upon initially signing up, you are given a free upgrade of $10 to start with. In order to be paid 1% (the advertised rate) you must view 300 web sites per day through their viewing system. On xxxxx (date) I upgraded my account by sending $xxxx dollars through an online payment processor, StormPay (or egold, etc), to Studio Traffic to be able to receive 1% daily interest of the investment, which would equal $xxxx monthly. After the upgrade, each day you were required to view 100 websites daily for the 1% interest and to receive credits to be used to advertise a web site of your choosing to be placed into the auto-surfing rotation. You are also invited to sign up members under you as referrals in a type of downline system where an individual earns a percentage of the payment that the referred member puts into the system.

At the end of each month you can request a pay out through their payment processor called StudioPay, which required me to fax in a copy of my drivers license, a bank statement showing my address, and a voided check. It also required me to show a valid credit card number and link to my checking account through its routing numbers. Once the payment was requested through Studiotraffic, it was processed through StudioPay which took out a percentage transaction fee, and then was withdrawn to StormPay (or whoever) which took out another transaction fee.

At some point in time Studio Traffic stopped processing payments to me and many other members and began closing individuals accounts and freezing their money. I received an email today that my account had been frozen because I was "in profit". (If this happened to you - otherwise, describe your specific situation) I attempted to contact their customer service to ask what this meant and was told that because I had made more money than I had put into the system my account was suspended and I could request a "settlement" of $xxxx, which I was unable to do because of supposed system errors.

Recently there has been rumors online that Studiotraffic's online payment processor, Studiopay was hacked. Individuals posted pictures of user's drivers license, checks, credit cards, and other relevant information from their accounts on online message boards and discussion forums. Studiopay sent an email out asking people to inform their local police that their id had possibly been stolen and inform their banks and any other agency relevant to identity theft.

Please order a free copy of the Consumer Action Handbook for 2006 put out by the US government.

If you're looking for a real investment program, try ING Direct which is FDIC insured.

Top management quitting - Studiotraffic Forums
Help Shut Down StudioTraffic Now!

Texas Attorney General Shuts Down Online Payment Processor EMO

Online payment processor, EMO, has been shut down by the Texas Attorney Generals office. This comes at the heels of the shut down of 12DailyPro and the debacle involving 12DP, StormPay, and many other online auto-surf companies. After 12DailyPro had it's account frozen by StormPay, it was attempting to use EMO as a backup payment service.

EMOCorp was an Ithaca, NY based online payment processor that used web based money orders to transmit money to customers.

According to the complaint by the Texas AG, EMO cannot account for more than $5.4 million of customer transactions and is not a licensed payment processor in the state of Texas. What was unknown to many people before the 12DP/SP incident was that payment processors must be registered in certain states, according to their laws, to act as a bank or money transfer service.

This is a very big concern with customers since most of the use of these online payment processors involved a level of trust, as they require levels of verification in order to use their services - sometimes including a copy of a drivers licenses and voided checks. The Texas AG considers EMO an insolvent company, which insinuates that the operators of the company may have embezzled the funds that customers placed into EMO.

Court order against unlicensed online payment service

03/13/2006

Associated Press

Texas has secured a court order for a receiver to take over operations of an unlicensed online payment service based in Austin.

Attorney General Greg Abbott today announced the state has obtained an order to freeze the assets of E-M-O Corporation.

Abbott says the company can't fully account for more than five-point-four (M) million dollars consumers had in their accounts.

He says E-M-O documents show only three (M) million dollars -- in cash -- on hand.

Abbott also says the company isn't register with the Texas Banking Department and never obtained a license as a money services business -- as required by law.

Company officials didn't immediately return a call to The Associated Press for comment.

View the press release from the Texas AG against EMO here

The Texas Department of Banking

Court order against unlicensed online payment service - Dallas Morning News

Patriot Act Rider - Severely Restrict Sales of Ephedrine HCl

A little known about rider was attached to the recent signing of the Patriot Act renewal called the The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005. This new bill severly restricts the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine hcl. Since the herbal version of ephedra has been banned, many bodybuilders have turned to pure ephedrine hcl as their alternative of choice for thermogenics. This new law will make it even harder for individuals to purchase this compound and limit the amounts that can be purchased at a time, as well as requiring ID to buy it. This new legislation is intended to stop the creation of methamphetamine (crank, speed, ice, etc) which can be easily made out of cold medicine and other chemicals. However, because many state laws have already cracked down on the sale of these drugs, putting them behind the counter and limiting the sales of them, a federal law for this is hardly necessary.

The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005

This legislation [Note: opens as a PDF file. Adobe Acrobat required] is part of a bill to amend the PATRIOT Act. As of February 2006, it is pending a vote in the Senate where the anti-terror bill had undergone a highly contested debate over its renewal. Backed by the bipartisan Congressional Meth Caucus, the Combat Meth Act would:

• Nationalize restrictions on retail sales by requiring ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products to be kept behind the counter or in a locked case; require purchasers to buy no more than 3.6 grams a day and 9 grams a month, show I.D. and sign a sales log, and require employees handling the products to be properly trained
• Toughen penalties against meth kingpins and smugglers and also meth cooks who endanger children or use federal property
• Step up the government's authority to monitor the flow of precursor chemicals from foreign manufacturers, including withholding aid to countries who are not fully cooperating with U.S. law enforcement
• Hold precursor chemical importers and exporters accountable if their product is diverted for illicit use
• Increase funding for assistance programs such as drug courts and those helping mothers or drug-endangered children
• Impose on manufacturers quotas for production and import of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine
• Pledge support to Mexico in its efforts to curb methamphetamine production

Although many people use ephedrine as a workout aid, many more use it to relieve sinuses and allergy symptoms - making it even more difficult to get the treatment their require, especially if they are lacking in health insurance, which many Americans are.

Ephedrine, which has been replaced more and more by pseudoephedrine in over the counter cold remedies, is now being being practically removed completely. Consumers are now forced to purchase medicine that contains the understudied ingredient phenylephrine, which works as a non stimulant decongestant.

Ephedrine can still be purchased in the form of VasoPro, combined with guaifenesin or in pure form from D&E (drivers license required). After the legislation takes effect, ephedrine will probably start showing up on the underground at much higher cost.

FRONTLINE: the meth epidemic: the u.s. national strategy | PBS

Goldfrapp - Supernature finally released in the US

After European fans have been treated to official release copies of Supernature and all the singles from Alison Goldfrapp's latest albums, US fans have had to do with pirated audio or high priced imports from MUTE Records. Now, we can finally have our own copies of this groundbreaking album - which has been mostly unheard of outside of Europe and the UK.

How you doing, Deers?

OK, we've made you wait long enough, the speculation ends here!!!!! We are pleased to announce that our next single will be... "Fly Me Away" and is due for release on 24 April. We'll let you have the track listing soon and give you a sneaky look at the artwork too, so make sure that you check the site soon.

Next up, some long awaited news for our US Deers: Supernature was released in the US on 7 March and is available in-stores NOW!!!!

As you've had to wait so long there's an extra special treat for you. The standard Supernature edition includes the PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED bonus track 'Beautiful' and the Deluxe Supernature edition, CD + DVD includes CD bonus track 'Beautiful' and the DVD features Supernature in 5.1 surround sound, the 'Little Bits of Goldfrapp' Documentary, Frappworld animation, videos, live footage & even more exclusive content.

If you can't get to the shops, you can order from Amazon by clicking here:

• Standard Edition
• Deluxe

You've got loads more US goodies too !!!!

iTunes is offering "Lovely 2 C U (T.Raumschmiere remix)" as an exclusive Supernature bonus track:

iTunes (US)

AND we're performing at The Wiltern in LA on 11 March and SXSW in Austin on 16 March!! For the many who can't get into these shows, remember to set your VCRs/DVDs for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 13 March.

Hopefully American fans can look forward to more US tour dates and more support from MUTE for US fans.

If you haven't heard the disco/techno/electronica surreal sound of Goldfrapp, then check out her latest video "Ride a White Horse" by clicking the link below. Enjoy!

You can learn more about Goldfrapp and listen to free tracks and watch more videos at goldfrapp.free.fr and goldfrapp.us.