Mark DeShong

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Domainer Mardi Gras

So I caught Hornets/Magic game on Wednesday. Thursday, I checked out Domainer Mardi Gras. Crawfish isn't my thing so Thursday night was a bust but I did get a chance to check out 838 Camp St... Today, Friday, there were a few boring sessions on domaining risks and taking your business offshore. Then it was a trip to 201 Bourbon St. for the Mardi Gras Balcony Party. Tomorrow it's brunch at the Court of Two Sisters in the French Quarter and then another balcony party... So, come down and say hi tomorrow night... 201 Bourbon Street. It's a blast.

The new Chief Technical Officer/Chief Information Officer

From: http://seeker.dice.com/jobsearch/result/RTX14217c/wspos620455/US/.NET/813/chief-technical-officer-chief-information-officer

Title:
Chief Technical Officer/Chief Information Officer
Skills:
PHP,
Linux, Apache, MySQL, Java, .NET
Date:
2-12-2009
Description:
The
Producers, Inc. and related entities (TPI) is a privately held leading domain
names registration service provider, domain names portfolio holder, online
advertising media solutions and web hosting company. Our customers, range from
individual small business owners to Fortune 500 companies, and consist of over
500,000 domain name registrants worldwide with over 3,800,000 domain names. The
Producers, was founded in 2006 by a small group of entrepreneurs, who since 1999
have achieved remarkable success, in creating internationally renowned
technology companies. Today we have offices in Tampa, Florida; New Orleans,
Louisiana; Schaffhausen, Switzerland; and Georgetown, Grand Cayman. Presently we
are looking for a Chief Technical Officer/Chief Information Officer to join us
in our Tampa, Florida office. As a member of the Executive Team, the CTO/CIO
will have full responsibility for defining, developing, and executing the
strategic information systems plan that aligns with overall operational
objectives of the Company.Essential Duties and ResponsibilitiesStrategic
Management* Works with the CEO, COO, and Business Unit Leaders in setting short-
and long-term technology objectives (development and acquisition) while
providing the leadership necessary to achieve revenue growth and attain other
Company goals and objectivesProject Management * Successfully manages resources,
timelines, scope, quality and risk for development efforts* Creates, maintains
and enforces relevant written policies, procedures, and workflows regarding all
technology operations and systemsTechnology Infrastructure * Responsible for all
IT initiatives including Disaster Recovery, Compliance, Infrastructure,
Application development and Security* Evaluates new equipment, software and
processes continuously, recommending changes as appropriate and overseeing
installation and implementation* Maintains knowledge of developments in the area
of systems and hardware to assure that new developments are incorporated in
future systems of the Company * Ensures confidentiality and reliability of
corporate data, proprietary information, and intellectual propertyWeb
Development/Design * Provides leadership, guidance and expertise to a team of
professionals that collaboratively design, develop, deploy and maintain quality
web-based applications and associated infrastructure * Leads the group in
establishing/enforcing standards, and otherwise provides guidance on the best
practicesHuman Resources * Performs all functions of personnel management of
department employees and manages staff to ensure that the technology needs of
the Company and its customers are met with the highest rate of satisfaction and
responsiveness* Keeps abreast of state-of-the-art and industry developments
through attendance at trade and professional meetings and seminars, trade shows,
perusal of the literature, and use of supplementary educational
activitiesFinance * Manage and implement multi-million dollar budgets and annual
business plans for the Company's information systems department, assuring that
plans meet organizational and strategic goals. * Negotiate multi-million dollar
contracts and manages relationships with vendors in order to ensure timely
updates and problem resolution Data Mining* Performs complex data mining tasks
involving the application of advanced data mining principles, practices, and
techniques * Interprets web statistics (web sites, online marketing programs
including PPC, banner advertising, affiliate, organic search, web 2.0 and
traditional marketing programs) * Identifies changes, trends and areas for
improvement and presents results to the Executive Team in order to drive/support
business decisionsProfessional Experience* A minimum of ten years of experience
in the management of information technology is required * Experience managing
enterprise networks, e-commerce applications and Internet securityKnowledge,
Skills, Abilities * Proven track record of successful new product development
and commercialization. * Extensive experience working with the following
technologies:o Linux, Apache o PHPo SQL - MySQL and/or Oracle o Java and .Net
Developmento Content Management o Internet Software Development o Publishing *
Ability to design and deliver innovative information technology, e-business and
customer service solutions* Understand project management methodologies and
tools and have a strong knowledge of applicable business areas, the supporting
technology architecture, and applicable processes* Strong negotiation, written
and verbal communication skills. * Aptitude to interact positively with
management, Board members, co-workers and business partners.* Superior
management and leadership abilities, planning, organization, execution, and
monitoring skills* Driven, action-oriented, strategic thinker with the ability
to translate strategies into operational objectives and projects* Ability to
articulate a vision, hold people accountable for development and achievement of
project plans to meet the technology strategy and provide long term leadership
and organization development* Ability to analyze technical, financial, market
and sales information to make positive, high impact decisions* Experience in
interpreting patterns in large quantities of data, resulting in trend analysis
& probabilities* Ability to travel - domestic and international Education*
Bachelor's degree in MIS, computer science, business administration or a related
field is required or equivalent combination of education and experience. An
advanced degree (Master's) in relevant field or MBA is preferred.We offer
competitive salaries and outstanding compensation package.Qualified candidates
please send resume with cover letter to hr@theproducers.com
Kayle
Powers
The Producers
5505 West Gray Street
Tampa, FL 33609
Phone:
(813) 386-2826

Dear Kayle Powers (and Mike, Sig, Noah, etc.)

I'd like to apply for the position of CTO/CIO. I agree that getting rid of the unstable current CTO, Donny Simonton and the never-there current CIO, Don Moore is brilliance. That is your plan, correct? I fit your requirements to a "T" and I already understand your businesses. I can write code better than Moore and I can think up ways to scam domainers than Simonton. I'm the perfect fit. By the way Kayle, cool last name. I know a guy with the same last name (probably related) and he's never bored of the Austin Powers jokes we crack about him. At least I think he doesn't mind. Anyway, as a member of the Executive Team, I'd require a lovely beach-front 4 bedroom home near Georgetown, Grand Cayman as I know you guys are moving a bunch of the business that way. I'd also need full access to Sigmunds pool in Tampa (with bikini clad-women as usual), Michaels boat in Belleair Beach and a new company car. The usual 1-2% is fine.

I'll humbly accept the offer. Email me with the details. Thanks

FTC Cracks down on Illegal “X-rated” Spam

From: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/07/alrsweep.shtm

In a crackdown on operations that illegally expose unwitting consumers to
graphic sexual content, the Federal Trade Commission has charged seven companies
with violating federal laws requiring warning labels on e-mail that contains
sexually-explicit content. U.S. District Court suits filed against three
operations seek civil penalties and a permanent bar on the illegal marketing.
Settlements with four other operations have imposed $1.159 million in civil
penalties. The settlements bar the illegal marketing practices in the future and
require that the defendants monitor their affiliates to ensure they are not
violating the law.

The settlements bar future violations of the CAN-SPAM Act and the Adult Labeling Rule. They also require that the defendants closely monitor the practices of their affiliate marketers to insure that they are not violating the law. ... Pure Marketing Solutions, LLC, a Florida company, and Internet Matrix Technology, a corporation based in Louisiana, will together pay $50,000. The settlements contain record-keeping provisions to allow the FTC to monitor the defendants’ compliance with the orders.

The complaint: http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0523045/050720comp0523045.pdf

The stipulated judgement: http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0523045/050720stip0523045.pdf

This is the PureCash.com death-blow.

In the judgement is this bit:

Michael H. Gardner, on behalf of
Pure Marketing Solutions, LLC, and
Internet Matrix Technology, Inc

Because:

Charter/Organization ID: 35189339D
Name: INTERNET MATRIX TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Type Entity: Business Corporation
Status: Not Active (Voluntary action)
Last Report Filed on 02/14/2006
Mailing Address: 1027 FRIEDRICH ST., GRETNA, LA 70053
Domicile Address: 1027 FRIEDRICH ST., GRETNA, LA 70053
File Date: 12/21/2001
Registered Agent (Appointed 12/21/2001): DAVID VINTERELLA, 650 POYDRAS ST., STE. 2311, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130
Director: SIGMUND JOSEPH SOLARES, 1027 FRIEDRICH ST., GRETNA, LA 70053
Director: MICHAEL H. GARDNER, 1027 FRIEDRICHS ST., GRETNA, LA 70053

Which lead to this in 2005:

Adult affiliate program PureCash will be shutting its doors and redirecting all traffic by midnight on March 14, according to a statement made by the company today.
Operated through a partnership between MikeAI’s HiRise Entertainment and Web Entertainment Group...

In early December, MikeAI and Serge Birbair handed over operation of the Oprano webmaster community to Jim McAnally and Nick.

Speaking of interesting connections to The Producers, check out Serge Birbrair.

Still doing business with Directnic.com / Parked.com / etc.?? Why?
(I've got lots more for you...)

Happy Birthday Sig

February 11th, 1971... Happy Birthday!

Hey Sig, love the pool. Awaiting my invitation to check it out in person.

A big link to SPAM

From http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/June/07_crm_453.html

The jury convicted, Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 41, of Venice, Calif., and James
R. Schaffer, 41, of Paradise Valley, Ariz., on eight counts arising out of the
international pornographic spamming business they organized and ran in 2004. The
trial, which began on June 5, 2007, was the first to include charges under the
Controlling the Assault of Non-solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM)
Act of 2003. The law created by the CAN-SPAM Act was designed to crack down on
the transmission of pornography in commercial bulk unsolicited electronic mail
messages.

And from http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202402908

Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 41, of Venice, Calif., and James R. Schaffer, 41, of
Paradise Valley, Ariz., had been sentenced to 72 months and 63 months in prison,
respectively, for running an international pornographic spam ring that took in
more than $1 million.

Kilbride and Schaffer were fined $100,000, ordered to pay $77,500 to AOL,
and will forfeit more than $1.1 million in illegal proceeds from their spam
operation.

So, where's the connection? Well, let's have a look at a little company called "Modern Internet Ventures, LLC" based in Louisiana. It was created in 2002 and it's still active according to the corporations database. It's members are Jeff Kilbride, Jim Schaffer (listed as JLM Media which connects to Jim ofcourse) and Michael Gardner. And the Registered agent is Sigmund J Solares.

Connection to convicted spammers? Check. That is what you are getting if you deal with Intercosmos, Directnic, Parked.com, The Producers, Modern Domainer, etc....

Charter/Organization ID: 35268174K
Name: MODERN INTERNET VENTURES, LLC
Type Entity: Limited Liability Company
Status: Active
Annual Report Status: Not In Good Standing for failure to file current Annual Report
Last Report Filed on 05/16/2005
2008 Annual Report is required at this time Print Annual Report Form For Filing
Mailing Address: 1027 FREDRICKS STREET, GRETNA, LA 70053
Domicile Address: 1027 FREDRICKS STREET, GRETNA, LA 70053
File Date: 05/13/2002
Registered Agent (Appointed 5/13/2002): SIGMUND J. SOLARES, 650 POYDRAS ST., SUITE 1150, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130
Member or Manager: JLM MEDIA, 10645 N. TATUM BLVD., SUITE 200 #484, PHOENIX, AZ 85028
Member or Manager: JEFF KILBRIDE, 13428 MAXELLA AVE., #318, MARINA DEL RAY, CA 90292
Member or Manager: MICHAEL GARDNER, 1027 FRIEDRICHS ST., GRETNA, LA 70053