Well, Mary Yugo, I find the similarities between Steorn and Rossi pretty compelling -- you've shifted my attitude a lot -- it's less plausible for me now to hope that Rossi is merely deluded, rather than running a competent scam -- you suggest it is actually to carry out such a scam and get away with the cash -- obviously works over 2 decades so far for BlackLight Power... thanks, Rich
On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 9:49 AM, Mary Yugo <maryyu...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > >> It's pretty easy to scam a customer if you only sell one item and flee, >> if you sell items so >> cheaply that the duped find the cost of recovery higher than the value >> recovered, or if the item sold is actually illegal. But selling large >> industrial equipment to a >> knowledgeable customer with a large legal department, in the hope of >> then selling them another one in three months is a scammers nightmare. >> > > > > >> >> Investors exchange money for an unknown future return. Business plans >> typically change radically as they encounter reality, unknown unknowns >> dominate the landscape. Decisions to invest are often irrational, >> emotional, and have less to do with physics than with hope. Investors >> are the ideal targets for a scammer: they are already dealing in >> intangibles and the time lines are long and the opportunities for the >> scammer to exit, stage left, are numerous. Investors are making high >> risk, high return bets. >> >> When we discuss the flow of money here, I think we should be clear >> about the role of the customer vs. investor, and draw conclusions as >> appropriate. Steorns actions are entirely consistent with wishful >> thinking on the part of investors and entrepreneur (if not an outright >> scam); Rossis actions are entirely consistent with a bold attempt to >> bootstrap a business on personal capital and customer sales. >> > > Perhaps you're relying too much on what Rossi *says*. The Rossi story > looks superficially much like Steorn's. In January 2010, Steorn gave a big > and flamboyant but silly "demo" at the Waterways Museum in Dublin. They > claimed that their spinning magnetic motor was "overunity" (making more > energy than it used) but it required an obvious and large battery to run. > It was tested in public but only with Steorn's instruments, setup and > methods. The test results were not as convincing as Rossi's but Steorn > said they were good. In this case, the audience asked better questions > than the sort Rossi is asked after his demos. Steorn deflected the > questions. They also removed the question and answer portion from their > videos of the event. Fortunately, someone else preserved them. They helped > confirm in many people's minds that Steorn did not have any unusual device > and that their claims were wrong. > > Steorn also claimed that they were setting aside two days of the museum > rental period in order to let private companies who had applied to test the > device do so on their own terms. That is analogous to Rossi's claim that > someone bought a megawatt plant and is testing it. Since then, Steorn said > many companies tested but they have never told anyone who the companies > were. No company has ever confirmed that they tested or bought any Steorn > product. Free Energy Truth (Craig Brown) reported only glowing praise of > those events, not the proper questions and ridiculous answers that > followed. I don't recall exactly but best I remember, Sterling Allan also > continued to promote Steorn from his site despite the bizarre results of > the Waterways demo. > > Possibly, that is where we will be in a year with Rossi. He may claim > more sales but they may be secret also. He may claim university research > is being done but it also may remain secret. Steorn's scam, for those who > accept that it was and is a scam, was collecting 20+ million Euros from > investors. They did not scam buyers/customers because there probably never > was one. One theory about Rossi is that it's an investor scam, not a > purchaser scam. You are relying on Rossi's word for the customer being > real and distinct and separate from Rossi. But even Jed Rothwell admits > that much of what Rossi has said in the past was hype, exaggeration, and > sometimes plain lies. I do not see why he would be trusted when he says he > has a customer for that awkward and poorly put together machine in the > container. > > Investor scams are much more convenient for the scammer than customer > scams. The written agreements with the investors can be cleverly written > so as to make the prospects for the device seem less certain than what the > promoter says to them in secret verbally. There can be NDA's which may > prevent investors from complaining in public and on forums. The scammer > can appear to meet deadlines for demonstrations and products without > actually doing so in a meaningful way. At one big meeting with prestigious > scientists from all over the world, Steorn showed only a pitiful Minato > type wheel that couldn't and didn't work and then they claimed the > ridiculous excuse that its bearings failed. It was laughable but maybe it > was done simply to meet contract requirements with investors. From > history, it is clear that there are many ways to cheat investors. I don't > remember them all! >
