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Pastimes : Georgia Bard's Corner -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Loren S. who wrote (9241)	3/28/2000 4:28:00 PM
From: jeffrey rainey	Respond to of 9440

WASHINGTON, Mar 28, 2000 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Federal securities regulators, stepping up their fight against burgeoning fraud over the Internet, are creating an automated surveillance system to search Web sites, message boards and chat rooms. But a major accounting firm says it won't participate because the Securities and Exchange Commission's new system might encroach on the privacy of innocent people as it searches for phrases such as 'get rich quick.' The computer technology involved in the enhanced SEC surveillance program 'is equivalent to, in my opinion, wiretapping ... the equivalent of planting a bug,' said Larry Ponemon, a partner in charge of privacy issues at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, one of the world's largest accounting and consulting firms. The firm was among 107 companies invited by the SEC in January to bid to operate the automated surveillance system. It told the market watchdog agency it did not wish to participate because of privacy concerns and possible violations of the Constitution's protections against unreasonable search and seizure. 'It's a search and seizure issue,' Ponemon said Tuesday in a telephone interview. The SEC says it willnot gather e-mail messages or other communications unless they appear in public online forums and will throw away any data collected that doesn't indicate possible wrongdoing. 'Privacy issues are of long-standing importance to the commission and we pay close attention to the letter and the spirit of the law,' said SEC spokesman Chris Ullman. He said the new system, which would copy online material into a database to be analyzed by SEC investigators, simply 'will mechanize what the commission now does by hand.' The SEC's project was first reported in Tuesday's editions of The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper noted that Internet titan America Online Inc., many of whose message boards and chat rooms are home to discussions of stock investments, prohibits anyone from harvestinginformation from them because of privacy concerns. Consequently, AOL might oppose the federal agency's project, The Journal suggested. Spokesmen for AOL declined to comment to the newspaper; they weren't immediately available for comment to The Associated Press on Tuesday. Ponemon lauded the SEC's goal of beefing up its monitoring of the Internet for fraudulent investment activity, which SEC inspectors now do manually with computer search engines. He said other technologies could be used -- notably electronic 'cookies' that track personal activity online -- that would respect constitutional boundaries and still be more effective than the SEC's current manual system. Ponemon suggested that certain types of 'cookies' would be less intrusive than the Web 'crawler' called for in the SEC's project, which would scan the Internet for as many as 40 telltale words or phrases. A cookie is a small file that a Web site deposits on an individual's hard drive, often with a unique number that identifies the user's computer. The next time someone using that computer goes back to the site, the site will recognize the computer. 'This is government spying on the innocent, plain and simple,' said George Getz, a spokesman for the Libertarian Party. 'It's no different than the police tapping everyone's phones just because someone might have committed a crime.' Marc Beauchamp, executive director of the North American Securities Administrators Association, noted the delicate balance between the government's need to pursue investment fraud and its duty to protect citizens' privacy. His group, which represents securities regulators in the states, also has cracked down on investment fraud over the Internet. Still, he said, 'The crooks are using the new technology at hand and the cops need to use the technology to stay ahead of the crooks.' The SEC and state regulators have been in an uphill fight against Internet fraud, which has been proliferating in online junk mail and newsletters, electronic chat rooms and Web sites. Because the Internet is everywhere, unscrupulous stock promoters anywhere in the world can cloak themselves in anonymity and lure investors across the country, who have lost millions in such schemes in recent years. Last month, the SEC asked Congress for $150 million for enforcement work and investor education for fiscal 2001. The agency's 'Cyberforce, ' now some 240 strong, prowls the Internet looking for investment scams and other securities fraud. The SEC fraud-fighters don't have the legal authority to go undercover online. Unlike the Justice Department, the SEC cannot put anyone in jail; it can only file civil lawsuits against suspected violators. Copyright 2000 Associated Press, All rights reserved. -0- By MARCY GORDON

To: Loren S. who wrote (9241)	3/30/2000 1:37:00 PM
From: Loren S.	Respond to of 9440

Yesterday BAOA released a very positive annual report. Today we got some news. The company is clearly waking up from the dead. BAOA, Inc. Dba Call-Solutions.com, Signs a $3.3 Million Out-Bound Telemarketing Contract With Holiday Funding, Inc.; Training and Call Services Targeted to Begin in Second Quarter ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2000--BAOA, Inc. dba Call-Solutions.com (OTC BB:BAOA) announces that the company has signed a one-year $3.3 million contract with Holiday Funding, Inc. to generate qualified tour leads with scheduled appointments for vacation ownership sites located throughout the United States. Through its agreement with Jamaica Call Solutions Ltd., BAOA will begin hiring employees to staff the first 50 seats of our call center operations located in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Training is anticipated to begin in early April and the initiation of out-bound call services is projected to begin within two to four weeks thereafter. "We selected Call-Solutions.com over other vendors because they offered the most cost-efficient and profit-oriented telemarketing services," stated Earl Donaldson, President of Holiday Funding, Inc. "We needed a firm with the capabilities to call individuals in Chicago, Atlanta and Philadelphia to arrange local off-site tours for time-share properties in the Southwest and Southeast. Call-Solutions.com met our requirements and was the most affordable." "We are proud to have been chosen by Holiday Funding for our out-bound call services," stated Peter Van Brunt, President and CEO of BAOA, Inc dba Call-Solutions.com. "As we begin training our staff in Jamaica and ramping up out-bound call services, BAOA will have formally begun implementing its business strategy to develop, own and operate call centers to generate revenues and profits for the company and to employ and economically empower individuals." Holiday Funding, Inc. is a three-year old company located in Fort Myers, Florida. The company is focused on providing multiple services to the time-share industry; including financing, marketing and generating ownership prospects through arranging off-site property tours. BAOA, Inc. dba Call-Solutions.com is focused on becoming a leading provider of teleservices. The company is developing and will be providing in-bound and out-bound teleservices for clients from call centers that are located in economic redevelopment zones and other underdeveloped economic regions. By running businesses in these favorable economic areas, multiple benefits can be derived: the company benefits from certain tax incentives, the communities benefit from the growing employment tax base and the company's clients obtain affordable teleservices. The safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: statements in this news release, which are not strictly historical, are "forward-looking" statements and involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitations, continued acceptance of the company's products and services, increased levels of competition, new products and technological changes, as well as the company's dependence upon financing, third party suppliers, intellectual property rights, and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's Federal filings, annual reports, offering memorandums or prospectus. CONTACT: BAOA, Inc. Media, 678/461-9881 Investors, 718/592-1919 call-solutions.com KEYWORD: GEORGIA FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA