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To: umbro who wrote (12915)	8/8/1998 2:56:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

This may appear off topic but it reminds me of Amazon.con<G> SEC accuses Spacedev of false space travel claims Reuters Story - August 07, 1998 19:56 %BUS %US %WASH %LAW %WWW SPDVB V%REUTER P%RTR WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Stock regulators have accused a San Diego company that hyped over the Internet that it planned to launch an unmanned spacecraft to an asteroid near Earth, of making claims that were out of this world. SpaceDev Inc. claimed it would raise money from the project by selling space on the module, or "Near Earth Asteroid Prospector," to scientists seeking to transport their own instruments to the asteroid. It also planned to sell data obtained by instruments attached to the module, regulators said. The charges were made by the Securities and Exchange Commission in an administrative proceeding filed late Thursday. The proceeding accused SpaceDev and Chairman James Benson of making projections of millions of dollars in revenues and earnings for 1998 "without a reasonable basis" and without disclosing that it needed approval for customers' projects from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Other false statements supposedly made by SpaceDev included a claim it had an agreement with NASA to use the space agency's Deep Space Network, a satellite communication system necessary to accomplish SpaceDev's asteroid mission. SpaceDev stock was trading at about $1.625 per share in mid-afternoon trading Friday on the OTC bulletin board, By their actions, SpaceDev and Benson violated antifraud provisions of federal securities laws through their statements made on the Internet, in press releases and newsletters, the SEC said in its administrative proceeding. The company, in a statement read to Reuters over the phone by an attorney, said, "SpaceDev was disapppointed to learn that the SEC has decided to institute an administrative proceeding. "While the company disagrees with the views expressed by the SEC and its order instituting proceedings, the company had attempted to resolve the issues raised by the SEC through a settlement. Those efforts were not successful." Regulators said SpaceDev is the surviving corporation of an October 1997 merger between a privately-held, Colorado-based holding company SpaceDev LLC and a Colorado shell company, Pegasus Development Group Inc. SpaceDev then made a public offering of its stock around April. A hearing before an administrative law judge will be scheduled in 30 to 60 days to determine whether the allegations are true and, if so, whether a cease and desist order should be issued. The SpaceDev statement quoted Benson, 53, as comparing the SEC's action to "shooting at ants with an elephant gun."