X-10 Wireless Technology, the company that pelted the Net with billions of ads for its cheap webcams, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after losing a $4.3 million suit by three brothers who say they were gipped out of $564,000 in commissions and that X-10 stole their advertising "technology."
Two things about this: 1.) A $4 million suit wouldn't ruin a solid business, especially before the appeals process, so it appears this is yet another case of a Net company succeeding only by misleading investors and business partners -- though privately held, we now know it owns at least $10 million to creditors, and; 2.) X-10's email, pop-up and pop-under ads spawned an industry of banner and spam protection, for which some software developers must salute it as those bawdy little ads featuring "chicks with webcams" go over the horizon and into that dark night of insolvency. Good riddance, and thanks for the years of annoyance.
Posted by Mitch Ratcliffe at October 23, 2003 08:59 AM | TrackBack