101 Dumbest business moments

[Joe DeFuria]

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/101dumbest/full_list/

Some good stuff in there if you wade through it. A few relevant (considering B3D discussions this past year) ones:

15. A perfectly good orgy of violence and mayhem, ruined.

In June a Dutch programmer releases software that lets players of Take-Two Interactive's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas access sexually explicit content left in the game's source code by its developers. Already marked "Mature" for "blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, strong sexual content, and use of drugs," the game gets rerated "Adults Only," causing Target and Wal-Mart to pull it from stores. Take-Two's quarterly revenues fall $40 million short of projections.

13. The furor dies down, but only after Sony says that the real intent was to prevent the spread of the malicious Celine Dion virus.

Sony BMG installs software on its CDs "to prevent unlimited copying and unauthorized redistribution," but the cure is worse than the disease: The software makes customers' PCs vulnerable to hackers and viruses. Software maker Internet Security Systems labels Sony's program malicious because it "actively attempts to hide its presence from users." Ultimately, Sony offers uninstall software and has to recall millions of albums, including The Invisible Invasion, by the Coral; Healthy in Paranoid Times, by Our Lady Peace; and On Ne Change Pas (One Does Not Change), by Celine Dion.

71. Phantom menace.

In October the board of Infinium Labs reveals that chairman Timothy Roberts is under investigation by the SEC for allegedly sending junk faxes touting penny stocks -- including shares of Infinium, maker of the little-known Phantom game console. The board also announces that financial reports prepared by Roberts, the company's CEO before he resigned in August, should not be relied on. A month later the company's new CEO, Kevin Bachus, also resigns. The board -- which still includes Roberts -- manages to tempt consultant Greg Koler into the CEO hot seat with the tantalizing prize of 4 million shares of Infinium stock, currently worth $68,000.

 

[AlphaWolf]

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/101dumbest/full_list/

Some good stuff in there if you wade through it. A few relevant (considering B3D discussions this past year) ones:

Here's one for next years list.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3147455

 

[digitalwanderer]

Here's one for next years list.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3147455

Two weeks ago Infinium Labs moved interim president and CEO Greg Koler into a permanent position for both spots with a promise to launch the Phantom Game Service by the end of the year and increase cross-company efficiencies. Apparently Golden Gate Investors believes those goals are worth tossing $5 million at.

The money comes in the form of a convertible debenture, an unsecured debt backed by Infinium Labs' personal integrity and not collateral that can optionally be transformed into stock, and warrant, enabling Golden Gate Investors to buy an amount of securities at a specific price for anywhere from a few years to forever.

When in the hell did Infinium Labs get personal integrity?!?

Quick, someone show this one to Kyle....