Agoracom Blog

AGORACOM Settles With OSC On Contrary To The Public Interest

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:32 PM on Friday, November 12th, 2010

Good afternoon to you all.  I am pleased to announce that we have reached a settlement with the Ontario Securities Commission on the basis of acting “contrary to the public interest”.

It is an understatement to say that we are all happy to have fairly settled this matter.  We have worked very hard and take great pride in the fact that AGORACOM has become the leading online platform for small-cap companies and investors, so we are more motivated than ever to get back to the business of delivering an industry leading platform for years to come.

LESSONS LEARNED

Our organization has learned some hard yet very important lessons through this matter.  Specifically, the need for strict written policies is absolute in order to avoid potential problems and conflicts.  I assure you that we are well into that process on multiple facets of our operations and that we will continue to operate within a different policy culture.

More than just lip service, for example, AGORACOM has implemented a public facing IP address check that displays any multiple aliases posting from the same IP address on our website.  Furthermore, as part of our settlement with the OSC to avoid any potential future conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to serve as officers or directors of any of our clients.

It’s also an expensive lesson. We have agreed to pay $150,000 in costs and monetary payment over the next 18 months. That’s fair given the resources expended by OSC staff, whom I would also like to thank for working with us towards this fair settlement.

With respect to recent revelations concerning our private messaging system, I want to assure our members that stricter controls and policies have been implemented to protect your privacy.  Specifically, even in the case of a violation being reported within the messaging system, no private message of a member can be viewed without your prior written consent, with the exception of a court order.

An official press release with more complete details will be issued within 24 hours of the settlement.

ONWARD AND UPWARD

With this matter firmly behind us, we are anxious to move forward with upgrades to AGORACOM that we have been holding back on.  For example, over the next few days we will be:

  • Launching our iPhone App
  • Announcing our Facebook integration
  • Launching a front-page blog for the best AGORACOM members.

Our upgrades won’t end there, so keep a look out for news pertaining to another online conference, CEO Skype interviews and further cutting edge developments that you have come to know us for.

THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

AGORACOM would like to thank the following for their unwavering support over the last 7 months:

  • Consolidated Spire Ventures, Northern Tiger Resources, and Razor Resources
  • The numerous CEO’s and industry participants that took the time to call, e-mail, Skype or pull us  aside at industry conferences to show their support
  • Our amazing members for their unconditional support and great words of encouragement
  • Our great employees for believing in our vision and vowing to make it even stronger
  • Our friends and family for never losing faith and reminding us of who we are
  • Jim Douglas, Tyler Hodgson and their team at Borden Ladner Gervais for their outstanding work and support during the settlement phase.
  • Dominic Bortolussi and his team at The Working Group for their great web and iPhone development/ideas these past few months.

I want to personally thank everyone above for their great support over the last 7 months.  We asked for the benefit of the doubt in our April 1 Public Response when more severe allegations were announced – and you provided it.   I am eternally grateful for your courage and faith.

The fact that this experience was at times a difficult one does not overshadow the fact that it was also a great one. You have truly served to reaffirm both the value and purpose of AGORACOM as a place that amalgamates great people and great ideas, leading to great decisions.  I look forward to delivering this ideal to the small-cap industry for years to come.

To this end, I want to apologize to everyone in this group for everything that has taken place over the last 8 months.  Things happened on my watch, so I take full responsibility for them.  They will not happen again.  I will personally see to it that AGORACOM is worthy of the contributions you have made to our success by emerging as a stronger and better organization for years to come.

Regards,
George Tsiolis, LL.B
Founder
AGORACOM

11 Responses to “AGORACOM Settles With OSC On Contrary To The Public Interest”

  1. AGORACOM says:

    Thanks, Harry. Onward and Upward.

    George

  2. Harry Rattle says:

    Thank you George. Time to move on…

  3. AGORACOM says:

    Hi, Jay and thanks for your feedback. AGORACOM and its HUB Leaders do not censor negative opinions. This is by far the smartest community of small-cap investors on the web because it strives to bring great people together for the purposes of making their most informed investment decision possible. An important part of this process includes weighing both the pro’s and con’s of any particular company. HUB Leaders and their respective groups do this very well by eliminating extreme noise on both the bashing AND hyping side of the equation.

    As a result, AGORACOM actually has one of the best reputations around – with the exception of stock bashers and hypers that are summarily banned from the site. The entire process takes place in a purely democratic environment in which members are promoted to HUB Leaders via the ratings of fellow members and their contributions to the site. Together, HUB Leaders and members decide what is best for their respective HUBS.

    It may not be a perfect system but it is the best system. An example of this is the fact that your post did make it into the comments section. Why? Despite the fact you posted a negative opinion about AGORACOM, it is a legitimate question posted in a respectful manner. If your comment is welcomed here, I assure you a similar question about a company would be welcomed on HUBS throughout AGORACOM.

    Regards,
    George

  4. AGORACOM says:

    Harry, you’re right. Please see the final point above.

    Regards,
    George

  5. AGORACOM says:

    Sorry, John. Can’t help you on that one.

    George

  6. AGORACOM says:

    Baldonnel, thanks for the feedback. The HUB Leader model is actually a big reason behind the success of AGORACOM. Much like Wikipedia, it provides the best people (based on the ratings system) with an ability to update information and moderate commentary.

    This is especially important in the small-cap space where information and analyst coverage is limited. High-ranking members significantly help fill the information void while their moderation keeps wild rumours, bashing and hyping in check.

    Thanks for the feedback and hope this helps.

    Regards,
    George

  7. Baldonnel says:

    Given the OSC Ruling, I would recommend ‘disabling’ all the powers that the so-called “Hub Leaders” control for manipulating the HUB’s and getting rid of the ‘points system’.

  8. Harry Rattle says:

    How about saying sorry?

    When you abuse the trust of the people you hope to serve I think it would aid your sincerity to start with an apology.

  9. Tony Boerkamp says:

    How about writing a book on this storry George ? I can help you with a book venture!

  10. Jay says:

    Does this mean that this site will no longer censor negative opinions? Is this site still just a vehicle to help pump and dump where anyone who has a contradictory opinion is censored and or banned? That is the past opinion of myself and many others who do serious due diligence. There was/is no free speech here before that is for sure. This site has one of the worst reputations around because of what I stated. I would not be suprised if this post never even makes it……….

  11. Tectol says:

    Congratulation !

    Tec