You had me at Hello!

Well researched mate and well put together.

In summary, the small anomalies on the ASBS website that have been noted above, are what contribute to the conclusion that ASBS is a small company. They have a small, basic website with no frills that would not have been too expensive, copy written by, at a guess, one of the executives themselves, and their News timeline really denotes what would have been big successes for a small company, but in a global picture, not that big. ASBS are naturally making themselves look as successful as possible on their website, although they are not conveying that they are a large, established company.

So, on the surface ASBS appears to be a small business consultancy company who were primarily working with Australian clients, until they went global with their Evony, LLC client. Indeed their clientele, as listed on their website, were very local prior to this global expansion.

So one would ask the question, how aware were ASBS of Evony, LLC’s history and legal issues at the point of accepting them as clients? Evony, LLC would have been a great prize for as small a company as ASBS appears to be and their modest aims of small to medium-sized business clients. And exactly what services would Evony, LLC, a truly global MMOG company, require from a small Australian business consultancy?

Returning now to the core issues, the UK police do not have jurisdiction outside of the UK, however SOCA will work with international law enforcement agencies. Because ASBS could be deemed party to laundering the $750,000 damages sought by Microsoft, it means that Evony and ASBS could be attempting to assist Eric Lam and UMGE avoid paying damages to Microsoft for click-fraud. In other words ASBS, Evony and more recent concerns established by these individuals are trying to avoid detection and should be viewed as being party to the actions undertaken by Eric Lam and UMGE. In this respect the law enforcement agencies of the US and Australia should be alerted.

With regards to seeking damages for this fraudulent libel case issued against Bruce on Games, then Australia is likely to be a better target. If NSW law permits corruption to transpire through the issuing of fraudulent libel cases in order to conceal corruption, as appears to be the case here, then Australia should be liable. The likelihood of obtaining damages from a potential unlawful Australian company is unsafe. In addition to this, Chinese law prohibits Chinese companies to have non-Chinese directors. As ASBS entered into agreement with Evony through Eric Lam and UMGE prior to its US incorporation, it appears that Chinese law has also been violated.

So, is this issue really about freedom of speech or is it about an attempt to conceal corruption through trying to apply Australian law through an Australian company that deals in corporate exit strategies? As I have already said, Bruce on Games has offered best evidence in this matter pertaining to Evony. This is why The Guardian will have cited it. The real story here is significantly more complex than many conventional media bodies realize. This is why gamers turn to blogs like Bruce on Games. Specialist information is always more informative than general news. Sadly it would appear that the general media is still very quite ignorant of what transpires within some MMOs. This may also account as for why the UK public are quite ignorant about the games industry and the type of promises that are being made by some training companies.

AC

One of the reasons ASBS would have been able to enter the Australian Suppliers Directory is because their business became global, to whit a client noted below, Evony, LLC, whom they entered a partnership with in May 2009. Please note this was prior to incorporation of Evony and prior to the Microsoft lawsuit for click-fraud.

There are a number of partnerships with other companies announced, but very interesting in view of the current legal issues surrounding their client company, ASBS announced that on:

23 May 2009 Assist Strategic Business Solutions Pty Limited is appointed for Strategic and Operational Solutions partnering with global based Evony, LLC (http://www.evony.com/).

It is worth noting that ASBS did not join the Australian Suppliers Directory until after they went into partnership with Evony, LLC.

ASBS can be found on:

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miranda-Australia/Assist-Strategic-Business-Solutions-Pty-Limited/24738591090?v=info#/pages/Miranda-Australia/Assist-Strategic-Business-Solutions-Pty-Limited/24738591090?v=info&ref=mf%23info_edit_sections

Small Business Support Network
http://www.ozsmallbiz.net/directory/bgifford.html

Hot Frog, an Australian business directory
http://www.hotfrog.com.au/Companies/Assist-Strategic-Business-Solutions

BusinessSeek.biz Business Directory
http://www.businessseek.biz/business-directory/listing-details-23024.html

Business Connector
http://www.businessconnector.com.au/index.php?option=com_directory&page=viewListing&subtask=contact&lid=23&Itemid=14

Apart from Facebook, these are primarily Australian organisations, although length of membership by ASBS on any of these directories cannot be determined.

Exit strategy – what is that? It is a plan to leave a business, by selling or disposing of it, theoretically at the right time, keeping as much money as possible for the business owner(s) and paying the minimum amount of tax.

Exit strategies in themselves are not necessarily sinister, when the company that is the subject of the exit strategy is legitimate, the motive is for plausible reasons and all legal and financial procedures are followed correctly. Indeed, there are many companies that offer exit strategy assistance. ASBS would appear to be one of those. Naturally, it would be interesting to see a client list of those companies that ASBS have assisted or are about to assist with exit strategies.

On the About us website page it explains the business began in 2005, so it is a relatively recent start-up. There are three executives cited and while Art and Cara are granted a few modest sentences, there is quite an expansion about Benjamin. As to their roles, the text states: “Benjamin is able to quickly look at the business issues and advice on the most suitable solutions for you.” Art gives clients “direction for their marketing and advertising plan” and Cara “focuses on ensuring the client is pleased, as well as looking out after their best interests.” It is slightly unusual to weight the text in favour of one executive, as this does not necessarily convey a team aspect. Perhaps if Benjamin wrote the text for the website, he was naturally able to supply more information about himself. Also unusual is that only their first names are used without surnames — this is uncommon on a business site where a list of executives is supplied — but perhaps this a strategy to imply a personal and informal approach.

The Contact us page does not offer an office street address, just a post office box number in NSW.

ASSIST Strategic Business Solutions Pty Limited
PO Box 126
Miranda, NSW 2228

Telephone and fax numbers, one of each, are supplied, and Benjamin, Art and Cara are all contactable individually by email. This is slightly unusual, because there is usually a more general email such as info@, or similar, for a business. This means that clients have to try to determine whom they need to contact in the first instance. It also implies that possibly Benjamin, Art and Cara are the only three staff, although of course an army of PAs could be fielding the emails for their executives.

The News page offers dated snippets, often with a web link in each item, stating in the main part achievements of ASBS, including joining affiliated business organizations/directories and client companies they have gone into partnership with. The most recent at the time of writing (26 October 2009) is 19 August 2009.

It was on this date that ASBS announced entry to the Australian Suppliers Directory (http://www.austrade.gov.au/SupplierDetails.aspx?ORGID=8000003494&folderid=1736), and probably because they had to supply it for their listing, there you can find a street address for ASBS:

Address
Lvl 1, 90 Karimbla Road 
Miranda 
NSW 2228

The Australian Suppliers Directory is headed “Australian Business Global Markets”.
Businesses have to be globally-able in order to join. Regarding the financial sector the site announces “Australia has a sophisticated financial services sector and is ideally positioned as a centre for the Asia-Pacific region”.

Generally, ASBS appears to be a small business consultancy that is aiming for small to medium sized businesses as clients.

It is a registered limited company, and helpful information about what that means can be found here: http://www.ioserv.com/ios/en/jurisdictions/onshore/australia_pty.sql

The text on the ASBS website is not of the professional level that one would expect for a company offering its expertise to others. Its not the worst English, but there are grammar errors, poor phrasing and so forth. The text would appear not to have been written or vetted by a professional, but more likely by one of the persons involved with the company.

The website design is basic and is red, grey and white. There are no illustrations and it looks businesslike. It has validation CSS and XHTML tags on it, so it would appear that external professionals were used to construct a basic website and an effort has been made to give it creditablity.

The website text is in the main part kept brief in each section, so the overall impression is that the purpose of the site is to act as a shopfront, to draw potential clients to contact ASBS for more details.

ASBS offers the following services, with a few details about each:

Strategic Services
Operational Services
Financial Services
Graphic Arts Services
Print Management Services

Perhaps this shows the diversity of their range of support for clients. But on the Services page (About our services) in the text ASBS also offers exit strategies.

ASSIST Strategic Business Solutions has helped and provided our clients with time constricted solutions which succeed. ASSIST has a broad spectrum of services and experience in many industries. Give us a call and give us your problems.
We are mainly able to assist medium to small sized businesses and pride ourselves in being the first point of contact and provide the best solution possible. This allows our clients to focus on core business functions and know that they will be given personal care. It’s more than just providing solutions – it’s about taking stress away.
Our main objective is to work side-by-side with your company, offering the best service and advice while at the same time documenting our processes so that there is an exit strategy. At ASSIST, you are in control and come first.

Note the sentence at the end of the first paragraph – “Give us a call and give us your problems”. And at the end of the second paragraph, “it’s about taking stress away”. And the next paragraph explains — “documenting our processes so that there is an exit strategy”.

The role of an MP http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/YAYMP_English.pdf

MPs can prove to be of assistance in some areas, but one needs to help them to understand the issues effectively if one is to obtain any support from them. This is the same with all MPs across the political board because constituent support is a service and one that is often performed with impartial integrity, often without public knowledge. Therefore any request for support from an MP needs to be appropriately posed, especially if the matter could be perceived to require legal advice for the very reasons explained by Parliament link offered above.

Rather than attempting to communicate with an MP, might I suggest talking to a representative of SOCA http://www.soca.gov.uk/. The organised crime threats section should prove helpful http://www.soca.gov.uk/orgCrime/index.html. Once appropriate guidance has been obtained you will be better informed as to the seriousness of this issue.

In order to raise a concern you will need to understand what this case is really about. If you believe this is to be a libel issue, then SOCA is likely to respond in the same way as your MP because it will be deemed to be a private civil affair. So the real question is this — if this case in not really about libel, then what is it about? This is the core question.

Mr Eric Lam was the director of UMGE. Microsoft has accused a number of parties of click-fraud, civil conspiracy and eight other counts of misdemeanour on an international scale. Damages of $750,000 have been sought because the actual extent of the damages cannot be calculated. This issue is ample enough to demonstrate that some Chinese companies appear to have no regard for the rule of law and are profiting from corruption. Within the UK SOCA is responsible for investigating corruption. The Guardian is likely to have become interested in the story because the Bruce on Games website offers best evidence that associated Mr Eric Lam with UMGE. In other words, Bruce on Games has achieved national media credibility.

The reason why Eric Lam will have an interest in instructing his professional colleagues to take libel action against Bruce on Games is because he will be seeking not to pay the $750,000 damages sought by Microsoft. This is why the UMGE website will have been taken down and why Evony denies all association with Eric Lam and UMGE. In other words, the libel action against Bruce on Games is a casualty of Eric Lam attempting to avoid paying the $750,000 damages sought by Microsoft through the United States courts. Also Eric Lam and UMGE are likely to have authorised the laundering of their monies to Evony and other parties.

In issues like this they contain both criminal and civil issues. I am grateful for the input of a colleague who has kindly examined the Australian company Assist Strategic Business Solutions (ASBS) http://www.asbs.net.au/news.html. This company claims to be associated with Evony and its principle director, Mr Benjamin Gifford, is the person behind the libel claim made against Bruce on Games on behalf of Evony. This is likely to make ASBS party to Eric Lam and UMGE in the Microsoft lawsuit that is transpiring within the US courts. So let us turn now to examine ASBS in more detail. I am grateful for the support of a professional colleague for completing the following examination.