Paid Surfing?!

There has been so much mis-information going around since the Storm Pay and 12-daily pro incidents that we felt we should try to clarify some terms for you.

There are two general forms of paid surfing:

• Paid to do something, which is generally legal
• Paid to invest in something, which is generally not legal

Paid to do something is generally not illegal. This is when you are paid based on performing certain tasks. The issue is are you paid in proportion to what you did? If a free member can earn money from an action, that probably qualifies the action as a "paid to do something" system.

Paid to invest in something. This is what got 12-daily pro in huge amounts of trouble. Member A got more than Member B, when they did the same thing. The real issue is something called a "Ponzi scheme" or a "Pyramid scheme". Specifically, old members were being paid from monies paid by new members. Ultimately, there is always a loser, since eventually, if everyone joined, there would be no new member money to pay people with.

Remember that when someone is offering you "interest" or "guaranteed returns", that person is trying to act like a bank, or a securities broker. This is part of why the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission got involved in that situation.

Simply put, if you are not a bank, and don't have a securities dealer license, don't take "investments", or promise returns.

We do offer paid surfing systems, but only the "paid to do something" type.

With version 1.3.8a, we now offer 'credit buyback' as a site option. [You have to turn this on if you want to do it.] Basically, you offer to 'buy back' credits from your surfers, if they end up with too many credits. This is a great way to get volume going, especially at a new site, but you have to make sure you have enough funds to cover the surfing. Payments above a fraction of a cent per 100 credits will add up quickly.

With version 1.3.8b (due in April), we will also be offering 'no-lose paid to surf'. This is a special surf rotation that only shows pages people have paid you to show. It splits the income between you and the surfers, so you can't lose money on the proposition.

To make this system work, you have to specify limits on the amount of surfing allowed by each member each day. This also helps keep your advertisers happy, since they get more unique views, spread more evenly out over time.