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These stories were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on November 4, 1998. All rights reserved.
Life in the Fast Lane
Wide open as it seems, the World Wide Web is still subject to the scrutiny of federal regulatory agencies. Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continued its assault on Internet-based promoters that it believes tout cheap stocks without properly disclosing that they are being paid for their efforts to promote interest in the stocks and the companies that issue them.
Among the 44 individuals and companies charged was a Yardley publisher of an Internet stock advisory newsletter, George Schlieben. His professionally produced website, Global Penny Stocks, found at http://www.pennystock.com, carries various disclaimers, including the disclosure that he receives payments for his "Special Research Reports" on the home page. The online newsletter also proclaims that "in keeping with the spirit of SEC regulations, the publisher does not own securities in the companies featured on this website."
But those disclaimers apparently did not meet the letter of the SEC regulations. The SEC suit against Schlieben was filed October 27 in Philadelphia. Schlieben denying any wrongdoing, according to an Associated Press account.
The SEC website http://www.sec.gov offers an investors' guide on Internet fraud. The agency's E-mail address for reporting suspected Internet fraud is enforcement@sec.gov.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), meanwhile, maintains that the same rules that apply to traditional forms of advertising still apply to the 'Net. In August the commission published a guide of Web do's and don'ts that might convince some that the Web is not as anarchic as it might seem.
Copies of the free publication can be obtained by writing to the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 6th Street & Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20580, or calling 202-382-4357.
Basically, the FTC's golden rule on advertising is that advertising must tell the truth and not mislead customers, and claims must be able to be substantiated by both the advertiser and the medium advertised in. The guide also says that advertising agencies and website designers are responsible for reviewing information that could substantiate claims made by the ad.
"Reliance on an advertiser's assurance is not enough," says the guide. "In determining whether an ad agency should be held liable, the FTC looks at the extent of the agency's participation in the preparation of the challenged ad, and whether the agency knew or should have known that the ad included false or deceptive claims."
Enclosed in the FTC guide is another publication, "Advertising Practices, Frequently Asked Questions: A Guide for Small Business." This manual outlines just about everything there is to know about the federal restrictions on advertising -- and thus, advertising on the Web.
Topics covered by the booklet include advertising agencies' responsibilities, testimonials, children's advertising, bait and switch, disclosures and statements, infomercials, negative option offers, and 900 numbers.
Here are the penalties that can be imposed on a company that runs a false or deceptive ad:
-- Peter J. Mladineo
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Sao Paulo Special
Ananda means knowledge, but in the Buddhist religion it also represents "most beloved learner" status. So says Mara Arakaki, who used this name for her translation business. Her niche is Portuguese, and she concentrates on Brazil, the only country in Latin America that does not have Spanish as its native tongue.
"Many companies were trying to do business in Brazil by speaking Spanish," Arakaki says, "but more business people in Brazil are fluent in English than in Spanish.
After doing business "out of pocket" in New York for a year she has brought her firm, Ananda Communications Inc., to Princeton. Arakaki is the granddaughter of an accomplished artist; she has undergraduate and master's degrees in art from the University of Sao Paulo, where she did her thesis about Japanese prints from the 16th to the 19th century. Married to another journalist, she has written about art for various Brazilian newspapers and magazines and has more than 20 years experience in teaching Portuguese as spoken in Brazil or Portugal.
Her firm prepares texts for publication, prepares advertising and promotional material, translates documents, does simultaneous translation, provides training in Brazilian cultural and business etiquette, and does market research. Her firm's clients include an advertising agency, several securities firms, a computer design and advertising firm, a tour services agency, and a publisher. Consultants are available in such areas as economics, finance, medicine, pharmaceuticals, and engineering.
Some words are, indeed, similar in the two languages, and there is actually a more or less official mixture of the languages that when spoken sounds like "Portnole." But often words in each language have different meanings, dangerously different. If you said you were "embaracada" in Portuguese and "embarasada" in Spanish, they would sound the same. But in Portuguese you would be saying "I am embarrassed," whereas in Spanish the meaning is "I am pregnant."
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Partners Times 2:
A Virtual Result
Princeton Partners is merging with the GluckShaw Group to form a virtual company offering integrated marketing communications services. Together the firms have a staff of 52 and they will also share resources, operations, creative strategy, and intellectual capital. The principals will be Catherine A. Mathis and Tom Sullivan of Princeton Partners and Hazel Gluck and Judy Shaw of the GluckShaw Group.
Princeton Partners does advertising, public relations, direct marketing, database marketing, and sales promotion, whereas the GluckShaw Group focuses on public and government relations.
Shaw says this virtual company represents a trend heralded in the September/October issue of Harvard Business review, telling of how the power of new business organizations "will fundamentally change the way work is done." "Our virtual company is not a traditional hierarchy," says Shaw, "it is a confederation of entrepreneurs. Both agencies have invested in highly experienced people who in combination can help clients think outside the box to achieve their goals."
"This virtual company allows clients to accomplish any marketing or communications goal through one source where the sole focus is achieving results through insightful strategy and cost-effective execution," says Mathis.
The two firms will share office space but remain where they are. So the Princeton Partners sign will also read "The GluckShaw Group North" and vice versa, "Princeton Partners South" will be on the door at Riverview Plaza in Trenton.
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Crosstown Moves
This firm, which manufactures a nerve conduction monitor that diagnoses carpal tunnel syndrome, has moved from its location at 2687 Main Street in Lawrenceville. The firm, which acquired its technology from the University of Iowa, has expanded and consolidated its operations at its manufacturing site at 1590 Reed Road, West Trenton. The phone there: 609-737-8274. The fax is 609-737-8551.
The attorney, whose practice includes corporate and construction litigation, has moved to 3490 Route 1 from 14 Washington Road. The phone and fax are new.
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Leaving Town
The general and mechanical contracting firm has moved from its office at 17 Marlen Drive, Robbinsville, to an office about 15 minutes south. Phone and fax are new. The lease had expired at the old location.
The Princeton office of this San Diego-based company, which sells software that integrates sales, manufacturing, and financial applications for all types of manufacturing assembly firms, has been closed. Calls are referred to the Parsippany office: 973-656-7800.
This sales office for a Moorestown-based distributor of drives and motion controls has moved north. The new address: 1090 King Georges-Post Road, Suite 1008, Edison 08837. Phone: 800-989-3330, fax 888-486-8466.
This multimedia firm, emphasizing computer training, laptop presentations, and interactive kiosks, has moved from 198 Tamarack Circle to Echo Plaza in Springfield. "Most of our employees live up this way, and a lot of clients are around here, too," says principal Seth Oberman.
And Oberman himself lives in Westfield, which make the new location more convenient for him, as well.
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Management Moves
Bruce Kreter has been promoted from director of the anti-infectives clinical research unit to vice president of clinical development at this Cincinnati-based firm. He had worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb and at Rhone Poulenc Rorer; he will work in this office, which provides integrated clinical research and drug development services
Howard Tuckman, now dean of the business school at Virginia Commonwealth University, will be the new dean for the Rutgers Faculty of Management, replacing George Benson who left last summer. The school has 1,500 undergraduate students, 1,600 people enrolled in MBA programs, and 130 students in a PhD program. Tuckman went to Cornell and has graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin.
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Deaths
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Name Changes
Just as computer sellers are finding that retail is a tough way to go, so have some computer trainers. FutureKids Computer Learning Center has changed its name to FutureKids School Technology Solutions. The parent company provides a wholesale service that it can contract out to schools to train teachers and provide curriculum.
Frank Dutko has chosen this path, giving up his retail storefront on Clarksville Road, and now has several contracts with area schools. Dutko went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, Class of 1977, and has his PhD in biology from RPI. He worked in the pharmaceutical industry before opening his FutureKids franchise. "We supply instructors or we work with school systems and lease teachers," he says. He provides lesson plans and templates for what he calls a "strong technical curriculum."
The bright-yellow cash-carrying cars have a new owner. CDC Systems, based in Elizabeth, has bought Princeton Armored Services for an undisclosed sum. The Princeton armored services company has 178 people, in contrast to CDC Systems (Coin Deposit Corp.), which bills itself as the largest armored services company in the Northeast. It has 1,200 employees serving 1,000 customers in four states.
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Down-Sizing
Charlie Roper and Jane Moni have moved Princeton Marketing Group from 21 Wiggins Street, the former headquarters for Familyborn, to a temporary home office in Princeton. The Familyborn building has been sold. The firm does marketing and sales implementation for pharmaceutical compliance and telecommunications clients, particularly for international clients.
Roper went to Florida State and has worked in overseas construction for Global International Group of Boston, Global Acquisition Partners of Miami. Moni majored in advertising at the University of Maryland and worked for Wang and Xerox. Roper and Moni are brother and sister; their father was an architect in Monmouth County.
The firm has the rights to offer a device made in Sweden, the PharmaCell Dispenser, in the United States. Equipped with timers and locks, it dispenses a pill only at the right time. Patients can't "catch up" with a dosage, because the missed dose stays in the locked compartment. Researchers will be able to track results more accurately and, in fact, clinical research companies are a big potential market.
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com -- the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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