Asian dotcom fun-maker site makes comeback with free porn lure
Moribund Web site F***kedcompanyasia.com, which was launched to make light of dotcom failures in Asia, has returned after a three-month hiatus with links to new material on its Web site - pornography.
The site was launched earlier this year in imitation of dotcom dead pool F***kedcompany.com, a popular site where members discuss and try to predict the demise of new economy companies. The unconnected Asian operation appeared to be headed for the grave, with few new messages posted since the end of May, until a newsletter was sent to members via e-mail this week.
'Sorry guys been on a three-month vacation - so no f***ed updates for a while. Thought you guys might like this. We launched a daily updated FREE porn section,' the e-mail said.
The Web site, launched at the beginning of May, received a torrent of abusive and sometimes racist messages decrying its copying of the theme and design of the original site, and has weathered attempts to flood its computer system with automatically generated messages.
It has also had porn posted in its chat rooms. However, this time a new button appears on the home page, pointing to a separate area. On that page, there are a few titillating pictures and dozens of links to a wide range of pornographic sites.
Attempts to contact the Web site, which posts gossip and awards game points to failed companies, drew no response.
John Devon, the owner of F***kedcompanyasia.com, had said he hoped to create controversy with the imitation of the original.
The original site, according to owner Philip Kaplan, generates some revenue from subscriptions and advertising - up to US$60,000 a month in advertising alone. F**kedcompany.com also raises income through e-commerce.
However, Steve Yap, communications director at Internet research company iamasia, said Mr Devon had 'basically given up on the F***edcompany model'.
The Web site may have turned to new sources of revenues because the domain name still has some recognition and draws visitors - a lure for online porn operations. The adult-content industry would provide cash for Web sites that helped generate traffic, Mr Yap said. 'If you refer people to page sites, often those people will pay you.'
However, whether F***edcompanyasia.com would generate enough to keep the site going was another question because it was easy to find myriad adult sites on the Internet, Mr Yap said.
