matgb | Nikkogen follow up: Automated spamming at its best? (Reply)

Remember this post last week about that Nikkogen thing? Well, I got an email Monday:

Good morning Mr Bowles,

Please can you remove any reference to Nikkogen from your website/blog. The information on your website received automated or not is incorrect and any reference to our company as being a fraud is incorrect.

You have a week to remove any reference to our company.

Ray Jenkins
Director Business Development
Nikkogen Ltd
South Wales
United Kingdom
Tel: 44-121-288-2058 (Direct)

D'you like that? Apparently the initial spam comment was automated. Or at least I think that's what it's trying to say. It appears that they may be admitting to spamming, but are doing so via an automated spam. No apology for spamming either. I mailed Tim about it, he said he'd had no follow up, I filed it under 'ignore' as there's nothing they can do legally. Thing is, it appears I'm not the only one they've emailed. Unity got very similar:

Good morning Mr Unity,

(He actually used my real surname, which hasn’t exactly endeared him to me) ^[1]

Please can you remove any reference to Nikkogen from your website/blog. The information on your website received automated or not is incorrect and any reference to our company as being a fraud is incorrect.

You may wish to contact Tim Worstall - who will I’m sure confirm that the information he provided via his website/blog was incorrect.

You have a week to remove any reference to our company.

Which again ends on that veiled threat. Mr Jenkins? We each have a week to remove the reference or? And please, if you're based within the UK, at least try and run your automated emails through a grammar checker? You might want to make them factually accurate as well, because, you know, in this modern internet age, checking facts between someone based in Devon, someone based in Birmingham and someone in Portugal is really quite simple. Tim Worstall: Nikkogen^[2]:

Err, no, I won't confirm that the information in my earlier post was incorrect. It remains my opinion that this wonderful new power source is a fraud and a scam. Two further points. One is that no one can insist upon such an absurdly restrictive request as removing 'any reference' to a company.

The second is that statements of opinion cannot be libellous.

As Unity puts it in his post linked above:

You cannot get more energy out of a system than you put into - it is not possible. In fact you invariably get out less than you put in, as some of the energy ‘lost’ as heat and, occasionally, light.

But, as he's now both annoyed and intrigued, he's done some more research:

You see that’s the thing about entropy - it’ll get you every single time.

Even the excellent Micheal Bywater joined in the posting fun.

I'm going to reply to Mr Jenkin's email now before I turn in. It'll be a simple link to this post.

Mr Jenkins? Some free advice, something I'd usually charge for.

Don't spam.
Don't pay others to spam.
If you realise that's a mistake and wish to correct it, apologise.
Get your facts straight.
Don't make veiled threats with no substance.
Understand the basic principles of free comment on the internet or in press. It's called freedom of the press, a concept you may have heard of.
If you want someone to do something, be explicit, request politely and explain why they should do as you request.
Don't try and promote a product that gives every appearance of being based off very dodgy science to a bunch of tech aware online types without at the very least explaining the basics, because we can research and do know what we're doing. And if we don't? We know someone that does.

That last bit? The bit about knowing what you're doing? I wouldn't invest in a company promoting itself like this even if they had a veritable licence to print money. You don't.

I have no idea if their product is legit. From what I've seen, I doubt it. But I really don't like them at the moment. That is, of course, a personal opinion, and I leave it to my friends and readers to make up their own mind.

[1] Unity is

unity_truth_fd, a most excellent investigative blogger that I've mentioned here before a few times. His real name is not in any way a secret, but he prefers to keep it off of the Ministry of Truth site as he prefers to keep his politics/blogging separate from his work. His choice, and the veracity of his information doesn't change under his psuedonymity.

[2] Tim Worstall is

timworstall, he does the weekly Britblog roundup and has used blogging to leverage himself into paid writing jobs for various newspapers quite effectively.