DIARY

January, 2003

Developing the web site

The use of Internet had several advantages. It is by definition the environment where file-sharing takes place. It is also a very efficient and a relatively easy way to communicate with the world, ideal for a PR campaign. The virtual Internet environment is also based on relative anonymity, which is near perfect for creating our fantasy. The main web site would be www.thehonestthief.com. The Honest Thief file-sharing venture would be our “company,” we would be a provider, in business to help file-sharing companies set up operations in the Netherlands. We would make it appear as if The Honest Thief venture would be a force to be reckoned with. What would make us different from the providers already out there? We would need a unique selling point: exceptional software with various unique capabilities. We looked at what was already available and did our research on various applications that software makers were working on. It had to be true to life. Upon dreaming this up there were plenty of moments that we thought somebody should actually make this and set this up. Why shouldn’t we try to do this for real? Although possible, the required level of expertise and the time this would take did not make this a viable option. There was and probably still is a real business opportunity in this but at the same time this is not the field we would want to enter. This would go beyond our goal of bringing The Honest Thief further.

For us it was also important to end the campaign on a positive note. It would have to be a PR campaign with a beginning and an end. The perfect ending would be telling our story on April Fools’ day. This would have to be the moment that we would inform the public of the why and how of our efforts. With this in mind timing became crucial. We needed to start at the right moment in order to work towards April Fools’ Day. If it would be obvious that were actually working on a stunt for April 1, we would fail. This added a healthy pressure.