I have a few facts:

Rangefinder Magazine Feb. 2008 quoted from an article on David Jay

"David credits Pictage with helping photography "become a real industry run by professionals, rather than the old status quo, mom-and-pop type of operation"

He named his forum "Open Source Photo". He started OSP community in October of 2003 as a place for photographers to "share and learn from each other in a supportive and encouraging online environment"

"I have relied on word of mouth and word-of-mouse marketing."

http://www.rangefindermag.com/archive.aspx

Rangefinder Magazine May 2008 quoted from an article on Dane Sanders

He's turning the old model of "how photography works" on its head.

Sanders points out that he started meeting and networking with many talented shooters through his own early online interactions. As one of the first members of David Jay's Open Source Photo community, opensourcephoto.net, he singles out this resource as truly valuable. I met many other photographers and discovered that they too wanted to connect. I was Jay's overwhelmed friend who wanted to simplify my life and market my business."

Now, Lets step back to 2003.

As stated above, both David and Dane agree that OSP was David's invention and creation. When doing a whois.com check, I discovered this...

Dane Sanders was the person who registered opensourcephoto.com Oct. 21 2003 

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=opensourcephoto.com&prog_id=godaddy

David Jay did not register opensourcephoto.net until Nov.10 2003

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=opensourcephoto.net&prog_id=godaddy

On OSP, just a few months after starting the forum, David and Jay begin to talk about something called "nitorix" and how much it rocks.

http://www.opensourcephoto.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=126&pid=466&start=&st=#entry466&s=5d2086e227d1531f8100d34bc25f9e03

Dane Sanders "Nitorix rocks. I am proud to say I bought in with Forest. He is really gifted. Strong endorsement from me."

Curiously enough, nitorix.com was registered Nov. 13, 2003

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=nitorix.com&prog_id=godaddy

The domain name and address appear to be fictitious, but does share the same city, state and zip code of David Jay.

The showitsites.com also shares the exact same registrant info as nitorix.com

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=showitsites.com&prog_id=godaddy

However, David Jay is registered with showitfast.com Aug 24 2005

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIsVerify.aspx?domain=showitfast.com&prog_id=godaddy

If you go to nitorix.com, you will see that it's product line takes you to www.showitfast.com, featuring the showit effects, lomo, borders,  brilliant adobe settings, showitweb and showitsites. 

Nitorix appeared to be represented by Forest. Forest being the person Dane "bought" in with. But, who is Forest? 

David Jay blogged about "Forest" June 7, 2005

http://opensourcephoto.blogspot.com/2005/06/showit.html

Prior to this, Forest spent a lot of time going to other online communities, posing as a member and sharing this great product he found at www.nitorix.com and sharing how he discovered it at www.opensourcephoto.net

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/printthread.php?t=759&pp=40

http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00948S

http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00AMjm

http://www.photography-forums.com/re-photo-borders-t71618.html 

http://www.printerforums.net/re-sloppy-photo-borders-t10549.html

http://hardware.mcse.ms/message126408.html

Forest's marketing attempts would match that of "Undercover Marketing", as described here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undercover_marketing

"When targeting consumers known to be consistent Internet users, undercover marketers have taken a significant interest in leveraging Internet chat rooms and forums. In these settings, people tend to perceive everyone as peers, the anonymity reduces the risk of being found out, and one marketer can personally influence a large number of people."

"If marketers fail to hide the campaign, they run considerable risk of backlash. In cases where consumers discover they have been manipulated into liking the product, they generally become angry at the marketer (and by association that product) over being misled."

I have a few questions:

Was www.opensourcephoto.net created as a tool for marketing products under the guise of an internet community forum? 

Who started opensourcephoto, David Jay or Dane Sanders?

Who is Forest?

How much of the showit line has Dane Sanders invested in?

Is it poor form to have people pay you to speak at a workshop if you are selling them something you have invested in without them knowing you make money when they buy the product? 

Is stealth marketing, non disclosure of invested interest in product endorsements and undercover marketing considered good business practice? 

If this is good business practice, is this the kind of marketing the attendee's learn at Dane Sanders marketing/business workshops and/or the Fast Track Photographer program? 

Congratulations Splephen and Sparlett! You are that much closer to entering your rockstar fairyland.

It has been exactly 99 days since our last entry. 99 days since the last time we checked our Ugly email. As any good photographer should know, 80% of a successful photography business is marketing.  We at Studio Ugly have decided to divide our time into 20% real life client photography and 80% research. Please regard this as an empty promise to bring you more Ugly in the near future!