Sept 5 - Sept 11, 1996 / Volume V, No. 36

Begich, disheartened by this backstabbing move, threatened legal action and reported 7SenSes to the FBI for criminal fraud based on the manufacturer's claims. He's in the process of dissolving his financial relationship with the firm, and says the neurophone will have a better replacement website by this Sunday.

Moreover, he added, Earthpulse examined a Grok Box and declared it bunk. "It was just an audio amplifier with a Korean-made IC chip," says Begich. "It's an amplifier that does nothing but create bone conduction."

Within a week of the site's appearance, Earthpulse's efforts had shut it down. "One of the corporate officers decided to get foolish, and it resulted in the loss of the site - and a considerable investment," says Begich. "I'd suggest that the Grok Box is not a competing device. You could say it was a competing attempt fraught with bad intentions - and resulting in a quick curtailment of their activity."

Nonetheless, ripoffs and copycats are a risk with this kind of device. And without a patent on this particular model, it seems pretty easy to rip off. "We could make a device like this for about $150," says Dat/Em's electrical engineer. When he found out the retail price, he joked that perhaps the company should get out of the plotter business and start making neurophones.