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[NewHorizon]

Isn't it worse for Prosper to be blogging about it?

+1.  The article won't be pulled.  So all Prosper did, in the end, was direct more attention to it.

[Tokyo Joe]

Isn't it worse for Prosper to be blogging about it?

I think it's a blunder.  It looks defensive and rattled.

[Urbi_et_Orbi]

What y'all have been wating for.
http://www.americanbankingnews.com/2010/01/20/slate-questions-riskiness-of-prosper-marketplace-peer-to-peer-lending/

Actually, after a quick read, it seem like pretty objective reporting.

2 paragraphs about the article.  4 paragraphs discussing Prosper's response.  That's pretty much what we expected.

Also, LOL at the site comments on the right hand side.  Suddenly, everyone is loving the knowledgable reporting of ABN. 

[DakotahFury]

Am I the only one that thinks this may be the beginning of the end?

[bamalucky]

Am I the only one that thinks this may be the beginning of the end?

I'll wager counsel has already been consulted to fire off a lawyer letter.

[DakotahFury]

Am I the only one that thinks this may be the beginning of the end?

I'll wager counsel has already been consulted to fire off a lawyer letter.

Standard...the company goes under, the customers get the shaft, but the lawyers make out just dandy. 

[pacino58]

Am I the only one that thinks this may be the beginning of the end?

I think that it could be, they have to be getting very, very low on cash.

Also, tomorrow is lunch conference for class action.  So we have an update of the case to look forward to as well.

[Urbi_et_Orbi]

Still only 2 comments to this thing, including Prosper linking to their refute.

ETA: Ironic that Prosper wants to include a comment on the Big Money article to refute it, but still will not allow people to comment on their refute.

[christoofar215]

It occurs to me that Prosper MIGHT have had some success pre-emptively mitigating the damage of thebigmoney article had they constructively engaged the ORG community long ago instead of actively ostracizing it.

Ugh ORG was created because Prosper kept poofing the forums.   Prosper never embraced people talking objectively about its structure or discussing strategy with borrowers in the room actually looking at it.   Of course there was the usual forum-based drama (what site doesn't have that), but just simply deleting the whole thing wasn't about "we can't moderate this site so we give up."

Proof of that is 112233's receipt of angry lawyer letters for ProsperReport on the flimsiest of domain-name confusion arguments, and more cycles of Prosper creating forums and then poofing them.



That's the real reason why we exist over here; because Prosper wastes more energy trying to hide the bodies than it does collecting from borrowers.

[xraider]

The assumption that Prosper had or will fire off a lawyer letter led to my emailing about prosperreport.com.  I also agree that Prosper's two and a half years of ignoring criticism, initially constructive, and attempting to marginalize unhappy lenders is leading to the happy day of its going out of business!

[Senator]

Am I the only one that thinks this may be the beginning of the end?

I think the beginning of the end came when Prosper poofed their original forums.

[Mtnchick]

Allowing a link to the Prosper "refute" (which was weird because if you really look at it, it says that the article was correct, just spins it in different directions) is more than Prosper should have gotten in response. After seeing that, I can't imagine a retraction is in the works - especially since again, the article was correct.

I love it when Pro-Prosper people talk about the scammers that cost them money - HELLO! That's because Prosper ALLOWED them to scam. They removed all the PII, they removed all discussions regarding tracking down scammers, they didn't do any kind of vetting on the borrower, they didn't follow up when they were hand fed specific information regarding scammers - even before the loans were given, and they ignored their own buyback terms.

[NewHorizon]

Am I the only one that thinks this may be the beginning of the end?

I think the beginning of the end came when Prosper poofed their original forums.

I myself mark the beginning of the end as the time Prosper wiped clean any Prosper user profiles mentioning prospers.org.  (And yet I continued to lend.  Go figger.)

[Urbi_et_Orbi]

In the interest of ensuring a high standard of discussion and reporting, let's hope Prosper will allow ALL comments submitted to its "refute" blog post.

[bamalucky]

I can't believe they admitted to 61% of lenders losing money. Of course then they go on & compare it to the S&P..

Why not compare it to the 0% you can get just by keeping your money?