The New eHow Scam - Canada and the UK?

Is Canada and the UK Next on the List for eHow?

eHow is getting a lot of negative buzz on personal blogs and even on their own eHow forums lately.  Based on the discrepancies between how Demand Media (the parent company for Demand Studios and eHow) pays its flat-rate eHow writers and supposed revenue sharing eHow writers (WCP) are paid, and the drama that has ensued after Demand Media mirrored the US eHow site as a UK site without the benefit of paying its writers, many writers are understandably not that impressed with Demand Studios integrity.

What's surprising is that Demand Studios appears to be forging ahead with plans to hire flat-rate writers in the UK and Canada, when you'd think what happened with the UK fiasco in the last 6 months would have made them think twice.  If not, it certainly should give writers in the UK and Canada who are considering writing for Demand Media pause.

Here's just one recent comment left on the eHow WCP forum- I can't claim to have written it, but I think it sums up well what UK and Canadian writers may have to look forward to, and why they (and the general media, frankly) should take a serious look at what eHow has been doing the last year.

Forums » eHow General » eHow Feature Feedback & Suggestion... » Here's the Deal, eHow.
posted at 3/7/2010 1:21 AM PST

gottareeson

My suggestion is that you turn your corporate attitude around, and recognize and respect your members' rights as consumers to make informed decisions about our investments on eHow, and begin to act accordingly in good faith.

Your actions to date have demonstrated nothing but chronic bad faith by consistently stonewalling, ridiculing, and censoring your members' persistent, legitimate questions and concerns.
It doesn't matter if you plan to sell eHow tomorrow or go global in "UK, Washington." Because each and every eHow representative may ultimately be held liable for his or her actions in a court of law, and most certainly in the court of public opinion.

No one who represents Demand Media or eHow to the members of this site has given one sign in a year or more that they understand or care one bit that there are human beings who are being significantly harmed by the continued lack of good faith here. Everything about eHow is a complete waste of time for its members, and a joke to its reps.
Bernie Madoff laughed too, eHow, but there comes a time when the public says enough is enough. And I don't expect your humor will play well with your Brit and Canadian audiences when they wake up and smell the switch you plan to pull on them.

You know that your corporate actions are not legal. Your CEO went to law school. Unfair competiton, corporate conflicts of interest, fraudulent inducement, and bait-and-switch tactics have been illegal for decades. You just figure you're slick enough to get away with it. And you might be right, but then again, you might not.

So go right ahead and delete this post, as you have all of the other posts that hit too close to home. It's already been documented that it was posted, and therefore seen, by your staff.

This fight is going off your turf, since you clearly don't have the decency to fairly address it on your own.