From the desk of the Acting CEO:

It's been a hectic few days here. Due to having to juggle several balls at once, I have not commented on this situation as much as I would like to. Due to how it could affect others, and the gravity of the situation, it is also necessary that I be careful with what I say.

Due to time constraints, I have not been able to put together a formal press announcement as I would have liked. In fact, this might not be the worst of times to mention two positions Industrial Memetics would like to fill:

CFO - We need someone to secure funding and manage our finances. Do not attempt to contact us unless you are serious about and capable of doing both. Experience working with technology companies and an understanding of the internet media and internet security space is required.

Corporate Communications / Business Development - Handle PR functions. Be able to take, arrange, and express information such as that in this message and turn it into press releases, and communicate it to interested parties and the press. Responsible for maintaining relationships with vendors and partners. Must be able to author basic HTML, be skilled at document creation, and have experience with negotiation teams as both a member and a leader.

Both positions have a starting pay rate of zero. I can be contacted by email at nick @at@ nicklevay.net.

Ciscopocalypse Press Release Notes
- Industrial Memetics Circles The Wagons
* Events
--- Tom Cross has stepped down as the CEO of Industrial Memetics in order to avoid any conflicts of interest surrounding the Cisco/ISS/Lynn situation.
--- Nick Levay has taken over management of Industrial Memetics as the Acting CEO.
--- A number of Industrial Memetics projects have been put on hold.

* Positions
--- Industrial Memetics strongly supports Mike Lynn.
--- Industrial Memetics has no desire to become involved in litigation.

* Disclosure
--- Industrial Memetics offered Mike Lynn a position on July 4, 2005.
---- Mike Lynn to date has not accepted.
---- While Industrial Memetics was aware of Mike's research, no information or details were ever shared.
--- Industrial Memetics is in severe need of a round of funding.
---- Baseline is two million dollars
--- Industrial Memetics financial situation will in no way impact MemeStreams website operations, unless we experience a traffic increase of several orders of magnitude.

* Talking Points - The great battles at the dawn of this millennium center around culture.
--- In the global struggle against violent extremism, we must defeat the dangerous fundamentalist elements of middle-eastern culture.
--- In the global struggle for security, we must defeat the dangerous and broken elements of our own security culture.
--- Terrorists can be fought abroad, but we are fully capable of being our own worst enemy and their greatest aid here at home.
--- Communication is key to this battle. Threats do not go away when you bury them. They grow roots and they spread like vines.
--- At the heart of our cultural struggle lie issues surrounding how we share and utilize information pertaining to threats.
--- As we build the marketplace for information, we must not lose sight of the big picture that surrounds our very short but fruitful history of promoting freedom in all its forms. Free markets, free culture, free expression, and free innovation are all essential to our success.
--- The concept of Intellectual Property has been finding itself often invoked without an understanding of the nature of the Intellectual Assets at hand.
--- We fully acknowledge that all people deserve freedom and liberty. We also accept that the pursuit of happiness is not enough. In our pursuit, we must achieve beauty. The pursuit of the hacker is to create beauty with technology. The duty of the hacker is to protect the masses with technology.

- Tom Cross quotes
-- I think its appropriate for this community to be able to express its views without implicating any conflicts of interest that I may have, so I am stepping back for now. The perspective of this community belongs to the community and not to me or Nick or anyone else.
-- there has been absolutely nothing from any of the parties involved in this dispute that has prompted this action
-- This is simply a precautionary measure that I am taking to avoid any potential problems and to ensure the freedom of the people in this comunity to express their views.

- Nick levay quotes
-- I look forward to seeing if what happens in Vegas, truly stays in Vegas.