The database contains a notice that not everyone in it is necessarily guilty. "All I do," VonHeise said, "is put the information out there with both parties saying from their perspective what happened and then I let those who read it make the determination as to who they are going to believe. If I get someone coming to me and complaining about the actual information I make a "disputed" entry and let people read that as well."
The database contains thefts ranging from 20 million ISK to 700 billion ISK (from the infamous EIB scam). When asked about his inclusion of some of the smaller thefts VonHeise said, "If someone takes a small amount they have shown they cannot be trusted...If you can't be trusted with small amounts you can't be trusted with larger ones either."
VonHeise is quick to point out that this is an individual effort and not one by either his corporation or his alliance. "If it came down to it I would leave my corporation if they wanted it that way and continue with the list. I want all other corporations to have this information so they can make informed decisions about who they are bringing into their corporations," he said.
The database will not only be of interest to corporations-bounty hunters can collect ISK because several of the corporations in the database have placed bounties on their thieves. VonHeise thinks this has helped to slow down thefts. "It will help people think twice about stealing. If someone gets tempted...they will know they will be hunted."
Even pirate corporations are not immune from corporate thefts. Katie Door, CEO of The United, reported recently that two corporation members had stolen 2.5 billion in ships and equipment from their corporate hanger. "These two individuals," she said, "should not be trusted under any circumstance and should be rejected by any corporation that values honesty and integrity in its pilots." The United has placed a 100 million ISK bounty on the offenders.
Corporation security stands on two legs. First, corporations limit access to their most valuable assets. In so doing they must walk a fine line between this limitation and making sure their assets are available to benefit their corporations. Second, corporations only allow members of long standing to access their assets. This, however, is not a guarantee. As the VonHeise case proves, even a relationship of five months may still hide a criminal from view.
Now corporations have one more tool to combat thefts-the VonHeise database. Through it corporations can check their new applicants against the database to see if they have been involved in shady dealings in the past.
Back