Crowd Sourcing International

Crowd Sourcing International (CSI) was a United States-based crowdsourcing services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company was formerly known as Narc Technologies Inc. and operated a service called Narc That Car through the website Narcthatcar.com. Its model involved collecting vehicle license-plate numbers and location information from participating members and compiling those submissions into a database. According to descriptions of the service, the resulting information was intended for use by vehicle lienholders seeking to locate automobiles for repossession, as well as by law-enforcement authorities investigating stolen vehicles and responding to Amber Alerts. Members entered license-plate and location data and were compensated through small payments tied to their submissions. The program reportedly required participants to pay an initial joining fee and a recurring website fee, while also setting a monthly data-entry quota. Members could increase their potential earnings by submitting more information and recruiting additional participants. This recruitment and compensation structure attracted criticism because it resembled multi-level marketing. The Better Business Bureau serving Dallas and Northeast Texas assigned the company an F rating, citing consumer complaints and concerns about whether the offering represented a bona fide product with genuine market value. The BBB also raised questions about whether CSI’s model complied with laws governing multi-level marketing or instead approached the characteristics of an illegal pyramid scheme. It further reported that it had been unable to verify the third-party clients that CSI said purchased the information product generated by its members. The available reference material documents the company primarily as a controversial crowdsourced vehicle-data operation rather than as a conventional software, telecommunications, or automotive brand. Public information is limited, and the company’s later operating status, ownership, executive leadership, financial performance, and current website are not established in the supplied sources.

Crowd Sourcing International, abbreviated CSI, was a Dallas, Texas-based company that developed a crowdsourced vehicle-information service. Before adopting the Crowd Sourcing International name, the business was known as Narc Technologies Inc. Its principal service was called Narc That Car and was associated with the website Narcthatcar.com. The service relied on distributed data collection. Members were asked to record vehicle license-plate numbers together with location information and submit those records to the company’s database. The information was described as potentially useful to lienholders attempting to locate vehicles subject to repossession and to law-enforcement agencies looking for stolen vehicles or supporting Amber Alerts. In this respect, the business positioned itself as an intermediary that converted many individual observations into a searchable vehicle-location information product. Participation was not described as entirely free. Prospective members reportedly paid an upfront fee and a recurring monthly website fee. Members were expected to meet a monthly quota of license-plate submissions and received small payments for qualifying entries, with the possibility of earning more by submitting additional data. The company’s model also encouraged members to recruit new participants, creating a multi-level compensation structure. That structure became the central source of controversy surrounding CSI. Critics argued that the recruitment component resembled multi-level marketing and questioned whether the payments and membership fees were supported by a product with demonstrable market value. The Better Business Bureau of Dallas and Northeast Texas gave the company an F rating. Its concerns included complaints from consumers, uncertainty over whether the model complied with applicable law, and the possibility that the structure could resemble a pyramid scheme. The BBB also stated that it had been unable to verify the third-party clients whom CSI identified as purchasers of the information generated by members. The available public material does not establish the company’s founding date, ownership, senior management, financial results, later corporate activity, or whether Narc That Car remains operational. Consequently, CSI is best documented as a historically reported crowdsourcing and vehicle-data venture whose business model combined member-generated information, paid participation, and recruitment-based compensation. Its documented legacy is closely associated with questions about the commercial value of its data product and the regulatory implications of its membership structure.

• Narc Technologies Inc. operates before the CSI name

  [1]Crowd Sourcing Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  The company is identified as having previously operated under the name Narc Technologies Inc. before becoming known as Crowd Sourcing International.

• Narc That Car service is introduced

  [1]Crowd Sourcing Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  CSI operates Narc That Car, a service based on member-submitted license-plate numbers and location information.

• Business model draws BBB criticism

  [1]Crowd Sourcing Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  The Dallas-area Better Business Bureau gives the company an F rating and raises concerns about consumer complaints, product value, client verification, and the distinction between lawful multi-level marketing and an illegal pyramid scheme.

A member-powered vehicle-information service intended to supply license-plate location data to lienholders and law-enforcement users.

• Crowdsourced vehicle-information service

  Narc That Car

  Narc That Car was the company’s principal reported service. It asked participating members to collect vehicle license-plate numbers and location information, which CSI compiled into a database. The information was described as being available to vehicle lienholders seeking automobiles for repossession and to law-enforcement officials investigating stolen vehicles or responding to Amber Alerts. Participation involved fees, data-entry quotas, small payments for submissions, and recruitment-based opportunities to increase earnings.

• Better Business Bureau concerns over CSI’s membership model

  The Better Business Bureau of Dallas and Northeast Texas assigned CSI an F rating and cited consumer complaints. It questioned whether the company sold a genuine product with meaningful market value, whether its recruitment-based structure complied with multi-level-marketing law, and whether it could be distinguished from an illegal pyramid scheme. The BBB also said it could not verify the third-party clients that CSI claimed purchased the member-generated information.

  Source

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• Use a paid, recruitment-supported crowdsourcing modelStrategy

  Background

  CSI’s service depended on members entering vehicle license-plate and location data. The company reportedly combined upfront and monthly member fees, submission quotas, payments for data entry, and recruitment incentives.

  Action taken

  The company used a member network to expand data collection and encouraged participants to recruit additional members as a way to increase earning potential.

  Aftermath

  The structure generated criticism from the Better Business Bureau, which questioned the product’s market value, the verifiability of claimed clients, and whether the model complied with applicable law.

  Source

1. 1Crowd Sourcing Internationalen.wikipedia.org