"I'd like to thank the academy..."

Business awards are always interesting. Vyatta was recently named to Light Reading's Top Ten New Startups list. Of course, we were honored. Light Reading also ran a poll about who on the list had the best chances of success. Vyatta did quite well, thank you very much (if you still want to vote, you can do it here).

Anyway, at least we can talk about this one. We had a (rather large) analyst firm who called us a few months ago and told us we had won its "Technology Innovation of the Year" award for 2006 and that we were invited to a banquet in honor of all the recipients. All we had to do was pay them a large sum of money and it was all done. We could send out press releases, quote them, have reprints of their analysis, etc.

I asked how much I received if I didn't pay the extortion fee. The analyst firm said they'd FedEx us the lexan award and we couldn't put out any press releases or come to the fancy dinner. I wasn't feeling hungry, so I settled for the lexan award and no meal. If you're interested, you can drop by the Vyatta office and view our cool lexan award, but you'll have to sign an NDA and promise not to talk about it with anybody.

Imagine winning an Oscar and the academy then charging you to attend the ceremony.