And the two friends decided that they were just the ones to provide it. Six months later, Thomas and Young founded Cyveillance Inc., a sort of cyber-policeman. The company scours the Net for Web sites that sell product knockoffs, offer stolen content, or make defamatory remarks about Cyveillance clients. They figure the company fills a critical gap since most corporations don't have the time or the software to monitor the Web. Cyveillance products search up to 5 million Web pages a day for logos, keywords, graphics, music, and video that are on sites where they don't belong.
Clients say the service is well worth the cost.
Before contracting for the service, Dell Computer Corp. was losing millions a year in potential sales to companies that used Dell's name or logo to attract customers. In another instance, Cyveillance found that some Web sites were swiping stories from the online version of the Washington Post. The benefit ''has more than covered our costs,'' says Caroline Little, general counsel at the Washington Post's Internet operation. In a year, Brandy Thomas hopes 40 of the biggest 100 U.S. corporations will be clients, up from 15 now. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.