Press Release: 1997-04-04: SegaSoft Offers $1000 of Tax Relief with Web Vengeance

This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: SegaSoft (archived)

Americans get payback against IRS in "Tax Bash" Contest

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (April 4, 1997)-Never mind that five months of our wages now go into the IRS' pocket as taxes, and the official website is slower than the U.S. Postal Service - it's time for payback and relief online. Mad-as-hell Americans can "deface" and "destroy" the IRS website with SegaSoft's Web Vengeance( (www.segasoft.com) and enter to win $1000 (without fear of audit or reprisal). 

Weary taxpayers can download Web Vengeance software from www.segasoft.com (two weapons packs available free, and additional packs to purchase), and vent their frustrations with the IRS by launching rotten vegetables, pies, fireballs and even screaming cats at the organization's official website at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/cover.html. There is no risk of resulting audit, because no real damage is done to the website in question. Clever examples of past Web Vengeance batterings can be viewed at the SegaSoft "Hall of Shame," including sites festooned with verbal insults spelled out in virtual bullet holes and other imagery. 

Taxpayers' own creative assaults to the IRS website can be uploaded to www.segasoft.com for judging in the $1000 IRS Tax Bash contest. The competition begins on Monday, April 7 and ends Tuesday, April 15, 1997; entries must be "filed" by midnight (PST) on the 15th. The winner of the most creative destruction will receive a cash prize (which the IRS will tax, of course), and have his or her "artistry" displayed in the "Hall of Shame." 

Web Vengeance operates on computers running Microsoft Windows 95 and equipped with any standard Web browser such as Netscape or MS Internet Explorer. Also required is DirectX(, a small Microsoft driver program that can be downloaded at no cost from the SegaSoft website. 

SegaSoft Desktop Distractions 
Web Vengeance is the first in a series of inexpensive, interactive desktop distractions from SegaSoft. Unlike conventional computer games, which may take dozens of hours to master and require significant memory and other computer resources, they are designed to sit on computer desktops and provide immediate gratification to almost anyone who uses a PC, with little demand on the hard drive. 

More on the Way
SegaSoft plans to introduce a series of desktop distractions in 1997, which will be available online and in shrink-wrapped packages at retailers nationwide, priced from $5 to $20. They are expected to be hot sellers among Web-weary office workers and virtually anyone who uses a PC: A 1996 survey by Find/SVP, a New York research firm, found that employees with access to the Internet spend nearly a full working day - 7.7 hours - per week online. 

About SegaSoft
SegaSoft was founded in 1995 and develops interactive software and content for PC's and the Internet. SegaSoft is a privately held company whose shareholders include CSK International Headquarters, Inc. and Sega of America, Inc. SegaSoft is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., where it employs 120 people. For more information on SegaSoft, please visit http://www.segasoft.com.