Capitalism sucks.

The Roquefort Files' first foray into the free market economy came to a rather abrupt end today. Ali, Josh, Helen and I had been working on an idea for some mobile phone software (with grandiose plans to turn it into a "framework" once the sponduliks started rolling in) for the past few months or so.

Everything was going reasonably well. A business plan and prototype were in the works. Ali was talking to business advisors and enterprise agencies. We were starting to use phrases like "turnkey solution", "buy in" and "leverage" without making Doctor Evil-style quote mark gestures. Josh had stopped making jokes about post-IPO parties involving Russian hookers.

During a meeting with his boss earlier this week, it turned out that Ali's current employers, during the first 9 months of his job there, had been working on a project that pretty much mirrored our idea. If you were to describe their project as x, you could describe ours as x on mobile phones.

Bugger. Sound the Intellectual Property Shafting siren, cancel my internet bride and tell my dealer I won't be needing the ten grams.

Although Ali hadn't worked on x and wasn't even aware of its existence, this is the kind of issue that would have venture capitalists turning in their graves. If they were, y'know, dead venture capitalists.

So, to cut a long story short, we've called it a day, at least until we can work up the enthusiasm to have go at a different idea. Until then, I can go back to using my spare time for hangovers and channel surfing, the way it's meant to be used.