His plan was to pay the most vocal people 100% of their claimed amount.
That is not at all what Zhou was suggesting. Here is his plan:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=81045.msg921368#msg921368--- Disclaimer: Pure suggestion. NOT OFFICIAL ---
- Your bitcointalk.org profile or Bitcoin-OTC rating shows you as reputable and trustworthy. (50 Points)
- You can supply at least one transactional email you have received which perfectly matches our outgoing transactional email records. (30 Points)
- You can provide passport scans and you have provided to Bitcoinica (even if it's pending verification). (40 Points)
- The order of magnitude of your reported balance is consistent with our outdated accounting records. (30 Points)
- You can recall the balances exactly or very precisely. (20 Points)
- You have reported a losing position, with precise details. (20 Points)
- You have contacted Bitcoinica Support at least once since September 2011. (10 Points)
- Your email can be searched online and matches your identity. (10 Points)
- You can provide proof of Bitcoin address ownership (signature), Mt. Gox code you have used/obtained or accurate details of large transaction records (>2500 BTC) that match our hedging activity. (10 Points each kind of evidence)
- Another reputable member supports your claim. (10 Points)
- You have used wire transfer, BitInstant or AurumXchange to deposit/withdraw funds and they can verify the records. (10 Points)
- You have submitted the claim within the first 24 hours since the announcement. (10 Points)
If there are no transactional emails or support emails ever sent to the claimed address, 0 Points for now.
If you get >= 100 Points, you should be refunded immediately.
If you get >= 50 Points, you can expect partial refunds first. The percentage of partial payments will be calculated using the formula (let P be the points you get):
Partial payment in % = (P/10)^2
e.g. If you get 90 Points, you receive 81% of the claimed amount first. If you get 50 Points, you receive 25% of the claimed amount first.
The rest of the claimed amount will be honored after every request has been processed. Then we can use cross reference to match the remainder records, and hopefully a copy of database can be obtained or leaked. If needed, we can also use external moderation to decide asset ownership.
--- Disclaimer: Pure suggestion. NOT OFFICIAL ---
Now I agree that this was not a good plan, and I am happy with the strategy you guys chose to go with a more fact based approach. So no criticism there.