He disappeared from public view more than a year and a half ago. But today, few people matter more in the advertising world than a coffee-swilling young American named Beta-7.

Beta-7 materialised on his own internet site during the summer of 2003 to tell the world that his life had been ruined. In more than 100 web postings running to tens of thousands of words, he said he had been hired to test Sega's new ESPN NFL Football video game and had experienced violent seizures as a result. Beta-7 called for action against the game maker and then fell silent - leaving behind his website,www.beta-7.com.