I think this is a brilliant move. Use up people's time, and give them an activity that benefits both your company and themselves. I see a big oportunity here for startups too!
How is this different? :)
Maybe this is different for me because I think of flash and flex as fun and not a job-related technology.
The term for this is price discrimination. Once you start looking for it, it's hard to stop: especially in luxury products like wine, jets, and investment banking (millions of dollars for "Why, yes, that is a sensible acquisition!" is clearly a luxury product), the entire game is to find people willing to pay ten times as much for the same goods, and figuring out how to make them pay it.