November 21, 2009

Recent Threats Added to the CMLP Database

NOTE: The information and commentary contained in this database entry are based on court filings and other informational sources that may contain unproven allegations made by the parties. The truthfulness and accuracy of such information is likely to be in dispute.

Raintree Homes v. Silverstein

Date: 07/10/2001	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (partial); Settled (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Pennsylvania	Publication: Website

In July 2001, real estate developer Raintree Homes, Inc., filed suit against Carl Silverstein alleging trademark infringement and dilution under the Lanham act and common law claims including defamation, unfair competition, and trade libel. The complaint, filed in the United States...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 07/08/2009 - 10:15am - 0 comments

Goldman, Sachs v. Morgan

Date: 04/08/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Correspondence	Location: Florida	Publication: Website

Banking and securities firm Goldman, Sachs & Co. sent a cease-and-desist letter to blogger Michael Morgan alleging that his websites infringed the firm's "Goldman Sachs" trademark. The websites -- www.goldmansachs666.com and www.goldmansachs13.com -- serve as "an open forum for...

Legal Threat - Matt C. Sanchez - 07/17/2009 - 11:47am - 0 comments

Brandon v. Wizeman

Date: 04/09/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Settled (total); Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: South Carolina	Publication: Blog

Scott Brandon, the head of an ad agency, filed a defamation lawsuit in South Carolina state court against Donald Wizeman over statements published on the Myrtle Beach Insider blog. According to The Sun News, Brandon alleged that Wizeman...

Legal Threat - Sam Bayard - 08/19/2009 - 1:54pm - 1 comments

Esfeller v. The Daily Reveille

Date: 03/16/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Louisiana	Publication: Print; Website

In March 2009, Terrance Esfeller filed a defamation lawsuit in Louisiana state court against Louisiana State University, its student newspaper The Daily Reveille, faculty advisers to the newspaper, and its top student editors. The lawsuit revolves around anonymous comments posted on ...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 04/29/2009 - 11:16am - 0 comments

First Cash Financial Services v. Yahoo! Inc.

Date: 07/30/2003	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Subpoena Enforced
Type: Subpoena	Location: California	Publication: Forum

First Cash Financial Services, a Texas-based company operating a chain of pawn shops and cash checking services, obtained a subpoena from a California state court requiring Yahoo to provide identifying information for an individual who posted anonymous comments to Fast...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 04/13/2009 - 4:35pm - 0 comments

First Cash Financial Services v. Doe

Date: 08/19/2002	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Subpoena Enforced
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California; Texas	Publication: Forum

First Cash Financial Services, a Texas-based company operating a chain of pawn shops and cash checking services, sued a John Doe defendant in Texas state court. The complaint alleged breach of contract arsing out of critical statements about the firm's...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 04/13/2009 - 4:28pm - 0 comments

Duffin v. Does

Date: 03/01/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Material Removed; Settled (partial); Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Social Network

Cyd Duffin, principal of Colony High School in Palmer, Alaska sued MySpace, Inc. and John Doe defendants for defamation and invasion of privacy over the posting of a fake MySpace profile, which falsely depicted her "as a drug-using racist with a sexually...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 07/17/2009 - 1:30pm - 0 comments

D'Amato v. Starr

Date: 05/18/2006	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Injunction Denied; Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Blog; Forum; Website

On May 18, 2006, David D'Amato filed a lawsuit against David Starr, Magic Touch Productions, Kent Barclay, and a number of website hosting companies over allegedly false and defamatory statements posted on various blogs, forums, and websites. The complaint included claims for...

Legal Threat - Reed Bienvenu - 04/09/2009 - 3:57pm - 0 comments

Hammer v. Amazon.com

Date: 08/27/2003	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Website

Self-published author Jeffrey Hammer sued Amazon.com in New York state court (later removed to federal court by Amazon) alleging libel, defamation, antitrust violations, breach of contract, and copyright violations, among others things. The dispute revolved around negative reviews of Hammer's books...

Legal Threat - Ryan Kane - 04/15/2009 - 3:47pm - 0 comments

Grand Palms Golf & Country Club v. Rapillo

Date: 10/02/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Florida	Publication: Website

On October 2, 2008, the Grand Palms Golf & Country Club in Pembroke Pines, FL filed a suit in Broward County Court against Jessica Rapillo, a New York resident. According to the New York Hospitality blog, the Grand Palms alleges...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 04/09/2009 - 12:23pm - 0 comments

Hammer v. Trendl

Date: 04/23/2002	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Website

In early 2002, self-published author Jeffrey Hammer sued Anthony Trendl in federal court in New York alleging violations of federal copyright law and defamation for negative reviews posted on Amazon about Hammer's books. Hammer also sought a temporary restraining order...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 04/09/2009 - 11:44am - 0 comments

Arizona v. Pataky

Date: 03/09/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Criminal Investigation	Location: Arizona	Publication: Blog

In March 2009, Phoenix police raided the home of Jeff Pataky, a blogger who runs Bad Phoenix Cops, a blog that has been highly critical of the Phoenix Police Department. According to The Arizona Republic, Pataky's home was raided...

Legal Threat - David Ardia - 08/03/2009 - 12:34am - 0 comments

Associated Press v. All Headline News

Date: 01/14/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Website

On January 14, 2008, the Associated Press (AP) sued All Headline News (AHN), W. Jeffrey Brown, the owner of AHN, and Danielle George, a senior editor for AHN. The AP claims that AHN is illegally copying and rewriting stories by AP reporters...

Legal Threat - Reed Bienvenu - 07/14/2009 - 2:38pm - 0 comments

Monex Deposit Co. v. Gilliam

Date: 03/04/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: Injunction Issued; Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Forum; Website

On March 4, 2009, Monex Deposit Company and Monex Credit Company (collectively "Monex"), two companies in the precious metals business, filed a lawsuit suit against Jason Gilliam, Richard Gilliam, and Steven Bowman for publishing allegedly defamatory statements on the website MonexFRAUD.com and...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 07/24/2009 - 7:29am - 0 comments

Gillespie v. Marlowe

Date: 09/16/2005	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Default Judgment; Dismissed (partial)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Ohio	Publication: Forum

George Gillespie of Ohio filed suit on September 16, 2005 against two chat room users who allegedly humiliated him in AOL chat discussions. The defendants, Bob Charpentier and Mike Marlowe, lived in Oregon and Alabama respectively at...

Legal Threat - CaityRoss - 04/06/2009 - 4:00pm - 0 comments

Red Diamond v. Neilson

Date: 10/01/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Texas	Publication: Blog

Note: This is a user-submitted description. The Red Diamond company is suing a Texas consumer for defamation, libel and business disparagement for the website www.reddiamondteaistoxic.com. A consumer discovered toxic chemicals in a jug of Red Diamond Tea and tried to get a...

Legal Threat - 04/06/2009 - 5:03pm - 0 comments

Korbel v. Does

Date: 08/29/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Forum

Korbel Champagne Cellars filed a John Doe lawsuit against 10 anonymous defendants. The defamation suit, filed in Sonoma County Superior Court, complains about a number of postings on a craigslist.org forum accusing Korbel of punishing employees who reported sexual harassment, plotting to...

Legal Threat - CaityRoss - 04/06/2009 - 2:54pm - 0 comments

Colocation America v. Garga-Richardson (Letter)

Date: 03/27/2009	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Lawsuit Filed
Type: Correspondence	Location: California	Publication: Forum

On March 27, 2009, counsel for Colocation America and Mr. Albert Ahdoot sent a cease-and-desist letter to Archie Garga-Richardson, the founder and operator of ScamFraudAlert.com. ScamFraudAlert.com is a forum site that focuses on alleged Internet scams, security threats, and fraudulent...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 05/20/2009 - 6:13pm - 0 comments

The Mortgage Specialists, Inc. v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, Inc.

Date: 11/12/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: Injunction Issued; Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New Hampshire	Publication: Website

The following is a user-submitted description: Mortgage lender Mortgage Specialists filed a petition for injunctive relief against Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, a website that reports and publishes stories concerning the US housing-finance sector. In one story, Implode Explode covered Mortgage Specialists,...

Legal Threat - 08/06/2009 - 12:12pm - 0 comments

Ezzo v. Google

Date: 03/17/2009	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Florida	Publication: Website

Jamil E. Ezzo, who holds a Supplemental Register trademark in the phrase "Locate Plastic Surgeon," sued Google, AOL.com, various plastic-surgery websites, and other defendants over their alleged use of the phrase. Ezzo's Supplemental Register trademark is a federally-registered trademark that...

Legal Threat - Matt C. Sanchez - 04/01/2009 - 11:52am - 0 comments

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Recent Threats Added to the CMLP Database

Raintree Homes v. Silverstein

Goldman, Sachs v. Morgan

Brandon v. Wizeman

Esfeller v. The Daily Reveille

First Cash Financial Services v. Yahoo! Inc.

First Cash Financial Services v. Doe

Duffin v. Does

D'Amato v. Starr

Hammer v. Amazon.com

Grand Palms Golf & Country Club v. Rapillo

Hammer v. Trendl

Arizona v. Pataky

Associated Press v. All Headline News

Monex Deposit Co. v. Gilliam

Gillespie v. Marlowe

Red Diamond v. Neilson

Korbel v. Does

Colocation America v. Garga-Richardson (Letter)

The Mortgage Specialists, Inc. v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries, Inc.

Ezzo v. Google

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Recent Threats Added to the CMLP Database

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Recent Lawsuit Threats

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