Last Updated February 1st, 2010 -- Click Here

They are now closed and I, James S. Grady of Littleton, Colorado. USA. have control of the domain names, as well as all logs and records. They will not be returning as illegal file trading forums / boards / sites. The former proprietors, members and financial supporters all violated the Copright Laws of the United States and are likely to be sued.

Over the last 18 months these sites, the administrators of them, the file contributing visitors and the financial supporters, have done great damage to myself and many, many other small business persons world wide. The illegal posting of our content has caused many sites to close, revenues to drop as much as 60%, and people to be laid off.

One popular model recently had to drop out of college because the revenue she counted on for the last three years suddenly dropped when "TomTom" and "Platoon" (WP Admins and partners) made her a premium model and started giving all her content away -- not just a few pictures, but all of the content of her site.

An entire section of the forum was dedicated solely to my work. It took me years to get any good at the pretty girl pictures business, and monthly it takes tens of thousands of dollars to maintain my sites and continue to produce successful, highly marketable content. The idea of these people stealing from me day after day was a huge thorn in my side. My mean side wanted to just drive over to "Platoon's" house and beat his punk ass with a baseball bat.

The entire situation disgusted me and I decided to see what could be done through proper legal channels. It was a time consuming and expensive pursuit, but well worth it. Over the next few weeks -- when I have a few minutes between lawyer meetings and lawsuit preparation -- I'll be posting a series of short stories or blog entries here laying it all out, step by step.

Step 1 -- Identification and Evidence Collection

I hired a private investigator (former FBI agent) in Dayton to follow him and dig into his operation. This included going into his trash that was placed on public property in the alley behind his house and business. That was a goldmine of information, including printed receipts showing the full name and address of persons that donated to the WP-Board operation to help pay server and other expenses.

He went so far as to use a variety of fake return addresses for t-shirt shipping, but it wasn't enough to keep the skilled investigator from tracking him down.

The investigator, and others working with me online, simply located and organized a pile of rock solid evidence of copyright infringement (direct, contributory and vicarious) and many other actions that would take mister "Platoon" and his illegal file trading friends into court for years to come. That would include a possible prison sentence such as Daniel Dove (click here for info)

I am not using "Platoon's" real name in this outline. I agreed to that as part of a fast settlement discussed in Step 2.

Step 2 -- Preparing to Sue or Settle.

A Federal Lawsuit was prepared claiming copyright infringement and unfair competition. The suit was not filed, just prepared. On the evening of June 9th I flew 1220 miles from my home in Colorado to Dayton, Ohio so I could personally confront "Platoon". The private investigator met me at "Platoon's" shop the afternoon of June 10th. There was no threats or physical contact except the normal introductory handshake.

In addition to the lawsuit I had with me a few copies of the 125 pieces of solid evidence we had compiled. I also had a 7 page cover letter from me to him (without lawyers involved) explaining who I was, what I knew, and what it would be like to be tied up in Federal Court as a struggling businessman with a small child. It also contained a proposed pre-trial settlement. The idea of me getting ownership of the domain names was not in that letter.

I was in his shop about 5 minutes and asked him to let me know by phone within two hours if he wished to accept the settlement offer or if I should have my people file the suit later that afternoon.

He called before the two-hour deadline passed and agreed to all my terms. He mentioned in that call he was leaving the entire file trading and sharing scene rather than face other angry webmasters like myself. At that time I offered a reasonable amount in cash for the domain names and sites. He accepted.

The more formal settlement gave me all logs, records, files, back-ups and other materials related to the WP forums. It also gave me access to the server by FTP to retrieve other potential evidence, as well as to the admin control panel of the forum software. It's all mine, as part of the purchase.

"Platoon's" real name will not be used here. In truth he seems to be a pretty good guy -- hard working at his own shop building important items needed by our military. He seems to have been led astray by the other admin known as "TomTom" who hides in Germany and gets other people to put servers, t-shirt sites and other items in their own names.

Step 3 -- Hanging a Pirate

That is my plan in the case of WP posters of my content. I'm going to hang a few out for the rest to see.

With TomTom hiding in his little German rat-hole, and others foolishly following his every word and acting all tough behind the fake screenames, I know that the illegal posting and sharing of my content will not soon be stopped. I've decided to "Discourage by Example". I'm going to actively pursue in the Federal Court at least 5, and more likely 8-10, of the biggest posters of my content.

The logs, files, IP addresses and other things collected in the last 60 days make it so darn rock solid that a beginning lawyer fresh out of law school could win each case.

First I'll send a "Cease & Desist" letter as required by the local rules of most Federal Courts. That letter is formal lawyer sounding information and offers a settlement. Some take it, some ignore it, and some in the past have even been dumb enough to try and fight and go into court saying they have a right to do what they want with my works. I've never lost a copyright suit.

I do the most basic work of C & D letters myself. If we actually have to file against any of these foolish people it will be handled by the lawyers that have been helping all along.

The persons I have selected to sue thus far are:

• NAME REMOVED -- The person known on WP-Board.com and other trading sites as "Zabalokis" and "DPBofTX" has settled the matter for $20,000.00 -- see the update below dated July 1st.

• NAME REMOVED -- The person known on WP-Board.com and other trading sites as "IDigit" has settled the matter for $20,000.00 -- see the update below dated July 1st.

• NAME REMOVED -- The person known on WP-Board.com and other trading sites as "Denshaman" has settled the matter for $20,000.00 -- see the update below dated August 25th.

• Paul McDermott of Rensselaer, New York. Known on WP-Board.com as "crzydude".

• Paul Sullivan of Billerica, Mass. Known on WP-Board.com as "ILVSandra". Was served a C&D letter, did not reply, will be included in first suit.

• Richard Hillary at University of Texas at Austin. Known on WP-Board.com as "CharlieDodgson" and in law school of all crazy things.

• Peter Droubay of Alexandria, Virginia. Known on WP-Board.com as "datagram".

• Chad Carlson of Sarasota, Florida.

What is Next?

I encourage you to check back here often. I'll post more as soon as time allows. If you have questions or comments please feel free to send them using the form below and I'll reply as soon as possible.

James S. Grady
40 W. Littleton Blvd #210
Littleton, CO. USA. 80120
1-877-686-5393.

Latest News -- June 20th, 2009

I can't do it. I simply do not have to time to participate in all the forums and discussions. Remember, I do have a fun business to manage and enjoy. I have trips to "On Location" projects in South Florida and The Virgin Islands to plan over the next several weeks, and of course to deal with these copyright violators directly.

The best thing for me is to simply post the latest news and information right here. That way I only have to type data once and don't have to spend too much time surfing all over the Internet from forum to forum, site to site, etc.

If you have a question you would like answered please use the form below and I'll reply by email as soon as possible. Be careful to type your email address correctly.

I have photo shoots all of today and Sunday (21st). I'll try to update this page early Monday the 22nd. For now consider these tidbits.

• The case is expanding. I'll be adding a couple of guys to the list above next week. About a dozen other website owners have been in touch and are looking for copies of my records so they can pursue actions against others.

• Some of the illegal traders are taking legal advice from other illegal traders, rather than hire their own lawyers. They do so without even knowing the name of the person giving them advice and sending them email, private forum messages or ICQ discussions. That is the funniest thing I ever heard. Taking legal advice from somebody with an anonymous screenname. Some of these fools are just plain funny. One guy emailed me and said he can't be found guilty because the cops have never given him his legal rights! I almost fell out of my chair laughing. Talk about somebody that watches way too much "Law & Order".

  These are civil matters and lawsuits, not a murder case wrapped up in 60 minutes of TV time!

• Chad Carlson -- taking advice from some anonymous screenname "lawyer" even sent another webmaster an email claiming he had hired such and such lawyer and that we (webmasters) didn't know what we are talking about and how we (webmasters) should be refreshing ourselves with "free domain laws". I have no idea what he meant, but whatever. Chad Carlson later admitted he was taking "legal advice" from some Tampa area bodybuilder that was once in a lawsuit 6-7 years ago.

  Let me make one thing perfectly clear. I approve of the defendants hiring lawyers. It is the best thing that can happen. Lawyers will discuss the matters without emotion, and once they see the records and know the whole story, they will talk sense into their clients. I hope many of them spend the money to hire lawyers that are familiar with Federal Courts, copyright laws, obscenity laws and more.

  In the case of the young man sending the emails telling another webmaster to back down and that he had hired a lawyer. That was welcome. As I just said -- I welcome discussing this matter with lawyers. As soon as the lawyers talk to me and learn the whole story they always tell their client to settle ASAP.

  With that in mind I called and emailed the lawyer Chad Carlson mentioned so that I could arrange to send him some documented information. The lawyer he claimed to have hired and to be defending him and giving him advice had never heard of him. Never. Didn't have the guy in his files, didn't know the guy, had never heard of WP-Board.com (until I gave him the link).

  Chad Carlson simply lied to the other webmaster. That of course hurts his case. He claimed to know nothing and have nothing to hide, but now he is on record as very clearly being a liar.

  I wonder how many other of the violators are taking such great legal advice from persons online that hide behind anonymous screennames.

• I have extended the deadline for pre-filing settlement on a couple of matters simply because I'm behind schedule getting C & D letters out (another reason I must avoid attending every forum or show where this is being discussed). It's just a couple of extra days, but its fair.

• Many other webmasters have asked me to help them with issues related to WP-Board.com. I'm sorry, but I can't. I simply don't have any spare time. They are welcome to come visit and review everything I have, but I can't act on their behalf.

• More over the weekend. As soon as time allows -- maybe even after my shoots today -- I'll try to post more, starting right at this spot.

Latest News -- July 1st, 2009

Denshaman has called from Japan, crying like the little punk he is. He claims he is just a student living on a small stipend -- blah, blah, blah.... He is a loser thief and nothing more. He was given a few days to discuss the matter with his friends and parents, then get back with me with a settlement offer. Its amazing how tough these guys are online, and how whimpy they are in real life. I also heard from Tetsuo Tamai, Chair, Committee for Information Ethics, The University of Tokyo. Seems they are also looking into the online activities of young Denshaman. As I told him on the phone -- I hope they kick his ass out of school right into the Pacific Ocean.

My back injury from the 1997 ATV crash flared back up on the 22nd and had me laid up most of the last 10 days -- even delaying my trip to Florida and causing photo shoots to be canceled. It seems to have settled back down a bit and I should be able to follow through on a few of the guys that have yet to be served.

Digging through the WP-Board site data has been very time consuming. The forum is now back online so that all posts through the 9th of June can be reviewed. Some people are stupid enough to think that I'm lying about that -- TomTom told them in various posts that I didn't have anything. I didn't have the database, didn't have names, logs, emails, files, etc.

TomTom is a liar and nothing more. Why people would trust a guy that got them into this mess? Below is a small sample (click it to see full size). That is the board, fully active as it was on June 9th, 2009. Its the TTB section showing IDigit's posting of the TTB update for 06/04/09 (last before WP was purchased by me and closed). As you can see -- I am viewing it in Firefox 3.5, which wasn't released until June 30th, 2009 (confirm here). I guess some people better stop taking advice from TomTom. He lied -- I DO HAVE the entire board (purchased from the real owner) and have TONS of logs and proof.

All those people claiming they never been there, never knew my stuff was posted there, never downloaded or uploaded -- all the lies just piss me off. It is time to cut the crap boys -- cut the crap!

Latest News -- July 16th, 2009

Between the 4th of July Holiday and a bunch of photo shoots I haven't really had too much time to work on this stuff. Finally, today and tomorrow I'm free and can get back at it. It just amazes me how this has unfolded. Some of the guys we are finding in that forum -- I thought of them as friends. Some had been loyal customers for many years, then when WP-Board came along with all this stolen content they vacate me. But, at the same time pop up on AIM or Yahoo telling me how great this new model is, or that set of photos is, etc. The nerve to send compliments for stuff they are stealing.

Off to work I go.... two losers are being sent C & D letters today, then all Friday for research on the WP logs and forum records.

Latest News -- August 25th, 2009

The person known as "Denshaman" has settled for $20,000.00 and made his first payment.

Two persons have refused contact with me and seem to be ignoring it all. In some ways thats good. Settlements are all fine and good, but having an actual court case take place is better because I can use it to show people what they face. I thought Denshaman would hold out and be my test case, but he didn't. Looks like Paul Sullivan and a guy from Florida (don't have files with me right now) will be the guys to be sued. I'm hoping to get it done in September, but I have a bit more travel planned first. Stay Tuned!

Latest News -- October 9th, 2009

(h) Subpoena To Identify Infringer. -

* (1) Request. - A copyright owner or a person authorized to act on the owner's behalf may request the clerk of any United States district court to issue a subpoena to a service provider for identification of an alleged infringer in accordance with this subsection.

* (2) Contents of request. - The request may be made by filing with the clerk -
(A) a copy of a notification described in subsection (c)(3)(A);
(B) a proposed subpoena; and
(C) a sworn declaration to the effect that the purpose for which the subpoena is sought is to obtain the identity of an alleged infringer and that such information will only be used for the purpose of protecting rights under this title.

Notice it says "a copyright owner", and nothing about it having to be a lawyer.

But, thats in the past now. Most subpoenas have been replied to properly, and a few others are due next week. Now we finally get to act against these assholes -- I can see some divorces coming down the road here for sure, and for that I am very happy.

A consortium of private parties, German investigators and German attorneys have finally tracked down the asshole Thomas Kossatz, also known as "TomTom" and "The Ol' Mighty" and "The AllMighty". This is the guy that most of the other photo posting buttbuddies bow down to and praise as their god.

Just in case any of the ball-lickers that love him so much want to warn him, drop a letter in the mail to:

Thomas Kossatz
Zwischen den Bruecken 9
21514 Buechen
Germany

Now that we have that jerk we can move forward at a fast pace. It appears old Thomas Kossatz is a press official for a politician named Dr. Christel Happach-Kazan.

Dr. Christel Happach-Kazan
Bundestag: Bundestag
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin
Tel: 030 / 227 70 205
Fax:030 / 227 76 113

Click Here For Translation

You can also see his photo here / grey shirt

Thomas Kossatz
AKA: TomTom

So, this is how it is going to play out from this point forward. Two suits are being prepared for copyright infringement (varying degrees), unfair competition and other issues.

The first suit, likely filed in February, will be in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Federal Court) in Tampa. That suit will name all those listed above that have not settled, and all those within the United States that provided financial support to the old WP-Board site(s). Yes, this is new from my previous thoughts, but the lawyers feel that we need to attack all those that supported the website as a haven for copyright infringement and other illegal activities.

Every single person that ordered a t-shirt, or made other donations, to get additional privileges at the WP-Board site(s) will be named, along with a series of "John Does" defendants (which covers a few that we do not yet have exact or confirmed names and addresses for). You can review a full list of these assholes on the lower part of this page. If you are on that list, I suggest you have your lawyer contact me as soon as possible.

Additionally, another webmaster and myself have retained a German lawyer to go directly after Thomas Kossatz, and any others we can trace to the same German Judicial jurisdiction. I'm not sure exactly how their system works, but I'm told its a faster system than here in the USA, and Thomas Kossatz is a very easy target based on the significant digital trail he has left over the years. As for the others in Germany -- I don't know much about them right now, but the German law firm insist we go after all we can in their area so as to seem fair before the courts.

This, of course, is a bit of a pain in the ass -- but Thomas Kossatz is a dirty little rat that left all his online butt licker buddies out to dry and to pay for his lies and foolishness. Its worth the money to burn that guy for sure!

Latest News -- October 29th, 2009

TomTom is proving himself to be nothing more than a scared little sewer rat.

Thomas Kossatz -- its time to put your big boy panties on and take my calls or answer my emails.

Dr. Christel Happach-Kazan is going to be ruined by her association with you. Two of us have hired law firms in Germany and the noose is about to close on you -- and Dr. Christel Happach-Kazan will be caught in the middle. Her support of you and your actions will ruin her TomTom. Time you stood up like a man -- stop hiding TomTom.

Other news -- The defendant / asshole list is still here but I moved it to the bottom of this page. These are the persons we will be going after as soon as we can get all the information properly prepared. A few of them have been in contact and agreed to simple settlements. In the last 2 weeks 3 persons on that list have hired lawyers and the lawyers initiated contact with my lawyers or myself. In two of those three discussions the lawyers advised their clients to settle quickly (the third also asked to settle before suit is filed but no agreement has been reached thus far).

Since posting those names on October 9th about 20 of the people have called me. Most seem honest, but two of the fools actually tried to lie their way out of it! All that does is make me more pissed off.

One guy claimed he registered at WP and paid for a t-shirt so he could help me! Ha, Ha, Ha... that fucking idiot expected me to believe he was supporting that site just so he could check and see if my photos or videos had been posted there. What a fool -- expecting me to believe that crap!

A second guy called and said I shouldn't include him in my suit because he once joined my site. What is he thinking -- just because he once (in 2002) paid me $19.95 I should allow him to steal from me from that point until now? Isn't that dumb thinking sort of like buying a loaf of bread and expecting the same store to allow you to carry several cases of beer out the back door?

Another guy called and said that he was told at another forum that he can't be sued because he didn't post my stuff, only downloaded and supported the site by purchasing a t-shirt. Of course -- that is also just a line of bullshit. I wish these guys would stop listening to the so-called "experts" they meet under anonymous screennames in chatrooms and other illegal forums. Those anonymous posters are not going to come into court and help.

The absolute truth is that if they hire a lawyer, or review the laws and court cases carefully, they will learn that these are actually very simple cases. Its easy as fuck to prove because we have their purchase records from the t-shirt site they used to financially support the illegal WP trading / posting. Just read this one quote from the Federal Courts:

        "Liability for contributory copyright infringement attaches when 'one who, with knowledge of the infringing activities, induces, causes or materially contributes to the infringing conduct of another.' ... The standard for the knowledge requirement is objective, and is satisfied when the defendant knows or has reason to know of the infringing activity."

Thats it, Very simple for me. They are all guilty as hell because all I have to prove is that those on the asshole list (see below) knew of the infringements going on at the WP sites (simple, because those sites had NO OTHER PURPOSE) and that they contributed to it (all those on asshole list contributed financially!). I moved those names to the bottom of this page too -- seems they are being indexed by Google, so might as well make it easy for people to see what those assholes have been up to.

Like I have said many times before -- I advise all those assholes that participated in the WP sites to hire lawyers. Its the best thing that can happen for me. Its easy to deal with lawyers. They almost always tell their clients to settle fast. There has been only one exception -- and that was a lawyer that advised his client to let me sue, then file for bankruptcy to avoid paying because they client was a broke dick that also has criminal charges pending in his local area.

No matter the case -- I am available to talk rationally most business days at 1-877-686-5393. If anybody -- lawyer or asshole -- wants to discuss the matters before a suit is filed, they are welcome to call.

WARNING:  I do not take any crap. If you call me intending to lie, don't bother. You need to remember -- I know the facts and have documentation to back it up. I also have the law on my side. As soon as you start some lying crap about how you joined and / or supported WP to help me, I'll just hang up and move on -- leaving you to make that argument in court.

Today's last comment refers to those that wish to contact me to discuss matters, talk settlement or just state their opinion (negative or positive, both are welcome). There are only two ways to contact me in reference to this matter. -- the toll-number of 1-877-686-5393 and the form below. No other way is acceptable. Emails sent to my websites are ignored -- the guys answering them are not in charge of the copyright issues. If you want to email me, use the form below.

Funny Thing -- each week some big bad brave keyboard tough guy uses the form below to send me some smart ass message, but uses a fake email address like "1234@1234.com". What fools -- little scared boys hiding in mommy's basement. If you have something to say that you think I should know -- why hide? Why run scared? Why lay around in the fetal position sucking your thumb?. I'm a man -- if you can't man up and give your email address to start a true discussion, don't bother. I don't have time for scared little child like keyboard tough guys that aren't man enough to have a discussion. Grow up before trying to state an opinion with me -- anything less is meaningless trash and deleted before review.

Latest News -- November 3rd, 2009

I'm writing today to make a couple of quick points:

If you want to talk to me about this matter -- or some sort of settlement -- it has to be done man to man. In the past week I have received dozens of calls. All have gone fine except for two idiots that want to talk about a settlement without giving their name. That is just about the dumbest thing I have ever heard -- how in heavens name can we discuss anything of a legal matter without the person on the other end of the phone being man enough to state his name, much less be honest about his illegal activities? If you are not man enough to even give your name, you are not worth my time. In both cases where the fool wouldn't introduce himself on the phone I simply hung up. I don't have time for such silliness.

Its actually sort of funny -- the callers that refuse to give their names, like the guy from Maple Grove, Minnesota. 55369 (Name Removed, Pending Settlement), are just like those tough guy keyboard jockeys I talked about a few days ago. They think they are heroic, tough, badass and important when they are hiding in mommy's basement stealing the works of many, many webmasters -- but when its time to come out in the light, they are nothing more than whimpy little children. This fool called on the 2nd, refused to give his name, and I hung up. No time for loser children. Then he called back from his cell and left a voicemail. He sounds just like the silly little punk mommy's boy I describe all these dumb fools as being.

I just finished a long email exchange with the German lawyer we have hired to go after Thomas Kossatz / TomTom. Part of the discussion was about the political party TomTom works with. Here is a quote -- clearly our German lawyer is looking forward to dealing with TomTom and his political party!

I can't wait until Thomas Kossatz has to explain to his friends why he was running the illegal file trading site, and why that site contained illegal files -- such as the Traci Lords and A Little Agency (ALA) images that have been found to violate the UA child porn laws. Its should be fun and I hope it happens during my trip there.

I again left a phone message for Thomas Kossatz Monday, but the little scare boy again has failed to call back.

Thats all for now. I am not taking any further calls, replying to any emails or making any further updates here until after my photo project ends on the 11th. I leave you with yet another photo of scared boy TomTom.

Thomas Kossatz
AKA: TomTom

Latest News -- November 12th, 2009

No news from Germany in the last few days -- but that was planned while I was out of town.

A couple of the guys emailing me tried that same fucking dumb crap -- trying to lie their way out of shit. One guy claims he never posted there, but it took just 2 minutes to bring up the log book and see he had posted almost 400 times!

Some people are such idiots! We have EVERYTHING -- forum logs, files, server logs from two hosts, forum history, cache files and more and more and more. As you can see from the scan above -- its all nicely bound and ready to present in court should the need arise!

Why people are such foolish buttlickers and think they can lie their way out of a mess is beyond me. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb....

The truth is I've remove a bunch of names from the list and settled the matter for as little as $750 -- with half going to a charity -- for people that have been man enough to call, answer a few questions honestly, and move on.

Why some dumb TomTom Buttlickers want to keep lying and looking stupid I don't know.

Anyway, to each his own. They can act all tough and rough hiding behind their tiny keyboards in mommy's basement if they want -- the day is coming soon that they will have to come out in the light and face the consequences.

I only reply to messages sent using the form below. Anything sent directly to my sites or personal email is deleted without review or reply. Remember, you can review the partial defendant / asshole list on this page, below comment box.

Latest News -- November 17th, 2009

Agreed with others to finally set a date. December 15th, 2009. Last day to negotiate any type of settlements.

Latest News -- December 7th, 2009

In the Robert Gibbs matter -- I offered a very fair and simple $750.00 settlement, and now they (Asshole Robert Gibbs and his lawyer) have fucked around so much that they let the 30-day settlement period pass. That offer is now withdrawn. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Got a letter from some law firm in Germany. Its written in German -- but sent to me in the United States (well known to be an English speaking country). I guess the lawyers in Germany are just stupid fucks that can't figure out that not all 330 million people in the USA speak the native language of their country.

So, I just have to guess what the letter says. In my opinion, based on a few words I can decipher, the letter seems to indicate that Dr. Christel Happach-Kazan and Thomas Kossatz (AKA: TomTom) are weird sexual partners and that she has the penis that she sticks up his punk ass.

That would make perfect sense -- we all know he isn't man enough to even talk to me man to man, or stand up for all the damage he has done people, so it is likely that a women would dominate him and he takes it up his punk ass. Then again, I could be wrong. Maybe the letter says TomTom licks the dildo when she pulls it out of his ass, but I don't know for sure.

Of course, if anybody reading this knows any of the dumb fucks at that German Law firm of Klahn * Gebhardt * Ziethen they could inform them that I am an American and live in an English speaking country and can't read their fucking excuse letter for Dr. Christel Happach-Kazan & TomTom's actions -- sexual or otherwise.

Frankly, why would they want to talk to me anyway? Its their buddy TomTom that started this mess and I am just defending myself, my income, my work and that of many others. They can write me all they want -- but until TomTom pays for his actions, they can go jump in the ocean for all I care.

I only reply to messages sent using the form below. Anything sent directly to my sites or personal email is deleted without review or reply. Remember, you can review the partial defendant / asshole list on this page, below comment box.

Latest News -- December 13th, 2009

Two funny things happened while down here. The first relates to former TrueTeenBabes, TrueBabes and Playboy model Loredana Jolie. Check the news and you'll see she has been linked to some of the Tiger Woods exploits. I have taken DOZENS of calls about her and my photos with her. The funny point is that The Globe, The National Enquirer and a British Tabloid called "The Daily Mail" all had the style to call and ask permission to use my photos in stories. None of them, like the dingbats at the former WP Board site, thought that because it was on the internet they could just use it.

Next up was a series of emails from a lawyer that represents Darren McGeary of 44 Corina Court, in Waterliet, New York. I can't say for sure, but my opinion is that this lawyer just wants to run up a HUGE bill on the client. He keeps emailing, faxing, writing lawyers and making demands, etc. The deal could have been settled in October for a tiny little $500, butt this guy is running up the client's bill almost daily over the last few days. It all smells so sleazy to me. The McGeary guy could have been off the hook for $250.00 to cover my costs, and a $250.00 charity donation -- but the lawyer guy wanted all these special terms added to the settlement. He must not have understood two things -- #1, how simple this stuff really is. Pay my costs, make a tiny charity donation, sign saying you did it and promise not to do it again -- easy grade school shit and #2, I am running this shit. His fucking asshole client was the bad guy. He was the one stealing from me and dozens of other sites. They ARE NOT in a position to bargain or negotiate.

Darren McGeary of 44 Corina Court, in Waterliet, New York was a player at WP. I was prepared to let some stuff slide, but now his lawyer wants to play a tiny war game to run the bill up. As soon as I'm back in the office and have time to bring up the database I hope to add to this post a few of the facts about Darren McGeary of 44 Corina Court, in Waterliet, New York, and the comments he made on WP and the things states he wants to do to certain girls, etc. He should have just settled -- now the whole town will know who Darren McGeary of 44 Corina Court, in Waterliet, New York is and what he does in his spare time.

His lawyer simply doesn't know me. I am not bound by any ethics or bar association rules or courtroom decorum. I am right here going for the throat and I am not afraid of exposing the truth about his loser client. Not scared of Darren McGeary of 44 Corina Court, in Waterliet, New York or his lawyer.

Latest News -- December 16th, 2009

Now I'm getting voicemails at 1:00am, and about a dozen overnight emails, saying "we need more time". My answer is FUCK YOU! You and / or your fucking asshole client didn't delay when it came time to steal from me and 100 other webmasters. The assholes have had since June 10th to get this shit settled and I am not about to be talked into any more extensions of time like I have been twice already. No bullshit excuses are allowed here -- just as they are not allowed in the courts.

Those two lawyers that wanted to act all tough need to stop billing their clients. This shit was so easy. Just yesterday (15th) two lawyers contacted me for the first time by phone. They both apologized for their clients actions, explained that the clients are sorry, and asked to figure a fair way to settle things. One settled for $750.00 and was given 30 days to complete the paperwork and pay, the other was removed from the list without having to pay anything based on his very, very minimum activities on the old WP. Overall it took just about 15 minutes with each of them.

But then you have lawyers Doug Kerns acting for Robert Gibbs of 1224 "C: Street #4 Lincoln, Nebraska, 68502 and Joseph Glazer acting for Darren McGeary of 44 Corina Court, in Waterliet, New York, trying to screw around and make excuses and drag things out day after day after day. In my constitutionally protected opinion, these two lawyers are just running up the bill for their clients. Now they have taken what would have been quick $750.00 settlements and turned them into Federal Cases for Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition, Conversion and more. The legal fees for those two defendants are likely to run into the tens of thousands of dollars -- all because they hired lawyers with more ego then common sense, in my opinion.

Maybe the defendants should hire new lawyers?

Maybe the defendants should consider a recent (October 2009) case from Ohio where defense lawyers tried to play all big bad and tough -- in a case they clearly had no chance of winning. The case was called "Studio A" v. "Action DVD" and here are a few quotes from the news articles after the verdict...

In all, 195 documents were filed in the case, many of which Judge Oliver characterized as "frivolous and objectively unreasonable arguments" by the defendants-a factor that apparently was important in the judge's decision to grant the attorneys fees.

"This suit was initiated in 2005, lasting over four years, for what amounted to a relatively small damage award based entirely on the Copyright Act's provisions governing damages," Judge Oliver wrote. "The parties were engaged in settlement discussions early in the litigation, and according to Zalon, they reached a tentative settlement for approximately the statutory damage amount. The settlement discussions eventually concluded without agreement, which Zalon contends was because of Defendants' refusal to agree to this amount... The court finds this conduct unreasonable in light of the provision of the Copyright Act detailing damages and their apparent knowledge throughout the litigation that the DVDs were unauthorized copies. An award of fees and costs against Defendants, in this case, would deter others from continuing to litigate and not engaging in good faith negotiations where liability is conceded and the amount of damages are prescribed by statute."

Indeed, Zalon submitted records showing that he had devoted well over 400 hours to the case, at an hourly rate that was significantly less than that of other attorneys with similar experience and expertise in copyright law. Judge Oliver found that Zalon's submissions were entirely reasonable, awarding him $139,449 in fees and $33,919.96 in costs.

"Clearly, they [the defendants] expected that they would simply outlast me-something, believe it or not, they actually admitted in a filed brief," Zalon said. "That was a very big mistake, since the Copyright Act provides for a discretionary award of reasonable attorneys fees to the prevailing party. And the judge awarded every penny we sought."

"The importance of this case is that it should encourage attorneys to take copyright infringement cases that do not have great potential for large damage awards," Zalon continued, "since the amount at issue is completely separate from what a court will award as fees, should they be successful. It should also act as a warning to recalcitrant infringers, who think that if they bust the plaintiff's chops, they will go away."

Clearly, the courts DO NOT like lawyers that run the fees up in simple cases like those jerks in Ohio tried to do.

If these two "run up the fees" lawyers think they can outlast me they are simply wrong. Clearly they don't know me well. All they have done in my opinion is move their clients way up the target list. In what was planned as a fast settlement has now become a big deal for me and a costly one for their clients.

But, for now -- its break time. I'm leaving my Florida studio today, spending a few days with my 92-year-old father in Oklahoma, then off snowboarding for a few days. I've set aside the full month of January with no photo shoots, no travel plans, no wild parties just so I can finally concentrate fully on this case and a new one (another USA based trading board we are planning an attack on). You can expect this board to be quiet the next 2 weeks, but frequent updates in January as well as another opening about another site I am after thats based in the St. Louis area.

Latest News -- January 25th, 2010

First, an explanation about a mistake I made here last fall. When I first created the "Asshole List" of potential defendants that you see below I also created that same list on Avery style mailing labels. The intent was to send all of them a letter explaining who I am, why they are being posted here, and my intent to sue them for financially supporting this site. Scroll back up to the October 9th and 29th updates if you are unclear what I am talking about.

Early this month I was moving some items around and located a stack of letters and labels that had never been sent -- 57 of them in total. It appears that my part-time helper and myself had run out of envelopes, stamps or both and set them aside intending to finish the next day -- and then never got back to them. This means that those 57 people might not have known they are on this list (if they care) and have not had the same opportunity to talk to me and get things settled. I quickly updated the letter we had sent others last fall and sent out all 57 around January 13th - 15th. That letter states a deadline of January 25th, but because I was again slow getting them out, I'll let that date be pushed back to Friday February 5th.

Many persons have already called or emailed in reply to the January letters. Many are calm and honest, while others start the same lines of crap I experienced last fall. Almost 50% claim they are unemployed, or that somebody else visited that site 197 times using their credit card (donating), downloading, using their screenname, etc. All sorts of lies... message after message of lies.

It just amazes me how many guys claim to have been out of work for "years" but can afford to invest $50 or more in an illegal file trading site. If you are on the edge of bankruptcy and can hardly feed yourself, do you have money laying around for investing in that type of place? My favorite story from the last few days comes from Joseph Hinkle. He wrote: "I was awaiting you're email because I contacted my Payee at social security and told her the situation she told me that I had done nothing wrong".

Ha, Ha, Ha... So I am to take it that some lady at the Social Security office suddenly has the power to override Congress and the laws of the United States and allow poor Joe steal from all us webmasters? Nope... Not a chance. I asked him to have that person call me. I would love to actually hear that person's name and follow up by calling her boss to see if they now have the desk jockeys at the Social Security Administration giving legal advice, and of course telling those living on tight social security budgets to spend money investing in illegal file trading sites. I bet the bosses wouldn't be happy.

In previous comments I wrote about the "little punk keyboard tough guys". These are the guys that use the form below to send nasty comments or words, but are not brave enough to use their true and correct email address to start a mature conversation. Well, the recent batch of letters has started a similar reaction from a few of those 57 guys. Some by the form below, but about 8-10 of them have called my office and left messages -- but the funny part is, these brave, tough guys have all done it late at night / early in the morning. Just today there was 4 overnight voicemails left between 2:00am and 6:00am Eastern USA time. I was here Sunday until after midnight Eastern Time -- and got a few anonymous calls where they hang up when they hear my voice. Ha, Ha, Ha... It just amazes me how tough these pussies are when I don't answer, or when they can anonymously use the form below to send something with a fake email address. I bet the same guys are around 350 pounds of double chin flab and look in the mirror daily thinking they are a clone of Brad Pitt. Hint, Hint... you are not even as tough as the average 3rd grader when you play such childish games, rather than act like an adult.

The last comment in reference to the early January 2010 letters is that I can't take any more phone calls on the matter. Truth is I just lose my temper when dingbats call with all these lies about their kids, health issues, unemployment, no food on the table and more. It just gets my temper fire up and I start yelling back and hang-up. If any of that stuff was true they simply would not have been making $50 or greater investments in an illegal file-trading site. I do not believe any of it -- not one single word. Plus, even if it was true -- so fucking what? They didn't think about my health, income, family or any such thing when they invested here, stole from me and encouraged others to steal from me and all the other webmasters and models.

I am no longer taking calls on this matter unless they use the form below first for initial contact. I will not be returning any of the voicemails left over the weekend -- they are mostly lies and I am too busy.

Funny update on Robert Gibbs of 1224 "C: Street #4 Lincoln, Nebraska, 68502. If you have been following along you know that Robert "The Masturbating Thief" Gibbs and I had a very calm and simple agreement made many weeks ago. Its was just $750.00, and the same terms that more than 2 dozen others have agreed to. Robert's lawyer called me and wanted to renegotiate, criticize my work, and on and on -- basically trying to play all tough. They missed the deadline to settle and Robert was on the list to be sued. Around January 10th -- more than a month after the very clear deadline -- I get a letter from another lawyer stating that he had fired the first one and she was taking over. She wanted to use the original settlement amount, but her terms and conditions. HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA.... What the fuck are they thinking? This dumbness actually thinks that they are in some sort of position to make demands on me?

Hello, Hello -- Reality to Robert Gibbs.... YOU broke the law. You invested in an illegal file-trading site. You posted there. You sent private messages there. You illegally downloaded protected materials. You conspired with others to steal from and damage many small businesses nationwide. You are the bad guy and are not in any fucking position to make any demands of me. You are just a dumbness. You had it made with a tiny payment to cover my costs, and a donation to a charity, but you have now twice decided to hire lawyers and act all tough. You are now one of my main lawsuit targets.

Oh well, he has now hired two lawyers to give him bad advice and walk him into the courthouse. I don't care. Its all just part of the process. I'll be able to show the court I did all I could to keep the numbers (both total defendants and gross damages) low, and acted in good faith. Its Robert "The Masturbating Thief" Gibbs that wants to get into court ASAP. A wish I hope to make come true fairly soon.

Speaking of court cases and deadlines. I get lots of people -- on both sides of the table -- asking when we will finally be in a courtroom. I don't have an exact date for that, but do know that its getting closer. When I first started this I was thinking it would happen fast. It hasn't, but that wasn't my decision. I have waited almost 8 months to get this matter into Federal Court. It was only my lawyer's desire to await certain 9th and 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decisions that has paused the process. Those decisions, and two additional summary judgements in Federal Courts in like cases, have all come down in the last several weeks. All of these Federal Court actions have been ruled in a manner very favorable -- VERY FAVORABLE -- to copyright owners / Plaintiff's like myself.

For those of you that are not familiar with how the Federal Courts work I will try and explain in very basic terms.

On the Federal level the court system is sort of like a pyramid.

At the bottom you have the United States Federal District Courts. The district courts are the courts where a lawsuit is filed and a trial actually takes place. The district courts have jurisdiction to hear nearly all categories of federal cases, including both civil and criminal matters, including copyright matters. This is the level at which my lawyers will be filing the initial case.

In the middle levels of the pyramid you have the various "United States Courts of Appeals". The 94 U.S. judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has United States court of appeals. A court of appeals hears and decides appeals from the district courts located within its circuit. The decisions made at this level are binding on all district courts within that circuit. Often from the time an appeals is filed it can be a year or more before a formal decision is rendered and published for lower courts to follow.

EXAMPLE -- Let us say that a question comes up in the district court about how to interpret a certain law. The Federal Judge in that courtroom doesn't just decide on his own. He must first determine if that same issue has come up before and if the Court of Appeals for his circuit previously made a decision on the matter. If they have -- he must stick by what they said, no matter what his personal thoughts are.

If the Courts of Appeals in his circuit have not previously reviewed that issue he can look to the Courts of Appeals in other circuits, but he is not fully bound by what other circuits do. He can follow them, or take their decision under advisement and make his own.

This means that the Courts of Appeals in the middle of the pyramid rule over the District Courts in their district. But, those same Courts of Appeals are not the final step.

The United States Supreme Court is at the very top of the pyramid. At its discretion, and within certain guidelines established by Congress, the Supreme Court each year hears a limited number of the cases it is asked to decide. Any decisions it makes are binding on all courts below it in the pyramid.

Hopefully the readers of this now have a little better idea of how the system works.

I mentioned that my lawyers have long awaited for Courts of Appeals Decisions. Previous copyright, unfair competition, trademark and other lawsuits are appealed on an almost daily basis. Claims we make in our case could be overruled or thrown out based on Court of Appeals decisions in previous cases. Lawyers have databases they can access like Westlaw in which they know what cases are being appealed, can get copies of those cases, and even use to tailor our case, complaint and pleadings to those decisions and previous precedents set by those higher courts. These appeals can take months or years to be decided.

In late November, and in December, a couple of appeals in copyright and other cases were finally decided. Those decisions answer some questions we had about a case like this, and because they were decided in a way that helps us, they sort of give us extra legal precedent upon which we can make some claims -- including claims not titled "copyright infringement", but things along the lines of unfair competition, civil conversion, fraud and more.

It would take a lot more to explain everything is precise detail -- and even then only those with some sort of legal experience would fully understand -- but thats the basic description. We waited until we knew for sure -- based on Courts of Appeals decisions -- that we could make all the claims we want, in the manner we want, and for the amounts we want.

Remember -- copyright and trademark cases happen all the time. Larry Flynt -- of Hustler magazine fame -- is suing his own nephews for trademark and copyright infringement and the court recently issued an injunction preventing them from using the "Flynt" name in their own adult business.

In a case almost exactly like what we have here, gay male adult content company Liberty Media Holdings recently sued a file trading site named Dudevu.com, its owners, and almost 550 users (named as John Does now, but to be named later as the case proceeds). The lawyer in that case -- whom happens to be close friends with both the attorneys I use -- waited to get that suit started for the exact same reasons we are waiting -- to be fully prepared and within the latest legal precedents.

That case is almost exactly like the WP cases being discussed here with one huge exception. In this WP case I know the full names and address of all the financial partners in the WP site, and have all logs, emails, IPs and other records from every single person that joined and / or posted there from late 2007 to June 2009. I don't need to use "John Does" in my court filings and wait for the judge to order the defendants to turn names over. I have all I need now and get to name them right away -- in public records (court filings) that their friends, neighbors, wives, children can review!

Back to the main question -- when will there actually be a court filing? I can't precisely answer that. I wish it was months ago. Back on January 12th I was instructed by my lawyers to finalize the list of defendants no later than January 25th, 2010. Unfortunately, that was before I got the letters out mentioned above, so I'll have to wait at least until after February 5th. You can be assured that unless the main direct infringers listed above (and a couple of others) settle soon, the case will finally make it within the courtroom soon.

One emailer recently stated I was just doing this for money. Ha, Ha, Ha... Of the settlement payments received in 2009, $6750.00 has been given to charity, over $14,000.00 has been given to other photographer's / site owners because their business was very seriously damaged by the old WP trading. The money left doesn't even cover half of what I have spent thus far for lawyers, private investigators, computer server experts (to decipher logs) and traveling to Ohio in June for the first (and most revealing) settlement. The money I have spent here is not for profit -- its for protection. Its like insurance to make sure that my main photography business / website business survives and prospers. Same reason that 7-11 invests in security cameras -- to deter thieves, like the guys listed above and below.

As for TomTom. Not too much news there. I haven't heard any real news from Germany in weeks -- but will write today and see if anything is being done. A week or so back I did get an email from some public TV producer in Germany asking that I reply with more information about Thomas Kossatz. I can't decipher if she is asking about the copyright case or his strange relationship with Christel Happach-Kazan. I'll try to reply, but the language differences make it difficult.

While I was typing this up I got a call from a guy claiming to be a private investigator. He intentionally hid his phone number so there was no way to know for sure. It doesn't really matter -- all he did was yell about how his client didn't do anything, and he had other clients that didn't do anything, and demanding that I take his client's name down, etc. He never named the client(s) and just kept interrupting me so I hung up. He called right back -- again blocking caller ID -- and started it all over again. Blah, Blah, Blah -- the poor guy was really worked up and yelling so much I couldn't get a sentence in. He ended by saying he was going to call the FBI for me extorting money with the letter his client received last week.

Letters demanding people cease and desist violating copyright laws are common. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been sending these types of letters for years and years to stop people trading music files. My letter has very close to the same wording. Its called a "pre-litigation settlement letter". Its common business -- with 100s of them sent on a daily basis here in the USA.. For those that don't understand -- here is a PDF format copy of an RIAA letter.

I can only guess that the caller wasn't fully up to date on how copyright cases are handled. The courts encourage plaintiffs like myself to settle these matters before filing, and look favorably upon guys like me that have done all they could to mitigate the case before it actually hits the courtroom.

Two funny things concerning his threat to call the FBI.... #1, they already know about it. Myself, another webmaster and a guy from a copyright protection company have all talked to FBI people about the old WP board -- and it wasn't my actions taking it down they cared about. #2, people seem to forget that the old WP illegal trading site wasn't only illegal because it provided links to copyright protect files, but also because it contained links to images that have been found to be child porn under the Federal Laws 18 USC 2251 to 2256. The Traci Lords files they posted, traded and even had a contest with are illegal (Google it). The A Little Agency (ALA) files were just found illegal in the last few years ( LINK ). That of course means that his client was financially supporting the distribution of child porn. The fact that the CP was hosted outside the USA, and that WP provided links and not actual CP files, doesn't protect anybody if the FBI had taken an interest in the case. They didn't -- but if this so called P.I. wants to report his client, so be it.

Latest News -- January 26th, 2010

Corrected a couple of links from above -- thanks to the readers for helping me.

If you didn't visit yesterday -- scroll back up and read the big update from yesterday (25th).

Latest News -- January 30th, 2010

A couple of times in the last 10 days people have emailed or called saying that my Cease and Desist letters are threats and that I should be in trouble for them. Thats the biggest crock of crap I've ever heard. As I mentioned above -- C & D letters, stating that suit will soon be filed if agreement is not reached, are common. They are daily events in copyright and trademark cases. After another of those silly emails this week I simply searched the term and a legal website and quickly found a great quote from the 10th District Court of Appeals, where they are speaking of, and agreeing with, a decision made by the 3rd District Court of Appeals. The published opinion is over 40 pages, but here is a quote about C & D letters.

     In Red Wing Shoe, 148 F.3d at 1361 (emphasis added). The court reasoned that cease-and-desist letters are essential to promoting settlement of copyright disputes, and the promotion of settlement is a strong federal policy interest. Id.; see also Silent Drive, 326 F.3d at 1206; Wise v. Lindamood, 89 F. Supp. 2d 1187 (D. Colo. 1999).

Just like I said... I told you so... The courts want guys like me to do all we can to settle this stuff before filing a case. Like they said "the promotion of settlement is a strong federal policy interest". You guys can believe some anonymous poster at some other file trading website, or your can believe the Federal Courts. Your choice. Just remember, when it come right down to it the Court will love me for doing all I could to settle before being force by the violators to file. And, at the same time they DO NOT like defendants that are clearly guilty and had been offered an easy way out, but failed to take it. Scroll back up to December 16th update and read about a case where a Federal Judge in a copyright case ordered just $12,000.00 as damages, but over ten times that in lawyers fees because stupid -- obviously liable -- defendants, and their lawyers, wasted lots and lots of court's time.

Several other settlement offers went out in the mail this week. If you have agreed by email to settle, but have yet to receive the papers, be calm. They are on the way. If I fail to, or forgot to, take your name down, please message me using the form below.

I am about 100 emails behind. Meaning that if you haven't received a reply, do not stress out. No need to email again in 1 hour. I answer them in order -- but I am not willing to shut down all of my other business to answer you. You got yourself in this position -- I didn't and I do not have to work 24/7 to answer your pleas for mercy or lines of crap. I'll reply as soon as time allows.

This Week's Dumb Story -- That new lawyer hired by dumbass "Robert The Masturbating Thief Gibbs" sent an email to one of my lawyer buddies. In that email she claimed that I told her that he was working this case and that he would be contacting her soon. Ha, Ha, Ha... Her name is Jayne L. Sebby and she is a liar. Nowhere in my letter to her (discussed in 01/25/10 update) did I mention his name at all, or that any lawyer would be contacting her. What is it with these dingbats from Nebraska? Why do they think they can just put lies like that down on paper and get away with it? Didn't her silly ass think that the lawyer would contact me? In my opinion, them Nebraska sorts sure are dumb hicks! She says I slandered poor copyright violator Robert Gibbs by calling him a thief. Fine, sue me... Because in a case for slander to burden of proof in on him to prove that what I say is untrue. The truth is an absolute defense to any slander suit. I'll say it again right now -- Robert Gibbs of 1224 "C: Street #4 Lincoln, Nebraska, 68502 is a thief that came to the old WP sites to illegally download his masturbation materials in violating of the copyright laws of the United States, and even went so far as to provide financial assistance to his co-conspirators so they could steal more and more materials to feed his masturbation habit. If he thinks I am wrong he and his lying lady lawyer are welcome to come down and prove me wrong.

Interesting story of the week -- I was contacted by some people in Texas. Seems they are investigating Richard Hillary, who was known on WP-Board.com as "CharlieDodgson". I guess he is finally out of college and about to take the Texas Bar Exam. He also works for the Kaplan Test Preparation Center at 811 W 24th Street. Austin, TX 78705. (512) 472-8085. They wanted to know if I was talking about the same Richard Hillary that lives at 1310 Yorkshire Dr, Austin, TX 78723 and uses the cell number of (484) 903-3138. Yes, that is him. Same guy. It seems that Richard might just have a hard time passing the bar or being accepted as a lawyer now that they have located this site and learned of his actions and habits. That makes me happy!

Latest News -- February 1st, 2010

Use the form below if you want to start a conversation with me and I will reply as soon as possible. No phone calls until I think we need to (rare).

I only reply to messages sent using the form below. Anything sent directly to my sites or personal email is deleted without review or reply. Remember, you can review the partial defendant / asshole list on this page, below the comment box.

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