An interesting lawsuit against me

24 replies
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Before you go on reading this thread and telling me how dumb I am for leaving a comment on the guy's website, I already know, thanks. So don't bother.

Anyways, here's what happened.

I was in the process of ranking a site for the term acne treatment.

I noticed a hardcore spammer on the first page ranking number one with scrapebox blasting and crappy spamdexing links. So I reported him.

Didn't think anything of it.

Then his site didn't come up. So I checked it for a Google penalty.

They manually dropped his site in the rankings. HOLY CRAP!

Anyways...

I left a comment on his site kinda loling at him. Like ha you got banned lol.

SOMEHOW. Don't ask me how. He traced that down to one of my money sites...perhaps I accidentally entered a real e-mail address? WHO KNOWS!!

Anyways.

Somehow he found a few of my money sites.

And by a few I mean like 15 of them on a shared hosting account. Don't worry, only one or two actually make any money ...

And now he is threatening to subpoena them and shut them down for spamming his site.

Here are some facts:

1. I never spammed his site. He did and I just reported it, so I haven't done anything illegal.

2. This guy openly admitted he wasn't really going to put a case through but thought if he could bring it under criminal investigation, he can get control of my sites for a few months pending investigation that I was spamdexing his site.

3. I was stupid for leaving a comment on his site. So don't tell me I was stupid. I already know that.

4. My host basically said there is almost no chance he will get a court warrant because the grid I'm on is shared by 20 or 30 other users on the same static IP. So proving I did anything would be almost impossible, even if there were evidence, which there isn't.

Question: is this guy an idiot? Or does anyone think he honestly has a case?

I am backing up my files and transferring any important domains to Canadian or UK servers to make sure he can't get his grubby mitts on them.

In the meantime, what do you guys think? Anyone had a similar experience?
#interesting #lawsuit
  • Profile picture of the author JayVance
    I'm not a lawyer, but yes he is an idiot. He is just mad, any lawyer he takes it too will tell him they can't do anything about it. He doesn't have a case, I wouldn't worry about it.
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  • Profile picture of the author LooseChange
    Sound like a kitty cat (meow) fight to me. Just imagine how a judge would feel...

    Plaintiff : This person spammed my site
    Defendant : I didn't spam, I just LOL'ed him
    Plaintiff : Yeah but my feelings got hurt
    Defendant : I was only trying to promote my acne treatment affiliate link on his blog
    Plaintiff : but Your Honor, my blog gets so much spam, it makes me want to cry
    Defendant : I do this all the time, I'm a blog comment SEO, not a spammer


    The judge rolls his eyes at both Plaintiff and Defendant and fines them both for wasting the courts time..

    End of story
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    • Profile picture of the author James Sides
      All I can say is it takes all kinds to make the world go round...

      O and..what a douche. (the other guy not you )

      Cheers!

      James
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Well, since we're not allowed to say how stupid it was to leave a comment, I have no comment.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
    It's cool! I was kind of a douche too.

    Just a douche in the right as opposed to a douche in the wrong.

    Oh well. At least I'm not threatening legal action for him hurting my feelings.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
    So, there is no lawsuit against you, just a guy threatening one?

    Originally Posted by Cataclysm1987 View Post

    Question: is this guy an idiot? Or does anyone think he honestly has a case?

    I am backing up my files and transferring any important domains to Canadian or UK servers to make sure he can't get his grubby mitts on them.
    Well, whether or not he has a case, it looks like he's already winning, since he's pushed you into a defensive mode rather than an offensive, money-making mode.

    Also, some other countries have tougher rules on spam, so be careful where you move your sites to, because it might make it easier for your newfound friend to get them seized or shut down.

    At any rate, if there is a threat of legal action, you should be talking to your attorney.
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    • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
      It is best not to gloat and prod a loser after a victory. Cornered and desperate creatures are capable of viciously lashing out.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      I left a comment on his site kinda loling at him. Like ha you got banned lol.

      SOMEHOW. Don't ask me how. He traced that down to one of my money sites...perhaps I accidentally entered a real e-mail address? WHO KNOWS!!
      email address? You were so intent on bragging you probably entered the url of your site to get a link.

      is this guy an idiot?
      You did this and you are asking if HE is an idiot? Oh my.
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      • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
        It must've been my IP address.

        Either way, he has nothing to go after me for, but I have all his contact information in case he tries something malware or spyware related to get into my site.

        Who knows.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
    Probably should do some of that, yes.

    But there is no ACTUAL lawsuit.

    I just figured the word lawsuit would get more clicks on the forum than the words, hey I might get sued.

    I am only going to concern myself with this for a day or two. My only concern is getting the sites shut down. I know he has zero case, but if he can convince a dumb judge to subpoena my sites, which there would contain zero evidence of malware or spyware or spamming or anything, but it would take weeks or even months to clear that out.

    So in a way, you're right about him winning since I am concerned. But as I said, I'm transferring important sites out to an international host, then going back about my business.

    No sense doing much more than that.
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    • Profile picture of the author LooseChange
      Originally Posted by Cataclysm1987 View Post


      Quote #1 : I was in the process of ranking a site for the term acne treatment.

      Quote #2 : I just figured the word lawsuit would get more clicks on the forum than the words, hey I might get sued.
      All I can say, is you're totally doing it all WRONG. So not only were you spamming somebody elses blog, now you're spamming the Warrior Forum???

      btw, some people do actually read these threads.

      Good to see the mods already moved this one to the flame bait section.
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      • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
        That's not spam, that's just good marketing.

        When's the last time you clicked on a WSO that said "If you work real hard you might possibly at some point in your life maybe make some money with this, maybe, but probably not but buy it for 7 dollars anyways!!!"?

        Never.

        But if someone posts a WSO like this...

        "I MADE 87k LAST SECOND AND SO CAN YOU USING MY BLUEPRINT FOR AUTO PILOT SUCCESS!!!"

        You click on it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
        Originally Posted by LooseChange View Post

        All I can say, is you're totally doing it all WRONG. So not only were you spamming somebody elses blog, now you're spamming the Warrior Forum???
        I wasn't spamming his blog. He was. What part wasn't clear about that?
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        • Profile picture of the author LooseChange
          Originally Posted by Cataclysm1987 View Post

          I wasn't spamming his blog. He was. What part wasn't clear about that?
          AND. You admitted you were spamming Warrior Forum which is why your topic got moved to the litter box.

          MEOW. Now the kitty needs to calm down, unclench those claws, go hide under the couch because you need the bad humans to change your litter box.

          Hey, good solution. Why don't you ask your parents about this?
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          • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
            No I didn't.

            I had seen other similar threads in that area. At worst I miscategorized my forum post. How is that spamming?

            Whatever, flame away I guess.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
    This is true.

    But, as I said, we're not here to discuss my stupidity!

    It still was fun though. And the guy did deserve it. His site wasn't very good and had probably zero traffic other than Google, likely because, well, he was simply manipulating links rather than creating any sort of real following, which you should be expected to do for a high profile search term like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    I don't see why you think he can get control of your sites. How is complaining about them going to give him the control over them.
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    nothing to see here.

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    • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
      He might say something to a judge like,

      "Oh hey he spammed my site, here's a comment he left on it"

      And try to claim that all this scrapebox spam is actually mine, when of course it isn't.

      Just interesting. Guess that's what happens when someone freaks out about their site getting banned.

      Either way, I'm not worried about it. I'd wear a sign on my shirt that says I reported his site if I felt like it, because it really wasn't that valuable or informative.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sunfyre7896
    I think the dude's just mad and is acting in a knee jerk fashion. He's mad bro. You mad bro? You mad? Yep. He's mad.
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    • Profile picture of the author Cataclysm1987
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    If you are on a shared ite, he can't prove ANYTHING without logs from your host, and that is a problem. Even if he COULD, prosecution is difficult. I'm assuming you didn't spam him, of course. EVEN if he DID sue you, and got you shut down, HOW does that give HIM any control.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Lou Diamond
    Hello,
    if you are worried about all of this you are letting him win right now.
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    Something new soon.

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  • Profile picture of the author mologic
    What a waste of time. Don't worry about it going anywhere, I don't see any gain for him suing you. Anyone can send someone a threatening legal letter for cheap. Following through is a whole nuther deal good luck!
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