Slashdot Mirror

This, on its face seems to have some similarities to the Pets Warehouse case. For those that didn't settle, it seems that the plaintiff got knocked down rather badly.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's been my experience that people who cry "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to sue you!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to come to your house and kick your ass!" or "whaaa, whaaa, I'm going to call the police and have them arrest you for being mean to me" whenever they feel personally offended on the Internet tend to be terribly immature and have serious emotional problems. People who aren't confident with themselves and feel inferior about their own abilities try to boost their own self-esteem by making empty threats of lawsuits or physical assault whenever they're on the losing end of a flamewar.

His face will turn red, he'll start to wheeze and stutter, and he will angrily type, "Yeah, well, just wait until I tell my uncle at the CIA about how rude you've been to me! He'll come and arrest you and you'll go to jail and I'll sue you for everything you have! Then I'll kick your ass, and have sex with your girlfriend!"

He will then drag his corpulent, out-of-shape, virginal body across the basement to bed and drift off to slumber thinking "Wow, I'm sure I really scared those bastards! I'm sure they'll think twice before disagreeing with ME again!" He'll feel only a slight twinge of hollow emptiness the next day when he sees his uncle, who rather than working for the CIA, is actually the assistant janitor at the local McDonald's.

A few people who seem to fit the stereotype quite well of being absolute assholes on the Internet and then threatening to sue or call the FBI, CIA, and KGB when anyone who calls them on it:

Bernard Shifman

Robert Novak

Scott Lockwood

Were these three people long-lost triplets, seperated at birth? Why do they behave in exactly the same way? Do they share a common mental disease? Or are they all actually the same person? We may never know.

It's a shame I left out the words "can see this" from the first line, even though I got all the HREF's right, and even closed my /B's and /I's... I'd sound like less of a tard if that part was readable... ;p

Of course, I'm never going to get sued if he knows I want him to sue me. Hmmmm....

Lawsuits scare me to death. I cave in at the slightest legal threat, or even peer pressure. I have a room in the back of my house where I store loose shopping bags full of cash, and I would never speak to a good lawyer. I even paid a spammer for a penis enlarger.

Oh hell, that's too easy to figure out. He might... crack my code. Perhaps I could then sue under the DMCA!

Maybe I don't understand this whole thing fully. I read The Defense Fund and it seems like Dan Resler, the poor bastard that accidentally started this whole thing, actually ended up paying $4,150 to Novak. Of course, he was sued for $15,000,000, so percentage-wise he got off pretty well, but $4,150 isn't really pocket change either. And if you read Dan's origional post, it really just seems like he got some bad plants, overcharged for shipping, and customer service told him to go take a flying leap. You can read his origional post here. I'll even quote the relevant bits:

My 6th call was last week, and when they realized I was calling about a plant order they proclaimed "They will be shipped on Monday". Click.

On my order confirmation I was quoted a shipping price of $7.50. Nice ... it was one of the selling points for me. Then the order arrived complete with an invoice stating that shipping was $18.50! When I called them today to straighten this out, they informed me that the original quote was wrong and that I was stuck with the $18.50.

Quoted without permission, of course. Christ, maybe Dan will sue me now. I argue fair use in advance. (Dan, don't! Slashdot is on your side!)

I mean, how in the world can you sue anyone over that? You want a bad analogy? I like Coke. (I actually kinda like Pepsi... so... frig.) Okay, I like Diet Coke. I *hate* diet Pepsi. I don't know why. I can say this:

Diet Pepsi tastes bad. I opened a can, tasted it, and said, "Yeeeech!"

Thank God for the Constitution. Thank God for the freedom of speech. Despite all the bad press, America is a pretty darn nice place to live.

Actually, that isn't exactly what happened. On that list there is a long time trend of getting advice on where to shop (think about it, there aren't that many places to buy aquatic plants...tiny hobbie). One guy offered his opinion. Dozens more chimed in with similar stories (not just "me too"). One guy's complaint was overcharged shipping, but there were many others (including delayed shipping running into the multiple weeks, dead plants upon arrival, etc). There are just too many people that agreed for me to think he made it up. Plus, check the history of the case. The plaintiff continuously adds people each time someone says something negative about this their experiences, or even about the suit. My favorite part? Two of the defendants are John Doe and Mary Roe (in essence anyone else from the APD that he decides to add). More confusion is that he has claimed, in another article that filing suits is his "hobby." He also admits that the court is five miles from him, so it is a short drive, while each defendant has to pay for a plane ticket and motel to appear in court. The guy enjoys this. Read some of the amended complaints he has written, some are funny, most are sad, and generally all are poorly written. Why? Oh, he's representing himself. Wait, you say, how can a non-lawyer represent a corporation (Pets Warehouse Inc.)? Well, it can't, but he is doing it anyway. As soon as they sort out whether or not his company is incorporated or a sole-proprietorship maybe this will go away (if is is INC as he says, he can't represent it). For more information (and trust me, this is more about free speech and the internet than it is about plants or aquariums) here are some sites: Forum for the suits discussion (generally pro defendants) Forum hosted by the plaintiff (he has a habit of deleting messages, and blocking posters, as is his right, but be aware it will only have ONE side) The defense fund's web site A collection of court documents hosted by the lawyer in charge of the fund And, finally, to archives of the original messages, so you can read it yourself, and see what REALLY happened