Slashdot Mirror
Google sued as PetsWarehouse Lawsuit Continues.
Ikari Gendou writes "In April, Slashdot reported that Robert Novak, owner of Internet pet store Pets Warehouse filed a $15,000,000US lawsuit against several individuals who made comments about his company's poor service on an Internet mailing list. Also named in it and in the suit that followed were the owner of the mailing list, the owners of several informational sites about the lawsuit, the owners of other forums where the lawsuit was discussed, the attorney for the defense, and several sites that merely ran banner ads promoting the defense fund set up for the lawsuit. Some defendents settled out of fear, and were forced to pay cash, transfer their personal domain names to Novak, or even run banner ads for Petswarehouse on their websites. Now, the attorney for the defense has announced that in round three of the lawsuit, Google has been sued, as well as several other sites that have carried news about the lawsuit, such as search engine Judge-For-Yourself.com and pet stores DoctorDog.com and FerretStore.com. Robert Novak is representing himself in this lawsuit, and thus it is effectively costing him nothing to persue this campaign of harassment. He's already gotten several thousand dollars from settlements and cost the defendents considerably more than that in legal fees. More details should be posted soon here, including court documents that tell why Google was added to the suit."
Countersue
-- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
Come on guys let's get with it here.
Be careful.. .or they'll wind up suing /.
Awww......forget it......fuck em.
Just sue your slashdot "freaks". http://yro.slashdot.org/~Knightfall/freaks :)
-
ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only
The blinking links alone tell me that he's a complete idiot.
I bet he was teased in high school and wants to get back at all the bullies.
*sigh*
If a and b in c, and a can create b, and a can create a, and b can create b, and b cannot create a, then a created c.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Now he's suing people that can actually afford to fight back. I hope he gets the pants beaten off of him by Google's lawyers.
-- Dr. Eldarion --
If not, maybe next week they will be
Nothing is more idiotic than a legal system that allows one person to abridge the security and personal freedom of another, but exercising their own right to continually sue or press frivolous charges against individuals/organizations that cross their path.
We NEED a law to deal with idiotic lawsuits. That is to say, one that carries penalties for those use lawsuits as a continual source of revenue. I think I read earlier that there are some laws regarding individuals that are sue happy, why not make it federal (and get the Canadian government to apply one as well, although Canada seems less lawsuit-crazy than the US).
Lawyers: Who do you want to sue today? - phorm
Plaintiff:
Robert Novak,
d/b/a Pets Warehouse.com
Defendants:
Overture Services, Inc.
Google, Inc.
Innovative Marketing Solutions, Inc.d/b/a Kanoodle.com
Neeps, Inc. d/b/a Theferretstore.com
John Holdefehr d/b/a Judge-for-yourself.com
Biochemics, Inc. d/b/a Doctordog.com
COURT DOCKET - Third Lawsuit
09-24-2002 (1) Complaint filed and summons issued as to defendant(s) Biochemics, Inc., Google, Inc., John Holdefehr, Innovative Marketing Solutions, Inc., Neeps, Inc., Overture Services, Inc. Filing fee $150.00. Receipt number: 7370. Jury trial demanded. filed by pro se Robert Novak. (Attachments: #1 Civil Cover Sheet) (Romano, Daniel) (entered: 09-26-2002)
09-26-2002 (2) Notice of Report on the filing of an action regarding a patent orTrademark Infringement sent to Washington DC (Romano, Daniel) (Entered: 09-26-2002)
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
Any commercial site that uses blink on their tags deserves to be shot dead.
Why aren't you encrypting your e-mail?
Despite years of my hard work and overtime and brown nosing, my wife has a job offer with a starting salary that would make you cry, and hasn't even graduated law school!
I'll tell you what the problem is, WHY AREN'T YOU IN LAW SCHOOL?!?!
P.S. don't forget about the bonus if you meet all your billable hours.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Robert Novak is representing himself in this lawsuit, and thus it is effectively costing him nothing to persue this campaign of harassment.
Doesn't this sound like a job for the EFF to defend these people?
One day, a man was hit by a bicycle. The man got so angry, he demanded the cyclist pay him five dollars. And the cyclist did so because he was too busy to argue.
Then the man thought 'Maybe I should throw myself in from of another bicycle to get five dollars'. And so he did.
Five bicycles later, he thinks 'If I get five dollars from bicycles, I can get twenty from cars'. And he threw himself into on comming trafic.
And was squashed by a pickup truck.
Yes, I don't like her as much as the next man, but the big factory farmers here in Texas couldn't pin anything on Oprah (a national celebrity) for saying "I'll never eat beef again" (pp). How does this guy have a case against people posting in public forums? Or reporting it?
He will lose unless these defendant's can't get decent lawyers. But then again, the guys representing himself. Hence, he'll probably just lose.
Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
well i got on there and bought a 50 pound bag of "OL' ROY" dog food for my german shepherd general rommel. well, it took like EIGHT MONTHS for it to even get there. so when it did, general rommel was pretty damn hungry. so I opened up the bag of "OL' ROY" and poured a bowl and gave it to him. he ate it. AND THEN I NOTICED that it was not dog food in there, but rat poison! PET WAREHOUSE is shipping RAT POISON in their pet food! general rommel promptly keeled over and croaked.
i sent a mail to mr. novak and he told me to go eff myself with a shovel. now THAT is what i call customer service. anyway, i've got a new dog now, I called her eva braun, and i will NOT be ordering any more "OL' ROY" from PET WAREHOUSE
your buddy
--gbd
I'm surprised that so many people are settling if he's representing himself. Usually that's a pretty good sign that, with just a little legal help yourself, you could take him on and, if the case is as open-and-shut as /. says, successfully defend yourself. It's one thing when the plaintiff has high-powered legal help; it's a lot less intimidating if the plaintiff is some guy with a grudge in his basement.
Eventually somebody will put up a real legal fight against this guy, he'll make some dumb legal mistake, and he'll lose big. It's too bad that the little guys had to get thwacked before that could happen. They really should have banded together in defense - they could have hired a real lawyer and put him in his place pretty swiftly if they'd worked together. It sounds like he picked them off of the herd one-by-one, gradually building up steam, and now thinks that he's ready to take on the big boys.
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
"Dear judge-
Some mean person made very nasty remarks about my crappy online store. Since we now live in a world where every single whining crybaby threatens to sue somebody over the most trivial of things, I feel I want to sue a person who made some comments on their website. Sure, my knowledge of the legal system is little to none, but I really want to sue these guys because they are so mean! I have obviously never done any research on libel, or I would've learned the following information:
Ideas and opinions, whether true of false, cannot constitutionally be subject to libel claims.
However, my lawyer, who also works the night shift at the local Dairy Queen, says I can sue for MILLIONS of dollars! I tend to believe him, because I once saw him wear an expensive suit and I think that makes him smart.
Sincerely,
Mr Novak"
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
Now this idiot has finally bit off a little more than he can handle and I'm guessing that Google's legal team is going to make short work of him and hopefully put an end to this spree of lawsuits by that moron Robert Novak who owns that useless, cheap, rip-off company Pets Warehouse and ...
Eh? What that? What do you mean "I'm being served?!?"
I stole this Sig
Can you say countersued into oblivion?
Unlike some of his other targets, Google can fight back. He's going to get smacked... Hard. What an idiot. He deserves what he's going to get.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
On the surface, this seems to me like a stupid lawsuit that cannot hold in court, since it is clearly trying to violate the consitutional right of free speech (i.e.: "you cannot say I suck, I'll sue you").
However, *maybe* (and I repeat, just maybe), if beyond any reasonable doubt the guy can prove that the people who made the first comments made them with the premeditated malicious intention of bringing down his business, then that's another matter. However that still does not give him the right to sue everyone else (if that holds in court, Microsoft could be suing the slashdot parent company on the basis that they're hosting anti-microsoft discussions by some users).
In the end, my guess is that the case can not hold in the supreme court, if it ever gets there. if he wins a few cases it's probably because he's got tons of money to spend on lawyers or just some very good lawyers, or everyone else's lawyers suck.
The comments are about "Pet Warehouse", which is here while the link is for Pets Warehouse.
What happened, according to the Salon article, linked in the original /. article is that the "s" was left off.
More understandable since Pet Warehouse is a reputable outfit predating the dotcom boom. I've dealt with them lots of times.
Now he will sue you and Slashdot! And Rob and his dog! Shame on you! :
He made a big mistake this time. Google is going to kick his ass and countersue and before we know it we're going to see "PetsWarehouse.com now owned by Google". Right now I'm assembling a ravenous, drooling, insane mob of /. firstposters to go down to his store and rough him up.
Wasn't it this guys MO to sue "little guys" who don't have the resources to fly to Alabama and fight it? Doesn't he think he's going to get in trouble suing bigger companies?
I would think they could countersue for some reason like "Mr. Novak is irritating" (say in California) and cost him bundles of $$.
Know what, you're probably a better target than Google. Why? Well, you don't have as much money, not having as much money means that you are forced to hire a lawyer, fly out to NY (if you don't already live there), etc. That means you're far more likely to just say "Screw this" and settle out of court as it may even be cheaper.
Here's a relavent quote from an article on the case:
Resler said his lawyer was confident they could defeat Novak in court. But, Resler said, when the lawyer told the defendants how much it would cost, "we said, 'Settle.' "
My hope is that after Google finishes with this case, they counter-sue the guy's ass off.
Not that talking head that gained notoriety during the OJ debacle, is he?
Well anyway, Fuck Novak and fuck Petswhorehouse (preferably with a broom handle)! I'm glad he's decided to sue Google...maybe they'll give him the bitchslapping that he so richly deserves!
You're using her as bait, Master!
You can't. I have a pending patent on the underlying method used is "suing everybody"
OK,
- B
http://www.bradheintz.com/
- updated
...is a good offense.
/.'er can provide a simpler summary on his/her his web page for reference. In addition to the defense fund's site. We also may wish to provide links to the mailing list comments that started this.
Perhaps a good round of public boycott will enough to deter Mr. Novak from suing anyone who criticizes his store. Start by emailing all your pet-owning friends and informing them of what has happened. Ask them to stop purchasing from Petswearhouse until this kind of senseless lawsuit'ing has stopped... Also perhaps a
Basically give people information to make an informed decision.
managers...why god invented purgatory
In such a litigious society, where lawyers chase after every dollar they can, and where "greed is good" is a mantra, is anyone truly surprised at this?
It's a sad reflection of American society that it has turned into a victim culture where nobody is ever to blame for their own shortcomings but is instead a victim of the malignant actions of anyone or everyone else.
It's an easy out - why bother seriously examining where your business plan was flawed or where your process broke down when you can simply point the finger at someone else and say "I would have succeeded if it wasn't for you".
Part of the problem is that there is little to discourage malicious and/or spurious litigation. Some sort of penalty for repeatedly taking out this sort of action would be helpful but it's hard to imagine that happening any time soon.
The fact is that many companies will rather settle lawsuits like these ones before they get to court even if they are without merit. The rationale behind this is ironic - lawsuits (even ridiculous ones) bring down share prices, and which "greed is good" CEO is going to let that happen for the sake of a few thousand dollars?
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
There's nothing wrong with getting back at the bullies of one's youth. More likely, he was a bully in High School and wants to regain that youthful feeling of power.
Pick One: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~stremler/sigs/sigs.html (Note - disable Javascript first!)
"slashdottin my site? thats a paddle'in" (jasper)
You're assuming that he has little training in the law. For all we know he may have been a lawyer in a previous life.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
Wonderfull name. Brings to mind a large building stuffed with pets from top to bottom. Hi-Lo's and Forklifts shuffling boxes of animals about. Over in the far rear corner is the "Scratch and Dent" bin full of great bargains.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
Well the first mistakes were the people who settled. If the guy is representing himself, one good lawyer could easily outwit him in court (or maybe Im giving lawyers too much credit..). The guy is a public business, he is not immune from slander. What hes doing is the exact thing that pisses me off the most about things like the RIAA and BestBuys/Fry store policies, ect. Its companies telling us what we can and cannot do, no longer is the customer always right. Instead, we the consumers, are seen as stupid people who have to be put in our place by some snot nosed store clerk or some half assed executive hiding behind "company policy". BS... its on paper, paper does not bind us physically. This is exactly what this guy is trying to pull. he is trying to take away a consumers right to free speech. They shouldnt settle, they should just tell him to kiss their ass, and until the day that he can physically force them to not advertise the fact that a vendor did not come through with a promised transaction, he can take his lawsuit papers and shove them up his a$$. Second, they should have filed a complaint the Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureua, thus having a registered and documented complaint against the company, then his lawsuit would have no grounds. Of course... maybe I should keep quite, he might try and sue me... oh no....
create a mirror on slashdot:
I would like to voice my opinion about a company that I have had
experience with, PetSwarehouse. Based on true experience, I feel that
they suck. According to their Better Business Bureau rating of
unsatisfactory (the bureau's lowest), I see that I am not alone in
this opinion--a conclusion arrived to by factual data.
Furthermore, I understand that free speech is right of all Americans,
protected by the constitution.
"Libel is injury to reputation.
There is only one and unconditional defense to a civil action for
libel: that the facts stated are PROVABLY TRUE." --AP Stylebook and
Libel Manual.
Reputations are earned from true experiences, not fabricated online,
Mr. Novak. Everyone has the right to share and express their true
experiences and the feelings and opinions drawn from these factual
events.
contribute to the defense fund: http://www.petsforum.com/psw/Fund.htm
-- john
New to Google! It's Google Pet Warehouse! Now you can search and purchase all your pet needs right from your favorite search engine!
Want to know how we did it? Sure, we'll tell you! Some moron sued us and we won! We got his pet store and now it makes us a mint!
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
I think it's great Google was added to the suit. It'll take someone with reasonably deep pockets to get this guy's ridiculous witch hunt shut down.
here :)
"Old man yells at systemd"
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
It's now been changed, /.'s front page summary had stated that Novak was "defending himself". It is now changed to "representing himself". Once again /. plays revisionist news. :)
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
IANALBMWISTBO, (I am not a lawyer, but my wife is studying to be one: Why does this deserve an acronym? becuase this makes me a VERY dangerous person to have a conversation about: I know just enough legal terms to sound like a pro to the unwashed masses, and to sound like a total moron to the bar association)
But here goes: SUMMARY JUDGEMENT.
You can file suits till the cows come home... BUT WTF?! Summons, subpoena, discovery, WITH NO PRIMA FACIA CASE!
How is he gonna establish jurisdiction?! Suing google?
Whatever-
SECTION 11 of fed civil procedure for FRADULENTLY suing for defamation... and judges can fine people for filing frivilous suits!
Challenge this biatch and get him slapped the fuck down.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Let's hope that no spammers pick up on his email address or mailing details:
Honestly though, how can a piece of sh*t like this guy keep taking up court time with these suits? Espscially with news sites that are merely reporting the proceedings of cases? It's ridiculous - I'm sure the RIAA are already sending him job application forms so he help them in their quest to crack down on freedom and the causes of freedom!
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
You know, I was going to post something informative or maybe even (+3 Insightful), but this nausious feeling just won't go away. I can understand suing someone for libel ... even if I do think it's just customers sharing their experiences. Considering the net-based nature of his business, people posting in online forums about how bad he is would strike me the same as people marching outside the front door of the local pet store carrying signs and shouting slogans. But to then start suing the people who carried news of the origional lawsuit? Or the ones who carried the ad banners for the legal defense fund? What's next, sue the WayBack machine? Sheesh... sounds like someone isn't selling enough Kibbles n' Bits to pay the bills...
/., then you have enough time to do this as well.
I hope the good folks at Google countersue him, and I also hope that this spurs all the people who've had bad experiences with this place to file a group or class-action lawsuit, and I hope it hurts him good.
Does anyone know the results of the origional lawsuits? (not including the &*%(#&'s who settled)
And does anyone have the links to the legal defense fund, and any of the BB's that posted the comments? They deserve links on my homepage (made and hosted in Canada, where we don't take this kinda crap, eh?)
Now, I'm going to write the nice man an email explaining why I'll be boycotting his business, and why I'll be encouraging others to as well. Shouldn't you, too? If you have enough time to post on
(Sig 0.5b)
I'll defend your right to spew fruitless venom and baseless idiocy with my dying breath, just as you must defend my right to call you an asshole.
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
The site is really slow...
:)
Can you guess what major news site he'll probably sue next?
________________________________________________
suwain_2
Being involved in the Aquaria community for years, I've heard essentially that this is one of those guys that liked to sue people (obviously). But he's one of those guys if you give him any critism he thinks its slander or liable, and sues. Apparently he is entirely unaware of freedom of speech and the difference between critism and slander. If he provides bad service, and people tell about it, thats critism. If he provides excellent service, and people lie to say he provided poor service, thats slander. I sure hope some of these people counter-sue, and get lawyers to do it.
He's just milking settlements, its digusting.
..There's a-dooin's a-transpirin'
I don't think he cares whether he looks like a fool or not. Remember that "Seinfeld" episode where George gets a job by pretending that he was disabled, and then after he's found out, continues showing up at the job because his employers are contractually bound to keep him on for a full year? His boss hates George and makes his life miserable, his coworkers all tell him to drop dead in the hallways, but George doesn't care--his paycheck is worth more to him than his dignity or his reputation, and as long as he gets it, George thinks that he's won.
Same with his fellow Novak, I guess. He must know that the lawsuits are frivolous and that his name is mud among everyone who's ever heard of him. No matter--he keeps suing and keeps collecting from people who can't afford a protracted legal action, and so by his lights, he's won.
hyacinthus.
Remember it doesn't pay to sue people on welfare.
1, many don't respond to non-personal mail.
2, half of them pretend their just some flatmate if a stranger such as a bailife or summons server knocks on the door. It becomes habit through years of not paying traffic fines & getting cought on the train without a ticket.
3, they've got bugger all assets, at most maybe a old unregisted car that's either seeing out its days as a shed in the front yard, or, but for a old coat hanger & some bog, is due to see out its days as a shed in the front yard.
4, you can't garnish their incomes.
I know, I've been sued 3 times, & in each case they just gave up.
Hopefully this won't have a negative affect on another online Pet store: Drs. Foster and Smith's Pet Warehouse. Their website being "www.petwarehouse.com" and this buffoon's being "www.petswarehouse.com".
In my experience, they are a very reliable source for all kinds of supplies, and it would be a shame for people to associate their site with this litigation crazy moron.
Xavodim.com
The folks that Novak has gone after in the past did not have vast amounts of money to fight. It seems that taking on "The Google" might end up being his downfall. I've heard that they have a few dollars.
This is an interesting case and I hope that the courts will take action to address these abusive legal actions. There are actually mechanisms in the law to accomplish this, ranging from a court order barring a litigant from filing further motions or actions on a certain issue to a court declaration that a litigant is characteristically abusive (I can't recall the term for this, but it is assuredly legal latinate). The latter requires the censured litigant to gain court approval before filing any further actions.
Check out the following case; it's very interesting.
http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/flsupct/sc94012/op
fuckpetswarehouse.com is available
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
..for designing the Internet.
:) )
what is the purpose of a lawsuit here? what do you feed on judges when they are kids, Common Sense or what?
I should tell you.. this is one of the best kind of stories that people from all over the world tell about Americans. This is what makes a country look stupid.
Seriously, now: what if Google just won't care about the lawsuit? Will they shut it down for that? What if google's workers won't shut it down? Will they go and kill them?
I think civil disobedience IS an option over here.. when Judges' Common Sense reeaches zero (just for listening to such a lawsuit!), something must be done.
I would be ashamed to live in such a country... really.. (Now I'll be modded down for that, I know. But I'll sue you
-- There are two kind of sysadmins: Paranoids and Losers. (adapted from D. Bach)
According to this followup post to the original complaint about them...
5 /msg00213.html
http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.20010
I made a rather unfortunate typo in my last message - I was referring to *Pets* Warehouse, not Pet Warehouse. My apologies (to you and to Pet Warehouse!).
... that a ski mask and a baseball bat can't solve.
Pets Warehouse, meet Sports Warehouse.
..google get a lawyer to represent all the people who had to cave in a counter suit.
That owuld be cool, expensive, but cool.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Let's look at what he's claiming:
$1.00 in nominal settlement
$10,000,000.00 in compensatory settlement
$5,000,000.00 in other.
So, maybe people are giving him a buck (the nominal settlement amount) and telling him to go away.
Anyway, once a fucktard, always a fucktard.
There is another company Petwarehouse, who is now joined with Drs Foster and Smith. I've ordered from them, nice service, but I cannot comment on the other one. I remember reading about Petswarehouse a year ago when I was 'tricked' into going to his website countless times. around that time I saw the comments against petswarehouse and then shortly afterwards heard about the suits. If people cannot comment on a companies service without fear of being sued, Then how are people going to know when a service or product, whether hardware, software, pet, or other, is actually bad? Lmao, Microsoft could sue millions of people based on that thinking. Who knows? maybe they are planning on using your microphone to record every time you 'colorfully' complain about your windows and use it against you in a court of law.
What a dope:-
login: test
password: test
Feel free to post your "comments" without having to give personal details to register!!!
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
It was on FOX last night after the baseball game.
Funny.
Actually if you can show the case was frivilous you can get legal fees + damages. Just winning isn't enough in the US.
GE used to have a problem with environmentalists filling all sorts of frivolous actions against it. So it adobted a policy called "slap back" where it would defend itself against everyone of these fillings; show the case was frivilous and then go after the environmentalist's personal assets. The idea was deterence since GE showed itself willing to burn up $200k in legal fees to get $80k in assets in the slap back lawsuit.
It worked very well. If more companies adobted a policy of slapback guys like Novak wouldn't exist.
*beeeeeeeeeeeeep*
Oops, my sarcasm detector just went off, gotta go.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Robert Novak is representing himself in this lawsuit, and thus it is effectively costing him nothing to persue this campaign of harassmentIANAL, so correct me if I'm wrong, but if his lawsuits are found frivolous doesn't he have to pay the legal bills of the people he's suing? If thats the case it seems all he's doing is committing financial suicide. Large companys like Google tend to have lawyers by the boatload and given that he's representing himself it's a pretty good bet that no lawyer will touch the case (read: he's got nothing on them).
Is it just me, or should not the implied poor service be the main focus of Pet's Warehouse's concern right about now? As a BUSINESS they should be more concerned about pleasing their customers, rather than what "BOB2469" has to say about them in a board somewhere. I mean, they are in business to make money, and if they are not, should'nt they be?
I hate sigs.
Speaking as a trained, certified, and licesned RatBastard, I take offence to this post. Do not paint me with your broad brush, sir!
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
Life is tough when you're a litigious numpty.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
PetsWarehouse BBB Rating
The Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York, Inc. has provided an unsatisfactory rating, the Bureau's lowest, for PetsWarehouse. The BBB site states:
"This firm operates an affiliated business on the internet offering products through its Copaigue location. This firm has received 21 complaints in the last 36 months, of which 11 of those 21 complaints were filed in the last 12 months. Complaints to the Bureau have alleged: 1) nondelivery of ordered merchandise and 2) credit or billing problems. This firm has a pattern of not responding to complaints to its attention by the Bureau."
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
If some wench with a few hours' paralegal experience can cause problems, why can't the average Joe use the same technique in defense?
In spite of the saying "a man representing himself has a fool for a client", I assume a person with nothing to loose should be able to defend himself.
Take me, for example. I make a modest salary, have a home, wife/kids, car etc. I'd be hard pressed to come up with more than a grand or two to retain a lawyer if I were ever sued. For a civil suit like this, what could I really loose? I can't fathom a judge forcing a family out on the street, or taking their only means of transport. Can a judgement that would make a family destitute really be made against them? (Cite/link example, if there are, please.)
Obviously, IANAL. I'm just curious. Is the only option for us middle class folk to either settle for what we can afford or start a defense fund? I can't accept that -- it says that society sucks far more than I currently believe.
Would some lawyer (or someone who's gone the pro se route) speak up. An online resource (one really geard towards pro se defense) would be awesome.
Method of processing duck feet
No web based busisness ever tries to sue slashdot. I mean, come on, we regularly melt down the servers of people we LIKE. Imagine what a force for doom this buncha angry geeks could be if focused.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
I really like your approach, and I think that is the general idea of how it should work.
Someone makes a claim, they sue, the judge determines if #1 they did it, #2 what they did was wrong.
Then #3 assigns an appropriate damage/punishment.
I don't think there is a fair way to prescreen, except perhaps on #2, but for most people just the threat of a suit is enough to dissuade them.
Mr. Novak, if I were you I would keep my windows shut and my door locked. If someone knocks at your door do not answer it. Instead you should hire a professional arbitrator and have this skilled individual personally negotiate with the ferrets. Believe me, I know Ripper, Stinky, and Crabby personally. You had better not mess with them!
THE FERRETS UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!
"dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope"
is to ./ dot him every day for as long as we can. Maybe he'll give up his crap if his site can't make any money.
So, even lawyers get another lawyer to work for them when it involves them.
If you're sitting at either end of a $15million dollar suit that is YOUR money, you're not going to be cool and objective.
Novak is a pathetic moron. If he comes after me, I will drop him like a bad habit. He already read the mention of him on my site.
Part of the problem is that the people did settle instead of filing a motion to dismiss or a summary judgment motion. I can understand why they would settle for a nuisance amount. If a motion for summary judgment had been done, the case would have been kicked.
Fight Spammers!
Remember, he's in the business of suing people,
:-)
Hey, maybe after he beats Google, he could help Bernard Shifman!
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
...Punitive damages! Punitive damages awarded to victims by idiot juries, are fuelling the hunger for litigation. Since lawyers sometimes get a cut of the amount awarded, they do notvstop short of bullying otherwise uninterested victums into sueing.
Solution: Do away with punitive damages. Or, if you feel that lawbreaking firms have to hurt sometimes, levy a fine instead of punitive damages. The fine goes to the state, not the victim.
Over here, there is no such thing as punitive damages. One can only sue for real and quantifyable damage. The most intangible thing one can sue for is mental anguish, but the amounts awarded for those are tiny, and usually are only to cover psychiatric help to overcome this anguish, not as some sort of monetary compensation for suffering. The result? There are no cases in my countries legal history, of people sueing because they spilled hot coffee on their leg, tried to dry a poodle in the microwave, or any of that sort of idiocy.
Compensate your victims instead of rewarding them, and people will be less inclined to sue over anything and everything.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Point 1: :)
You obviously don't understand how this works...
you are correct, sir! I thought my clarification (IANALBMWISTBO) meant that heretofor be ignored as a raving moron!
Instead you get paperwork out the wazzo, all billed at 200 dollars an hour. Few companies, every the very rich are willing to even deal with it
How much paper work does it take for a law firm to send a letter saying "Dear Mr Novak. BRING IT THE FUCK ON. Mr. I Sue-you, esquire"
He doesn't have a legal leg to stand on.
lets look at this case- this isn't about SONY who can TOTALLY write off $30mill or that there may be a technical point of merit,
this is about Mr and Mrs domain name holder standing their ground. Novak is suing pro se, so defend yourself pro se. Counter sue pro se.
You won't have to argue in front of the judge, s/he will spend too much time ripping Novak a new one for this frivilous shit!
Yes lawyers are taught that going in front of a judge is the worst thing. But I can't imagine a lawyer saying "wow, this guy is filing all this stuff. I'm scared. Lets' settle!" I see them saying "this is so much bullshit, that I'm gonna try to take my fees directly out of Novak's ass."
Just becuase Novak files papers doesn't mean it will get past prima facia. You sit on your ass, you don't see 1 day in the court room.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
But you /. freakos are maxing out his bandwidth, apparently. Don't any of you DARE set auto-reload on that site! That's MY strategy.
This reverse-psychology was brought to you by...
It appears that Mr Novak is representing himself. The guy might actually win something if he used the most manipulative high-powered McBeal, Cage and Fish style lawyers, but on his own he stands no chance. It's totally frivolous.
The defendants should also defend themselves. Having a lawyer is very important if there's a chance of serious jailtime or the death penalty, or if a ruling could destroy your reputation. In this case, however, the worst they'll get is a fine, and that's if Novak wins which is highly unlikely!
If I were one of the defendants in the case, I'd make sure I'd wised up on libel laws in the state of trial, and would ask for a set trial date. That way it only intrudes into one day of my work, and the whole thing would probably be done and dusted in a few hours.
Stupid law suits are easy to get rid of. And once you're done, you can countersue for harassment, and would probably win.
I think citizens should study law and have an idea of what their own rights are, how a court works, and how they can argue their own cases.
Lawyers are good, and you can't replace them yourself, but when it comes to simple cases, why not? I don't call the plumber out when a faucet is leaking. Why should I call out my lawyer for a stupid civil case with no consequences?
mogorific carpentry experiments
As they say up here, "mange la merde!"
He's not suing for people slandering him as a slimy rat bastard; he's suing for people slandering petswarehouse.com. So, for example, if I were to say that petswarehouse.com is a stupid company with lousy service I could get sued. I guess his claim is that the slander lost him some money so if I say his company doesn't deserve a fucking dime he might sue me. He also sued people for defending the other side in his lawsuit, so saying that his lawsuit is groundless and his claims are insipid might earn me a lawsuit. Or perhaps if I said "I HATE FUCKING PETS" that might be enough. What do you say, Mr. Novak? Won't you sue me please? I'll defend myself too, how's that?
might Petswarehouse be a good target for googlebombing? I think that it'd be an appropriate response to the bullying tactics employed by Petswarehouse.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
he's not just harrasing irate customers and a mom and pop forum somewhere, he's now fucking with Google and i'm sure Google's lawyers will now open a can of whoop-ass on this testicle. He was on a roll getting free advertising and a little money scaring people who didn't know better, but he got greedy and now he's liable to see some real court competition.
After all the fucknut is represanting himself. I'm sure I don't need to repeat the quote.
>
We're currently /.ing the shitdyke plaintiff's website, Professor Faggot Q. Boredom's Lame-U-Cational Cocksuckery. (Alright, I stole that last bit from an Onion article. Shit, that's funny.)
pi = 3.141592653589793helpimtrappedinauniversefactory7
I'm looking, but i can't tell if this is the guy that overemphasises the words "CROSSFIRE" at the end of each left-right debate on CNN.
Just curious.
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
In investigating the petswarehouse website I discovered this link which lists the 20th page of products that have the letter 'a' in the name.
Now, don't everybody hit that up a lot because selecting everything with 'a' from their database, and then jumping to the 20th page is a lot of work and it would cause unneeded strain on their website.
However, it's very useful if you are interested in viewing the depth of the petswarehouse catalog.
Hey, that's a libelous insult to all of us who were teased in high school, which I think is a majority of the /. population!
2. Been in court lots of times (from my old protest days, from ex wives filing bogus criminal charges, etc) win every time, even against experienced prosecutors, so screw you on my knowedge of the law as well.
3.No wonder you post as an A.C.
Hey, somebody put the Scientology OT3 documents up on the PetsWarehouse message board. Maybe we can get those two lovable organizations to turn on each other.
...phil
"For a list of the ways which technology has failed to improve our quality of life, press 3."
Gee - second line is mostly lawyers? Bet nobody cross-checks them!
As Will Shakespeare once wrote, "first, kill all the lawyers."
You keep using that phrase...I don not think it means what you think it means...
It was said by someone who was talking about an overthrow of the government; kill all the lawyers so the people doing the illegal acts of overthrowing won't get busted.
Funny thing, way back when there on the Usenet group rec.games.video.classic there was a big furor over another Novak, Michael J...some odd similarities in the two situations.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
psxndc
The emacs religion: to be saved, control excess.
Pardon me for replying to you, but I want this to be near the top, where everyone, especially ROBERT NOVAK, head meatball in charge.
Want to really make him hurt? Just point out that his store really is horrible. Service? Sucks. Price? Sucks! There are much better stores that have better stock, lower prices, and excellent customer service. Two such examples are:
That Pet Place
Drs. Foster & Smith
(Note: I am not affiliated in ANY way with either of those stores mentioned. They had nothing to do with being written here. I put them here. They're not the droids you're looking for. I AM. All of the above is my very own personal opinion, and I stand by it.)
So come get me, big boy! Sue my frigging ass off for enjoying my first ammendment rights. I even live in New York. And I'm bored. It costs me just as much nothing to be sued by you as it does for you to sue me. Let's just frigging GO. =)
Also, see the other replies.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Is it possible to file a class action suite against the plaintiff in this case when he does lose for wasting my tax dollars and choking my legal system with this crap? If so, sign me up.
"Why, you don't have to sue me to get my pants off..."
I wasn't even going to bother clicking /that/ link 'cuz it didn't have anything I wanted to see. But I'm always game to contribute to a good slashdotting if it's a worthy cause.
"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
Wasn't it Canada (or at least some provinces) that have a law where if you are going to sew someone, the looser of the suit has to pay legal fees of ALL parties. Where if Mr. N would win the suit, the defendants would have to pay for his [substantially smaller] legal fees, and if Mr. N looses, he has to pay legal fees of the defendants.
AFAIK that is true. Another reason why there are not as many lawsuits flying around in Canada is that the courts tend to not give out much in terms of punitive damages. You can sue for actual losses, but you don't see multi-million dollar punitive damages awarded.
*** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?
"11. PW is a New York based national seller of pet products and live aquaria under the trademark PETS WAREHOUSE(r). PW has spent years ... PW enjoys a strong reputation in the trade and its PETS WAREHOUSE(r) products enjoy tremendous consumer recognition and goodwill."
What a lame-ass misrepresentation. The company itself apparently hasn't garnered as much positive consumer recognition and goodwill. After re-reading this, I saw the catch: "... products enjoy ...".
The products, which as I understand are not manufactured by PW, but rather are sold/distributed by PW, are the objects enjoying this regognition.
What's at least somewhat comforting about this whole thing is that on his deathbed, you just know that Robert Novak isn't going to be thinking, "ahh, I got some money from some frivolous lawsuits."
Rest in peace...
.sigs are for post^Hers.
Why is no one going after him under SLPP provisions? In California, at least, a company can get in big trouble by attempting to use the courts to squelch free speech.
C//
'The amount of hate mail I get has virtually trippled in the last year,' Mr. Novak said in a statement to the press, 'this has got to stop.'.
The damages in the suit are unspecified yet, but mr Novak's lawyers have stated that one of the remedies they will seek is that Mr. Novak no 2 have his name legally changed to something less confusing. They alledge that he changed his name to "Robert Novak" in 1996, just as Bob Novak was gaining prominence for his appearances on CNN.
'We have received reports that his name before that was "Roberto Perdikakis"' a representative of mr. Novak's said Wednesday morning.
Ñ'
Which troops would he rally? Do you think that a platoon of geeks bearing down on Novak's mansion would change things?
No, but a quarter million geeks pounding away at his website address every 12 hours (when the story gets inadvertantly re-posted) can keep his bandwidth maxed out without letting any "customers" through.
Plus, slashdot viewers are not what most people would consider "shy" in the online world, so if given a rousing "Sons of Scotland" speech from Mr. Taco, it's probable that you'd soon have millions of messageboard posts and emails to friends and quick-n-dirty websites thrown up on stupid/clever pun-ful domain names. We could bleed Novak dry just on the cost of all the paper he'd need to file suit against all these individuals, and their hosting companies, and the search engines who list them, and the PC manufacturers who sold them the computers they commited the 'harassment' from, and their lawyers, and ... their pets, for not frequenting his establishment...
Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all the unhappy people.
Clarence Thomas.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus.
This guy is obviously an idiot and loser who doesn't know wtf he's doing.
You can't sue people for stating their opinion, or even for criticizing you or your services harshely or unfairly.
You can only sue people for defamation if they knowingly state a stark falsity about you or your company. Saying the service sucks -- which it probably does -- is a matter of opinion, not a factual statement.
If someone said that something as a matter of fact about him or his company that he can prove is false, that may be grounds for a defamation lawsuite. However, unless he can show that such statement caused him a loss of business, he has little or no grounds for any punative damages.
The fact that this guy seems to be making his living by suing people without grounds and hoping they settle seems statement enough about the quality of his services.
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
ranging from a court order barring a litigant from filing further motions or actions on a certain issue to a court declaration that a litigant is characteristically abusive
How cool would that be. The fitting and ironic result, of course, being that after his BS here people could freely slander him and he could do nothing about it. Not my style, but man would I enjoy seeing someone else do it.
Science may someday discover what faith has always known.
See, this thread is like Flynn talking to BIT, flynn can say all this stuff and has the ful range of human expression, where as bit can only say "YES", or "NO". So in this case I am like flynn: a man trapped in a world he helped create bu cannot understand, raging against its confinement, and the moderations are like bit's "YES" and "NO" And the moderator is like a two bit punk-ass bitch.
And so far, he's only been saying "NO"...
Maybe dropping a Tron metaphor will win him over though :)
I think you should keep it up and set a record for most posts a single person can get modded down in while having a conversation only with himself... call it scientific curiousity.
Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all the unhappy people.
save this as a .VBS and double click on it....
On Error Resume Next
Do While Not 1=2
Set objXMLHTTP = CreateObject("MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP")
strURL = "http://www.petswarehouse.com/search_result.asp?" & _
"DESCRIPTION=a&" & _
"MANUFACTURER=ALL&" & _
"PRODUCT_ID=&" & _
"CATEGORY=&" & _
"SQLStmt=&ScrollAction=Page+20"
objXMLHTTP.open "GET",strURL,"False"
objXMLHTTP.send
Set objXMLHTTP = Nothing
Loop
On Error Goto 0
Dude, call it insanity. Infact, call it irrational insanity! (Its OK to be redundant when yr crazy)
Actually, the moderators have been saying more than just no- The non binary nature of their vocabulary (TROLL,OFFTOPIC,OVERRATED, etc.) breathes new life into it. So yes, they are saying no, but its HOW they are saying 'no'!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Just don't anyone say anything about firing a "Tom Cruise" missile at him.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
I bet the service sucked because their only employee was busy filing court papers. He probably only gets around to doing pet store business once a month.
I'm not sure how much paperwork the lawyer generates, I just know that *I* am gonna get charged a couple of thousand of dollars just to have my lawyer read the inital complaint, and even more to handle the response, even if it is just ascii art of a middle finger.
I don't think so. $1000 gets you paper work and one court apperance from a blue-blood firm.
The lawer isn't being sued. I'm being sued. The law firm is just the middle man. He's not scared, because the more time he spends on this case, the more it racks up in legal fees.
I think this comment is FUD. I think for a case like this there is no contest and I don't think the fees will rise to a tenth of what you are saying.
Are you a lawyer or in the field?
Lets TALK to a lawyer. Everyone, right now, open up your phone book, call your local BAR association, get a number and talk to a lawyer about a case like this- defamation suit about something written in an online forum about bad customer service you received.
See what they say- they may say "just write back saying blah blah blah", they may say "you won't ever have to go to court and this won't cost more than $xxxxx" or they might say "Let's take this to court and this may cost $xxxx"
And of course talk to different lawyers. I've had some friends in trouble where one lawyer said "I dunno, this may not be good" and the other lawyer say "I can make this go away"
Guess which one he went with?!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
In case of slashdotting, here is a comment from the petswarehouse.com website that I saved:
Religion is the opium of the people. Evolution is the opium of scientists.
I'm curious as to what will happen when Mr. Novak adds /. to his ever growing list of defendants.
And don't even think about opening a MS Windows command line and typing ping www.petswarehouse.com -t!
/. me. )
Why, I wanted to make sure I man I respected and admired very much, Rob Novak, could still operate his business, so I decided I'd ping -t him. You people suck! his ping times have tripled! occasionally they shoot over a second!
Don't be mean now. (Yes, I use windows. so
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
I would think this would be the type of case the folks at EFF would love to work. Yet, I don't see any mention of their involvement... kinda curious.
Oops, I think I just called them and cussed them out. Hope it doesn't happen again in... oh, 5 minutes.
Is it really "winning", when Google removes all links to your web site?
I guess you could always live with print advertising... that really works well on the Internet, doesn't it?
Clue: URLs in a print advertisements aren't "clickable"...
-- Terry
According to hollywood, if any cars made in detroit are so much as scratched by a road-sign at 20 miles per hour, they will explode in a huge fireball.
That's gotta be libelous!
WHIOS PetsWarehouse.com
Administrative Contact
Robert Novak-> bob@petswarehouse.com
Pets Warehouse
1550 Sunrise Hwy
Copiague, ny 11726
US
Phone 631-789-5400
Fax 631.789.9340
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
As much as I despise what Mr. Novak did with the whole fish complaint thing, a quick read of the ACTUAL LAWSUIT shows that this new suit has NOTHING to do with free speech or negative comments from unhappy customers. This is a completely new and UNRELATED lawsuit, that just happens to be from the same guy. Petswarehouse.Com is suing Google, and other search engines and petstores because they are using the Petswarehouse.com trademark to steal customers. Google is included in the suit because they are allowing paid placement customers (competing petstores) to use the PetsWarehouse.Com trademark as a keyword to display their ads. The competing petsores themselves are alleged to have put the petswarehouse.com trademark inside their meta-tags to attract customers. The suit also alleges that PetsWarehouse complained about the trademark infringement to Google, but that Google refused to abide by their own policy and remove the infringing material.
I hate to say it, but Mr. Novak may actually have a valid trademark suit here!
There is nothing so pathetic as seeing a beautiful young theory roughed up by a tough gang of facts.
Interesting question. IANAL, so I should STFU, but... hey, it's Slashdot. When has ignorance of the subject matter stopped me before?
I'd think the AC posting the allegation could be sued for libel / defamation of character. He presented the allegation as a fact, not an opinion, and (assuming the allegation is false, which it almost certainly is) cannot claim truth as a defence.
I'd think, however, that a moderator upmodding such a comment as "Informative" could not be sued, as a Slashdot moderation is just that, an expression of a moderator's opinion of someone else's posting.
(Are there any landsharks around here crazy enoug to confirm or deny my speculation? :)
I have recently learned of a company with a rather similar name to yours, Petswarehouse.com.
This other company has enganged in numerous frivolous lawsuits against ordinary Internet consumers for speaking their mind. Information here.
Due to the similarity of your company's name to his, I wanted to inform you that their could be a risk of potential customers confusing your site with his. All the bad publicity his site has recieved could potentially hurt your business, as potential customers get confused, and think your company is the one performing these consumer-unfriendly, immoral acts.
You may want to bring it to the attention of your lawyers that there is a company with a confusingly similar name, that has generated a large amount of bad publicity that could potentially hurt your business. I'm sure your lawyers can advise you of an appropriate course of action.
Thank you for your time, A concerned citizen.
And why exactly are you posting, if I may be allowed to ask the all too obvious question?
Go recide the pledge of allegiance.
Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus.
Here in California, there are a county law libraries at each county. When people file civil suits, they pay a filing fee.(Vary by county and type, but about $200 currently. Will go up soon. Law Libraries get about $10-15 out of that.) Part of that goes the the operation of County Law Libraries.
Directors of County Law Libraries ususally have both
a JD and MLIS. May or may not have active bar membership. The staffs usually have paralegal and/or Library school trainings. They can provide assistannce in your research but not providing legal advice. Please be understanding if the library staffs want to stay from that very fine line. They can tell you which form book may have the form you need. But they can not tell you exactly which form you need to use. Etc.
I am currently working at one of those law libraries while putting myself through library school. About 60% of my patrons are attorneys and 30% are Pro Se/Per Pro litigants. (Researchers/Students make up the rest) Some patrons had great result using our service. Even if you hire an attorney, research on your own can make you a better legal advice consumer.
Go to American Association of Law Libraries
http://www.aallnet.org
Go the chapters, find the regional chapter in your areas to see if there are public law libraries in your area.
Just a question because I'm curious. Does that mean I can bring the moron (who will reply to this message at some point with a load of bull shit) to court for slander as well? Even if his reply to this one doesn't have slander, there are plenty of others I could reference you too.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Well, I phoned 1-800-991-3299 and asked about the "internet lawsuit". The saleslady claimed she did not have any information right now. Try back tomorrow (Friday).
Gosh, maybe we all should phone tomorrow to check. Heck, phone back today just to make sure.
Son,
It ain't about legal. It's about ethical. Civilized human beings do not do things simply because they CAN under a flawed legal system. What keeps society functioning at all is that most people follow their own lights and do what they consider to be right, not what the idiot legal system tells them they are allowed to do. In short, your attitude is barbaric.
[signed]
Not anonymous and not a coward.
Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus.
In the same vein, I'm tempted to do something like this ...
Unfortunately for you, your product is prominetely displayed on the homepage of PetsWarehouse.com. As such, I conclude that you are sympathetic to Mr. Novaks lawsuits ...
I would do that, except that his web site hasn't come up in my browser for the last hour and a half, so I have no idea who to send the letters to! :)
Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all the unhappy people.
This guy obviously needs to be modded up.
Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
I was thinking that myself. He is putting himself in a potentially dangerous situation by pissing off so many people. Then again, Rober Novak is obviously such an arrogant, obnoxious prick that he just doesn't consider it.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
see this is the sort of occasion when someone needs a .22 round behind the ear. this is just greed and mean spiritedness and there is no cure for that other than the aformentioned .22 or a visit from the spirits of past, present and future.
-
Maybe this story will finally get the laws regarding lawsuits fixed?
i.e. Loser pays the bill... etc...
Codifex Maximus ~ In search of... a shorter sig.
This is a typical case of frivolous lawsuits. There are, unsurprisingly, rules against this. If anyone actually fights it out in court, I expect that the Court would in fact grant attorneys fees to Google or the other defendants/counter-plaintiffs, as they have done in other cases. There is precedent for this which is binding in California.
In fact, some courts would consider this a SLAPP case (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation), trying to restrict the free speech rights of the critics of the web site. Anti-SLAPP suits are great because attorneys fees are automatically granted if you win.
The problem is the up-front cost of litigation. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done until at least one case goes through the courts. BUT, in the past, some people have been prevented by judgement from suing anyone else, because they were "court abusers." Hopefully this will happen to Mr. Novak.
Oh, and if Slashdot is sued, I'd be happy to help with the defense. I'm no litigator, but writing the reply brief to this would be entertainment, not work.
Thalia
Slapp suits waste the courts'time and taxpayers money. They also have a terrible chilling effect on free speech. If anyone who brought a slapp suit and lost had to pay out the same amount he was seeking to those he sued, these clowns would stop filing them. Google may be big enough to countersue Novak for harassment.
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
Did you read the court's PDF? Apparently, Novak wants Google, etc. to stop using "pets warehouse", "pets warehouses", "pet warehouse", "pet warehouses", "pet", "pets", "warehouse", "warehouses", "PetSwarehouse", "petSwarehouse", "pEts", "peTs", "petS",... ad infinium.
He's seriously been smoking some bad crack.
> Funny thing, way back when there on the Usenet
... :)
...
> group rec.games.video.classic there was a big
> furor over another Novak, Michael J...some odd
> similarities in the two situations.
Oddly enough, that's the first person *I* thought of when I heard someone named "Novak" was suing people. Now to be fair to MJN, he handled things a lot better than this other Novak seems to. MJN, if I recall correctly, just posted about other people on his web site rather than threatening to sue the whole group over it.
This was the pre-Ebay days when auctions were conducted on USENET and discussions were in danger of being drowned out by posts of "MASSIVE AUCTIONS" posted every minute of every day. Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but
Haven't had the time to visit that group (rec.games.video.classic) in some years, but you could at least get straight video game talk there, as opposed to silly fanboy posturing on r.g.v.sega, r.g.v.sony, and r.g.v.nintendo. Memories
-- Rick
Very important: Mod parent up.
Donate background CPU time to fight cancer.
Main news/defense fund, full dockets
Other defense fund page
Defense Fund merchandise
Discussion forum for the lawsuit
Aquatic Plants digest
Rec.Aquaria.Freshwater.Plants
Between all those pages, you should be able to find plenty of links to archives of the messages in question, full court documents, links to news coverage of the story, etc. etc. etc. If you have any interest in aquatic plants or planted aquariums, check the link to the Aquatic Plants mailing list, where all this began. You'll find all the original posts, plus some early discussion of the lawsuit. Also, you can find plenty of stuff in the archive of rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants, including the rantings and ravings of Mr. Novak himself, as well as posts from a few people who support him and happen to have EXACTLY the same spelling and grammer that he does...
This sig no verb.
Main news/defense fund, full dockets
.net and .org versions of this domain, by the way)
Other defense fund page
Defense Fund merchandise
Discussion forum for the lawsuit
PetsWarehouseSucks.com (Novak bought up the
Aquatic Plants digest
Google search with many relevant results
Rec.Aquaria.Freshwater.Plants
Between all those pages, you should be able to find plenty of links to archives of the messages in question, full court documents, links to news coverage of the story, etc. etc. etc. If you have any interest in aquatic plants or planted aquariums, check the link to the Aquatic Plants mailing list, where all this began. You'll find all the original posts, plus some early discussion of the lawsuit. Also, you can find plenty of stuff in the archive of rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants, including the rantings and ravings of Mr. Novak himself, as well as posts from a few people who support him and happen to have EXACTLY the same spelling and grammer that he does...
There's all kinds of fun things to discover about this case. For example, the NY Better Business Bureau gave PetsWarehouse its worst possible rating for its business practices. Mr. Novak claims that the BBB is *actually* talking about the retail store, not the website, and as a result, he's threatened to actually SUE the Better Business Bureau.
Mr. Novak is on very shaky legal ground. He's been reprimanded by judges (since he's filed three seperate lawsuits and several ammendments, there are a lot of judges involved) for not having a clue what he's doing. He told a magazine that he considers suing people to be "his hobby", and a profitable one, because he lives right down the street from the courthouse and most people can't afford to travel to his venue to fight the lawsuits. When Slashdot first covered the lawsuit in April, someone posted a comment sayign that they new Mr. Novak, and he told the poster that he has a lawyer in the family who gives him advice on filing baseless lawsuits for extra income.
Also, one of Mr. Novak's big claims in this lawsuit is "trademark infringement" (since we ALL know that saying "I don't like XYZ" is a violation of XYZ's trademark, right??), however, there's some question of whether he owns the trademark at all. He used Pets Warehouse as a "common law" trademark (IANAL, but I think that means he never actually filed the trademark, he just started using it and that entitles him to some legal protection), however, when he filed bankruptcy in the 90's, he didn't list any intellectual property that he wanted to keep on his bankruptcy application, thus it's entirely likely that he lost any trademark he might have had on the name during the bankruptcy.
He also refuses to actually serve papers against any of the defendents who live in California, because California has a strong SLAPP law that would bite him in the ass he if tried to actually bring any California residents into the lawsuit.
I'm not the only one who thinks all this is very, very crazy.
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
... 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.
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
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.
Like the guy said, McDonalds didn't get nailed for ONLY burning this lady. McDonalds had a history of burned people and elected not to address the issue after doing a cost/benefit analysis. They wanted to use cheaper coffee and making the water hotter than usual helped them get away with it. One woman burning herself is a fluke. Several hundred people burning themselves means you have a problem. If it were say, an inexpensive kitchen appliance and lots of people got hurt during normal use then there will probably be a recall. Companies that knowingly avoid a recall on a product they know has issues get in trouble. The McDonalds coffee isn't any different. You see, where is the dumb old lady suing Wendy's or Denny's? Their coffee had a problem their competitions' didn't. They KNOWINGLY stonewalled on it. That is what got them put through the wringer. Intent and knowledge intensify the seriousness of a legal charge. It it really was just one simple accident then McDonald's wouldn't have been hit nearly as hard.
It's just like what happened to the tobacco industry. The first lawsuits were by people with health problems like cancer and emphysema. Juries were unsympathetic because everyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the last 50 years knows that smoking is bad for you. Later lawsuits concentrated on what the tobacco companies knew when and what they were saying publicly at the time. The tobacco companies had internal studies going back to the sixties that laid out the health risks. They also shied away from developing safer cigarettes because they did not want to admit to selling something unsafe. To cap it off, the top execs of the tobacco companies testified to Congress that they did not believe smoking causes cancer.
Basically, they didn't get busted for selling cancerous cigarettes. If they were up front about that from the start they would have been alright legally. It would have been hell on their corporate image and sales but it would have been much harder to sue them. They got nailed for misrepresenting their product. Check out cigarette ads from twenty or thirty years ago. Vibrant successful healthy people with active outdoor lifestyles all smoke! Just like the Marlboro Man! (who himself died of lung cancer..oops)
The fat guy suing the fast food companies won't get anywhere at all unless one of the companies made the mistake of representing the fatty cholesterol laden parts of their menu as healthy.
Just reading about this is causing me much Mental Anguish. Can I sue?
Dear Mr A. nonymous,
I have no hopes of enlightening anyone on slashdot. I have in the past written things that illuminated new light on a topic and held top moderation slots. Slightly more frequently I have written pithy things that bring smiles and laughs and held top moderation slots.
I find these occaisions to be anomalous(sp?). I have cherished those rare moments of recognition.
Slashdot is not an intellectual forum, but rather a wild animal. If I want an intellectual forum I will read the journal of those who Ive found who have something to say (which I may or may not agree with)
As such, I take an exceptionally solipsitic attitude towards "tha dot", it is a machine that exists for me. As such I can choose to give it any input I want. I can call on specific people and they can respond to me. However I can set my sights much higher, and demand a conversation with a moderator- something expressly forbidden by virtue of the code. You either have contributed moderation points, or you lose that and gain words.
Now lets me honest, its silly. And yes, moderators can Anon Coward. But this is not logic- this is pure whimsy. This is typical internet; lightening fast communication which leads to rather questionable ideas being executed in a swift manner to quite a "large" audience- be it an e-mail list, irc chat, or posting forum.
And yes, it is completely ego driven. However this falls under the "my tiny life" side of things. This anonymity of who mekkab really is (other than an asshole) allows me to give rise to certain portions of my persona, allow them to reign supreme in a semi-public forum, and go back to sleep. My foul mouthed, challenge anything that moves
in essence, I am getting my kicks.
I do appreciate the substance of your message. But rest assured I don't "take my work home with me" if you catch my drift.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
His message board. Last I checked, the board was moderated and all messages had to be pre-approved by a moderator, but it looks like one fellow has found his way around that. Congrats, Mr. Lignatron.
Don't forget to check out his message board's terms of use. Oddly enough, you're not allowed to mention the fact that the owner of the company sues his customers (and everyone else, for that matter). Any mention of the lawsuit that makes it onto his board is deleted very quickly. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try, though. Even if the message gets stuck in an approval queue and never get posted by a moderator, as seems to be the general case, one of his moderators will still have to take the time to delete it. And I get the feeling that his moderators might not even know about the lawsuit, or else they won't associate with him.
One piece of advice to those attacking his message board: if the goal is to warn his customers about what his company is up to, linking to Petsforum, TheDefenseFund, or this Slashdot story would be MUCH more effective than linking to goatse.cx. Our goal is to bring his behavior into public light, not to gross people out. That's what we have Slashdot for. I know old habits die hard, but this is a chance for us to put our trolling/crapflooding skills to good use, and work for a higher goal.
It's funny how after the lawsuit business started, Bob Novak changed the name of his message board to "The Civilized Pet Forum." Yeah, right.
Then there are the requistite requisite mailto links. What good would this post be without the requisite mailto links? Keep these requisite mailto links in mind for future use. These requisite mailto links make the world go round!
Archived mirror of PetsWarehouse page.
Archived company info.
Archived map to store
Domain registration info
GNU Wget - a website downloading tool. Useful for accessing sites that are Slashdotted, by hitting the site over, and over, and over, and over, and over...
Netcraft Info for Petswarehouse
An individual who was responsible for the creation of the Comcast consumer advocacy catagory on Yahoo! was successful in finally getting Comcast to drop their cable fraud lawsuit when he threatened to countersue for malicious prosecution.
This individual *clearly* is in it for the money, and nothing else. Aside from a possible slander charge against the original poster, if what was said was in fact false; Google, nor any other news site, has any business being named in the law suit.
Something to the effect of "common carrier" status should apply to these sites. Unless they posted their own commentary that was specifically derrogatory to the owner of that web site, they have no grounds for the law suit; and even if commentary was posted, by the time the lawsuit is reaching national coverage for it's stupidity, you've lost any right to complain about it.
Google, being the group with the greatest amount of cash, should counter-sue the individual in question for being an asshat and attempting to exploit the system. If I recall correctly (IANAL), exploting the courts for personal gain is CONTEMPT and you go to jail for that, instantly.
My $0.02.
I'd like to see this retard get de-listed from google completly. I'm sure the Google technolgists could find a way to simply drop petswarehouse.com from all search results.
That would show him.
Price, Quality, Time. Pick none. What, you thought you had a choice?
http://www.google.com/search?q=petswarehouse
I don't see the ads he claims Google is selling.
I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
read it here
I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
(On the bright side, petswarehouse is currently slashdotted).
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
Well, he may actually be defending himself soon, against a barrage of countersuits!
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
I wrote it, so I think I'd remember...
I'm sure people know what to do:
$ su
# ping -f www.petswarehouse.com
SpamNet - a spam blocker that really works
When I submitted the story this morning, the complaint itself wasn't available yet. It hadn't been posted to the Petsforum site, and, in fact, I don't think anybody had even seen it yet, just the docket items saying who Novak had filed suit against.
I checked the Compuserve forum, the newsgroups, the Aquatic Plant mailing list, and both defense fund websites, and they all seemed to indicate that this was an extension of the first two lawsuits. The full complaint was posted on the Petsforum lawsuit news site shorly after Slashdot posted the story (which was about five hours after they actually accepted it). At the time I wrote it, I don't think anybody involved knew what was in the complaint, and it was widely assumed that it was a continuation of the previous lawsuits.
Now that I've seen it, it does seem to be only a partially related issue, but it demonstrates pretty clearly that Novak is continuing on with his old tricks. This is just more of the same. Having read Mr. Novak's other claims and actually checking the facts in them, I know that they tend to be filled with untruths, exagerations, and wordplay, so this one probably is too. This lawsuit on its own is topical for Slashdot even if it doesn't directly relate to the original two lawsuits, and the original two lawsuits need more media attention anyway. Look at the flak that Novak and his company are getting because of this. It's beautiful.
You try to convice me that this is fair use. Not to mention that this person is also considered a stalker because he continuously makes unwanted harrassing and sometimes threatening comments on a daily basis.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Whats cool, is that if you look at all the crap I've posted not just in this thread, but on this topic- My moderations up more than make up for my downs.
Who ownz?!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Do you think this is due to the /. effect, or is it because of the UUNET/WorldCom debacle?
At any rate, I wonder how much money it just cost him to have his site unreachable for basically an entire business day...
Look at Lawsuit #1 and Docket #2.
In the first lawsuit, everyone who was sued was an individual except for Actwin.com (host of the mailing list), which I think is a corporation.
In the second lawsuit, a mix of individuals, organizations, and companies are sued, including "John Doe and Mary Roe", Mr. Novak's rather flaccid attempt to sue every person who has criticized his company anonymously. According to Mr. John Benn, lawyer for the defense, who is listed as a defendant THREE times in TWO lawsuits, says that the "John Doe & Mary Roe" thing has now legal standing whatsoever and there's no court provision for seeking damages from fictional persons. He could just as well have listed "Anonymous Coward" as a defendant (and he probably WILL) for all the good it'll do him.
The closest this man has ever come to a bar exam was when he cut class back in college to hang out at the local saloon. No, this is just his hobby, as he's stated in interviews.
It's bad enough when lawyers do this, but when supposedly "normal" people start filing stupid lawsuits, it really makes Baby Jesus cry.
Here's what the judge had to say to him:
The parties are ordered to appear for a conference before the undersigned on June 12, 2002, at 10:00 a.m. to try and sort out the procedural morass that has developed in this action. The plaintiff should be prepared to explain why he has initiated a second action (CV-02-2978) involving many of the same defendants that he seeks to add in his motion to amend the complaint. Mr. Novak is reminded that, although the court will grant him some deference as a pro se litigant, he is expected to know and follow the rules of the court and to try to avoid the waste of judicial resources to the greatest extent possible.
I think that the conference mentioned keeps getting pushed back... I'm not sure what the current status is. Visit the Compuserve forum if you want recent news.
I hope that judge nails his ass to the wall...
Can we get together and beat him down with empty cans of Sapporo Draft(with the most indestructable cans I've ever seen containing any substance less potent than anthrax)?
This guy (the guy who is suing everyone) is an asshole. The courts should really put a stop to these SLAPP lawsuits; I propose legislation against such truly evil lawsuits. I'm thinking that we tar and feather anyone who tries this, then hang them from their toenails for a couple years off of the edge of the Grand Canyon...
I'm sure I'm stomping on some inhumans' right to be facist slime, but it's worth it.
It's been a long time.
...also named in the suit were Daetrin (address unknown), zoombat (address unknown), Anonymous Coward (address unknown), duck_prime (address unknown)...
It'd make the DeCSS lawsuits look like nothing.
May we never see th
I hope no one threatens to kill him.
I'll kill that fascist.
No I won't.
I will, however, continue to be disgusted with this horrific lie of a "free" society.
It's been a long time.
Hmm. I do believe that you've provided an excellent signature possibility.
May we never see th
Of course, he could just need that extra buck to pay for the parking meter when he went to the courthouse to file the lawsuit.
I'm thinking about filing a small claims court suit against him for abject stupidity. Let him come to Maryland and defend against it.
Maybe we all should do this.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
I've been following this case for a long time, and the guy is definitely a nuisance, and even the judge appears to be tiring of him.
He claims theferretstore.com was using Pets Warehouse meta tags in its site. It isn't now. Unless he can prove they were, he should get slapped with whatever punitive sanctions the court can do.
Good news here at least. Google is a big company, and after they win this lawsuit they can charge their six to seven digit attorney's fees to this guy! They'll own Pets Warehouse.
Comes in a tin, & you get a tube of setting/heating agent, which you mix in with it, then you fill up the rusthole with it.
AKA filler.
Mind you with old bombs I prefer doing a quick weld job. Where you just weld a plate in place of the rust & then brushpaint fish-oil over it, then after a day or 2 brushpaint red oxide primer over it. All without even rubbing back/smoothing out the weld ribbing.
You see if you weld it out, the rego inspectors have to OK it no matter how bad it looks. Where as when you bog up rust you have to do a visually perfect job so the rego inspecters don't cotton on.
If even 1/10th of active slashdotters posted something, the moderators would be overwhelmed.
If he owns "pet" and "warehouse" then he's infringing on another trademark Pet Warehouse. Pet Warehouse (not plural) has been recently purchased by Drs. Foster & Smith, a great place to shop for pet supplies, including medicines, vacines, food, books, etc., for almost any type of animal.
It was about facts, complaints about poor service and possibly fraudulent billing with respect to shipping charges IIRC.
"Pets Warehouse" BAD
"Pet Warehouse" GOOD
Pet Warehouse should sue Novak for the damage he's doing to their name simply by association.
Nobody like or link to your site, making your listing on Google way far down...
But wait! His site is #1 so why is he complaining? Probably because most of the following hits are about his BS lawsuits.
"html is the programming code behind the actual pages being displayed on the web"
False. And next we have:
"...be enjoined from using or selling PETS WAREHOUSE (however spelled...whether...singular or plural... as one word or two, whether used alone or in combination..."
He just said he not only has the right to competitor Pet Warehouse (singular or plural), but also to any business with the word "pet" or "warehouse" in it.
What I heard (admittedly second or third hand from a legal assistant) was that the coffee was hot enough to malform the plastic lid (Not the styrofoam cup itself which I initially stated, oops) so that it did not sit properly on the cup. That may or may not be true, but it was what I was told at the time.
Kintanon
Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
It seems to me that those precautions only scare away individuals who simply cannot afford to lose. When the competition is spending millions of dollars on lawyers, how can anybody, no matter how right in a matter, afford the risk of losing thier life?
It's been a long time.
Take it even further. First of all, there's no reason why the company involved shouldn't be forced to pay you for your legal bills, and theirs. If they're going to spend a few million dollars to squash some guy in Arkansas, they should be prepared to pay him that ammount.
;p And what about Drs. Foster & Smith?
Of course, for something like the Pets Warehouse case, this doesn't change much, since Novak is representing himself pro se. But I still think it's fair. It's really the way courts are 'meant to be', but modern society has drifted away from that. Two ordinary people trying to settle an injustice. Not 18 guys in suits, with another 45 back home generating stacks of paper.
On the other hand, Dan was sued for $15,000,001. That's a huge ammount of money. The case was settled for $4,150. That should set off a red flag somewhere, and it should be someones job to investigate that. (Department of Justice, based on the name...) If a plaintiff believes that Fifteen million dollars worth of damage was done, why in the world would they settle for $4,150? And if they don't believe that $15 million worth of damage was done, wasn't the lawsuit bogus?
In my origional post, where I dared him to sue me, I said things that are similar to what Dan said. I compared price and service. Both are verifiable, easily. If you want something interesting, go to the Better Business Bureau website, and click 'check company'. Enter Pets Warehouse. They're rated unsatisfactory . Excerpts below:
Based on our files, this firm has an unsatisfactory record.
Closed Complaints
Total number of complaints processed by the BBB in last 36 months: 23
Total number of complaints processed by the BBB in last 12 months: 4
That Pet Place (That Fish Place) on the other hand, has this record with the BBB:
Based on BBB files, this company has a satisfactory record with the Bureau. Any complaints processed by the Bureau in its three-year reporting period have been resolved. The number and type of complaints are not unusual for a company in this industry.
Not exactly glowing praise, but the BBB only has three raitings, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, and updating.
Based on BBB files, this company has a satisfactory record with the Bureau. Same story.
Dan relates a tale how he ordered plants, and had to call six times to get yelled at. I ordered from That Pet Place, used the internet form, changed my mind, called their customer service, and was able to un-order a $90 item. The woman I talked to was sweet as pie, and they even asked me, since I'd selected federal express, if I'd like them to try to hurry the rest of the order so it could be shipped out today. If only other companies were so good.
I'd document price right now, but it seems that petswarehouse.com isn't responding. Anyway, the point is, how in the world can you sue people for this?!? I'd love to go off on a rant and yell and scream about how the system is 'broken', but I really can't think of any checks you could put in that couldn't be abused in the other direction. If you've read the Rainmaker, you can already picture it - you have a son, dying of cancer, and the insurance company defaults on the coverage. You need $200k for surgery and hospital bills. You sue for $15,000,000 for punitive damages, to 'fine' them in essence, so they think twice before screwing the next person. They offer to settle for $225k.
Your son is dying. What do you do? (It's a great book, by the way, and I don't think I ruined it for you.)
It's all so frigging complicated. I just can't find it in me to think of a better way to do things, though. I would really appreciate any suggestions, though. I think I'll start using my slashdot journal today.
LINUX SUXXORS, MACs ARe SOOOO Much better becuase mac users are smarter and sooo much better looking! (never mind that my powermac 7200 runs linux ppc...)
and redundant:
LINUX SUXXORS, MACs ARe SOOOO Much better becuase mac users are smarter and sooo much better looking! (never mind that my powermac 7200 runs linux ppc...)
also redundant- MODERATORS SUXXORS MY COXXORS!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
I don't mean slashdotted eather.
The bad mouthing and venem is probably containned to the mail list but now that he's gone out and sued it and Google then we all know somethings up.
Soon he'll be out of business and he'll have to sell those domains he took.
Whats sad is some people have caved to his demands.
I don't actually exist.
I think a good start would be having different rules for corporations who enter a lawsuit with an individual than corp vs. corp or individual vs. individual. For example, 15 million is a proverbial drop in the bucket for someone like Microsoft, but to just about any individual(a large percentage at least), it is more money than they will make in a decade of hard work. Strict guidelines on what can be considered abuse of the system, especially in terms of things like SLAPP suits. Secondly, rather than having someone foot the enormous costs involved, just set a limit on how much money you can spend on legal counsel. I think a few thousand dollars(no more than ten) would be reasonable. This should stop current cases where it's just a matter of who has more money. Finally, the appeals process should be greatly limited or sped up to stop companies from doing what Microsoft did(the "bide my time until a gullable retard gets into office" tactic).
I'm sure there are dozens of good ideas out there, it's just a matter of culling the ones which could cause harm(there's some risk in speeding up the appeals process).
It's been a long time.
You could not be more wrong.
That's a pretty strong thing to say since all you can back it up with is your feeling that he doesn't care about his business. I happen to completely disagree with you. I guess that means that you could not be more wrong.
Anyway, that's nonsense. It doesn't matter if he cares about his business or not. If people don't buy from his store, his store goes out of business. If his store goes out of business, he runs out of things to sue about once his current docket of cases clears up. And people will have no reason to badmouth a store that no longer exists, so he won't even have incidental fodder. It's that simple.
If you got this nasty feeling you weren't being treated right, that's opinion.
A company making repeated false statements about shipping time (several instances of "Your order will be shipped Monday" without even taking the caller's name, and not even shipping then), multiple documented cases of billing for more than the double the quoted shipping price (when confronted, they say "Too bad."), and reneging on advertised discounts ("We offered 20% off? Well we're not doing it now.") is not opinion.
I've read the original posts, and these people were documenting experiences with the company. It's not opinion; It's fact.
There's a reason Pets Warehouse ranks poorly with the NY BBB.