Novak Loses petswarehouse.com, Files For Bankruptcy
An anonymous reader writes "Remember Robert Novak, the person who has filed several frivolous lawsuits in order to silence people who criticize his business. Well, Robert Novak has lost his domain (see here)in a countersuit filed against him, and has just filed for bankruptcy ."
"Petswarehouse.com" has long been a source of confusion in the marketplace. For many years a company known as "Pet Warehouse" (not "Petswarehouse") has been a trusted source of supplies for fish enthusiasts. Long before the .com retailer thing, Pet Warehouse was, IMHO, the best of the mail order catalogs. They were eventually bought out by "Doctors Foster and Smith" (www.drsfostersmith.com), but the good Drs continue to print the "Pet Warehouse" name on their catalogs because it's a well respected name. They even continue to operate via the same old tollfree number. I've been out of the hobby for years, but hopefully they're still good.
It's been a nuisance that Novak and his pathetic activities has brought confusion via a similar name. Good riddance.
I know it's not good manners to reply to my own posts, but did anyone read through the Google (and other search engines and companies) law suit that this guy filed? Amazing!
He basically alleges that he lost tons of revenue and incurred damages to his brand because other companies that paid for advertising and ranking using keywords such as "pets" and "warehouse" unfairly got more hits/click throughs than his site. He sues the copanies that paid for the advertising AND the search engines like there was some giant conspiracy to undermine his business.
Woner if there are any complaints of people receiveing two headed animals or puppies that ate children from this guy? He's gone and slipped off the edge of reality...
If you don't have something nice to sig, then don't sig anything at all.
Freedom of speech is an interesting subject. Though many people believe freedom of speech to be absolute, there are some cases where it is determined that the freedom to speak is not absolute.
One of the best known examples of such a restriction involves clear and present danger. When speech results in a dangerous situation in which harm or imperilment of life may occur, speech ceases to be constitutionally protected, as SCOTUS ruled in Schenk v. United States, where a man falsely shouted fire in a crowded theatre causing many casualties.
Exceptions are also made in cases of libel and slander, in which knowingly false or misleading speech is prohibited. These exceptions are not necessarily bad things. Though I consider personal liberty to be most important, I do not believe that the freedom to speak should be a license to use speech as a weapon against other persons. Unfortunately, the United States goes too far in restricting speech against the government. Sedition as a crime is a horrible concept.
Umm, risking troll-mods, this is a FUNNY, not an INFORMATIVE, as they are not the same Robert Novak.
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
I've been following this story from the start, and it's been fascinating. Pets Warehouse is still up and operating. Novak switched over to a new domain shortly after the turnover of the domain was ordered, so he's managed to avoid any downtime despite losing his old domain. It's now located at Pets-Warehouse.com (Novak just added a dash). Maybe it'll soon be gone too, but Novak has been through a couple of bankruptcies already. I hope he's learned a lesson, at least.
barÂraÂtry
1. The offense of persistently instigating lawsuits, typically groundless ones.
2. An unlawful breach of duty on the part of a ship's master or crew resulting in injury to the ship's owner.
3. Sale or purchase of positions in church or state.
What he's doing is illegal, he should be fined into oblivion or sent up the river to be married to some guy named Bubba.
And, while we're at it, let's get the RIAA up on charges too.
-R
Animals are not sentient. First of animal. Humans are considered animals, therefore you are already wrong. If you are speaking of other mammals, you've obviously never had a pet. The definition of sentient is: 1 : responsive to or conscious of sense impressions 2 : AWARE 3 : finely sensitive in perception or feeling #1 speaks for itself. The reactions of a dog are not random, he will greet you with affection, growl at those he doesn't recognize and many other responses to stimuli. #2 Does a dog know it exists? As much as any two year old child. The reactions of both are incredibly similar. #3 Again dogs are incredibly sensitive to their surroundings. They know when you are upset, when they have done something wrong, and so much more. Based on your response you obviously have never spent time with something you didn't eat. I would recommend you do, it's a rewarding experience. :)
Some may remember the deal discussion forum Fatwallet.com from when several retailers sued them because users posted Black Friday sales fliers ahead of time. They also got sued by a guy named Todd Short, who was running a fraudulent scheme where he was selling laptops, claiming you would pay him now and get your laptop several months later. Users did, never got their laptops, and posted their experiences on the forum. The forum, along with a user who created a website, got sued by Todd. Later, he declared bankrucy.
Fatwallet JC Morris Thread
Website about JC Morris Scam
I have blog like everyone else
You only call the person who graduated medical school with the lowest GPA "doctor" if they also passed the boards and have a medical license. Furthermore, there is little correlation between medical school GPA and the rate of medical mistakes. GPA, like IQ, is a crude and nearly useless metric.
Now, what do you want us to do about it? There is a severe shortage of medical personel. Even if we wanted to we would have no time to police each other more than we do now. Do you propose that each patient to see two or more doctors with each visit? Who's going to pay for that?
Most jobs wouldn't be so fun if you had to both work 30-40 hours a week, devote your weekends to work AND run the risk that any mistake you make could devestate your practice and family.
At least as far as software is concerned, the PUBLIC EXPECTS BUGS and doesn't try to sue you out of existence when your program crashes.
Keep in mind that it isn't he whose filed for bankruptcy, it's his company.
From the web site:
On June 2, 3003 Robert Novak d/b/ Pets Warehouse and d/b/a petswarehouse.com filed for bankruptcy in the E.D.N.Y.
He is his company.
His personal credit won't be harmed, only the corporation's would.
I suspect his personal credit will be greatly harmed.
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett (1794 - 1865)
...for a judge to order him to never file another civil suit again? It really angers me to see someone abuse the system like this with no real repercussions.
Sadly, I don't think so, it would probably hurt his rights to much. But maybe he could be fined for each abuse?
Random fact from my memory: I'm not sure, but I think in ancient Greece sue-happy people who lost their case got automatically banned from court after a few attempts, they could never sue again...
I'm truly sorry, but I cannot live up to that ideal, much as I would like to.
I've made mistakes when treating patients... I've even watched treatments that I've prescribed kill patients (look up the complication rate for thrombolytic treatment for strokes, you'll see what I mean). I then had to face their family, and explain to them that the medicine they were gambling on to cure their relative's stroke had, in fact, caused her death. Bad outcome? Yes. Do you think I should be sued?
I would like nothing more than to be right all the time. Sometimes I just don't have the information I need (I work in the ER, and often have to go on little to NO information), and the patient suffers as a result. When a guy having a heart attack lies to me about his cocaine use, some of the drugs I'd normally use to treat his heart attack can harm, even kill him. What am I supposed to do? An attorney can go to court and argue that if I'd waited for his medical records to arrive, I would have seen the drug abuse in his old chart... but I have to treat RIGHT NOW, or I run the risk of breaching the 30 minute door-to-drug standard of care, and I can get sued for THAT. Hard choices.
I don't mind being between the devil and the deep blue sea... I signed up for that. What I cannot do is be perfect, or always have a perfect outcome.
The good news is this: most people understand... which is part of the reason that doctors prevail in 80-90% of all malpractice suits. Juries often "get it," despite the depredations of the personal injury bar.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
As a single individual running a company, it is often times advantageous to be a sole proprietor instead of incorporating. For instance you don't get double-taxed and there are no legally mandated filings or shareholder meetings. The down side, of course, is liability. Novak was rather foolish not to get liability insurance, and that is why i think he is bankrupt.
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.
Edward Everett (1794 - 1865)