Defamation action league
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The Defamation Action League [1] was started in January 2007 by professional spammer William Stanley (see - [2]) in order to force the shutdown of the websites Ripoffreport.com [3] and Badbusinessbureau.com [4] - consumer complaint websites run by Ed Magedson.
[edit] Methods
The Defamation Action League says they are a group dedicated to fighting online defamation. However, the Defamation Action League engages in defamation itself to further its aims. The Defamation Action League's strategy involves "protesting" the companies which host ripoffreport.com and badbusinessbureau.com by setting up "protest sites" and engaging in annoyance strategies such as placing classified ads with the companies' telephone numbers for products they aren't selling or sending mass emails to other customers claiming that the hosting companies support child pornography and are actively engaged in pedophilia.
[edit] RICO lawsuit
In return Magedson filed a lawsuit under RICO. June 21, 2007 preliminary injunction was granted against DefamationAction.com and ComplaintRemover.com. Stanley and cohorts were found liable for defamation and making death threats. [1] [2]
On May 11, United States District Judge Neil Wake in Arizona granted a restraining order against Stanley, prohibiting him from sending threats and harassing Xcentric's business partners. The restraining order also applied to the other defendants, Robert Russo (behind DefendMyName.com), the Defamation Action League, and the Internet Defamation League. It didn't seem to make much of a difference. In a ruling on June 21, Wake said that "Stanley violated the temporary restraining order by knowingly sending spam e-mails that falsely disparaged...Jaburg & Wilk." Wake also noted that the site JaburgWilkSucks.com was created after the initial restraining order was granted.
[edit] References
- ^ Arizona District Court Docket case nr. 2:2007cv00954: Xcentric Ventures, LLC and Ed Magedson vs William Stanley, Robert Russo, QED Media Group, L.L.C., Defamation Action League and Internet Defamation League
- ^ CNET News.com June 29, 2007 Police Blotter: Dark side of 'reputation defending' service
