So Dakka got sent a C&D...

[Gotthammer]

[URL="http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/526190.page"]...but not from who you'd expect![/URL]

Roughly a week ago a thread was started on Dakka claiming that the owner of the company Resin Forge was none other that Daniel Mandelbaum.

A couple of days ago, I received a Cease & Desist letter sent on behalf of Resin Forge and the owners of the company listed in the letter: Mr. Daniel Mandelbaum, Mr. Jason Martin & Mrs. Kim Hernandez, essentially asking me to stop defaming their clients (which would be both Resin Forge and its owners), claiming that this defamation has led to improper personal information being shared as well as alleged threats of bodily harm up to and including death.

...

While I do not acknowledge that the existence of this previous thread on Dakka constitutes me defaming Resin Forge or its owners, I do believe that the contents of this Cease & Desist letter acknowledging that Daniel Mandelbaum is indeed the owner of Resin Forge essentially makes that previous thread redundant and therefore I have no issues complying with the request to remove that information (and as such the previous thread has since been removed).

Click the link above for the full thread and the text of the C&D.

[DrLove42]

LOL a thread sets out to prove that a website lots of people have had problems with is a scam and run by someone with a history of running model based scams.

So what does said person do? Release a law suit proving that said scam is in fact being run by him...

[Psychosplodge]

Didn't the thread simply ask them to confirm who owned it?

Would have probably been cheaper just to answer the thread?

[Gotthammer]

Nah, the thread was all "this company is run by this guy, and we have proof - but we can't show you this proof - but trust us that we have it! Also this guy is a horrible scammer." Though I haven't really followed the sagas much but I don't think anything has ever been proven in a legally binding sense, just lots of complaints online.

Given claims that the legal company may not in fact be a real company, who knows. Mind you if this company is, as is alleged but not proven, not a real one it would have made sense to leave Mandelbaum's name off of the letter.

[Psychosplodge]

YAY!
Internet drama...

[Wolfshade]

Isn't their an equivalent of Companies House where all that info is discussed?


Anyway I am going to bycott all resin forge because of this C&D and nerd rage!!!!

Actually, I don't do resin forge, never have done, probably never will but that has nothing to do with the above.

[Col.Gravis]

Well at least that C&D clarifies who is behind Resin Forge, no way I'd touch them with a barge pole now, Daniel Mandelbaum is bad news, end of story.

[OrksOrksOrks]

Well, the C&D is about the parts of the thread calling Mandelbaum a scammer and a fraud, but its so well documented and true that he has no grounds for defamation, because you know, its true, they said that Mandelbaum had previously scammed hobbyists out of money in the past, provided sources and evidence of this, its all factual information thats freely available online, he's a scum bag and his involvement with a company means it should be avoided given other people past experiences.

[Wolfshade]

This is where the problems of C&D arise.
THe reasons why C&D are issued
1. The issuer has a good and valid reason for issuing the C&D
2. The issuer thinks they have a good and valid reason for issuing the C&D
3. The issuer thinks they have a [tenious/potential] reason for issuing the C&D
4. The issuer thinks the issuee will comply

Let us be completely honest, even these bigger boards do not generate signficant profit, and certainly not enough to be able to hire a lawyer to defend, after all the gamble is whether or not the claim is fair comes down to judge and jury, which is expensive and their decisions are not always what you would expect. It is far easier and less damaging to just accept the C&D and carry on.

The trouble is that while 1 & 2 are fair reasons to issue them, they are often seen as 4. i.e. a bully forcing people to do what they want, and consequently most C&D issuers get branded bullies, when they are acting in what they believe to be the fair option.

The strange things happen when a company is forced to issue a C&D because of how the law interacts with other areas of their business.

The community website/forum for Warhammer Online was a huge benefit to the gamers and did a lot of good, unfortunately, the website domain name was a GW registered mark. GW had two options, on the one hand it had a thriving community playing its game, giving feedback and generally building a community (which as far as GW is concerned is very good) on the other it could not allow the use of it's registered mark to go unchalleneged (otherwise a defacto licence would be "granted" making it harder for GW to defend it's mark when used more "maliciously").

[White Tiger88]

Ok this lawyer stuff is getting silly what is the internet the freaking United states where everyone sues each other for no reason?