I wanted to let everyone know that Streetbeasts has filed a frivolous lawsuit against me over the Streetbeasts wiki article that reveals their connection to Classic Motor Carriages, who pleaded guilty to Federal wire fraud charges for defrauding people over kit car purchases. I'm being sued for defamation, and they're pushing for a takedown on parts of the wiki article.
For those of you who may have received "unusual" PMs about this from "new" members, thanks for remaining cool until the lawyers got the first step hammered out. Obviously, I'm limited about the details of this case that I can discuss publicly.
This lawsuit, filed in Florida, is what's known as a SLAPP suit -- a "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation". SLAPP suits are lawsuits that typically lack any legal merit, but are used to silence people from speaking out, by burdening them with the cost of defending themselves against a frivolous suit.
The lawsuit alleges that I committed defamation against Streetbeasts, for various statements allegedly made in the wiki article about Streetbeasts, including:
--Saying that Streetbeasts are reputed to have a poor resale value when compared to other kit cars, and to other fiberglass-bodied street rods.
--Saying that most aftermarket or original parts will not interchange with Streetbeasts vehicles.
--Saying that "George G. Levin" pleaded guilty to wire fraud, instead of saying that "GGL d/b/a Classic Motor Carriages", owned by George G. Levin, pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
--Saying that Streetbeasts sales tactics are notoriously aggressive.
--Saying that Streetbeasts people impersonated Curt Scott, the last person to blow the whistle on Streetbeasts, in this post.
--Saying that Streetbeasts uses deception in its sales efforts by telling people that a special offer arose as a result of a customer becoming sick, or by using a "Factory Operations Pitch". (Interestingly, I didn't even make this statement, and it's being attributed to me. It's right out of a Streetbeast Insider post, and it's been "added" to the wiki article before "someone" has been copy-pasting it to other websites.)
--Saying that Streetbeasts uses fear tactics to suppress free speech.
Yes, I know that many of these were comments that other people made, both here and on other forums. And yes, I also know that it's ridiculous to sue me for things that Streetbeast people said themselves, and it's preposterous for Streetbeasts to call foul after all of the shenanigans they pulled in the Streetbeasts forum discussion. I've also noticed that a "mystery" person has been "adding" information to the wiki article, and spreading it around to other websites, while posing as me, for example, in this AboutUs.org wiki article. To be perfectly straightforward, it looks like I'm being framed.
I've covered the costs of my immediate defense, but Streetbeasts hopes that I can't afford to endlessly defend myself against a frivolous lawsuit. If Streetbeasts wins the lawsuit, we could have limitations on what we can say about them, and we don't know who they will pursue next. More importantly, people will be afraid to exercise their free speech, because "what happened to the Hotrodders.com admin could happen to them too". This is what's called a "chilling effect".
Streetbeasts is trying to bully us out of our First Amendment rights. It's not "fair", but we all know that "fair" is where they put blue ribbons on pigs. If we beat back Streetbeasts, we can make sure that the wiki article stays online forever, people won't be afraid to speak out, and we can send a message to other companies that we won't be bullied.
Obviously (if you haven't guessed by now
), we're going for it.
Certainly, we're going to vigorously defend against the frivolous lawsuit. We're also going to set up a legal fund so that the next time this happens (yes, this will happen again), we can defend anyone whose free speech is attacked for posting their opinion on a forum.
If you want to help out, you can lend a hand by:
1. Making a non-deductible donation to the legal defense fund, by sending a contribution via PayPal to [email protected], or by mailing your contribution to:
Hotrodders.com
PO Box 20445
Boulder, CO, 80308
Please be sure to include your forum username with your donation if you want to be credited for it. Any leftover funds will go towards the defense of the First Amendment rights of any Hotrodders.com members, and to the establishment of a Hotrodders.com "Free Speech Fund" to protect against any future attacks.
2. Auctioning off a spare part for the Free Speech Fund. You can auction a part (here or on eBay), and donate 50% or more of the proceeds to the fund. For more details, see the Free Speech Parts Auctions forum.
3. Researching Streetbeasts, Classic Motor Carriages, Auto Resolution, Classic Auto Replicas, Fiberfab, and Innovative Street Machines. Search Google, forums, or anywhere else. You can add any link you find to this list of links in the wiki. They'll be researched further, and evaluated from there.
The goal here isn't just to tell Streetbeasts to take a hike. It's to show companies that we're not afraid to speak our minds, and that, now or in the future, we won't let any of them bully us out of our First Amendment rights.
This thread is, of course, open for discussion.
For those of you who may have received "unusual" PMs about this from "new" members, thanks for remaining cool until the lawyers got the first step hammered out. Obviously, I'm limited about the details of this case that I can discuss publicly.
This lawsuit, filed in Florida, is what's known as a SLAPP suit -- a "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation". SLAPP suits are lawsuits that typically lack any legal merit, but are used to silence people from speaking out, by burdening them with the cost of defending themselves against a frivolous suit.
The lawsuit alleges that I committed defamation against Streetbeasts, for various statements allegedly made in the wiki article about Streetbeasts, including:
--Saying that Streetbeasts are reputed to have a poor resale value when compared to other kit cars, and to other fiberglass-bodied street rods.
--Saying that most aftermarket or original parts will not interchange with Streetbeasts vehicles.
--Saying that "George G. Levin" pleaded guilty to wire fraud, instead of saying that "GGL d/b/a Classic Motor Carriages", owned by George G. Levin, pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
--Saying that Streetbeasts sales tactics are notoriously aggressive.
--Saying that Streetbeasts people impersonated Curt Scott, the last person to blow the whistle on Streetbeasts, in this post.
--Saying that Streetbeasts uses deception in its sales efforts by telling people that a special offer arose as a result of a customer becoming sick, or by using a "Factory Operations Pitch". (Interestingly, I didn't even make this statement, and it's being attributed to me. It's right out of a Streetbeast Insider post, and it's been "added" to the wiki article before "someone" has been copy-pasting it to other websites.)
--Saying that Streetbeasts uses fear tactics to suppress free speech.
Yes, I know that many of these were comments that other people made, both here and on other forums. And yes, I also know that it's ridiculous to sue me for things that Streetbeast people said themselves, and it's preposterous for Streetbeasts to call foul after all of the shenanigans they pulled in the Streetbeasts forum discussion. I've also noticed that a "mystery" person has been "adding" information to the wiki article, and spreading it around to other websites, while posing as me, for example, in this AboutUs.org wiki article. To be perfectly straightforward, it looks like I'm being framed.
I've covered the costs of my immediate defense, but Streetbeasts hopes that I can't afford to endlessly defend myself against a frivolous lawsuit. If Streetbeasts wins the lawsuit, we could have limitations on what we can say about them, and we don't know who they will pursue next. More importantly, people will be afraid to exercise their free speech, because "what happened to the Hotrodders.com admin could happen to them too". This is what's called a "chilling effect".
Streetbeasts is trying to bully us out of our First Amendment rights. It's not "fair", but we all know that "fair" is where they put blue ribbons on pigs. If we beat back Streetbeasts, we can make sure that the wiki article stays online forever, people won't be afraid to speak out, and we can send a message to other companies that we won't be bullied.
Obviously (if you haven't guessed by now
), we're going for it.Certainly, we're going to vigorously defend against the frivolous lawsuit. We're also going to set up a legal fund so that the next time this happens (yes, this will happen again), we can defend anyone whose free speech is attacked for posting their opinion on a forum.
If you want to help out, you can lend a hand by:
1. Making a non-deductible donation to the legal defense fund, by sending a contribution via PayPal to [email protected], or by mailing your contribution to:
Hotrodders.com
PO Box 20445
Boulder, CO, 80308
Please be sure to include your forum username with your donation if you want to be credited for it. Any leftover funds will go towards the defense of the First Amendment rights of any Hotrodders.com members, and to the establishment of a Hotrodders.com "Free Speech Fund" to protect against any future attacks.
2. Auctioning off a spare part for the Free Speech Fund. You can auction a part (here or on eBay), and donate 50% or more of the proceeds to the fund. For more details, see the Free Speech Parts Auctions forum.
3. Researching Streetbeasts, Classic Motor Carriages, Auto Resolution, Classic Auto Replicas, Fiberfab, and Innovative Street Machines. Search Google, forums, or anywhere else. You can add any link you find to this list of links in the wiki. They'll be researched further, and evaluated from there.
The goal here isn't just to tell Streetbeasts to take a hike. It's to show companies that we're not afraid to speak our minds, and that, now or in the future, we won't let any of them bully us out of our First Amendment rights.
This thread is, of course, open for discussion.
