How I responded to yet another threatening email

So I got an email early last week that was really just a piss poor cease and desist order. I posted here on BHW and I was told to ask the guy for specifics. Well I did, and he sent me and irate email of how we shamelessly copied him and if I didn't take my website down in 72 hours I should call my lawyer. He also threatened to contact the college I went to and an employer I no longer work for. Here was my response maybe it can help somebody in my position someday (or make you chuckle):


-I am not affiliated with either of these institutions any longer I would take anything sent to these institutions as defamation.
-We can check my IP address against any links left on your site I promise you they are not the same. I have no control over what people on the internet do.
-Which brand names have we squatted? You still have provided zero specifics as to what exactly you are taking issue with.
-Your website concept is nowhere near new. blahblah.com/ is one such example. You also have claimed no copyright/patent on this specific process. If you have one, I would again, love to know.
-Lastly, I am a 23 year old kid fresh out of college running my own small business. If you really think I have enough assets to justify litigation I invite you to go ahead. I promise you it will cost you much more than it will cost me.

Competition is something you are going to learn have to deal with, Derpston. People are always going to attempt to do business better and cheaper than you. Trying to strong-arm a young guy was an extremely unprofessional way of going about this. I do not appreciate it and if you would like to contact me again I would suggest you come with specifics.

I wouldnt have wrote it like that but I would definitely remove the last point. I would also let them know that you will counter sue for defamation?

I assumed by referring to it by its legal name "defamation" he understood the legal implications.

and why would you remove the last point? The first rule of litigation is not to sue someone without assets.

OiOiOi said:

I assumed by referring to it by its legal name "defamation" he understood the legal implications.

and why would you remove the last point? The first rule of litigation is not to sue someone without assets.

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Suing gets you a judgment and those last for 10 years or sometimes a lifetime depending on the State. While a defendant might not have assets today it doesn't mean he won't have them years from now.

Secondly judgments almost always go on credit bureaus that scrape court records for actions. No assets with a outstanding judgment means no assets in the future until you satisfy the judgment.

Never ask for a suit (although I have many times) unless you understand the repercussions of the action.

Now a great benefit of such action is if the person is from a different State he'll have to file suit in your State unless you have personal jurisdiction in his State which most of the time you won't. Now if said moron sues you in your State then he's established personal jurisdiction in your State and now you can counter-sue him in your own State. That is one of the reasons I beg for suits if said moron has defamed me or harmed my business in any way. I want his personal jurisdiction in my backyard so I can hammer him where I live.

Now if said moron has defamed you on consumer reporting sites like ripoffreport or similar and has knowingly made false statements (bait him with emails to verify he knew they were false and he made them) then search his State laws for defamation. Most States have defamation laws and it will cost you nothing but time to prepare an evidence package to send to his local Police Department for prosecution under their State Statutes.

Good luck and the best thing to do when legal action is suggested by someone is to NOT respond unless you're baiting him for evidence and kick his ass with actions, not words.

Dude. I'm battling the same thing. I didn't get a C&D but I do have a guy very angry with me because I am stomping him in SERPs and I am stomping him in terms of quality, navigation, and so much more.

Angry people on the internet I think are by far my favorite thing. They're so... CUTE!!!

Interesting he doesn't provide specifics and just wants you to take down your site.

I think you did well with this email but some parts are not the best.

How is it that he found your school information and previous employer though? I try to keep my personal life away from my business as much as possible.

If you do have any assets make sure that you incorporate to protect yourself. It is rather inexpensive.

What's the niche here?

todaysmypayday said:

Dude. I'm battling the same thing. I didn't get a C&D but I do have a guy very angry with me because I am stomping him in SERPs and I am stomping him in terms of quality, navigation, and so much more.

Angry people on the internet I think are by far my favorite thing. They're so... CUTE!!!

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Hahahah
It IS pretty adorable. I just found out he is only like 23 as well so he is really in over his head.

He found out my information through the whois information and then found my google profile. That was my mistake and I since did private registration.

I will be incorporating a number of my businesses under one LLC in the near future.

The niche is logos, but this guy doesn't have a leg to stand on as there are a number of services out there already.

He also knows nothing about SEO so I know we are gonna slam him when we are fully functional.

I know the email wasn't perfect I just got emotional and I shouldn't have. I sent one more (and last) email saying

"I would be happy to comply with any requests you have so long as they are reasoned out in regards to a specific copyright and violation thereof. "

I am now just motivated to crush him. :yumyum:

Get a lawyer dude, quick! good luck.

Hmm, I suppose it depends what you are actually doing, but to me the guy sounds like all talk - anyone with any intention or capabilities of actually suing you would never bother to go into such detail IMHO.

If I was you I'd probably ignore the fu***r

Also to add to this. A C&D is only valid it the person who sent is has it as a return receipt, if they didnt they you could just say it went to spam, or I never received it. Check you local laws also to make sure.

davids355 said:

Hmm, I suppose it depends what you are actually doing, but to me the guy sounds like all talk - anyone with any intention or capabilities of actually suing you would never bother to go into such detail IMHO.

If I was you I'd probably ignore the fu***r

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This is my thought. We have also not made a single sale yet, we are still setting up and don't even have a functional cart set up. Meaning we haven't profited off the idea nor have we taken his sales.

Move outta the US and take all your biz, servers, IDENTITY, away.