Update: It seems likely that Vlad’s cost to defend himself from this specious claim (if you read the complaint, you will discover that the alleged offense is entirely absent from Exhibit A) is going to start with a $5,000 retainer. It seems unlikely to me that the matter will go to court, but, if it does, things will get really expensive. If you haven’t done so already, click on the “Donate” button. You’re not defending Vlad, you’re defending yourself.
The months’ long persecution of real estate weblogger Vlad Zablotskyy by ePerks.com’s Ben Behrouzi came to a head today. Behrouzi has served Zablotskyy with a lawsuit claiming that a post on Zablotskyy’s weblog caused Behrouzi to suffer “harm and damage.”
Behrouzi also claims that Zablotskyy has exposed him to “hatred, contempt, ridicule and disdain.” The petition itself is a bad joke, but it is beyond all doubt that that Behrouzi has exposed himself to “hatred, contempt, ridicule and disdain” by the months of ludicrous posturing he and his attorney have engaged in.
At some point the full petition will be available for us to read. [Amending this: You can read the complaint on Vlad’s weblog.] In the mean time, Vlad Zablotskyy needs your help. The lawsuit was filed in California, but Vlad lives in New Jersey. He will have to fight a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages by remote control, paying law firms in both states. The suit itself is a complete joke — a Personal Injury law firm with a drive-up window comes to mind — but it will still cost serious money to defend.
I’ve set up a Vlad Zablotskyy Legal Defense Fund through our PayPal account — and I’m about to put the bite on you in two ways.
First, click on one of the “Donate” buttons you see in this post or on our sidebar and give as much as you can. I know that many Realtors and lenders are hurting for money right now, but there is no better cause for you to fight for than your own right to speak and write as you choose. If you happen to be flush with lucre or corporately endowed or otherwise awash in cash, don’t be afraid to hit the zero key a few times when you’re entering the amount of your donation. PayPal nicks donations by about 3% in processing fees. BloodhoundRealty.com, LLC, will make up the difference.
Second, grab one or the other of the buttons shown below to put on the sidebar of your own weblog or web site. To use this code, copy everything inside the text box and paste that where you want it to go. The code is built to inherit your own site’s style sheets, so everything should fit in fine.
Volodymyr Zablotskyy is a Ukrainian name, it should come as no surprise. Vlad is survivor of the Soviet Union, where liberty itself was throttled and where the smallest slip of the tongue could result in imprisonment or death. He had every good reason to think things were different in the United States, where the right to free speech is enshrined in our constitution. I hate the thought of anyone being coerced into silence by the abuse of our legal system, but if there is anyone who deserves better from America, it’s Vlad Zablotskyy. Glenn Reynolds wrote about An Army of Davids, but we are by now more like Cincinnatus — citizen soldiers who would rather farm than fight, and who, therefore, always fight to win. Together we can show Ben Behrouzi and every would-be tin-eared tyrant what comes of tyranny in the Web 2.0 world.
238 pixels wide:
Support Vlad Zablotskyy’s Defense Fund
Defend your own right to free speech!
125 pixels wide:
Support Vlad Zablotskyy’s Defense Fund
Defend your own right to free speech!
Linking frees slaves: Every bit of back-story…
- Vlad Zablotskyy
- Chilling Effect: How A Behemoth Company Can Silence A Blogger
- And The Question Remains… Why?
- More Threats?
- How Far Do You Go To Silence A Blogger And When Does It Become Too Far?
- Are All Lead Generating Companies Full Of It?
- What Do ePerks and Reply.com Have In Common?
- To ePerks idiotic fans.
- Mr. Behrouzi Assured Me That He Or His Company Has Nothing To Do With Idiots Operating From IP Range 76.206.0.160-76.206.0.167. I Am Having Hard Time Believing Him.
- Am I Being Sued By ePerks?
- Greg Swann
- Memo to ePerks.com: You idiots! Trying to censor a real estate weblogger is a poor way to defend your reputation — such as it is…
- Is ePerks.com’s Ben Behrouzi, infamous for trying to censor a real estate weblogger, stealing content from Mervyns and Chevron?
- Support the Vlad Zablotskyy Legal Defense Fund: A real estate weblogger is being throttled by corporate bully ePerks.com. The free speech rights you will be fighting for are your own…
- Trace Richardson
- ePerks.com: A Case Study in Greed and Self-Imposed Brand Destruction
- Son of ePerks: iHype.com
- ePerks IP Address Link to Vlad Zablotzkyy: When the Hunter Becomes the Prey
- ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi Insinuates Legal Action Against BrokerScience, Cites “Damages”
- Ben Behrouzi Updates Company “Values” and “Culture” Web Pages. Only One Problem: They’re Stolen.
- Lord Matt
- Other voices…
Missing links? Speak up!
Artur says:
Great initiative Greg. Thank you.
June 8, 2008 — 12:05 am
Greg Swann says:
Bless you, sir. Thank you, and thanks for your donation. Are you still active at Active Rain? It would be great if you could promote this over there. All of us are at risk from this type of thuggery.
June 8, 2008 — 7:25 am
Cheryl Johnson says:
Greg, I’ll promote it over at Active Rain (as long as you don’t might me copying and pasting some of your explanations)…. I would guess Dennis Pease might promote there, too.
I would wonder if everyone who voiced an opinion will end up getting served.
That could mean some pretty hefty legal fees on both sides.
Not to mention a lawsuit always robs you of time and energy that could be better spent on other things.
June 8, 2008 — 9:20 am
Greg Swann says:
> Greg, I’ll promote it over at Active Rain (as long as you don’t might me copying and pasting some of your explanations)….
Feel free. And my thanks to Russell Shaw for allowing me to adapt his eJerks graphic.
> I would wonder if everyone who voiced an opinion will end up getting served.
I don’t see that happening. The complaint itself is a sad joke. If it cost more than $250 to prepare, Behrouzi should be suing his dingbat lawyer for malpractice. My take is that it’s face-saving follow-through from an irate jackass who can’t admit that he’s painted himself into a corner.
June 8, 2008 — 9:32 am
Doug Quance says:
I don’t jump in on every cause… but I did put this widget on my site.
This kind of crap needs to be halted.
June 8, 2008 — 10:10 am
Cheryl Johnson says:
OK, it’s up at Active Rain.
June 8, 2008 — 10:12 am
Greg Swann says:
Bless you, Doug. Thank you.
Likewise you, Cheryl.
Y’all are my kind of heroes.
June 8, 2008 — 10:14 am
Dennis Pease says:
Thanks Greg,
I have added the link to that one post at Active Rain and I will post more.
I also hit the PayPal Button, I encourage everyone to add what you can. Even if you can only donate a little it adds to the fund.
June 8, 2008 — 11:26 am
Greg Swann says:
Good on ya, Dennis. Thank you for everything you’ve done!
June 8, 2008 — 11:28 am
The Harriman Team says:
Thanks for doing this, Greg. I’ve hit the PayPal link also and will post one of the widgets on my blogs as well. This has to go down as one of the most assisine pieces of litigation ever filed. I hope Vlad can get the best legal team available to him and they can successfully countersue for damages and legal fees.
June 8, 2008 — 2:06 pm
Greg Swann says:
> I hope Vlad can get the best legal team available to him and they can successfully countersue for damages and legal fees.
From your mouth to god’s ear. Thanks for everything you’re doing.
June 8, 2008 — 3:14 pm
Judy Orr says:
I have also donated and I hope others do the same. Folks, it will all add up so donate whatever you can afford.
June 8, 2008 — 3:18 pm
Greg Swann says:
Bless you, Judy. Thank you.
June 8, 2008 — 3:23 pm
Thomas Johnson says:
My first impulse is to inform every ePerks Realtor that their chosen “partner” (partner used here in the truliamazing vernacular) is such a scum ball. After all if we take the Realtor Code of Ethics seriously, don’t we owe it to our profession to help keep other Realtors from degrading our professional image by doing business with eJerks?
My second impulse is to inform every ePerks Realtor that their chosen partner is such a scum ball, and encourage a public boycott of ePerks advertisers.
We are Spartans!
June 8, 2008 — 7:28 pm
Greg Swann says:
Thanks, Tom, for these sweet remarks and for your donation. Bless you, sir.
June 8, 2008 — 8:07 pm
Artur says:
Done. I posted it on Active rain in addition to a few other posts already there. Thanks for doing it Greg.
June 8, 2008 — 11:16 pm
Dennis Blackmore says:
I thought I was the only one who received a deceptive call to join this organization.
I am donating – wish I had a billion to give.
June 10, 2008 — 8:46 am
Lord Matt says:
I was happily preparing to urinate on ejerks for their truly pathetic SEO (search spam) methods anyway. I redirected the post somewhat to make sure I covered this too.
June 12, 2008 — 6:32 am
Real Estate Blog Girl says:
This is wonderful, Greg.
Note to ePerks and Ben from a “minion”: bloggers don’t take world class bullshit sitting down. If you thought one blogger was a problem, now you have thousands that WANT to be a problem for you. I’m thinking that right about now is when you are muttering to yourself, “geez, why didn’t we just hire a PR firm to handle this mess.” Too late now.
June 13, 2008 — 5:47 pm
Dennis Pease says:
June 13, 2008 — 7:05 pm
Sean Giorgianni says:
IT’s worth what it cost you (which is nothing), but I wrote this story in response to Mary’s challenge over at her RSS Pieces Blog.
http://frclsrtv.com/2008/06/15/zablotskyy-the-scrivener/
Enjoy!
June 15, 2008 — 11:46 am
Curtis Reddehase says:
Free speech is a formidable opponent to attorney’s who use their knowledge of the law to scare people.
June 17, 2008 — 11:31 am
Dan Auito says:
Everyone should contact eperks to let them know we are boycotting and spreading the word of their misdeeds.
Dan Auito from http://www.magicbullets.com 4700 real estate investors strong! Stop on by.
June 17, 2008 — 12:13 pm
Jared Ritchey says:
I love this post. But honestly I’m surprised that its even a valid suit because if its based in truth you have the freedom of speech.
~ Jared
June 17, 2008 — 12:15 pm
Christopher Myers says:
Hilarious! I just received a call from eperks trying to sell me on their product/service. I told them that I would never get involved with eperks, solely based on Ben Behrouzi’s handling of the situation with Vlad. They tried telling me that Vlad was never an eperks client and that he is now begging Ben to call off the lawsuit because he knows he won’t win. They also try to claim that Vlad no longer owns his site and is selling it to Ben Behrouzi. Do they ever tell the truth?
Another thing I found humorous was the fact that “exclusive” ownership of nearly every zip code in my area is available. I guess I’m not the only one telling them NO!
July 16, 2008 — 9:18 am
Vlad says:
@Chris Myers,
I still own my website. No plans on selling it either. 🙂
July 16, 2008 — 6:41 pm
Chris the Implementer says:
I wrote a pretty link-rich blog of my own urging support including to the Bill of Rights, and The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.
Please feel free to remove my link if you deem it inappropriate to add it to this thread.
Vlad is an associate of mine on AR.
The ‘good guys’ need to stick together
Chris the Implementer
http://www.MortgageChiliBlog.com
September 1, 2008 — 4:25 pm