UPDATE May13, 2010: Things pertaining to LeapFish.com, their founders and management, along with related startups are no longer of interest to me, therefore no further comments are allowed on this post. There are also more reliable sources out there (such as Better Business Bureau) to help you make an informed decision about LeapFish.
***You may also want to know that the Law Firm of Daniel Bakondi, in San Francisco, CA, is investigating a possible Class Action Law Suit Against LeapFish.
In my opinion, certain rumours are better left unchallenged. And certain facts better not be construed as rumours.
On his personal blog, Ben Behrouzi, the CEO of LeapFish, made an attempt to shed light on some rumours that, supposedly, are circulating around internet about him and his companies.
One particular rumour concerns me exclusively, unless of course Mr. Behrouzi attempted to sue other bloggers, of which I have no knowledge.
Mr. Behrouzi claims he never sued a blogger:
Rumor # 4 : Ben Behrouzi Sued a Blogger to Stop His Free Speech
False. We sued not a blogger, but a single individual, who was seriously defaming our company to get attention for himself. Godfather himself would be proud. The case was reviewed by both lawyers, the individual’s response was heard and without getting into the details of the settlement, the individual posted a letter of retraction.
Take a look at a different case and the reality of this problem facing the legal system : http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-internet-defamation-case_x.htm
Part of Mr. Behrouzi explanation is right on the money. His attorney assured me that they did not sue me to hinder my right to free speech, which I clearly stated in the retraction letter:
Regarding the subject of free speech, ePERKS has expressed to me that it is a strong advocate of free speech and it was never its intent or desire to impede on healthy debate and feedback from the public. Until I have reason to believe differently, I have decided to take ePERKS word on this.
I still take their word on this, since I have no reason to believe differently yet.
The individual they sued, which happens to be me, has several blogs where he publishes posts on a rather regular basis, is a member of many online groups for bloggers and even regarded by leading bloggers as a blogger. So yes I see it as a failed attempt of rumour control Mr. Behrouzi. I am a blogger, and your opinion will not changed that fact. So the fact is that you did sue a blogger. The irony is that I consider you a blogger as well, albeit, to borrow your own word, a rogue one…
Godfather himself would be proud?!! Ben, are you referring to the well known movie? If so, shall I remind my readers who really sounds like one of the characters in that movie? Here it is, the message you left for an employee who worked for you at one of your companies – Reply.com:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Quiet an opposite from the likeable personality we have seen in the interview with Robert Scoble and even some TV networks.
As for the rest of Mr. Behrouzi explanation regarding the lawsuit I would rather refer my readers to read the retraction letter itself.
UPDATE: On March 13, a comment was posted by the Marketing Director of LeapFish. The comment was clearly written to provoke an angry reaction and, in my opinion, is a part of their strategy to build another lawsuit against me. This comment perhaps was written by their attorney as it shows lack of understanding what is Twitter and that every one is free to post as they wish including CEO of ePerks and LeapFish.
As for ongoing effort by Mr. Behrouzi to interpret and disclose the terms of the settlement between me and ePerks, I am starting to believe they have never intended to live up to the terms of the settlement.
Below is the comment that was left by Marketing Director:
Vlad, This has nothing to do with LeapFish. It doesn’t take much to do a search and see the sheer number of attacks you have brought upon Ben, from consecutive blogs posts that attack Ben for the last several months, the consistent badgering of LeapFish prospects on Twitter, the immense number of hateful comments all over the Internet on other blogs working to destroy Ben.
Also, the mountain of erroneous information that you post but do not correct once informed, the rumor mongering and comments to as many high level journalists/bloggers, and the several emails you have personally sent to me about removing comments that actually point out your intention and agenda. Vlad, if that is blogging and if that is a blogger, then the web is in need of an overhaul. But I can tell you that intelligent people can see right through what you are doing. I highly suggest you read about Yellow Journalism and the immense problems facing the web and hard working business people online. The hard workers that are continuing to dig, create value and get better even in this economy. Regarding the Reply.com voicemail, we all know Ben was all but 23 at the time and people make mistakes when under the kinds of pressure created by the situation such as the one in that voicemail. It’s that simple. If you ever actually met Ben, you would understand the work ethic and integrity of this individual, regardless of what a “blogger” or “others” might want to force onto you. You are continuing to badger, incite, bring up old information and even post about things that happened many years ago. People have moved on Vlad, why haven’t you? The past is done; we learn and then move on. Instead of working to tear people down, I suggest you find a way to create value and help people out during this tough economic period. This is my one and only response to this post. You can read about the rumors by visiting benbehrouzi.org Mark Kithcart
I did block several IP addresses to prevent any one from LeapFish to comment on my blog until the time they will begin to show some manners.
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