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| Lawsuits Against RipOffReport.com |
Active, Pending, and Closed LawsuitsI thought it might be useful to list the cases involving RipOff Report that I have located so far and indicate their status. If anyone knows of others, please let me know so I can add it to my list. For example, I know there is a Canadian case that I’ve left out here. For your information, Xcentric Ventures, Badbusinessbureau.com, RipOffReport.com, and Edward Mageson are all the same party.
Ottis v. Magedson—Filed October 18, 2007, in the Nebraska District Court under cause number 4:2007cv03251. Mr. Ottis is asserting both libel and RICO Claims. Case Pending.
Children of America v. Magedson—Filed February 2007, in Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona under cause number CV 2007-003720. The Court ruled that CofA may have a claim against Magedson for creating and developing complaints and/or titles to complaints. The case is still pending. If anyone has further information about this case, please let me know.
Xcentric Ventures v. Stanley—Filed May 20, 2007, in Arizona’s District Court under cause number 2:2007cv00954. This is an unusual case because ROR is the Plaintiff. Further, one of the named defendants is The Defamation Action League. How cool does that sound? There are some very interesting documents in the docket here. My favorite is a police report filed by Magedson regarding threatening letters that he received. He drops the complaint once the police begin investigating. You be the judge: Does it sound like Magedson made the whole thing up? The case is still pending with discovery (disputes) active.
Global Royalties v Xcentric—Filed May 10, 2007, in Arizona’s District Court under cause number 2:2007cv00956. The case is still active and pending a decision by the 9th Circuit ruling on the Roommates case (which will interpret the CDA). UPDATE: The case was dismissed in February 2008. The District Court granted ROR's Motion to Dismiss, ruling that mere allegations that ROR encouraged third parties to create defamatory postings was not sufficient to get Global Royalties around the broad CDA immunity. Notably, the question of a RICO act violation was not before the Court. Instead, the Court ruled consistently with prior CDA cases stating that if a third party wrote the content, ROR is not liable for defamation. This is true even when the original poster of the defamatory content later admits that the statements are not true and asks ROR to remove them. The Court states, "Unless Congress amends the statute, it is legally (although perhaps not ethically) besides the point whether defendants refuse to remove the material, or how they might use it to their advantage." You can read the Court's entire Order here.
GW Equity v. Xcentric—Filed June 1, 2007, in Texas Northern District Court under cause number 3:2007cv00976. This one is the source of some great declarations by a former employee who throws Magedson under the proverbial bus. Magedson’s only retort is that the employee was lying and that it was actually the employee inventing these stories. The case includes a RICO claim. The case is still pending and discovery is active.
RSA v. Rip-OffReport.com—Filed April 23, 2007, in the New Jersey District Court under cause number 2:07cv01882-HAA-ES. RSA also sued Google in this case. That was a mistake. Case voluntarily Dismissed in August 2007. The report is still online and there is a rebuttal from the owner.
IGIA v. Xcentric—Filed January 2007, in the Southern District Court of New York under cause number 1:07-cv-00222-SAS-KNF. Complaint alleges RICO Act and Defamation claims. Default Judgment entered on December 20, 2007. The Defendant did not appear and defend the lawsuit.
Manchanda Law Offices v. Xcentric--Filed July 25, 2007, in the New York Southern District Court under cause number 1:2007cv06708. Originally failed to plead RICO, but amended the Complaint in October 2007 to include a RICO claim. The lawsuit was never served and was withdrawn by the Plaintiff in November 2007. The negative “reports” are still on Ripoff Report.
Magedson v. Sharp—Filed February 2007, in Maricopa County Arizona State Court under cause number CV2007-001968. The case is still pending. If anyone has further information about this case, please let me know.
Energy Automation Systems v. Xcentric Ventures—Filed November 2, 2006, in Tennessee’s Middle District Court under cause number 3:2006cv01079. Recently Settled.
Cambridge Who’s Who Publishing v. Xcentric—Filed December 11, 2006, in New York’s District Court under cause number 2:2006cv06590. Settled January 16, 2008.
Magedson v. Federated Financial Services—Filed October 2005, in Maricopa County Arizona under cause number CV2005-015552. Case dismissed December 2005. If anyone has further information about this case, please pass it on.
Hy Cite v. Badbusinessbureau.com—Filed December 11, 2004, in Arizona District Court under cause number 2:2004cv02856. The plaintiff amended its complaint to include defamation, RICO Act claims, and trademark infringement. The court dismissed the trademark associated claims, but ruled that the RICO Act claims and the claims that Magedson authored and/or edited defamatory statements could go forward. The case included a thoughtful and well-written order authored by Judge Earl H. Carroll going through the legal arguments and defenses. Surely this well-reasoned order created the impetus necessary for the parties to settle in May 2007. Interestingly, Hy Cite is still listed on RipOffReport.com, but unlike other rebuttals to complaints, the rebuttal appears in the title and above the Complaint. I speculate that this could have been part of the settlement terms. [Note: Hy Cite originally filed in Wisconsin. However, that case was dismissed because the Wisconsin ruled that it didn’t have jurisdiction over RipOffReport.com et al.]
Whitney Information Network v. Xcentric—Filed January 27, 2004, in Florida’s Middle District Court under cause number 2:2004cv00047. This case is helpful for providing evidence that Magedson solicited reports designed to harass businesses. See document 158-2, which is an excerpt from a deposition with Magedson in which he discusses an email where he invites a disgruntled employee to “post something or part of the e-mail below? This would be great, and it would definitely piss them off!” UPDATE: This case is now dismissed. In February 2008, the District Court dismissed this case after Ripoff Report filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. The only claim before the Court was defamation. There was no RICO Act violation alleged in the Complaint. The Court ruled that RipOff Report cannot be held liable for defamation by having created the drop-down menu of descriptions (such as "scam" and "rip off") from which the person filing the report chooses to describe his or her report. In other words, drop down menus don't make you an author. The Court noted that Ed and other RipOff Report employees submitted signed statements indicating that they had never authored a report. The plaintiff did not submit any evidence that RipOff Report authored the reports at issue in the case. Thus, the Court held that the case was dismissed because there was no evidence that RipOff Report authored the reports at issue in this case. You can read the Court's Order here. Also, you can read Eric Goldman's summary here. While looking for the Court's order in this case, I found the transcript from Ed Magedson's deposition taken back in August 2007. I'm sorry it is broken up into many many pieces. I'm going to list them here for those who are interested. Parts 1-9 are the deposition and index; the remaining parts are exhibits. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30
George S. May Intl v. Xcentric—Filed September 15, 2004, in Illinois District Court under cause number 1:2004cv06018. Agreed dismissal in February 2007.
Pritchard v. Magedson—Filed April 14, 2004, in the Western District of Pennsylvania under cause number 2:04-cv-00567-JFC. Case closed on Plaintiff’s Motion on May 2004.
Leavenbaum v. Xcentric—Filed October 2004, in Maricopa County Superior Court for the State of Arizona under cause number CV2004-020368. Case closed on October 2005 by an Order on Dismissal. If anyone has further information about this case, I am curious.
Alyon Technologies v Badbusinessbureau.com—Filed 2003 in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court In the High Court of Justice Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis Saint Christopher Circuit under claim number SKBHCV2003/052. Default Judgment entered on July 4, 2003 for $27,100,932.00 because the defendants failed to appear and defend themselves in the suit.
MCW v Badbusinessbureau.com—Filed December 2002, in the Northern District of Texas District Court under cause number 3:06cv0179. There is a valuable opinion from this unpublished case that states Magedson is not entitled CDA immunity to the extent that he is developing and creating “report titles, headings, and some of the defamatory messages posted on the websites.” Case closed and the report is still online with no rebuttal.
Magedson v Village Voice Media--Filed January 31, 2008, in Maricopa County State Court under cause number CV2008-002416. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the complaint that was filed. However, I imagine that Magedson is suing because of this article written in the Pheonix New Times News. Ironically, he may be suing the newspaper for defamation-related claims. If anyone has a copy of this complaint, please send me a copy. UPDATE: ROR wrote a defensive letter about filing this case. |
Do you have any other lawsuits or information? Please let us know here. |
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