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Extortion
I have no background in criminal law, but this just seems like it has to
be a crime. Maybe this is one for the UST. I looked up the federal
statute governing extortion and it seems like this law, 18 U.S.C.
875(d), would apply. The code section states:
"Whoever, with intent to extort from any person, firm, association, or
corporation, any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate
or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to injure
the property or reputation of the addressee or of another or the
reputation of a deceased person or any threat to accuse the addressee or
any other person of a crime, shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than two years, or both." [emphasis added]
Granted, the information is public record. But it can't be the case
that just because something is a public record, you can use the public
information to demand payment in exchange for an agreement not to
disseminate the information more widely. Clearly this website operator
is not in the business of reporting newsworthy information, nor are they
providing a useful database service. Nor does the site appear to serve
any other useful purpose. So it seems to me that the website operator's
clear intent is to extort money. If not, then what is their intent?
Moreover, Stella's client clearly subjectively believed that the
reporting of his/her bankruptcy case on this site would injure his/her
reputation--so the threat worked.
Extortion is not a constitutionally protected form of speech. R.A.V.
v. City of St. Paul (1992),505 U.S. 377 (conc. opn. of Stevens, J.);
United States v. Quinn (1975),514 F.2d 1250 ["It may categorically be
stated that extortionate speech has no more constitutional protection
than that uttered by a robber while ordering his victim to hand over the
money, which is no protection at all"].)
>
> I'm baffled by this conversation.
> For $399 this website will lie to other people about whether you filed
bankruptcy?
> I guess it is web optimization in reverse: we'll make sure that your
name and bankruptcy is at the top of the search results unless you pay
us.
> But the problem with extortion, particularly with using truthful
public record information, is that there is nothing to stop this
website's brother in law from doing the same thing and asking for more
money.
> Presumably you told the client that it was public record, and anyone
could look it up. You meant it. Client has to live with it.
> Jason
>
> Jason Wallach
> jwallach@...
>
>
>
> On Jun 10, 2013, at 4:57 PM, Michael Avanesian wrote:
>
> >
> > From their web site:
> > "Please note; BankruptReport.com operates well within it's
established rights and will remain intact, in-operation and online
regardless of threats, legal action or accusations of extortion."
> >
> > I personally think that it IS legal. I also hope that congress
addresses this issue.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Michael Avanesian
> > Law Offices of David A. Tilem
> > www.tilemlaw.com
> > 818-507-6000
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Havkin Stella havkinlaw@... wrote:
> >
> >
> > My client did it and paid $399.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > Sent: Jun 10, 2013 12:31 PM
> > To: cdcbaa@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: Re: [cdcbaa] Extortion
> >
> > STELLA ITS A SCAM!!! DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME TO SEARCH
> >
> > IT WILL ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LIST
> >
> > CAREFUL
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
I have no background in criminal law, but this just seems like it has to be a crime. Maybe this is one for the UST. I looked up the federal statute governing extortion and it seems like this law, 18 U.S.C. 875(d), would apply. The code section states:
The post was migrated from Yahoo.
charsetndows-1252
I'm baffled by this conversation.
For $399 this website will lie to other people about whether you filed bankruptcy?
I guess it is web optimization in reverse: we'll make sure that your name and bankruptcy is at the top of the search results unless you pay us.
But the problem with extortion, particularly with using truthful public record information, is that there is nothing to stop this website's brother in law from doing the same thing and asking for more money.
Presumably you told the client that it was public record, and anyone could look it up. You meant it. Client has to live with it.
Jason
Jason Wallach
jwallach@gladstonemichel.com
On Jun 10, 2013, at 4:57 PM, Michael Avanesian wrote:
>
> From their web site:
> "Please note; BankruptReport.com operates well within it's established rights and will remain intact, in-operation and online regardless of threats, legal action or accusations of extortion."
>
> I personally think that it IS legal. I also hope that congress addresses this issue.
>
> Sincerely,
> Michael Avanesian
> Law Offices of David A. Tilem
> www.tilemlaw.com
> 818-507-6000
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Havkin Stella wrote:
>
>
> My client did it and paid $399.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Jun 10, 2013 12:31 PM
> To: cdcbaa@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [cdcbaa] Extortion
>
> STELLA ITS A SCAM!!! DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME TO SEARCH
>
> IT WILL ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LIST
>
> CAREFUL
>
>
>
>
>
charsetndows-1252
I'm baffled by this conversation.For $399 this website will lie to other people about whether you filed bankruptcy?I guess it is web optimization in reverse: we'll make sure that your name and bankruptcy is at the top of the search results unless you pay us.But the problem with extortion, particularly with using truthful public record information, is that there is nothing to stop this website's brother in law from doing the same thing and asking for more money.Presumably you told the client that it was public record, and anyone could look it up. You meant it. Client has to live with it.Jason
Jason Wallach
The post was migrated from Yahoo.
From their web site:
"Please note; BankruptReport.com operates well within it's established
rights and will remain intact, in-operation and online regardless of
threats, legal action or accusations of extortion."
I personally think that it IS legal. I also hope that congress addresses
this issue.
Sincerely,
Michael Avanesian
Law Offices of David A. Tilem
www.tilemlaw.com
818-507-6000
On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 12:33 PM, Havkin Stella wrote:
> **
>
>
> My client did it and paid $399.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Jun 10, 2013 12:31 PM
> To: cdcbaa@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [cdcbaa] Extortion
>
> STELLA ITS A SCAM!!! DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME TO SEARCH
>
> IT WILL ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LIST
>
> CAREFUL
> **
>
>
>
The post was migrated from Yahoo.
body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;background-color: #ffffff;color: black;}My client did it and paid $399. -----Original Message-----
Sent: Jun 10, 2013 12:31 PM
To: cdcbaa@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [cdcbaa] Extortion
STELLA ITS A SCAM!!! DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME TO SEARCHIT WILL ADD YOUR NAME TO THE LISTCAREFUL
The post was migrated from Yahoo.
I just got an email from a client that there is a new website called bankruptreport.com which now has a list of people filing for bk. Friends of my client apparently googled her and found this info. To remove her name from the website, she had to pay $399. While it is public record, I think there is something wrong with this.
Stella
The post was migrated from Yahoo.