FreeAdvice.com Seeks Help from Internet Community to Find Obscene Abuser of Its Website.SAUSALITO, Calif. -- FreeAdvice.com is asking the Internet community to help find an anonymous abuser of its website, who has posted thousands of harassing, threatening, and obscene messages on the FreeAdvice Forum. The unknown user, who frequently refers to himself or herself as "IAAL IAAL I Am A Lawyer " or "I Am Always Liable," has abused the FreeAdvice Forum site several thousand times, posting obscene and harassing graphics and text messages, many of them personally directed against other users. A hearing for a preliminary injunction A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A preliminary injunction is regarded as extraordinary relief. in "Advice Company v. Unknown Abusive User" is scheduled for Monday, July 17, 2006, before Judge James Ritchie in Superior Court, Marin County, California Marin County (IPA: /məˈrɪn/) is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2000, the population was 247,289. . A Temporary Restraining Order temporary restraining order: see injunction. was issued on June 30, prohibiting IAAL from using FreeAdvice.com and other websites maintained by its parent, Advice Company. Gerry Goldsholle, Founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. FreeAdvice.com, says the lawsuit aims to help keep the Internet safe. "The millions of visitors to FreeAdvice want an environment that is safe, where they and their family can be comfortable that they're not going to be abused or subject to sexually degrading and sadistic sa·dism n. 1. The deriving of sexual gratification or the tendency to derive sexual gratification from inflicting pain or emotional abuse on others. 2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from cruelty. comments. We have zero tolerance The policy of applying laws or penalties to even minor infringements of a code in order to reinforce its overall importance and enhance deterrence. Since the 1980s the phrase zero tolerance has signified a philosophy toward illegal conduct that favors strict imposition of for abuse, and there must be consequences for abusers who prey on the Internet community." "IAAL" Attacks After posting tens of thousands of generally useful messages since January, 2000, in late 2005 IAAL, who claimed to be a California attorney, inexplicably began a series of hostile attacks on forum visitors. He registered using over 100 screen names, including "Opera Ghost," "Inflagrante," and a variety of pornographic expressions. He routinely used sexually abusive language and threats, with offensive descriptions of female anatomy and vindictive remarks directed against other Forum users and staff members of FreeAdvice.com. Damage to FreeAdvice Forum and the Internet In its complaint, FreeAdvice.com claims that "IAAL" has cost the site and its related properties more than $100,000 in goodwill, lost productivity, advertising and visitor loyalty. But the damage is more than economic. IAAL's obscenity obscenity, in law, anything that tends to corrupt public morals by its indecency. The moral concepts that the term connotes vary from time to time and from place to place. In the United States, the word obscenity is a technical legal term. In the 1950s the U.S. and threats hurt consumers seeking legal assistance. Goldsholle says, "We repeatedly applied technological fixes, but IAAL figured out ways to hack in. When he started using foreign ISPs, we even cut off whole countries, making it impossible for overseas visitors to use the Forum. IAAL damaged access to legal information and the trust that makes the Internet such a valuable resource," he added. Legal Action Against "IAAL" Robert F. Knox, of Mill Valley, California, and Advocate Law Group P.C. of Irvine, California Irvine is an incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28 1971, the 69.7 square mile (180.5 km²) city has a population of 202,079 (as of 2007). are representing FreeAdvice.com in this matter. In what lawyers regard as a bizarre development, Mr. Knox said that he had received telephone calls from Robert A. Koenig, an attorney with offices in Agoura Hills, California For the unincorporated community, see . Agoura Hills is a city (incorporated in 1982) in Los Angeles County, California, and has the ZIP code 91301. The population was 20,537 at the 2000 census. This city on the Ventura Freeway (U.S. , claiming to represent IAAL, who refused to disclose his client's real identity, but stipulated to extend the Temporary Restraining Order. In addition to the injunctive relief injunctive relief n. a court-ordered act or prohibition against an act or condition which has been requested, and sometimes granted, in a petition to the court for an injunction. that FreeAdvice.com has already obtained against IAAL, FreeAdvice is also seeking to recover its economic damages. The site's user agreement makes abusers liable for $250 per improper posting, which the site shares with charities. Goldsholle is confident that the Internet Community will help FreeAdvice.com find the abuser. "IAAL has hurt a lot of people and left a lot of tracks on the Internet. It's only a question of time before we find him." Call to the Internet Community If Internet users suspect they know the identity of IAAL, or if any ISPs or operators of other websites suspect IAAL has attacked their Internet properties, they are urged to contact Gerry Goldsholle at (415) 331-1212, ext. 234 or at abuse@adviceco.com. Copies of court filings are at www.freeadvice.com/iaal ABOUT FREEADVICE.COM - FreeAdvice.com is one of the Internet's leading providers of legal information for consumers. Now online for over ten years, FreeAdvice.com has won many honors, and was named among the best sites on the entire Internet by PC Magazine and PC World, a "Best of the Web" by Forbes, and legal site of the year by Access Magazine. |
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