I Need Another Lawyer

[noppid]

Since we don't have much details to work on, here's a suggestion.

From the website IP, find the block owner, hosting company, or data center. Find on their hosting website the AUP document (Acceptable Use Policy). If whatever they did to you falls under any of the violation categories listed, then contact them and give the details, and they will force them to comply, or remove their site, if it indeed violates their AUP.

Now before going to all the details about that site and what went on between you two, keep it simple. Most AUP's do not allow SPAM. If the site does not allow you to unsubscribe "opt-out" from their list, then it is a violation of the "opt-out" requirements So maybe you can ask them to help you get off of that site's "list".

The most he's gonna get from that is the box marked do not recieve email from admins checked yes.

Case in point, telemarketers have your personal information. You are on the do not call list. They can't call, but they don't have to destroy your info. They keep it and check periodicly as to if you are on the do not call list still. If you drop off that list you get a call.

[tamarian]

The most he's gonna get from that is the box marked do not recieve email from admins checked yes.

Case in point, telemarketers have your personal information. You are on the do not call list. They can't call, but they don't have to destroy your info. They keep it and check periodicly as to if you are on the do not call list still. If you drop off that list you get a call.

I don't think so. Telemarketers take their own side, and will do what they can to comply with the law, without doing anything more.

A hosting company has in its best interest to ensure their clients don't piss anyone with these privacy violations, or violating any laws, or be perceived of violating any laws, as their reputation is at stake. They are a seperate entity from their hosted sites, unlike telemarketers.

It's worth a shot, and if the abuse team on the hosting company recognize BS when they see it, they can deal with the situation in the proper way, instead of doing their best to take their client's interest first.

[BillaBongUSA]

Haha, I think that I found the forum at which he was banned. It's not exactly porn, but I suppose I could see how being involved with a site like this could "ruin your reputation." But after having looked through all of the posts that you made there, the only thing that I can find "wrong" is that you registered at that site in the first place.

And yeah, the administrator can be an ass sometimes...or all of the time... so I can see why you can be so sure that he's keeping your posts just for the purpose of being an ass, but it still seems as if you're only filing a lawsuit against him just to "teach him a lesson," because none of what you'd posted over there really seems all that bad.

I suppose that there could still be another angle to this situation, but it really just seems as if you're trying to sue him because you know that he's retaining the information to be an ass. Just let it go, I say.

[Arkham]

What the hell does his nationality have to do with anything? That's a fairly bigoted statement from someone aspiring to take the "moral high ground" with such a condescending remark.

Not to drag it on, I think it's fair to say that his comment is supported by the fact that the US is the world-leader in frivolous lawsuits. It's marginally off-topic, but it's not a bigoted statement, and hardly condescending.

[Fred]

Here's the scoop:

I need a new lawyer to handle a new case against a vB forum that has been directly violating my privacy rights. It seems like a cross between a privacy violation and an intellectual property violation. Anyway, I registered at said forum and was banned there for not being of appropriate age to attend. I no longer wish for this forum to hold my personal information at all, let alone having them hold it publicly. I contacted the administrator of said forum and politely requested that he removed my personal information (not my posts - just my username (I wanted it changed), email address, etc). The administrator is living proof of the fact that maturity does not come with age. Instead of removing the information, as he is legally obligated to do, he is leaving it up as an immature/illegal form of revenge. I even offered to pay the administrator to remove my account details - something I should not have done seeing how easy it is to remove them, and that it should (and must) simply be done free.

The admin there does not take me at all seriously, so it should be quite a surprise to slap a lawsuit in his mailbox.

I talked to the law teacher at my school and it appears that, depending on the lawyer I get, I can get between $300 and $2,500 (Why such a huge range?) for every item in violation (ie. $300-$2,500 for username, another $300-$2,500 for password hash, $300-$2,500 for email address, etc etc), as well as between $80 and $1,100 for every post that contains information.

So I need lawyer recommendations. I contacted the lawyer who I already have for handling UtopiaSoft copyright claims, but he only handles copyright claims. :/ I want a cheap one, but one who's relatively good. Here's what I would like, if possible:
-Preferably no more than $130/hour worked
-One good enough to get somewhere in the higher range of the damage charges (closer to $2,500)
-One who, obviously, handles Internet cases

Edit: I just read the vBulletin license agreement, which states that vBulletin must not be used for anything like intellectual property violations (the property being my personal information).. Does this mean the forum could also lose it's vB license?

You sound like a baby. Grow the **** up kid. You joined a board, you accepted their conditions, you lied, and they caught you. they don't have to give you **** all. You sound like a 13 year old whiner that thinks hes a smart boy on the internet. Guess what? You don't have the funds to start a lawsuit against a webmaster for no real reason. He didn't steal your info, you publically gave it to him.

It will cost you more than what you would ever get from him. Go out more nerd.

[BillaBongUSA]

You sound like a baby. Grow the **** up kid. You joined a board, you accepted their conditions, you lied, and they caught you. they don't have to give you **** all. You sound like a 13 year old whiner that thinks hes a smart boy on the internet. Guess what? You don't have the funds to start a lawsuit against a webmaster for no real reason. He didn't steal your info, you publically gave it to him.

It will cost you more than what you would ever get from him. Go out more nerd.

Haha, well, that's the more aggressive way to put it, but yes, that's pretty much the message that I was trying to get across as well.

[noppid]

Go out more nerd.

LOL, that seems to be the general consensus.

[the Sandman]

Oh my, there's a lot of hostility here...

As Community Administrators, part of our responsibility *should* be to take the high road when it comes to disputes. Right or wrong, if a user wants his identity removed from public access we should probably accede to their request and get about our business. CeleronXT is not asking for content to be removed from the site, only his personal profile information. It would be up to a court to decide whether he has a right to *demand* this happen, and internet contract law involving minors is far from clearcut. Regardless, even if it's not his legal right it is IMO morally right to remove that personal information if he requests it. Let's try to keep our biases and personalities out of this and distill it down to it's essence - this is the kind of thing it's better to think about in advance of experiencing a similar experience yourself. As the person in authority, if you rashly say no to such a request and then think better of it - it's hard to back down and say OK, I'll do it. Personalities and power plays come into the picture. That is not what this should be about...

[hockyfan]

From looking through this thread, you haven't seemed to have gotten to much help. My suggestion would be to check out Freeadvice.com, where on their forums you can get help from people with more knowledge of legal issues.



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[CeleronXT]

SUCCESS! I'm back, and I've got the biggest thing going for me yet. I have a packet here that I printed out at the library here that, generally worded, spells out why exactly he cannot keep my info. The reasons? Well, one is that in general ("general", meaning if this was just any type of site, no specific one) he can't. He also cannot keep my info for the same exact reason that he cannot allow anyone under 18 to join.

I'll try to find this page again for those sad disbelievers. It'll be hard though, seeing as the URL is printed in the bottom right corner and all I can see is http://www2. No, I'm not typing it out for you, it's 42 pages long.

Generally, it says that he has to not only remove my details, but also every trace that I was ever there. Not only because I requested it, but because it's there. This also applies to the other underage members ( about half of his userbase ). He has to remove them too, as well as their posts. I know he won't, but it's what he has to do legally.

Dynamite made a pretty good allusion to this.

@Fred: Just by looking at your avatar with the marijuana(?) leaf, I know exactly what to think of you. If you want to sound even remotely intelligent, lay off the pot. I do have the funds to start a lawsuit, actually, thanks. How would you know? Maybe if you weren't high when you wrote that you would've known not to make such assumptions. Potheads think everyone is a nerd, because everyone seems to just overwhelm them with knowledge while their high and they can't take it.

@..whoever asked: The reason I didn't do this long ago was because I didn't know it would pose any sort of threat before. Just recently, someone found it, and it did.

@BillaBongUSA: Yes, the three other admins who talked to me in private also said this admin was an *******.

I'd be willing to bet anything that the US is not the only country where "frivolous" lawsuits take place, it's just the only place it's publicized. The United States press is very different from others, such as Chirac's propoganda network over in France.

@Tamarian: Very true about the spam list statement. Thanks.

@Hockyfan: Oh, thanks, never even thought about looking into legal forums.

Going back to the example of a burglar suing another person for breaking into their house and getting hurt.. This is quite similar indeed, if you look at it right. The burglar was not supposed to be at the house - I was not supposed to be at the forum. The fact that I wasn't supposed to be there means absolutely nothing. kkthx

Yeah, I would love to see the counter-argument too. I can just imagine it -- "He signed up and didn't read the over-18 rule - now he must be punished!!1!11!1one!11~~11!!11tilde!!1accent!~`tilde~!!!!"

[Arkham]

Good luck with the pursuit, Celeron.

E-Mail: [email protected] | AIM: CeleronXL | ICQ: 118648739 | MSNM: [email protected] | YIM: celeronxl

But don't forget that there are innumerable eyes reading the above information on every one of your posts. And in various cache's across the internet.

Granted, that information might not be associated with file-swapping or whatever nefarious subject matter said forum was supporting, but it's still out there.

[Matthew]

So this admin does live in the US right? If he don't then you can't touch him.

And as you seem to be loaded do you want to give me some money?

[the Sandman]

So this admin does live in the US right? If he don't then you can't touch him.

Is his server located in the US?

[Andrew-ningc]

So if i'm right in thinking you want this to happen.

Any Posts or accounts you registered at his forum.
All that also removed from any backups he made.
All knowledge that you accesed his server from the server logs.
All caching of the information from sites such as google, web.archive, etc...
All logs from your ISP saying you visited the site.

You can't remove all trace of you visiting that site, nor will it change anything that you registered at his site and got yourself banned because you were underage.

Sorry but you just prove how much idiotic the the court system is if you even make it to one.

[CeleronXT]

So if i'm right in thinking you want this to happen.

Any Posts or accounts you registered at his forum.
All that also removed from any backups he made.
All knowledge that you accesed his server from the server logs.
All caching of the information from sites such as google, web.archive, etc...
All logs from your ISP saying you visited the site.

You can't remove all trace of you visiting that site, nor will it change anything that you registered at his site and got yourself banned because you were underage.

Sorry but you just prove how much idiotic the the court system is if you even make it to one.

Um, no. All public traces of all of the underage users must legally be removed. Not references in backups and such, no.