|
Left Behind Games resorting to SLAPPs to stifle criticism?
SLAPPs--Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation--are becoming in general an increasingly used tactic by dominionist groups against critics. Among other things, Pro-Life Action League of Illinois is attempting SLAPP suits against practically all media who reported its connections with Operation Save America, and Jews for Jesus have attempted similar SLAPPs in order to shut down blogs critical of the group. Kent Hovind's group has also attempted SLAPP-like lawsuits against critics as well. For those unfamiliar with what a SLAPP is--it is a lawsuit designed to essentially silence a critic either via court order or via bankruptcy (as the critic spends all their money in court trying to defend themselves). Typically, SLAPPers will either file a claim that they are being libeled (classic SLAPPs, such as the Texas Beef Council attempted against Oprah Winfrey--or PLAL is now attempting against most of its critics) or they will claim that copyrighted material is being used without permission (the "DMCA SLAPP"; Scientology is one of the first users of this particular method of SLAPPing critics, and the Jews for Jesus SLAPP and Kent Hovind's SLAPP fall under this category as well). In many states, SLAPPS are actually considered either violations of law or of court ethics standards. And, at least according to the following report from DailyKos user "Abundance", Left Behind Games can now be added to the list of "Dominionist SLAPPers". According to the blog, a number of groups--from large media corporations down to individual bloggers--have been receiving notices, some via certified mail, claiming the material they have posted re "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" is in fact libelous and that they must take it down or be sued.
One group--radicalcongruency.com--has posted copies of its takedown letters as well as a dedicated post on the SLAPP attempt. The text of the takedown notice that radicalcongruency.com received is as follows: The Law Offices of Gordon D. Katz Disturbing stuff indeed. Gameology.com, a video game review site, has also noted the SLAPP-gram it received--which, again, seems to have been sent because they posted material revealing the actual content of the game (namely, that it is a fictionalisation of "Joel's Army" theology where humanity is divided up into the Elect and the "Serpent Seed"). Bartholomew's Notes has also apparently received a takedown notice, as have the Raving Atheists' Forum (apparently based on a solitary thread discussing the text of a Max Blumenthal article published in The Nation), Earthside.com (again, relating to a link to Max Blumenthal's article), and publictheologian.com (based on their own apologetics criticism of the game)--and by all indications, they are far from alone. For all I know, Talk to Action itself may have been a recipient of a SLAPP notice as well (if we have, it may be interesting to take a look at TTA's home base's SLAPP laws). The original poster on DailyKos has also posted a very good update detailing even more people who've received SLAPPs--and detailing what a SLAPP is, and how this meets the definition thereof. It gets better, though. It seems the lawyer involved is not in fact sending these notices from his office--and worse yet, may be doing so from a state where his activities may well throw him into disbarment proceedings. The strange case of Gordon D. Katz Practically everyone who has received a SLAPP notice has had them sent from Gordon D. Katz, who is apparently the attorney for Left Behind Games. I have only found one Gordon D. Katz in Pennsylvania via the search at FindLaw--but here's the weird thing--if it is the same lawyer, then he's not sending the SLAPP notices from his home office. Rather, it appears, he is sending the letters from a residence owned by his own mom. This is, to put it mildly, just a bit irregular (especially as he is also apparently using Gmail to send out some of the notices, also irregular as far as court notices go). It gets loopier than that still, though. Katz actually refers people to not contact him (as the attorney point of contact), but to contact his client--the contact info points to the executive vice president of Left Behind Games. In a legal sense, this is quite irregular--typically your attorney is supposed to contact THEIR attorney. So, we have two distinct possibilities--either a real lawyer is filing this with some DECIDED irregularities (such as not filing this from his actual offices, and referring people to the executive veep rather than instructing people to contact him), or we may have a case of someone committing the offense of barratry--falsely claiming to be a lawyer. Even worse, SLAPPs are illegal in both jurisdictions in question. As noted, the lawyer is located in Pennsylvania, and his point of contact is in California (based on the 951 area code). California happens to have some of the strictest anti-SLAPP legislation in the country, and lawyers participating in SLAPPs can be subject to some harsh sanctions indeed; Pennsylvania has a weaker SLAPP statute but lawyers can still end up being sanctioned for the practice. So, if this is a real lawyer, they obviously have a rather poor understanding of their own state's laws or of California's laws. At any rate...it shall be interesting to see indeed what comes of this.
Left Behind Games resorting to SLAPPs to stifle criticism? | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
Left Behind Games resorting to SLAPPs to stifle criticism? | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
|
||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
print page