I'm being sued by Sony for displaying products from the web service

I'm being sued by Sony for displaying products from the web service
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Net Enforcers Inc. – The DMCA & Lack of AccountabilityAllen Harkleroad
Net Enforcers, Inc. and the attorneys that are employed by clients of Net Enforcers do not even bother investigating or use due diligence when issuing DMCA takedown notices to unsuspecting webmasters and site owners. Since mid 2004 my company has received no less than 8 DMCA takedown notices for various stores we own and operate. Net Enforcers, Inc. was made aware in December 2004 that all of our online stores are Amazon.com authorized affiliate stores and because of this our stores fall under Amazon.com licensing with various companies that it sells products for.
In the last four days alone our company has received two DMCA takedown notices from allegedly infringing on Sony Corporations Trademark and/or Copyright Materials. The notices were sent via certified postal by Ellis & Venable of Phoenix Arizona (www.ellisvenable.com) on behalf of Net Enforcers for Sony Corporation.
Our allegedly offending domain is www.dotsdots.com . Our company aren't the only ones sent these merit-less DMCA notifications either; many others have received similar certified mail from Ellis & Venable on behalf of Sony Corporation. A quick Google search will verify that.
Our issue with Net Enforcers, Inc. is that they having knowingly misrepresented that the content mentioned in the DMCA notice was infringing. Net Enforcers, Inc. has been aware of this since December 2004. A quick search on Google.com for “Net Enforcers” and “Net Enforcers Sony”, “Net Enforcers DENON”, “Net Enforcers ” will produce a large number of posts and complaints from licensed and authorized individuals receiving similar notices. This practice by Net Enforcers has been ongoing for quite a few years. Net Enforcers is blatantly violating the Landham act in an attempt to enforce the very law. There are very severe penalties for misusing the Landham act.
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Title 17 U.S.C.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the limitations on injunctive relief contained in subsections (j)(2) and (j)(3), but not those in (j)(1), shall apply.
(f) Misrepresentations. - Any person who knowingly materially misrepresents under this section -
(1) that material or activity is infringing, or
(2) that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification,
shall be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, by any copyright owner or copyright owner's authorized licensee, or by a service provider, who is injured by such misrepresentation, as the result of the service provider relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing, or in replacing the removed material or ceasing to disable access to it.
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One of the most ludicrous statements that Joe Loomis made while we were discussing this issue was "Sony has a building full of attorneys that will sue your ass off". Personally all i have to say to Sony and their building full of lawyers is you need to do what you need to do. Joe went on to rant and rave about how "I should be afraid and that Sony would sue me into oblivion, they are huge and have more money than God", well I am still here and am still waiting as I will defend myself and my company to the end, and collect legal fees and damages resulting from any lawsuit filed by Net Enforcers, Sony or Ellis & Venable.
I would like to know when the Federal Government is going to step in and take Net Enforcers, the legal firms they employ and Net Enforcers clients to task for their misuse of the DMCA.
Net Enforcers has absolutely no accountability and evidently are shunning responsibility for sending out the DMCA notices.
I have a file folder no less than 5 inches thick with DMCA take down notices and our response to each one going back to 2004. Quite a bit of evidence to say the least.
I feel we are being harassed by Net Enforcers even after they have been made aware and even provided assurances in 2004 that we would not be bothered in the future.
In attempt to rectify the issue Joseph C. Loomis the owner and principal of Net Enforcers supplied the IP addresses they use to scan the Internet for infringing copyright/trademarked content. For those of that are interested they are: 69.65.65.22 , 74.239.51.249, respectively.
Net Enforcers needs to be reigned in and if necessary regulated, they are making a mockery of the very Digital Millennium Copyright Act they are attempting to enforce.
I personally am wondering when the Federal Courts System is going to take measures to reign in Net Enforcers Inc. It will be a glad day for website owners that have been harassed by Net Enforcers.
Also see my Net Enforcers - A Conspiracy Theory or Truth? article.
see also www.NetEnforcersSuck.com
Copyright © 2006, Allen Harkleroad, All Rights Reserved.
Questions can be directed toAllen HarkleroadGMP Services, Inc. – Media Publishers
107 Ladd CircleStatesboro, Ga. 30458
(912) 489-9333
Email: allen_mvp@msn.comThis article may be freely re-distributed and posted as long as it is posted in it’s entirety including the copyright notice.