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Letters from TOD Lawyers
[What is TOD?][Information Page on TOD]
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"harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly." L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology about using the law as a tool to destroy its critics. [Scientology v FACTNet] [Scientology v lerma.html]
I was forwarded the letter below from my host at www.1st-amendment.net after Team of Destiny® lawyers contacted them attempting to get my web site shut down. This was after the Team of Destiny® lawyers successfully intimidated my previous host at www.50megs.com and my site was shut down. In an effort to apply additional pressure on me, the Team of Destiny® lawyers contacted my employer and threatened to subpoena their computers for evidence if they decided to sue me. This happened a few weeks after Quixtar wrote my employer implying I was using my employer's computer network to run my site. Quixtar obviously gave my employer information to Team of Destiny® . Quixtar had discovered whom my employer was while trying to serve me with a subpoena to present evidence for the Amway v. P&G case. [Information Page on TOD]
From: "Katie Alvarez" December 9, 2003 Re: Scott Larsen To Whom it May Concern: I represent Team of Destiny® , a Michigan business in good standing, and its individual members. Pursuant to that representation, I am writing to report that Mr. Scott Larsen's website listing with your company. Team of Destiny ("TOD"1) is a Michigan business in good standing. TOD is a business dedicated to the sale of consumer products through It also has three secondary businesses, which are education, events, and speaking. As such, TOD is both a provider of products and services. The name, "Team of Destiny," and the combination of its name and its logo are registered trademarks and service marks. In order to assist the thousands of individuals affiliated with TOD, it maintains a website at The homepage has a separate section for guests and affiliates. Further, the homepage conspicuously contains the following warning: "Copyright 2003 Team of Destiny. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or reproduction is strictly prohibited." TOD's affiliates website is available strictly and solely to affiliates of TOD. Mr. Larsen is not an affiliate of TOD and, therefore, there is no legal way for him to access any of the information contained in TOD's affiliates website. The information contained in Mr. Larsen's website came from TOD's copyrighted and trademarked website, which information is not available to him or any other member of the general public. Mr. Larsen's website with your company is an illegal invasion and theft of material taken from the TOD website maintained exclusively for its affiliates. Mr. Larsen has extracted out portions of material contained within TOD's website and reprinted it on his website, out of context, and in a manner that misrepresents truthful facts. A more detailed analysis of the illegal and harassing action is set forth below. TRADEMARK, SERVICE MARK, AND TRADE DRESS VIOLATIONS As stated above, the name, "Team of Destiny," and its logo is a registered trademark and service mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The TOD trademark and service mark is, therefore, entitled to trademark protection in Federal court and any violation or unlawful use of TOD's trademark and service mark subjects the violator to injunctive relief to enjoin infringement, money damages, and the payment of attorneys' fees. In this case, Mr. Larsen has established a search engine such that when a person types in the search words "Team of Destiny" or "Orrin Woodward," (the founder of TOD), the first listing shown on most search engines states "TOD an Illegal Business." This result, obviously, links the reader directly to Mr. Larsen's website entitled "Why Team of Destiny is an Illegal Pyramid," at . Mr. Larsen's website contains three obvious trademark and service mark violations. First, on the second page of his website, Mr. Larsen contains 9 links directly to TOD's affiliate-only website. If a reader pulls up any of these in-line links, the reader receives not only confidential and secret information, but Mr. Larsen's website publishes the Team of Destiny name and logo, both of which are protected as a registered trademark and/or service mark. These links alone constitute a violation of the trademark and trade dress statute and common law interpreting that statute. Second, on the bottom of the second page of his website, Mr. Larsen contains a link to a TOD seminar dated 11/09/2002. If the reader clicks on this link, Mr. Larsen's website will show not only text from a copyright protected speech, but photos and images of the name and logo of Team of Destiny, both of which are protected under the trademark and trade dress laws. Last, simply reprinting and utilizing the name "Team of Destiny" in his website, without attributing to it the fact that it is a registered trademark, constitutes a violation of the trademark laws. COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS As you likely know, a copyright arises upon the expression of ideas and thoughts in words, sentences, paragraphs, computer programs, pictures, graphs, or any other method of conveying thoughts or ideas in a unique manner. TOD's website is protected by the U.S. Copyright Act codified at 17 USC §101, et. seq., and that protection was born at the moment of its creation. TOD has repeatedly and boldly warned any user that the website is copyright protected and no unauthorized use or reproduction is permitted. Before addressing the particular copyright violations included in Mr. Larsen 's website, I want to address my suspicion that Mr. Larsen will respond to all of my clients' concerns by simply stating "fair use" under the Copyright Act. It is true that there is a fair use defense to an allegation of illegal use of copyrighted material; however, the infringer must prove each of four elements required in order to carry the infringer's burden of proving that he reproduced the work in a manner that was a fair use. Fair use is not an exception under the Copyright Act, but it is a defense to a suit for copyright infringement. Further, it is a defense only to a claim of copyright infringement, but it is not a defense to violation of a trademark, service mark or trade dress claim, nor is it a defense to misappropriation or illegal theft of copyrighted material, or to a claim for business defamation. Further, fair use is never a defense to the reproduction of copyrighted material that the infringer illegally obtained. In this case, it is beyond dispute that Mr. Larsen has not taken material released to the public at large and simply reproduced it on his website with additional comment. Instead, he has illegally accessed a private website and illegally obtained and reproduced material that was not for public dissemination. There is no fair use exception for reprinting private and illegally obtained proprietary information, no more so than there would be if an infringer broke into a locked business and reprinted stolen documents. Mr. Larsen's website contains scores of copyright violations, each of which is set out below. First, on page 1, Mr. Larsen quotes extensively from Terry Brady, a TOD member. The reprinted information was taken directly from a copyrighted speech contained within TOD's affiliate-only website. Mr. Larsen, in fact, acknowledges this fact by boldly admitting that "this theme comes from the Team of Destiny website and tapes." Second, on page 2, Mr. Larsen includes 9 links of copyrighted material taken directly from the TOD affiliate-only website. If a reader clicks on any one of these links, the website will immediately show an in-line link from a copyrighted article contained only in TOD's affiliate-only website. These in-line links on a website from a protected source are clear violations of the copyright law. See, e.g., Futuredontics v Applied Anagramics, 1998 US Dist LEXIS 2265 (CD Cal Jan 30, 1998). This section alone constitutes 9 separate copyright violations, as well as the trademark and service mark violations addressed above. Next, pages 2-5 of Mr. Larsen's website contain 14 separate links to illegally obtained, copyrighted speeches and presentations that are contained only in the password protected section of TOD's copyrighted website. If a reader simply clicks on any of these 14 links, the reader will immediately receive an audio portion of a speech by an affiliate or member of Team of Destiny that is contained only in the affiliate-only website of TOD. Each one of these links constitute an obvious and apparent copyright violation for which there is no defense and for which the fair use exception will never apply. Further, on the bottom of page 2, Mr. Larsen references and contains a link to a November 9, 2002 Team of Destiny seminar presentation by Bill Lewis. Mr. Larsen obtained this copyrighted material directly and illegally from the affiliate-only portion of the TOD website. The archived article by Mr. Lewis is contained in TOD's website and is located no more than one inch away from a clear warning that the article is protected by the copyright laws and that unauthorized use and reproduction is strictly prohibited. In complete disregard to the copyright notice and warning, Mr. Larsen has stolen and reproduced this copyrighted material on his own website. In the process, he has engaged in the unauthorized publication of the image of Mr. Lewis and cast him and his comments in a false and illegal light. In addition, on the bottom of page 4, Mr. Larsen has stolen and reprinted a chart that is the original and copyright protected creation of TOD. This chart is found in the affiliate-only website of TOD under the section entitled "How the Money Works." Again, Mr. Larsen has illegally obtained this information and reprinted it in his website without any permission from TOD and without any possibility of presenting a fair use defense to this copyright violation. Last, on pages 6 through 7 of Mr. Larsen's website, he publishes a list of individuals who are in the TOD line of sponsorship. This information was taken directly and illegally from TOD's affiliate-only website under the "Hall of Fame" section of the website. This reproduction is a direct copyright violation. STATE LAW CLAIMS Mr. Larsen's website not only infringes on my clients' intellectual property rights under the Trademark and Copyright Acts, but his website constitutes a theft and misappropriation of confidential and trade secret information, it constitutes both common law and statutory conversion under Michigan law, business defamation, the tortious disclosure and representation of numerous individuals in a false light, and fraud. As you may know, disparaging a person's or business's name or reputation is defamation per se without having to prove any addition element or fact. In this case, it is apparent that Mr. Larsen has obtained, through illegal means, access to TOD's affiliate-only website, stolen confidential and trade secret information, illegally published it on his website, and is using it to defame TOD and those associated with TOD. For example, a Google search engine result itself pulls up as the first listing on most search engines "TOD an Illegal Business." This statement alone constitutes business defamation because it represents that the Team of Destiny is operating as a criminal and illegal business, a fact that is categorically untrue. The title page to Mr. Larsen's website again repeats that the Team of Destiny is an illegal pyramid. The title of his website alone constitutes defamation because it characterizes the business as illegal, which it is not, and as a pyramid scheme, which it is not. As you likely already know, a legal multi-tiered marketing business contains three unique characteristics: 1) A sales-based compensation plan wherein no person is compensated for merely sponsoring another person; 2) Sales requirements whereby minimum requirements of the sale of products must be met in order to receive compensation; and 3) Absolutely no minimum product purchase requirement. These three factors have been analyzed by Michigan's Attorney General as characteristics of legal and legitimate multi-tiered marketing businesses. TOD incorporates each of these elements into its business and there has never been a finding by the Michigan Attorney General, any court, or any other public or regulatory body that TOD is an illegal business or an illegal pyramid. Mr. Larsen's routine and regular representations that TOD is an illegal pyramid are simply unfounded in fact and in law and constitute business defamation per se and fraud. I have not taken the time in the body of this letter to highlight each particular false statement and misrepresentation from Mr. Larsen's website. I can assure you, however, that it contains numerous representations that are categorically false and/or misrepresented statement. In addition, please keep in mind that the information contained in Mr. Larsen's website, which he obtained from TOD's affiliate-only website, is stolen information and property. The information contained in TOD's website constitutes confidential trade secret and proprietary information. Under the law, this information and material is considered a property right of TOD. As such, Mr. Larsen's illegal use of that information constitutes common law and statutory conversion, misappropriation of trade secrets, and violation of Michigan Uniform Trade Practices Act. REQUESTED RELIEF There is no question that Mr. Larsen's website violates my client's protected trademark and copyright rights under the Trademark and Copyright Statutes and the case law interpreting those statutes. There also is no question that Mr. Larsen's website constitutes defamation and misappropriation of the material that Mr. Larsen illegally stole and is republishing in his website. In addition, there is no question that the purpose of Mr. Larsen's website is to harm TOD and any person associated with it. Mr. Larsen's conduct in a virtually identical situation against Mr. Joe "Diamond" has already been stopped by one federal court. There is no doubt that a federal court in Michigan would likewise stop him from violating TOD' s rights. At this point, however, my clients are asking you to stop facilitating Mr. Larsen's illegal conduct. If Mr. Larsen's website continues to be published on the internet, my clients likely will file suit in federal court to enjoin him and seek money damages. Prior to taking that more formal measure, I am now asking you to remove the offending website from your web hosting services. Your company always retains the right to remove any user's website that defames, harasses, or abuses others (AUP, ¶4). Without question, Mr. Larsen's website has as its purpose the harassment and abuse of TOD and any person he can identify as being associated with TOD. In keeping with Congress' wishes as codified in 47USC §230, removal of Mr. Larsen's website will satisfy the obligation of self-regulation and removal of offensive material from the internet. Zeran v AOL, 129 F3d 327, 331 (CA4 1997). Thank you for your time and attention to these matters. I look forward to your anticipated cooperation and to receiving confirmation from you that you have informed Mr. Larsen that his website will be permanently removed from your internet web services. If you have any questions or if you would like to talk about this in any greater detail, please feel free to give me a call. Certification I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. I swear, under penalty of perjury consistent with United States Code Title 17, Section 512, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed upon. 12/9/2003 /s/ Date Thomas A. Kuiper snd floor, trust building
I would like to introduce myself. My name is Scott Larsen and I am the author critical of your client's business practices at www.amquix.info. I have finally found out that you might be the person responsible for complaining to my web site hosts. I'd like to clear up a few misconceptions and false information you are spreading about me. I assume your firm has access to the Pacer data base system. I would also assume that a competent lawyer might also check the record in the "Diamond" case before spreading false and misleading information to others. If you read the docket in the "Diamond" case you will find I was never even served and further more the case was dismissed with prejudice. I was never "stopped by a Federal court". Such statements are defamations to my person. I guess Quixtar never told you that Mr. "Diamond" was censured and his group had to be retrained for the blatant lies and misrepresentations I found in his public plan showing. It is unfortunate that no one from TOD has ever contacted me personally about my page. Some of these items could quickly be cleared up with simple communications. It seems rather odd that if a person has a problem with another that they choose to speak with third parties rather than to the responsible person about the issues. I don't know why you have not chosen to communicate with me in this matter. Is there any reason? Does this make sense or not? My e-mail address is found in no less than 33 places on my web site. If one wants to quickly mitigate a situation, should one talk un-responsible third parties about it? You will find I can be most accommodating and if you would have taken the effort to communicate with me, there might have been no need to spread false information to my hosts and others. For your trade mark issue with Team of Destiny® I have added the little ® symbol to the name. Should you find others I have overlooked, please don't hesitate to write me. It is surprising to me that other lines of Sponsorship and Quixtar have never once mentioned this trivial item to me. Just for your information, the TOD news pages I had on my site, which were used to support my accusations of TOD not promoting retail sales, and therefore being a pyramid scheme, were actually in unprotected folders available to anyone on the web. About three days after the page tod.html was posted the read access to these folders was changed and they were no longer public on the web. I'm sure you could ask the TOD webmaster and he will tell you that he reset the read privileges in October some time. Just for your information, there is another page still available for anyone to view without logging into the TOD web site. It is at http://www.teamofdestiny.com/public/TFAQ.htm. You might inform your client of this breech in security on his site, since he seems very concerned about "theft" from his super secret web site. The page even goes on to use Meta tags which is a sure indication one would like the page to indexed and publicly available in search engines. Here is the Meta tag: <meta name="keywords" content="Team of Destiny® , TOD, Orrin Woodward, Laurie Woodward, Chris Brady, Terri Brady, Tim Marks, Amy Marks"> Since I have been made aware of your client's sensitivity, via third parties of course, to posting truthful information on my site that was at one time available to the public without password protection on the TOD website. I have removed the Team of Destiny® formatted pages to calm your client. This is of course to not admit guilt or wrongdoing but console what appears to be an easily upsetable client of yours. It is truly amazing to me that the people I expose with the largest and blatant lies about the business always kick and scream the hardest once publicly exposed. Mr. Woodward appears to be no less such a person than Mr. Joe "Diamond" To expedite issues in the future I suggest you speak directly to the person who can actually make changes to the web site. It makes little sense to me to communicate through third parts that cannot make the actual changes. I have also removed the Team of Density® graphic and replaced it with my own artwork depicting the BSM's business. This graphic is a better representation of the TOD practices than the one from the TOD web site. The graphic is however available on Orrin Woodward's unprotected page at ww.orrinwoodward.com. It seems that TOD is very sloppy in keeping their "trade secrets" actually secret. As far as the 9 or so previously public Team of Destiny pages promoting the illegal "buy for your self, and show others how to buy for themselves" business model, I have summarized the previously public contents, which I feel highlight the illegal practices of TOD and placed them on one summary page. For your information the content of the pages will likely be still available to the public via the 50 State Attorney Generals who have electronic copies of them. As far as your statement about me "establishing" a search engine. This statement really only confirms a significant lack of knowledge on how search engines and spidering work. Additionally, the audio clips, which were posted on my site, were not at all "stolen" from the Team of Destiny® web site, but were from cassettes sent to me by a site visitor. I know that Team of Destiny has sold tens of thousands of these cassettes and many are now in the hands of the public. According to the copyright law I am allowed to use excerpts for criticism. I have removed the links to the audio clips given your clients heightened sensitivity to having the truth available to the masses on the Internet. Site visitors will just have to live without the actual clip, if TOD insists they not be linked. I have also changed the wording just a bit on the page from "Why team of Destiny® is an illegal pyramid" to "Is team of destiny an illegal pyramid? Decide for yourself!" This presents the page more like it was intended, as my opinion, and not a statement of fact, since we both know Team of Destiny® has never been the subject of a full scale Attorney General investigation. If you care to read up on the legalities of illegal pyramid scheme there are a host of cases for your review. You might see these pages for some for more information: www.amquix.info/TOD_FAQ.html As an attorney representing Team of Destiny® , I might be more concerned for my client being prosecuted as an illegal pyramid than bother about some web site, which has only brought the truth to light. I'm sure after Dateline airs its expose that Team of Destiny® will have much larger issues to worry about than someone who just posted unprotected information from the TOD website, where the Team of Density leaders basically incriminated themselves. Maybe after the show, the Michigan Attorney General will actually study the TOD practices and find them an illegal pyramid. Until then you can assume TOD is not an illegal pyramid just because TOD has never been investigated by the AG for being one. A thief is not a thief until he is convicted, right? Surely when it comes to the Team of Destiny® , the truth and their own words are very embarrassing and painful to them. Should you have any other concerns, please write. It makes no sense carrying everything out with "double top secrecy" and then wonder why nothing changes.
With Best Regards,
Scott Larsen 1 "TOD" is a registered Trademark |
of Broadbus Corporation