Tabberone's Hall of Shame

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Cyber Cops

Hall Of Shame Members
Category Added December 1, 2007

We have an attitude about Cyber Cops. We state that up front. We think they are basically dishonest and only motivated by their revenues. We also believe that they outright lie (gasp!) when threatening non-infringers for the sole purpose of improperly obtaining extortion money or improperly exerting market control. While there certainly are cases of copyright and trademark infringing going on, and we do receive emails about some of these, what we report are the abuses, of which there appear to be far too many. And Cyber Cops appear to be a significant part of the abuse problem.
Generally speaking, police are decent, honest, under-paid and at risk, much like the military. The military and being a cop are the two jobs where you get paid to get shot at in protecting the public who doesn't seem to give a damn. Unlike those who make the laws, they are expected to be perfect. However, this isn't about either occupation. This is about those who voluntarily and willingly take on the job of Cyber Cop but with a profit motive, not to serve and protect. Our attitude shows.
Cyber Cops search the internet for people who are infringing upon the copyrights and trademarks of others. So, you ask, how do they make their money? They convince companies to use them to police internet violations of their intellectual property rights. This billing is done by the hour, the takedown, on commission, or the threat. Like law firms, billable hours are their gravy. Some, like Continental Enterprises, engage in what we call Trademark Extortion The rights of the other party is not an issue with them because they don't care about that aspect. It's their client who sets the rules and pays the bills. We're thinking they get a high percentage of the take after expenses.
This list isn't going to be complete. There are companies joining the fray everyday. We can only report those about which we have heard and received documentation concerning their activities. Some we add when we find others sources who attack them. Here they are in order of induction to The Tabberone Trademark & Copyright Abusers' Hall of Shame as agents for the abusers (or the actual abusers themselves, we can't tell):

Security Essentials, LLP, is located at 29525 Chagrin Blvd., Ste. 318, Pepper Pike, OH 44122. It appears to be run by Patricia L. Urban. Their email address is purban1@msn.com and purban@securityessentialsllc.com. Their web site is http://securityessentialsllc.com/ The only company that we know about that Security Essentials, LLP represents is SalonQuest Aquage Products.
Known Customers: SalonQuest

De Novo Legal, LLP, located at 171 Saxony Road, Suite 209, Encinitas , California 92024. It appears to be run by two "lawyers", Maria Johnson, Esq. and Pollie Gautsch, Esq., or as we are calling them, "The Clueless Sisters, Esq", representing John Deere. We received a Cease & Desist demand from De Novo Legal on March 28, 2008.
Known Customers: John Deere

Continental Enterprises is located at 1292 East 91 Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46240. Continental Enterprises and their General Counsel William M. Mansfiled (and Assistant General Counsel Darlene R. Seymour) are, in our never-to-be-humble opinion, nothing more than common extortionists with law degrees but without Guido to breaka you arms.
Known Customers: Just Born/Peeps, Heineken Brewery, Cowparade Holdings, Larry The Cable Guy, Home Depot, Hansen Beverage Company, JackDaniels,and other fools.

Net Enforcers about whom we have received complaints but to date we have not received what we would consider to be satisfactory documentation. However, since we have received complaints from several people, we have added them here for now.
Known Customers: Monster Cable

WolfBlock,a law firm in Boston. Their Cyber Cop attorney, Christopher S. Finnerty, brags that his "team" shuts down some 15,000 eBay auctions a year, per company represented. How do they do that legitimately? They terminate every auction they can, whether it is infringing or not.
Known Customers: Monster Cable, Bose Corporation.

Strategic Intellectual Property Information,a firm in India. They don't like to reply to emails and they don't appear to fully comprehend English. But, they're cheap and their clients don't really care.
Known Customers: Richemont Group, Tommy Hilfiger, Farouk Chi.

Protect Ltd, a firm that appears only once that we have found through the eBay UK website. Added May 23, 2008.
Known Customers: Americana (some whackjob company that appears to be in the UK).

Art Impressions Licensing, another Left Coast whackjob company (what is in your water, Arnold?). Added May 27, 2008.
Known Customers: Springs Industries (Blue Jean Teddy).

GrayZone, a Brooklyn-based company that claims to be music industry-oriented by is interferring with legitimate auctions of non-music items. They don't appeat to be lawyers or very bright. Added August 19, 2008.
Known Customers: Warner Brothers Music.

Cyber Cops In-Waiting

These companies appear to be wanna-be Cyber Cops. We know little about them except what we have noted. We are seeking more informations about them. As we have noted, any damn fool can start an internet company and talk some other fools into believing they can do what they claim. Cyber Cops are a good example of this. Alphabetically listed:

www.allbusiness.com, anonymously registered with GoDaddy
www.buildtelligence.com, owned by Ken Knorr, registered April 16, 2007 with NSI
www.carratu.com, Carratu International Co 113/123 Upper Richmond Road, - London, SW15 2TN UK. "Carratu International Plc is the UK's premier Risk Mitigation and Corporate Investigation company."
compumark.thomson.com, Thomson Corporation, 1 Station Place, Metro Center, Stamford, CT 06897
www.domainenforcers.com, owned by Tyler Smith, 2240 Greer Blvd, Sylvan Lake, MI 48320. March 10, 2006
icginc.com, Internet Crime Group (ICG, Inc) is anonymously registered with NSI
iipr-protection.com, registered Sep 20, 2006 by Shuan Stanley of Design Studio 4 Regent Terrace, South Parade, DN1 2EE Doncaster GB
markmonitor.com, MarkMonitor Inc., 391 N Ancestor Pl Boise ID 83704. Email is custserv@markmonitor.com, telephone is 208-389-5784.
protectmymark.com, through Molander & Assoc, molanderassoc.com
TrademarkTracker.com, owned by Michael Neustel, 2534 South University Drive, Suite 4 Fargo, ND 58103. April 12, 2001
www.webeyeq.com, they are registered with Tucows.com, creation Date: 22-sep-2005
www.WebSheriff.com, a British company who trolls the internet looking for music violators.

Rebuttals
In an effort to provide a balanced view, we make the following offer to anyone who feels they have been wrongly accused on this web site.
If you, or your company, have been referenced on these pages, and you would like the chance to post a rebuttal, we will post your rebuttal (provided it is in good taste) so others can read it. The rebuttal must be submitted in a format that can easily be converted into HTML. We reserve the right to alter the rebuttal to make it more readable. However, we will not alter the content (unless there is offensive material to be removed). We also reserve the right to comment on any rebuttal received. Emails protesting the content of this web site may be treated as rebuttals by us at our discretion.
We made this offer a very long time ago and as of September 2008, only AnimieHot.com, in our Hall Of Shame, and Charlotte Perman (Sevenarts in our Hall Of Shame) have chosen to submit a formal rebuttal.