Litigation

No, book publishing is not going away

Posted on July 18, 2008
Yesterday Fox Business interviewed Joe Wikert, a blogger and Vice President and Executive Publisher at John Wiley & Sons (the company that published my book!) Take a look at what Joe has to say below. I agree with him - Book publishing is not going away...

Dirty Little Secrets of Their Little Quixtar Cult

Posted on July 18, 2008
Written by QuixtarIsACult Have you ever had an invite from a friend, associate, or a stranger that left you in the lurch wondering just what the invite was all about? Maybe, just out of the blue, an old acquaintance that you have not seen since high school calls you up and invites you to see something [...

Another reason for Gerald Nehra to dislike the FTC Business Opportunity Rule: Lots of companies will have to comply!

Posted on July 17, 2008
Another letter opposing the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule was submitted by MLM attorney Gerry Nehra. His problem in this letter? The fact that there are many companies that would have to comply with the rule and the FTC cited the wrong number! Why would it matter if there are 150 or 1,500 companies that are [...

MLM attorney Gerald Nehra and the FTC?s proposed Business Opportunity Rule

Posted on July 17, 2008
I thought it might be some fun to do a little research on Gerald Nehra, the attorney for Shop To Earn, who likes to intimidate bloggers who write negative reviews of MLMs. I found this item from Nehra, in response to the FTC’s proposed Business Opportunity Rule...

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A commentary on Usana Health Sciences

Posted on July 17, 2008
This was written by TerminatedRamp, of Usana (NASDAQ:USNA) stock message board infamy: Understanding USANA’s Pyramid Scheme is Key To Financial Freedom If you want financial freedom, then understanding how USANA is a pyramid scheme can help you avoid losing thousands of dollars...

Word is getting out about ShopToEarn lawyer Gerald Nehra?s threats to bloggers

Posted on July 16, 2008
Blatant acts of consumerism are occurring all over the internet. Far and wide, bloggers are banding together to spread the word about multi-level marketing attorney Gerald Nehra threatening bloggers on behalf of his client, Shop To Earn. It all started a few weeks ago when blogger Everyday Finance wrote a post about the ShopToEarn and ShopToEarth [...

Shop To Earn lawyer ups the ante with financial blogger

Posted on July 15, 2008
ShopToEarn is a multi-level marketing company recruiting new members who can receive a small percentage of cash back on their internet purchases. If they recruit enough new people into the scheme, who pay the $450 fee and do some shopping of their own, they can make a little more money...

An opinion on limiting auditor liability

Posted on July 14, 2008
Jack Cieslieski at Accounting Observer wrote a piece auditor liability. Auditing firms have been seeks caps on their liability for failed audits. Large firms are afraid that they might end up in the same trouble Arthur Andersen found themselves in post-Enron: Huge liability put them out of business...

Shop To Earn lawyer bullying bloggers

Posted on July 14, 2008
As expected, Gerald Nehra, the attorney for ShopToEarn sent me an email intended to bully me into not writing about Shop To Earn. Here’s his letter: I represent ShopToEarn and advise them on direct selling legal matters. You are on notice to CEASE & DESIST your disparaging and potential libelous references to ShopToEarn and the unapproved use [...

More bullying of bloggers by Shop To Earn attorney Gerald Nehra

Posted on July 14, 2008
Earlier today I reported that I had been threatened by Gerald Nehra, attorney for multi-level marketing company ShopToEarn for writing about my opinions on the company here. I am not the first blogger that he and Shop To Earn have threatened, and the threats continue...

Bloggers have rights

Posted on July 13, 2008
Bloggers have rights, and it’s important for them to know about them. It’s becoming more common for companies to issue cease and desist letters to bloggers who print negative reviews of their products or services. But bloggers don’t have to be bullied! There is a right of free speech in America, and that gives bloggers [...

Recent posts from WalletPop.com @ AOL

Posted on July 12, 2008
Reunion.com lawsuit may be on the horizon - Did Reunion.com send an email to everyone in your address book without your permission? You may have legal recourse! Government tries to protect bad borrowers from themselves - New regulations for mortgages have been proposed...

More on why ShopToEarn sucks (and so do MyPowerMall and TeamNational)

Posted on July 12, 2008
Online shopping multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) aren?t new. My Power Mall (MPM) has been around for a while, Team National has been in the mix too, and now Shop to Earn has popped up and is being aggressively marketed by its members. My bottom line on all of these companies: Don’t waste your time or money...

The ?tools scam? run by Quixtar (Amway) kingpins

Posted on July 11, 2008
The following is basically an expose on Amway/Quixtar corruption centering around the kingpin sellers of business service materials and the problem a Quixtar distributor believes goes the the heart of the entire Amway/Quixtar problem. This post is compliments of Quixtar is a Cult...

Take your press release and shove it

Posted on July 11, 2008
Somehow I got on some spam lists that public relations firms use to promote their clients. Apparently, blogging about scams and ripoffs means that they think I want a zillion emails about their clients who are most definitely not peddling ripoffs and scams...

State supreme court rules in favor of taxpayers

Posted on July 11, 2008
It’s rare these days that taxpayers get any relief from the clutches of governments, led by politicians who love to spend, spend, spend. In Wisconsin, the taxpayers got a small victory. The state supreme court ruled that the state was improperly collecting sales taxes on customized computer software...

Overstock.com finds one more way to sell less

Posted on July 11, 2008
Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), the perpetual money-loser run by trust fund baby Patrick Byrne (who doesn’t really have to care if the company’s investors lose all their money), has found another way to sell less. The latest big announcement is that they’ll stop selling anything with fur: However, Overstock...

$3,500 wasted with United First Financial, per Dave Ramsey

Posted on July 10, 2008
I’ve had lots of comments on my thread here about United First Financial and Dave Ramsey. Dave is an absolute expert on credit issues, and he hates UFF. He says it’s a complete waste of money. (Of course, I agree.) As usual, he’s accused of not knowing what he’s talking about because he hasn’t been to [...

Gradient scores huge victory in court against Overstock.com

Posted on July 10, 2008
COURT RULES THAT GRADIENT ANALYTICS’ CROSS-COMPLAINT MAY PROCEED AGAINST OVERSTOCK.COM, INC. ON ALL COUNTS AMENDED CLAIMS TO BE FILED AGAINST OVERSTOCK CEO PATRICK BYRNE Scottsdale, July 10, 2008 Gradient Analytics, Inc. announced today that the Marin County Superior Court has ruled in the case of Overstock...

Only in Wisconsin

Posted on July 09, 2008
Security personnel in the Milwaukee airport have put up a sign for a “Recombobulation Area.” Translation: The area in which you put on your shoes, stuff your junk back into your suitcase, put your belt on, etc. Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc...

The history of Patrick Byrne?s Sith Lord

Posted on July 09, 2008
If you like to read about delusional rantings and paranoid conspiracy theories, you can’t help but follow full-time message board poster Patrick Byrne. He moonlights as the CEO of failing online retailer Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), but his real purpose in life is uncovering conspiracies...

Your Wisconsin law license was just devalued by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin

Posted on July 08, 2008
I can’t say I’m shocked. Disgusted, of course. But not shocked. Hazel J. Washington, two-time felon, had her Wisconsin law license reinstated by a June 20, 2008 order of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. The most hilarious part of their decision is their reference to her morals: Although the referee’s report discussed a number of concerns raised [...

Bradford Richardson, president of Shaklee International

Posted on July 08, 2008
As I predicted in this November 14 post, Bradford Richardson has gone to work for Shaklee. He left Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA) to become Shaklee’s new president of international operations. I have a theory that once the Cheating in China information was revealed by Barry Minkow, that Usana needed someone to take the fall for [...

How to destroy every single opportunity you get?

Posted on July 08, 2008
I love reality television. Sunday night I was watching “The Two Coreys” on A&E, a reality show about Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. They were the two young actors who starred together in Lost Boys back in the 1980’s. They both did a fair amount of film work in the 80s and 90s, but both [...

The end of Sarbanes-Oxley?

Posted on July 08, 2008
Auditors and consultants around the country would like to string me up for my vocal dislike of Sarbanes-Oxley. I frequently moan that the cost is too high, the results are too poor, and consumers are fooled into thinking there’s been a solution to the fraud problem when there hasn’t...

The cost (and risks) of becoming an audit partner

Posted on July 08, 2008
Ever since my days as a staff auditor at Arthur Andersen, I’ve wondered what it costs to become a partner at a large firm. It’s obviously not something that is widely discussed with staff, so the youngsters all remain clueless. But Francine McKenna of re: The Auditors has finally answered my question...

Reality TV: I?m not here to make friends

Posted on July 07, 2008
Copyright © 2008 Sequence Inc. All rights reserved. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing an infringement of the copyright. (Digital Fingerprint: d8e155abd66dfea6417f56f6831614fa)

You ask Google, I answer

Posted on July 06, 2008
Question: What happens if skip an IRS audit? Answer: The IRS will pick a number and tax you based upon that. The number they pick is designed to be painful, in the hope that you will be “encouraged” to cooperate. It’s never a good idea to skip an audit...

Carnival of Fraud - July 7, 2008

Posted on July 06, 2008
Welcome to the July 7, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud. Tracy Coenen presents Can you make money with Mary Kay? posted at The Fraud Files Blog. terry dean presents Internet Scams posted at Integrity Business Blog by Terry Dean. Bozidar Spirovski presents Citibank PIN Heist - Sources of Security Breach posted at Information Security Short Takes...

Are school teachers overpaid?

Posted on July 05, 2008
I found a very interesting study on the pay of school teachers, and I think it’s relevant because I’ve been discussing the high pay of the Milwaukee Public School teachers, but the low performance of the district. Take a look at this study: How Much Are Public School Teachers Paid? by Jay P...

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