"Shane" Remake In LawyerLand
(Conspiracy Nation, 02/19/08) – In the 1953 movie, “Shane,” cattle baron Rufus Ryker hires Jack Wilson (played by Jack Palance), a cold-blooded and skilled gunslinger. Gunslinger Wilson taunts, then slays, a simple homesteader. Gunslinger Wilson is, in other words, the prototype for a brand of lawyer.
If you publish a dissident web site, you may have encountered such legal bully-boys on the prowl. You, a simple homesteader, might be confronted by a trained hatchet-man firing salvos of “tortious,” “defamatory,” and “malicious.” In such cases, do not be like the simple homesteader in “Shane.” You yourself have no chance against Gunslinger Wilson. It helps if you know something about legal labyrinths. (See, e.g., “The Copyright Permission and Libel Handbook,” by Lloyd J. Jassin and Steven C. Schechter. Wiley & Sons, 1998)
A puzzling case has erupted in the news. “The US arm of Wikileaks, a website that makes it easy for whistleblowers to leak documents, has been cut off after hosting evidence that claimed a bank located in the Cayman Islands engaged in money laundering and tax evasion.” (“US judge arranges summary execution of Wikileaks.org,” by Dan Goodin. The Register (U.K.), Feb. 19, 2008)
The article in The Register notes that Wikileaks is an international group and other web sites outside the U.S. remain online. Visiting one of their sites in Belgium (http://wikileaks.be), Conspiracy Nation found “Full correspondence bewtween Wikileaks and Bank Julius Baer” (http://wikileaks.be/wiki/Full_correspondence_bewtween_Wikileaks_and_Bank_Julius_Baer)
The purported “full correspondence” is a fascinating interchange of lawyer talk between the representative of the “outraged party” and the Shane lawyer for Wikileaks. (Shane, played by Alan Ladd in the film of same name, is the prototype for heroic lawyers.)
Here are some excerpts from the “Shane Remake In LawyerLand.” The Julius Baer lawyer is here designated as Gunslinger Wilson. The Wikileaks lawyer is here designated as Shane.
Gunslinger Wilson: Please immediately send the undersigned your full contact details for transmission of legal notices with regard to content posted on wikileaks that constitute violation of tradesecrets, conversion and stolen documents by former employee in violation of a written confidentiality agreement and copyright infringement, among other wrongful and tortuous conduct.
Shane: Please inform us which document(s) you are referring to, the name and jurisdiction of your client and the jurisdiction under which L&S is making legal claims or demands.
Gunslinger Wilson: As you should be aware, under US federal copyright law, it is your legal obligation to provide contact information for a designated DMCA agent - this is our second request.
Shane: I have asked one of our DCMA counsel to follow up on the DCMA the specific DMCA technicalities you mention which may have been introduced when we went from a single counsel to a pool.
Gunslinger Wilson: As a result of your failure and continued refusal to comply with the requirements of the copyright act, you have thus waived the safe-harbor provisions therein and will be held liable for copyright infringement. You act at your own peril.
Shane: It appears that you are trying to set up some obscure provision in DCMA law and have little interest in resolving what you claim to be the issue at hand when given an opportunity to do so.
A previous gunslinger episode occurred in the 1990s. Veteran followers of conspiracy news will recall the famous Systematics drama. In March 1995, Sherman H. Skolnick (1930-2006) came out with a story about a company called Systematics and alleged high-tech spying being done on foreign banks. Allegedly, Systematics was a proprietary espionage operation of the National Security Agency (NSA). Vince Foster, found mysteriously dead in Fort Marcy Park in 1993, had been a behind-the- scenes go-between between the NSA and Systematics, according to James R. Norman, formerly a senior editor at Forbes magazine. (“Recap Of and Update On the Norman Thesis,” http://www.conspiracybomb.com/normanthesis.htm)
In reaction to the allegations against Systematics, a San Francisco libel attorney named Charles O. Morgan was hired “to threaten journalists who made such allegations,” according to a report by J. Orlin Grabbe, a former professor at the prestigious Wharton School. (“Allegations Regarding Vince Foster, the NSA, and Banking Transactions Spying, Part II,” by J. Orlin Grabbe. http://www.theconspiracy.us/og/og002)
In a follow-up, Grabbe further mentioned how, “In his admirable zeal to defend his client Systematics, Mr. Charles O. Morgan apparently forgot to do any research regarding the allegations he was denying. For his denial is mistaken. Web Hubbell (along with Hillary Rodham Clinton) represented Systematics in a 1978 lawsuit.” (“Allegations Regarding Vince Foster, the NSA, and Banking Transactions Spying, Part IV,” by J. Orlin Grabbe. http://www.theconspiracy.us/og/og004)
Extensive background on the tangled affair, which mainstream media chose to mostly ignore, can be found in “The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro,” by Kenn Thomas and Jim Keith. Feral House, 1996.
A pattern of intimidation of free-lance amateur reporters, dissident writers, and radio personalities continues to wax and wane (like tomorrow's full moon). How can these simple homesteaders defend themselves? Where is Shane?
Conspiracy Nation
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