W2k's Journal: THG to sue AMDMB.com

I recently saw this at HardOCP.com:

As mentioned earlier, this editorial posted at AMDMB, chronicles Ryan Shrout's experience at a rather large LAN party this weekend. Here in the USA, we understand it to be our right to openly speak about our experiences in life, but quite possibly others do not feel that way.

Omid Rahmat of Tom's Guides Publishing, a.k.a TomsHardware.com, verified in an email to me that he made the following statements in reply to a reader's email explaining that he would not visit THG any more due to their recent actions.

-----Original Message-----
From: Omid Rahmat [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 8:41 AM
To: Name Removed

Subject: RE: MML2

Sorry to hear that, but Amdmb.com fabricated a story, and we gave as good as we got. We'll let the lawyers handle it.

If you choose to believe the amdmb.com version, fine, but we're not going to just sit there and have someone lie about us.

Omid Rahmat
Tom's Guides Publishing
www.tomshardware.com

Then also in another email:

It's bull, and no rebuttal required. We'll take them to court instead. They might get the message that way.

Omid Rahmat
Tom's Guides Publishing
www.tomshardware.com

It seems as though that is exactly what they intend to do as Omid called Ryan Shrout this morning around 11:45AM CST and verbalized that Tom's Guide Publishing would be having their lawyers send Ryan a letter explaining that they would be suing them for libel. Ryan, being a "poor college student" working on his EE degree does not have the funds needed to defend an action of this sort, it is our opinion that this action is to force Ryan's hand and make him take down his page that chronicles the events.

I have committed to Ryan that I will personally help him with funding his legal council so he will not have to fold with the almighty dollar being the deciding factor. We have also put him in direct contact with our attorney we keep on retainer that specializes in Intellectual Property matters. I think Ryan is telling the truth and should not be stifled.

The fact of the matter is that Omid was not present at the event and does not know what happened first hand. I would guess that Omid might be getting his information from parties that are now concerned with keeping their jobs. Also worth mentioning is that Ryan has some recorded audio of THG and AMD representatives saying some very interesting things to him that would be terribly embarrassing, if not downright damaging, should they be released publicly.

We have tried to contact AMD about this, this morning, but have not been successful.

As of posting this, I have received another mail from Omid making the following statement:

We will deal with Mr. Shrout through the appropriate legal channels, and leave it at that.

In response to this, yours truly wrote the following to Kyle (who wrote the above news item):

Hi!

Just a few comments on your recent news item entitled "THG to Sue AMDMB.com". Unlike yourself, I am not entirely convinced that Ryan is telling the truth, if THG are willing to go to such extreme lenghts as a lawsuit in order to set the record the way they want it.

Here in the USA, we understand it to be our right to openly speak about our experiences in life, but quite possibly others do not feel that way.

Well, THG apparently feels that Ryan did _not_ speak about an experience in his life, but was in fact lying. Which _is_ illegal when it constitutes libel. It's your US laws that makes it possible for THG to sue in this case.

Ryan, being a "poor college student" working on his EE degree does not have the funds needed to defend an action of this sort

Assuming that Ryan fabricated the story about what happened at MML2, the fact that he's a poor student doesn't alleviate him from guilt. Imagine what the world would look like if every criminal who could not afford to pay for his/her crime would be let off without punishment.

If Ryan has a case, he should be able to claim significant damages from THG. He should have no problem finding legal counsel who would represent him pro bono, given a sure-to-win case as this one would surely be, if Ryan has all the evidence he claims to have.

I think Ryan is telling the truth and should not be stifled.

Just out of curiosity, do you have anything to back up this assumption apart from your real-life impressions of Ryan? (You two have met as I understand it)

The fact of the matter is that Omid was not present at the event and does not know what happened first hand. I would guess that Omid might be getting his information from parties that are now concerned with keeping their jobs.

The fact of the matter is also that YOU weren't present at the event and thus, you also don't know what happened first hand. I would guess that you are getting your information from Ryan, which is now concerned with keeping his rep, his website, and his life's savings.

Also worth mentioning is that Ryan has some recorded audio of THG and AMD representatives saying some very interesting things to him that would be terribly embarrassing, if not downright damaging, should they be released publicly.

Why haven't they been released already? Surely there'd be no reason for Ryan to withhold such incriminating evidence, especially given the recent surge of disbelief in his claims. Why wait until the trial?

Recordings are very easy to fabricate. Someone saying "hi, I work for THG, I'm gonna end your career Ryan" does not automatically constitute "evidence". Have you heard the recordings yourself?

I look forward to your most prompt reply.

Sincerely,
Wilhelm Svenselius

To which Kyle promptly replied:

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.

______________________________

Kyle Bennett
Editor-in-Chief @ HardOCP.com
Proprietor @ Ratpadz.com

______________________________

I smell a rat.