Just when I start thinking that nobody is actually reading my blog, I suddenly receive not one, but TWO emails threatening legal action against me for something I have posted. Both came within the same week.
I assumed if anyone complained about the content of my blog and threatened legal action, it would have been from the small group of individuals whom I have trashed over the years: Julie Jo Thompson of Hess, Lilliane Salazar of Wi-Fi Link, my brother's wife, or even my sister. But no. Instead it comes from something I wrote 4 years ago on my first blog.
The first issue comes from what an anonymous poster left in the comments section of my blog entry, "Why Taiwanese Women Like Foreign Men." (update 5/14/13: That blog entry was deleted when I published my first book. That blog entry is now in the book.) "Anonymous" wrote a meandering comment about Taiwanese women picking up foreigners in the bars and pubs of Kaohsiung. He mentioned a few names of women "to be aware of", using their English name, not their real, Chinese name. One particular gentleman didn't like it, and sent off this email to me (I'm deleting the name of the woman in this email):
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Perhaps I was mistaken to think that your blog was attempting to present an intellectual argument about the interrelationships between Taiwanese women & western men. It appears you are only interested in propagating sensationalist banter.
Ms. (X) is a close friend of mine & the complete rather than half-story as posted on your blog was well known to me long before I became aware of your posting. The same person who posted anonymously on your site also posted similar comments in the San Diego Reader. I have since written to that person, who happens to be the wife of the person who cheated my friend & knowing her legal accountability for those comments, has promptly & graciously removed them within 2 days of my request.
If I was to publish that I met your wife in a bar & she propositioned me to have sex, then that would be slanderous unless I could prove the same?
I strongly suggest that you remove references to my friends name.
If I was to publish the full details of the other side of the story this would cause extreme embarrassment to Mrs. B, who has already suffered immeasurably due to the immoral behavior of her husband. Alternatively, I could file a legal suit in Taiwan which would include a demand for removal of the references & damages.
You are a married man & possibly a parent. I appeal to your better judgement to correct the injustice that has been presented on your blog.
Thank You
Paul R. Gannaway
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I made my own comment later, stating that I can only delete comments, not edit them. Not only that, but I have a rule that I don't censor anyone. I publish all comments here, no matter how good, bad, banal, stupid, crazy, or obscene they might be. The only comments I have ever deleted were spam. I used to get bombarded with spam when I allowed people to comment without moderating.
Obviously, I wouldn't allow something that goes too far (racist, hate speech, for example), but I've never seen that on either of my blogs. I didn't particularly like this guy using my wife in his example of slander, but I guess he's trying to make a point in his own "sensationalist" way.
I realize some people would just delete the comment at the first sign of any controversy, but for me it's a matter of principle and of Freedom of Speech. What "Anonymous" wrote, in my opinion, had some merit. It presented another opinion to the topic. Other people have since presented opposing arguments. One side claims that the women are the problem. The other side claim the men are the problem. The argument has balance.
The second issue was far less controversial. It was about a photo that I used on my follow-up entry: "Why Taiwanese Women Like Foreign Men (Part 2)" I wanted to find a photo of a mixed couple, and I didn't want to use yet another picture of me and my wife, or David and Pi Chi. So I used a wedding picture that a Taiwanese woman sent me back in October of 2004. It wasn't personal, I just thought the picture was appropriate for the topic.
Well, apparently her husband didn't appreciate the photo being used. He then fired off this email to me the very next day (grammar and spelling mistakes are his, not mine):
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I am letting you know as of 1/30/2012 10:20am central time the phone you are using on you blog -"Grace%2BWedding%2B3.JPG" is a private photo that you have taken for your personal use on your website. You are being informed that you must cease and desist from using this photo and remove it from you site or future action will be taken against you. Do not take this lightly. I have already reported this abuse to google and will have your site shut down if you continue to violate this privacy issue.
Neal Goodacre
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This was his very first email to me. Angry and confrontational. If he had just asked me nicely I would have likely removed it right away, since the picture wasn't that important anyway. I could easily find another one.
So, I caved in on this one because it wasn't my personal photo. It was a photo that was emailed to me by his wife 8 years ago. Maybe I had a right to use it. Maybe not. I probably could have left it up for years until Google asked me to take it down. But I decided to be nice about it, even though this guy showed a serious attitude problem.
If anyone would like to read that old blog entry and offer their opinion, I'm open to all comments. My wife thinks I did the right thing by taking the picture down. She also agrees that I should leave the comments as is, since, like I mentioned, the legal, Chinese names were not given anyway. That would be like me getting upset over someone writing "Chen Dafoo was a crappy English teacher. This is a name you should be aware of." "Chen Dafoo" just happened to be my Chinese name when I was living in Taiwan. I honestly couldn't care less.
I guess the bottom line is, people really need to lighten up.
Please be fair....maybe the post was 4 years ago, but a young girl on the verge of a new life being told by a 3rd party that someone has misrepresented her is not fair & even heartbreaking. Talk to her yourself or ask you wife if she would receive her call & maybe you would have a bit more compassion. The post was anonymous so even the poster wont take accontability. Another website where the same post was made, to their credit immediately removed the persons name from the post, without dimishing the freedom of speech element.
ReplyDeleteSecond point is, the full chinese name of the person was used including her western nickname.
Thanks for having the courtesy of at least deleting the name of Mrs. B. She is the most unfortunate victim here though she has really tomrented my friend Ms S by posting & emailing very malicious falacies. Yet my friend Ms. S has only sympathy for Mrs. B.
Thats why I got involved just to try & clear the name of my innocent friend.
Your response to then publish my name despite it being sent in a private email, I find most ungentleman-like.
The comment about your wife was to cause a shock so you might empathise with the hurt that such remarks could make - nothing personal.
I stand to gain nothing from posting on your blog, so please try & show a bit of compassion.
Ken, I left you a PM on FB. You don't have to approve this message, just wanted you to know, in case it went to "other."
ReplyDeleteI am personally offended by random comments from people I will never meet who were offended by a blog post from someone they will never meet. Therefore, this message herewith serves as final notice that I am taking legal action against said blog owner as of February 2012, 1:56pm UTC.
ReplyDeleteI typed "therefore" and "herewith" so watch out.
I will have your ISP disconnect your account and ban you from ever using the Internet again. This will be a lifetime ban; you will never be able to go online from any computer anywhere in the world.
Because I say so.
You know I mean business because I spent three minutes typing an anonymous comment on a blog.
If you took the photograph then you have every right to do whatever you want with it. If it is your original work, the copyright is implied as soon as you publish it. If someone sent you a photograph then you have whatever rights were granted to you by the person who sent it. If I send you a photograph of my wife vomitting off the balcony, your right to use it is implied, unless I specifically say otherwise.
ReplyDeleteBut if a photograph is already copyrighted then you can only use it within the limits of the copyright. Some images have an open copyright and anyone can use them. Some have a fair use copyright where you can use them as long as you make no profit. Sometimes all rights are reserved entirely and any use is completely illegal.
If someone sent you a wedding snapshot, it is unlikely that it is covered under any copyright. Unless it is a professional photograph taken by a professional photographer. Then it is almost certainly copyrighted.
Anytime anyone you have never spoken to immediately threatens to have your website shut down, that is a clear indication that that person is talking out of their ass. Google is an enormous operation with millions of blogs. Any request by an outside party to shut one down would likely be ignored. They probably get millions of e-mails every day from people complaining about blogs. Unless there is a court order, but that would take months. Or if the person threatening you has connections to people in charge at Google. Otherwise, such threats are simply idle threats and can be reported to Google (assuming that person has a Google account). Reporting such threats is probably also ignored.
Another reason not to take this person seriously is how poorly the first e-mail is written. Even the subject is fucked up. "Unauthorized used..."
"I am letting you know as of 1/30/2012 10:20am central time the phone you are using on you blog ... is a private photo that you have taken for your personal use on your website." He is letting you know that you have posted a photo that you took (assuming he meant photo and not phone). This is pointless. He might as well tell you that you had breakfast this morning. And pointing out what time his rant was written in what time zone is stupid. Legal notices apply to specific dates. The exact time is irrelevant.
"You are being informed that you must cease and desist from using this photo and remove it from you site or future action will be taken against you." According to whom? Who is he to make such demands? Who is he to take any action against anyone? This person has done nothing to identify himself as an authorized Google representative, law enforcement officer, attorney or officer of the court. And he is most likely none of those. But when an attorney sends you an action letter, they will most definitely identify themselves. And they will always include a phone number so that you can contact them and resolve the situation. The last thing they want to do is go to court.
"Do not take this lightly." No attorney would ever say that. It sounds like a threat. Even a half-assed attorney knows how to avoid saying anything that could bite them in the ass later.
"I have already reported this abuse to Google and will have your site shut down if you continue to violate this privacy issue." Good luck with that. If anyone could have any site shut down, teenagers would be going ape shit.
If Google actually read a complaint from someone and bothered to look into it, they would at most send you an e-mail asking you to remove the offending photograph. Or they would simply delete it themselves. The odds of them deleting your entire blog just because some jack off complained without a court order are highly unlikely.
I hereby inform Mr. Neal Goodacre to remand arbitration wherewith the plaintiff's injunction of eminent domain fails meet the Court's definition of copyright infringement under protective order of Habeas Corpus per US Code 123.42.1 Statute of Limitations, hereby summoned for Trial de Novo notwithstanding affidavits of appellant.
ReplyDeleteAny questions?
I think the owner of this blog is a complete ass for publishing some of this shit & to give nonsense like "cannot delete" blah blah says he's married with kids, well, karma has a strange way of giving back what you give
ReplyDeleteThis was over a year ago, Paul. Nobody is reading this post anymore except you. Seriously. Nobody. Get over it.
ReplyDeleteI already removed the blog post you found offensive from my other blog, including all the comments that you also found offensive. If it wasn't for you continuing to talk about it, I would have completely forgotten about this.
Just remember the karma Ken!
ReplyDeleteThis is getting really stupid, but oh well..
ReplyDeleteKarma for what, anyway? All you really cared about (or claimed to care about) was this Chinese woman, the "young girl on the verge of a new life." All slanderous comments about her were removed when I deleted 95% of my other blog. You should be happy about that.
I should worry about karma because I casually mentioned you one time in my year-old blog post that was maybe read by two people? Did I slander you or your wife in that blog? Because you sure slandered mine in your comment underneath it. If anyone should worry about karma, it should be you because of your disgusting comment.
Yeah....remember the karma, Paul. You have much more to worry about than I do.
Hey Paul, here is a way you can make amends on your bad karma. Every time you check this website (which I'm guessing is a lot), click on some of the ads on the top and sides of the screen. By doing that, you are adding several cents to my growing pile of money that I make from this blog. All the money I make from this blog will go to my kids. How's that for good karma? Start the clicking!
ReplyDeleteKen, you obviously have limited intelligence & memory. No one slandered your wife, what was said is "what if". But you managed to rile up a real posse. It was naive to think that you understood the meaning of empathy.
ReplyDeleteIt happens that's a relative was searching a name & email address on the internet & asked about your blog. Who wouldn't be unhappy to see some clown publishing details which were not intended for general broadcast. You made a petty attempt to remove some information, however your self-righteous ignorant attitude to individual privacy is detestable. Your defensiveness at being challenged on the matter is hypocritical when you are the one who published slander in the first place.
When you visit Taiwan sometime to see Christy's family, let's meet up & discuss the merits of personal privacy & respect?
I happen to stay very near to where you used to teach. Email me when you're coming!
Why do you still post as anonymous, Paul? At least have the decency to end your comment with your name...Paul R. Gannaway.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a real "ass" and "clown" and "detestable" then maybe I would write a new blog and talk about you some more, and maybe include the names of those girls again just to get you riled up. But I'm above that, and I haven't even resorted to name calling as you have. You have taken the low road, my friend.
A "petty attempt to remove some information"? The entire post and comments were removed. I'd say that's a lot more than a "petty" attempt. That blog post was my most popular entry, read by over 10,000 people, and I took it down. This particular entry, where I mention you, has only been viewed by less than 200, and I think you account for probably half of those hits, and me the other half, since I'm always back here responding to your ridiculous comments.
I'm hoping this will be the end of it, and you will stop reading this blog, or just read some of my other, wittier entries and ignore this one. I was actually thinking of deleting this blog since I don't really update it regularly anymore. But then...something strange happened. People started to pay me money to write about and advertise their products, so I decided to keep it up (for now, anyway.) So karma has definitely come to me, but (unfortunately for you), it's all been good.
Your too easy Ken.....time will tell!
ReplyDeleteCall me who you want....I took the low road, that's cheap. You published peoples names without permission. I have nothing to lose, I have lost everything already, long ago because of someone just like you. Someone who had no respect for another person's privacy. He learnt the hard way, just like you will. When your own family suffer shame because of your big guy attitude, then you will think about how others feel when lies & wrong information is published in the wrong way. People, especially young people are permanently hurt because shit heads like you think that "Freedom of Speech" means that you can say anything you want especially when you are only reprinting the words of some other angry person. That is like a drug mule who argues that he did not produce or sell the drugs. You are like drug mule, a pimp, you don't sell your own body but you'll happily profit from publishing information & defaming others (& boast about it). Call yourself a good father & husband you low life pretentious scum! Keep publishing!
ReplyDeleteWow...hate speech now Paul? You seemed kind of classy at first, but with each comment you are just getting lower and lower. Normally I don't publish hate speech (as I indicated in this blog entry), but I'm making an exception for you so if anyone other than you reads all this, they will see how low you are sinking.
ReplyDeleteI honestly hope this is the last time I hear from you and whoever else you have writing messages on here (though I think it's probably all you). If it keeps up, though, I have already thought of a new blog entry..."The Insanity of Paul R. Gannaway." If you really, sincerely value your privacy, then let's just end this now and stop all these ridiculous comments. If you do, however, continue to write to me, then I will know that everything you have said previously is BS and you are just an attention seeker.
Actually Paul, I've thought about it, and decided not to write a new blog entry about you. I'm done. I think, deep down inside, that is what you would want me to do so that this little feud can continue on and on. A new blog entry would just encourage you to keep this up. I have no intention to mention you any more in anything.
ReplyDeleteTake all that anger and hatred you seem to have inside you and do something creative. Start your own blog or website and write about me all you want, if that would make you happy. Tell the whole world how evil I am because I mentioned a letter you sent me a year ago. Try, if you can, to point out the supposed "slander" in my blog entry here and expose it to all your followers.
My friends who have been following this have been telling me how petty this really is, and that you really are making "mountains out of molehills." I can't help but agree. My time is way too valuable to keep publishing and responding to your comments. So this is where it ends. I truly hope you can find some happiness in your life, Paul. Good luck to you, sir.
Ken, you show all the signs of an aspiring politician....you raise a point with absolute self assurance, until someone shoots you down & the you talk about all the others who don't agree & the you say that "I will not waste my valuable time on this nonsense". But look at the nonsense that you wasted your time on in the first time, the very nonsense that I am protesting about. What a low life, low class act you are! keep publishing Ken, you have to in the name of "Freedom of Speech".
DeleteThe moment you stop publishing my comments. it's no longer freedom of speech right?
You can't win, why....because you are ethically wrong & I am ethically right (think about it, I mean really think about it, not just blah blah blah about it, that's my point, blogs are too easy)
The end....for the first time your blog just became intellectual, befitting of the title "Teacher from Taiwan"....hahaha, what a laugh. Tell that to the other well deserved teachers in the US. You mean is that something like getting a drivers license in Taiwan?
Delete1. First you have published comments on this blog that you have assumed are my comments but are not my comments - what a cheat! Don't forget, I (who?) am not the only person you have offended with your arrogance over the years. I am in contact with equally offended people.
ReplyDelete2. Publish whoever's name you want, it only makes it clearer that you have the personal undoing to do not me. The only thing I ever did was to try to protect an innocent. Any intelligent person (if there is such a person reading your blog), can read the history & see that. You can publish a personal photo without permission & argue that it is your right...wake up!!!!
3. Too late, you have to live with your comments & not only this post but your whole blog needs to change because you have now been exposed as a wannabe intellect...you hope to be the real thing the "teacher from Taiwan" but now the world has seen that you are a plagiarist, unoriginality for sale (worse than a whore)
4. So many guys like you head out to Taiwan with dysfunctional marriages/families & you meet some local wannabe American girl who will do & say whatever makes you happy to achieve that citizenship ceremony & that is good enough to give you the ego of a US teacher who has done it the hard way & actually has some intellectual credentials.....& you have the audacity to say "I started this". Once again, I say "read back over the blog text Ken"
5. You are nothing - you are but the poor unfortunate & stupid guy that got in the way of destiny, destiny in this case in the form of my (& others like me, whom I am in constant communication with) desire to see justice done.
6. Keep publishing Ken....doing yourself a lot of justice here....& you can't stop because YOU started this, not me (freedom of speech right?)
7. I am not "kind of" classy.....you will never understand the meaning of the word class (try standing up for someone who you don't have to regardless of the consequences to yourself, then you will understand what class is. You have made certain ordinary words "classy" because they were intended for you & you chose to publish them
8. Of course your friends will give you all the consolation you require, that's what friends are for, but in reality, I am the most real thing that has happened to your blog.....this is the moment of truth!
9. Keep publishing Ken, you have too!
I agree with Mr. Paul R. Gannaway. The owner of this blog continues to show the utmost insensitivity on this issue. An innocent young woman was violently raped on his blog and all he can do is laugh about her horrendous suffering and hide behind his pussy "freedom of speech". Shame on you. Freedom of speech does not protect you from God's judgment. Surely, you will be punished severely for your heinous crimes against this poor young girl.
ReplyDeleteMr. Berglund is like the bystander who watches a young girl getting gang raped by an angry mob and does nothing to help her. In fact, he encourages the mob to commit their evil. Mr. Berglund is worse than Hitler.
I will happily join with Mr. Gannaway in any lawsuit against Mr. Berglund. The slander, libel and complete disregard for humanity must stop. The blog must be shut down forever and never mentioned by anyone ever again under force of law. Mr. Berglund should then return to Taiwan and personally apologize to his victim. I would suggest a donation of NT1,500,000. This poor innocent young woman deserves no less.
I see that your now being selective about what you post, "Freedom of Speech". Either publish it all or not at all Ken. You are a frivolous plagiarist who preys on the unstable ramblings of others to try & earn a few cents.
ReplyDeleteIf it was attention I was seeking, wouldn't my name be all over my post....fool's bliss Ken.
If you are serious about being a writer, 1. learn to spell & develop proper English grammar 2. remove ALL references & photos unless specifically authorized - I had friends thrown out of University for that sort of childish nonsense
Until such time, my friends & I will be appearing in ways you may not fully appreciate & you be wondering, what the heck happened!
This Paul Gannaway guy seems like a creep. I honestly don't know what he is even talking about. He says you have slandered and defamed someone yet I don't see anything like that in this post. He seems a have a few screws loose in his toolbox. I think you are right not to write anything further about him. The more you write, the more he will feed off it. Sometimes just ignoring these people is the only thing that will get them to go away.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of disturbed people online. Some of them thrive on melodrama and negative attention. If you post his ravings, you will give him the attention he wants.
ReplyDelete"If you are serious about being a writer, 1. learn to spell & develop proper English grammar 2. remove ALL references & photos unless specifically authorized - I had friends thrown out of University for that sort of childish nonsense
Until such time, my friends & I will be appearing in ways you may not fully appreciate & you be wondering, what the heck happened!"
His grammar is horrible. When people like that complain of anyone else's grammar, they lose all credibility. Saying that someone was expelled from a university for posting a wedding picture on a blog makes him look insane. The last sentence is an obvious threat. It completely destroys everything he has said about calling himself the good guy. If anyone else reads this, as unlikely as that is for such an old blog post, they would know that this guy is a troublemaker.
I do not understand any of his comments about plagiarism. Posting a photograph is copyright infringement at most. You never claimed that you took the picture.
Congratulations. You now have your first internet stalker. haha
ReplyDeleteThis is real poetic justice!
DeleteYou have even named me, the very point of my argument, no concern about the rights of the person you have named or even if he is aware of this discussion....very irresponsible. How do you know I'm not writing on another blog in your name (interesting thought?). By the way, some of the comments you attribute to me are not me :-)
Blogs are a good thing - public arguments are also a good thing, but don't name people or publish their photographs unless you have their approval or your real purpose of publishing the name is the protection & benefit of others.
My rantings are generic, but directed this time at Ken because he represents the manifestation of irresponsible blogging.
I don't claim to be a writer & english is not my first language, so criticize my english as much as you want, I think I can give this so-called "writer" a good run for his money. I will try to improve!
You are not the only blogger I am harassing, but your responses have given me much satisfaction & the cynical replies but your guests proves my point about the intellect of your readers. Read some of your book critics, they summed you up in a nutshell.
Do yourselves a big favor & just think about the purpose of these ramblings & when you do work out where my blog is, come over for a good mind stimulating engagement (if you're up to it).
Correct your online ways & I can move on & annoy the next ignorant who needs to be awakened.
Ken, I am more than ever looking forward to that coffee chat.
One should consider the content of the picture and the context in which it is posted. An dramatic example would be if I show a picture of you on the beach with your dog and a stick in your hand under the heading "animal cruelty", you have been done an injustice. Nobody will know that you were actually playing fetch with the dog.
DeletePlagiarism is when you take another's work or ideas and represent them as your own - unoriginal!
The greater evil to society than bad men is the indifference of good men.
I'm back, Ken. You keep thinking that I will go away, but this is my poetic justice. I have the voodoo dolls in place and my friends are coming over tonight. You will witness some things happening soon that when you see the thing that happens you will say "hey what they hay is happening???" Just remember the karma, Ken! A stitch in time makes nine, right?
ReplyDeleteThis is the real Paul G or at least I'm one of them. I'm getting a bit tired of this. Your blog sends me an email every time someone posts here. Yes, I do live in Taiwan and I do think I know one of the people you talk about in the original post. Give me a break please. disable whatever it is that keeps emailing me!
ReplyDeleteThis is the real Paul Gannaway. Don't believe these other fakers. Ken knows this is the real me. Or is it? haha! See! You will never know when it's me or when it's not me. I'm am everywhere. You will never forget the name Paul R. Gannaway! Remember the karma, Ken! Always remember the Karma!
ReplyDeleteMy point proven again, look at the quality of people that are looking at this blog. You will NEVER know who I am & you will NEVER which comments are me & which are real. Ken, you know there's only one way to get rid of me, come clean. If someone goes over the top to threaten because you have used his photo or named his friend, cut the arrogant high-handed reaction and understand why the person is hurt. Stop behaving like another white guy who did a few years in Asia and came home with a huge superiority complex. There's too many of you Ken. What pisses me most is that these stupid asian kids are even writing to you & believing your melodramatic skin deep advice. Asian have got to get over this believe that americans are superior.
ReplyDeleteYou are just another fake Ken.
The Creepy Stalker (voodoo sourcerer)
Think back long and hard and you will know who I am.
Hey Ken,
ReplyDeleteAs the CEO of AsianFast, let me tell you a little about the company,
Asianfast is an integrated marine solutions provider. Our key brand is "Batamfast" which is a wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to providing ferry services between Singapore & Batam Island, Riau, Indonesia.
We love the content of this website and would love to contact you regarding the purchase of advertising space. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss this business matter.
Thanks!
Paul R. Gannaway
CEO AsianFast
It's interesting to observe that a site called "Freedom of Speech" is only publishing one side of the story. Surely this person or company has got more to say on the matter. How does one call himself a "literary"; why bother to publish this at all if you don't entertain both perspectives?
ReplyDelete