Coin World finally reports on the suit

http://www.coinworld.com/news/headlines.asp
--
K6AZ WEB PAGES

http://www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm

K6AZ wrote:

http://www.coinworld.com/news/headlines.asp

I have this issue (may 3, 2004) sitting here and I can not find that
article in the table of contents *or* in the pages of the rag .....


--
Jason Craton ---- CONECA N-3407 --- WINS #5
---------------------------
Interested in error coins?
http://www.error-coins.com - A work in progress (lack of progress really).

Nick is a DICK!
Reid is a troglodyte!

"J. Craton" wrote in message
...
K6AZ wrote:

http://www.coinworld.com/news/headlines.asp

I have this issue (may 3, 2004) sitting here and I can not find that
article in the table of contents *or* in the pages of the rag .....

\
I have it, too and I don't see*any* of the News & Analysis topics from the
link in the actual paper. Could this be from the upcoming May 10th issue?

Bruce

In article ,
"J. Craton" wrote:

http://www.coinworld.com/news/headlines.asp

I have this issue (may 3, 2004) sitting here and I can not find that
article in the table of contents *or* in the pages of the rag .....

Me neither. Just went through it twice cover to cover. Nada.

Scot Kamins
--
"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for
lunch.Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the decision."
- Benjamin Franklin

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:59:03 -0400, "Bruce Remick" wrote:


"J. Craton" wrote in message
...
K6AZ wrote:

http://www.coinworld.com/news/headlines.asp

I have this issue (may 3, 2004) sitting here and I can not find that
article in the table of contents *or* in the pages of the rag .....

\
I have it, too and I don't see*any* of the News & Analysis topics from the
link in the actual paper. Could this be from the upcoming May 10th issue?

Bruce


It must be Bruce. I couldn't find it in my issue either.

--
K6AZ WEB PAGES

http://www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm

Geeze, hope I don't incur the wrath of Coinworld, but here is the article.
Since it has a tab to email the article and I don't profit or take credit
for the article and it is for informational purposes only...here goes..all
the information below can be found in the public domain.

From CoinWorld Magazine, May 10, 2004.

p.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------

ASA Accugrade, Hagers file libel suit



Say 46 hobbyists conspired to defame, damage grading service




A suit alleging 46 collectors, dealers and hobby leaders conspired to
make libelous statements on an Internet newsgroup and to defame and
financially damage a Florida firm and its owners, was filed March 18 in the
Circuit Court of the 18 th Judicial Circuit in and for Seminole County, Fla.
ASA Accugrade Inc. (ACG), Alan Hager and Diane Hager filed the suit.
Named as defendants are Gary E. Lewis, Gordon W. Berg, Robert K. Bruce,
John Callandrello, John P. Carney, Jason Craton, Phillip DeMayo Jr., Michael
S. Fey, Robert Flaminio, Mark Greene, Alan Herbert, Bruce Hickmott, William
Hughes, David Kreamer, William Krummel, Edward Kuszmar, Barry Kutner, Harvey
Laser, Julian M. Leidman, Sam Morgan, Stuart Miller, Fred A. Murphy, Robert
Brueggeman, David Parrish, Donn Pearlman, Tom Rea, Byron L. Reed, Paul J.
Roberts, Gregory Rohan, Jonathan Rosenthal, William Rossman, Edward
Rochette, Stuart Segan, Jeffrey Saltzman, Ira Stein, Scott Stevenson, John
Stone, Barry Stuppler, Eric Tillery, Larry Whitlow, Alan Williams, Chyrsta
Wilson, Douglas A. Winter, John Young, Peter Zimmerman and David M. Zutz.
The suit alleges that beginning in or about 2000, there was a "conspiracy
to commit defamation and tortious interference with advantageous business
relationships, defamation, and tortious interference with advantageous
business relationships. ."
The suit "seeks damages in excess of $15,000.00, exclusive of costs and
attorney's fees, based on Defendants' false and disparaging statements
concerning Plaintiffs and Defendants' false and threatening statements to
ASA ACCUGRADE, INC. dealers published and/or caused to be published by
Defendants via the Internet."
The $15,000 amount is a jurisdictional limit set by Florida law to
qualify civil cases to be heard at the circuit court level.
According to the suit, ASA Accugrade Inc., located in Longwood, Fla., has
been incorporated and "engaged in the rare coin grading and authentication
business in the state of Florida since 1995 and before that in the state of
Connecticut since 1984."
Alan Hager is described in the suit as "a rare coin expert and head
grader for ACG."
Diane Hager is identified as "an officer, director, and the sole
shareholder of ACG."
Individual defendants, according to the suit, were involved "in the rare
coin industry as collectors, members and/or governors of the American
Numismatic Association ('ANA'), were members of an Internet newsgroup and
established ANA coin club known as 'Rec.Collecting.Coins.' ('RCC'), and/or
were beholden to competitors of ACG, including but not limited to
Professional Coin Grading Service ('PCGS'), a division of Collectors
Universe, a California corporation and/or were members of the Professional
Numismatists Guild ('PNG') and/or the Industry Council For Tangible Assets
('ICTA')."
RCC is a public Internet newsgroup for coin collectors and dealers, which
was founded in 1994. Google.com serves as host for the newsgroup but does
not monitor its content.
The suit alleges, "Defendants entered into an implicit agreement to and
each made false and disparaging statements about ACG, Alan Hager, and Diane
Hager via the Internet and in other public venues (which statements were in
turn re-published over the Internet). ."
The suit states, "The false, disparaging, and libelous statements made by
Defendants about Plaintiffs are far too numerous to list." Although 22
phrases and short statements are cited in the document filed with the court,
none are attributed to a specific individual.
The suit alleges that the comments resulted in "actual damages well in
excess of $15,000 consisting of lost business and profits and severe and
pervasive injury to their [Hagers] goodwill and personal and professional
reputation, among other injuries."
The suit further states, "up until the commencement of Defendants'
campaign of libel against the Plaintiffs, [ACG] was an extremely successful
business, both in terms of profit and reputation."
The suit also states that ACG "enjoyed advantageous business
relationships with several coin dealers" and those companies "would
routinely utilize ACG's services and compensate ACG. These dealers included,
but were not limited to: Causey's; Katz Coins; Rare Coins USA; Bob Johnson
d/b/a [doing business as] Centsles; Sal Fusco d/b/a NCA; Joel Rettew, Sr.
d/b/a/ Fast Pay; Rich Stiles; Bruce Maag d/b/a At Shows; Brian Beardsley
d/b/a/ Worldwide Ventures, Inc.; NFC; Dave Finelli d/b/a Leandra
Collectibles; and Bill Dominick. Once the Defendants began threatening the
aforementioned dealers via statements made as part of the RCC newsgroup via
the Internet, the dealers ceased doing business with ACG."
The suit alleges, "the Defendants caused a known counterfeit coin to be
submitted to ACG to be graded for the purpose of utilizing the grading of
this coin by ACG in order to have Alan Hager's ANA membership revoked."
The suit further alleges that when the counterfeit coin was submitted,
the defendants "knew that said coin was counterfeit and that its counterfeit
nature was difficult if not impossible to detect. Once the coin was graded
by ACG, the Defendants caused the coin and ACG's grading of it to be
disclosed to the ANA via a complaint against ACG and Alan Hager in an effort
to further destroy Plaintiffs' reputation and interfere with ACG's
advantageous business relationships with its dealers."
Due to the comments and the situation with the alleged counterfeit coin,
the suit states, "ACG has lost considerable income and profits and its
goodwill has suffered immensely. In addition, the personal and professional
reputations of the Hagers has been severely and pervasively harmed by the
Defendants' misconduct and the Hagers have suffered mental anguish,
emotional injuries, humiliation, and loss of dignity as a result of the
defendants tortious acts."
The suit seeks a jury trial and judgment against the defendants that
would award "ACG its lost business income and profits and compensation due
to the destruction of its advantageous business relationships and for the
severe injury to its goodwill and reputation and provides such other and
further relief as the court deems just and proper."
According to court records available to Coin World as of April 22,
summons had been issued for all but five defendants. Defendants have 20
calendar days to respond to the suit once they are served notice the suit
has been filed. CW
"Scot Kamins" wrote in message
...
In article HjZjc.1410$Nb3.266@lakeread06,
"Bruce Remick" wrote:

\
I have it, too and I don't see*any* of the News & Analysis topics from
the
link in the actual paper. Could this be from the upcoming May 10th
issue?

Or perhaps only in the On Line edition?

At any rate, would someone with the online edition please post a summary?

Scot Kamins
--
"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for
lunch.Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the
decision."
- Benjamin Franklin

In article ,
"Patrick Rose" wrote:

Google.com serves as host for the newsgroup but does
not monitor its content.

Oh, yeah? Somebody isn't paying attention to Usenet history.

Scot Kamins
--
"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for
lunch.Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the decision."
- Benjamin Franklin

In article m "Patrick Rose" writes:
....
RCC is a public Internet newsgroup for coin collectors and dealers, which
was founded in 1994. Google.com serves as host for the newsgroup but does
not monitor its content.

An interesting statement. Clueless?
--
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj amsterdam, nederland, +31205924131
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn amsterdam, nederland; http://www.cwi.nl/~dik/

I can't wait to see the Letters to the Editor that result. Unless, of
course, they don't have the balls to publish any, for fear of losing
advertising revenue.
Barry

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 21:19:08 -0400, K6AZ wrote:


http://www.coinworld.com/news/headlines.asp
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K6AZ WEB PAGES

http://www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm

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On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 19:03:02 -0700, Scot Kamins
wrote:

In article ,
"J. Craton" wrote:

http://www.coinworld.com/news/headlines.asp

I have this issue (may 3, 2004) sitting here and I can not find that
article in the table of contents *or* in the pages of the rag .....

Me neither. Just went through it twice cover to cover. Nada.

Scot Kamins

They usually post content for the UPCOMING weeks issue on Tues or Wed.
I usually get CW on Thursdays. I report back later today if I find the
story (assuming CW does arrive today).
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