Void

(emphasis, mine) Best description of attorney pro se I've ever read... and scarily accurate in most cases.

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- These eyes can do more than see

Adeon Writer

If you thought it couldn't get any worse, he's now suing The American Cancer Society directly.

http://boingboing.net/2012/06/18/fun...ues-ameri.html

MissKillian Barbosa

Isn't there a new law that makes bringers of frivolous lawsuits responsible for the other parties legal costs?

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Silly Ol' Killy Dilly

Joshua Nightshade

Ha, I wish. That would dry up 90% of lawsuits in the US. The lawyers would never go for that.

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Innula Zenovka

Not that I know anything about American law, but apparently California has an anti-SLAPP statute, which people say may be applicable in this case.

(SLAPP == Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation)

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Tranquility

It wouldn't matter if there was. The system is based around the idea of innocent until proven guilty. So not only would the lawsuit have to be thrown out, the defense would then have to prove that it was a frivolous lawsuit to begin with. The whole sleazy lawyer reasoning behind frivolous lawsuits is to fish for a settlement because people tend to not want a lengthy legal battle with ever increasing lawyer fees and the chance of loosing. It is legal blackmail.

Adding the frivolous penalty would not do much since it would just make the whole process even longer (and more expensive) with the same risk that a judge may deem the issue non-frivolous.

detrius

Also, such a law would finally make corporations with their million-dollar lawyers completely untouchable because nobody would dare to sue them anymore.

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Aimee Weber

Popehat combs through the lawsuit.

The Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk, Part V: A Brief Review of Charles Carreon's Complaint | Popehat

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All the cool kids are following me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/aimee

Aimee Weber

He's gonna subpoena Ars and Twitter.

Doubling down: FunnyJunk lawyer to subpoena Ars, Twitter | Ars Technica

I assume Carreon will get around to suing everybody in this thread eventually.



SUE ALL THE THINGS!

Innula Zenovka

Via Popehat:the EFF have taken up Oatmeal's case and will be assisting his attorney Venkat Balasubramani, whose response to Carreon's initial letter has been widely praised.

Aimee Weber

Thanks, Innula. I also like the first edit at the end of the Popehat article you linked:

Questions of attorney-client privilege aside, It sounds like Carreon just threw his client, FunnyJunk, under the proverbial bus.

http://www.popehat.com/2012/06/21/th...+%28Popehat%29

Innula Zenovka

The Oatmeal appeal closed some days ago, having raised just over US$220,000, an astonishing sum, and 11 times what he hoped for.

Charles Carreon has now filed for a temporary restraining order, preventing the monies being transferred to either Inman or the charities themselves.

Carreon seeks temporary restraining order in Carreon v. Inman, proposed settlement | A blog

The Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk, Part VII: Charlie The Censor Files A Motion | Popehat

DanielRavenNest

That will likely be rejected. Restraining orders are supposed to be for cases where irreparable harm will be caused if they are not issued. Money can be ordered returned by the court, so it is not irreparable.

I would find it amusing, though, if Indiegogo sent the money direct to the charities ahead of the court hearing. That voids any issue of Inman gaining from the money, and makes the TRO a moot point.

Polo

Very good point.

I can't fathom what sort of public-relations win Carreon thought he'd achieve by saying, in essence, that if people choose to donate their money to charity, his client is harmed...?

Innula Zenovka

Popehat makes that point, too. Carreon, he says, has quite simply got the law wrong (as, apparently, he has on several other matters).

All I can imagine is that he fears the damage done to his reputation and dignity by photographs being taken of Inman and this huge pile of money, together with pictures of the bear and FunnyJunk's mother, will be irreparable.

But I think the damage in that area was self-inflicted when he sent that first silly letter.

Kamilah Hauptmann

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...ey-to-charity/

"One man’s vulgarity is another’s lyric." -Inman's lawyer

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Some days you herp a derp, sometimes the derp herps you.

Gabriell Anatra

The quotes in that article are . . special.

They'd really be hilarious if they weren't serious. As it is I'm thinking this may be a matter for the medical profession. Comparing Inman to the gunsel who shot Giffords sounds certifiably insane.

Innula Zenovka

Further updates, and links, here: Carreon seeks temporary restraining order in Carreon v. Inman, proposed settlement | A blog

It's a rapidly -- and entertainingly -- developing situation. Monies contributed via PayPal apparently went direct to Inman, and were never under IndyGoGo's control, and IndyGoGo have already, at Inman's request, forwarded the funds contributed via credit/debit card, less their handling fees, direct to the two charities, the American Cancer Society and the National Wildlife Fund (Inman dropped the idea of adding extra charities).

Meanwhile, Inman has cut cheques, payable to the charities concerned, for the PayPal funds he holds, and delivered them to his legal advisers. The judge hearing the case has asked for confirmation these cheques have been delivered to the charities, which suggests that, if they have, he's minded to dismiss Carreon's application.

And, returning to his original plan, he's apparently taken a picture of US$20,000 of his own money to send to Carreon and FunnyJunk.

And, in further developments, Carreon sent a frankly thuggish email to Public Citizen, who are representing the proprietor of the parody site, censoriousdouchebag. They've responded by filing a counter-suit, claiming declaratory relief (that is, asking the judge to rule that the site is a bona fide parody and not an attempt to abuse Carreon's trade marks).

Aimee Weber

I was reading about the declaratory relief suit. I had no idea such a thing existed! I guess it's a pretty good thing. If you go around threatening to sue people ... they may call your bluff and drag you into court to get it settled whether you were serious or not!

Innula Zenovka

And now Carreon has voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against Inman, IndyGoGo, the two charities and ("if feasible") the Attorney General of California. See
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/c...atmeal-creator
and
Oatmeal v. FunnyJunk, Chapter IX: Charles Carreon Dismisses His Lawsuit | Popehat
Popehat notes that he could, if he wished, reinstate it at some future date.

Aimee Weber

The theory is that Carreon will drop the case, then reinstate it in a year or two when the publicity has subsided and pro-bono legal offers to Inman lose interest and go away. Perhaps the first and only smart thing he's done in all this. But I dono, seems like the EFF would be happy to return to this case in the future, and of course Inman could probably revive internet interest if he's sued again.

Also, Public Citizen's declaratory relief suit might be spreading Carreon a bit too thin right now. I read somewhere that he has actually gotten himself legal council rather than representing himself, and it's possible this lawyer might have been the voice of reason this guy needed to tell him to "stop this crap before you lose your shirt".

It would be nice if there could be some kind of legal closure so Inman (and, I guess, anybody else on the internet who criticized Carreon) wouldn't have to worry about a potential frivolous lawsuit.

Innula Zenovka

Yeah, I read that about Carreon maybe reopening the case against Inman at some point, but didn't really understand it. What's left to litigate, now the money has been disbursed to the charities? Yes, maybe he's going to resurrect his allegations (previous withdrawn from his complaint against Inman) that Inman had incited people to do thing by writing about him in The Oatmeal, but that always seemed fanciful, and I can't imagine the EFF wouldn't step in again if he did something that stupid.

I dunno, though. We shall see.

bubblesort

Case dropped!

Charles Carreon drops lawsuit against The Oatmeal - Boing Boing

Darn it, this was the most amusing thing on the internet for months. Now where will I find somebody like Carreon overreacting and quoting things out of context and generally being crazy?

/me goes back a page

Oh yeah, the how to get to heaven thread is still going.

Void

I don't see how, but perhaps you forgot it was an election year? =D

Aimee Weber

Charles Carreon is claiming victory.

Charles Carreon: "Mission accomplished" - Boing Boing

I still think it's unsettling that he can just pull the plug after disrupting so many people's lives. I can understand how people wouldn't want to sue him for legal fees and just put this ordeal behind them. But it's irritating that this menace is still out there, ready to crazy-sue people whenever he likes.