The Blog of P.U.R.E. and Sue Scheff

When a family loses a child, I can’t even imagine the pain they endure. How they wake up the next day, how they feel, what they feel and how they go on with life. When a family loses a child in a tragic accident it seems it could only compound all the feelings of loss. On October 31, 2006 the Catsouras family experienced the nightmare every parent fears - losing a teen in a tragic automobile accident. The accident was the beginning of an emotional roller coaster. If you haven’t heard about this story, it is time to take a moment and help make a difference. Nikki Catsouras , after having a horrific car accident was dead on impact, the scene was described as shocking as Nikki’s head was nearly decapitated . Can you even imagine as a parent, learning of this? Can you imagine living through this? As a parent advocate and a parent of two young adults now, I couldn ’t even begin to imagine what this family has gone through. What follows next is nothing short of evil, in my opinion. Shortly...

Oh yes, it is almost here, my second book! This time around, I am honored to have co-author and Internet Specialist Attorney , John Dozier . As my story of my landmark case of $ 11.3M jury verdict for damages unravels - many questions answers, John Dozier will bring us the legal landscape of today's Cyber World - how to protect your online image and maintain a profile you are proud of! To compound our dynamic and explosive upcoming best seller - Michael Fertik , CEO and Founder of ReputationDefender will be writing the foreword! ReputationDefender is one of the pioneers in managing online reputations and helping keep your kids privacy safe online. This timely book will offer you tools and remedies as well as a very compelling story that will keep you turning those pages! Remember, a 20 year reputation today can be destroyed within 20 minutes of vicious keystrokes. Have you thought about Internet Gossip vs Internet Fact? How do you know the difference? Don’t get caught in ...

Want to know more about the Internet and the Legal Boundaries? Leading Internet Specialist Attorney, John Dozier Jr. is one of the best in the country and represents some of the top businesses in the world. Keep in touch with the Legal World of the Internet at John's Blog at http://johndozierjr.typepad.com/dozierinternetlaw/ John W. Dozier , Jr. began practicing law in 1981 and has the highest rating (AV) by Martindale - Hubbell (meaning he has reached the "height of professional excellence and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity"). Mr. Dozier is a "Legal Elite for 2008" as an Intellectual Property Lawyer through a peer selection process of the Virginia Bar Association and Virginia Business Magazine, was recognized through peer review as a "Super Lawyer" in Internet Law in the " Superlawyers " Magazine, was named as one of the top attorneys nationwide for 2008 in Intellectual Property Litigation in the Law and Politi...

Another victory for the Dozier Internet Law firm - Free Speech will not condone defamation or trademark infringement. A lawsuit filed by Ronald J. Riley through his lawyers at Public Citizen against Dozier Internet Law has been summarily tossed out of Federal Court in Richmond, Virginia today. Judge Henry E. Hudson, declining to even entertain oral arguments on the points, found that Riley and Public Citizen's assertions in the lawsuit don't belong in Federal Court and are nothing more than defenses to the lawsuit Dozier Internet Law had already filed in state court against Riley. This major setback for the litigation team at Public Citizen, and Paul Levy in particular, follows by a day or so another major loss for Public Citizen in the "Jones Day" litigation in which the Federal Court refused to even consider the arguments in the brief filed by Public Citizen, Paul Levy, and others, and found for Jones Day, and against Levy's position, by rejecting motions to d...

Source: Internet Law Business Services Bullying and, in particular, cyber-bullying is becoming a frequent practice among the American youth. Incidents are reaching such daunting results that state legislatures are rapidly adopting measures. For instance, Florida Legislature adopted an anti-bullying, including cyber-bullying, law on April 2008. The law is called "Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act" (Fla. Stat. section 1006.147), named after Jeffrey Johnston, a 15-year-old boy who committed suicide after being the object of bullying, including Internet bullying, for two years. This new Florida law prohibits bullying and harassment of any public K-12 student or employee, and requires public schools to adopt measures to protect students and employees from the physical and psychological effects of bullying and harassment. The Florida Senate, quoting to a report by SafeYouth.org, stated that "bullying behavior can involve direct attacks, such as hitting, threatenin...

This has been one of my favorite Blogs and Articles describing a variety of personalities of people that simply have nothing better to do than harm others with their evil keystrokes. Top Ten Blogger Personas: The Mobosphere Unveiled by John Dozier , Esq. Ever since Congress passed Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act giving immunity to interactive service providers for publishing the defamation of others, a wide range of characters has arisen and infiltrated the mainstream blogosphere. Instead of becoming a source for obtaining reliable information, the blogosphere, and user generated content, is at risk of becoming a less credible information source. Dozier Internet Law defamation lawyers are constantly battling these “black hat” forces and over the past several years we have acquired quite an insight into this underworld; an anonymous and covert society bent on terrorizing businesses. These are our internal thoughts on the matter, and not scientific analyses. We are not ps...

By John W. Dozier (Super Lawyer in the Law of the Internet) The federal prosecutors in California obviously did their legal research before asking the grand jury to indict under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in the myspace.com suicide case. I don't like the statute's seemingly over-broad reach. I've criticized the statute in the past for the very same reasons some of the free speech liberal commentators object all over the airwaves today. The difference, however, is that I don't pretend to make the law mean what I would like for it to mean. It is what it is. And, as it is written, the prosecutors believe they are right, I think they are right, and the 9th Circuit does too! Wonder if the prosecutors read my blog entry from last June about Dozier Internet Law and our view on the law of hacking ? And I wonder how many of these law professors and talking heads on TV have ever tried a hacking or unauthorized access case? Maybe the prosecutors are new to this, maybe they ...

Woman indicted in Missouri MySpace suicide case Cyberbullying is finally be recognized! This was a long time coming and how sad that it took the death of an innocent young girl to help make a movement towards change. As a victim and survivor of Cyber harassment, you don't have to be a child to be harassed and bullied online - it is happening to all ages. The case of Megan Meier is nothing short of tragic and brings cyberbullying to a new level of extreme concern. I received emails and calls daily from victims of Cyber Slander and Internet Abuse, this is a growing and expanding problem that needs to be addressed, this new bill is only the beginning. After winning an unprecedented jury verdict for damages of what was done to me on the Internet of over $11.M - I continue to be a voice for those that are being harassed and help others with their potential cases. When the jury read through the many posts of slanderous and defamatory comments posted online about my family, ...

Daily I received phone calls and emails from parents with concerns about their kids Internet Usage as well as what they are reading on their Social Networking pages such as MySpace . Many of the kids today are not aware of the lasting effect a humorous picture today can cause for the future. Our children today are the same kids that will be applying for colleges and jobs several years from now. However, to a child/teen, that seems like a lifetime away. As a parent, we can help monitor their activity by always keeping your lines of communication open. Another option for parents is Reputation Defender MyChild . This service will send you monthly reports on your child's name and what is being said about them. Many parents have signed up for this service, and personally - I think it is a priceless in today's unregulated cyberspace. Protecting our children comes natural to most parents - now we have to expand our protection to the expanding world of the web. As a Parent Advocate , I...

True or false, the information people find about you on the Web can have a big impact on your life. Here are five techniques to make sure that what people read about you is good (or at least true). Click Here for full article. Defending yourself online has became a serious concern for many people. The lack of regulations in Cyberspace means you have to learn to maintain your own Google Image. As both a victim and survivor of Internet Defamation, I know first hand the toll this can take on a person and their family. I fought back and won an unprecedented jury verdict for damages of $11.3M . Free Speech does not condone defamation!

After I won an unprecedented jury verdict for damages done to me online of $11.3M - this has brought me into a new chapter of my advocacy. As a parent advocate , I educate parents on a loosely regulated industry some call - teen help residential programs and schools. After a horrific experience with my own teenager, I become a voice to create awareness to others so they didn't make the same mistakes I did. Now with this new chapter of Internet Abuse and Cybersafety - I have meet with my Florida Senator several times and we just meet with our Congresswoman. I am very confident positive changes will be made to create a safer cyberspace - help to make people accountable - and reduce cyberbullying through new legislation. My new position has put me in a public light, and I plan on using it to help others. I am contacted on a regular basis from victims of the Internet harassment as well as many media outlets. This is now a topic that is not going away anytime soon. Visit my Podcasts o...

I was contacted by CNN News in regards to this recent story. As a parent advocate , I am proactive in helping parents protect their children in Cyberspace - whether it is monitoring their MySpace account - or using other protective measures such as Reputation Defender/MyChild to monitor your child's privacy - but this story completely shocked me. How can a parent condone a 13 year old writing about a principal in sexual ways? Where is this coming from? The parent is claiming their son has " free speech " - and they are correct about that, but when your 8th grader is calling someone a rapist or child molester without any substantiated evidence, in my opinion, this could be considered defamation - and as my beliefs continue - " Free Speech does not condone defamation ." Furthermore - the writings of "giving students anal" or "jacking off in my office" - is absolutely disgusting that a 13 year old writes this way. This is my personal opinion ....

As both a victim and now a survivor of Online Attacks, Internet Defamation, Cyberstalkers from extremely disturbed people (in my opinion) I have fought back and won! In an unprecedented jury verdict for damages, I was awarded $11.3M for what one woman did to me online. The jury took time to read the hundreds of posts of clear defamation and slander in an attempt to destroy me, my organization and hurt my family. In many interviews I have been asked ”why” do people find the need to hurt others? I simply don’t have that answer. We can speculate, but I believe deep down people are not happy with themselves and feel the need to project their misery on to others. John Dozier of Dozier Internet Law wrote an excellent article the outlines potential persona’s of these type of people. “ The Top Ten Blogger Persona’s: The Mobosphere Unvieled .” Then Jacqui Cheng wrote about the Nutjobs that feel the need to hurt others online. It is obvious this is a growing problem. Read more about Online Repu...

By Jacqui Cheng Threats against others on the Internet are just about as surprising as the sky being blue every morning. But some threats are more serious than others, and the list of victims seems to be expanding as more of the unwashed masses general public gets online. Online marketers are one of the newest groups to join that list, and once again, we are faced with questions about how much regulation is necessary in online communities to keep the peace without stepping on users' freedom of expression...... click here for the entire article. ************************************************************** As a victim of Internet Defamation and now a survivor of it, Jacqui Cheng completely articulated the way many people feel as they are being attacked online - and comically, we usually call them " nutjobs !" Since my victory in court with a jury verdict for damages ( over $11M ) of what one woman did to my family, my organization and myself online, I receive emails o...

The Top Ten Blogger Personas: The Mobosphere Unveiled By John Dozer, Esq. ( Dozier Internet Law ) Ever since Congress passed Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act giving immunity to interactive service providers for publishing the defamation of others, a wide range of characters has arisen and infiltrated the mainstream blogosphere. Instead of becoming a source for obtaining reliable information, the blogosphere, and user generated content, is at risk of becoming a less credible information source. Dozier Internet Law is constantly battling these “black hat” forces and over the past several years we have acquired quite an insight into this underworld; an anonymous and covert society bent on terrorizing businesses. These are our internal thoughts on the matter, and not scientific analyses. We are not psychiatrists; just trial lawyers trained for almost fifty years to figure out the human nature of clients, witnesses, and juries..... Click here for the entire article and the ...

I have been on several National Media Shows including 20/20 ABC News i-caught, Fox Morning with Mike and Juliet, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and more on the subject of Internet Defamation and Internet Abuse. I recently added Podcast 's of some of these shows. Click here .

New Zealanders are employing "reputation protection" companies to eliminate inappropriate content about them on internet sites such as Facebook, fearing it could damage their employment or dating prospects. Dubbed "digital housekeeping", the online clean-up is one of the issues trend-spotters say will emerge in 2008 as the public wakes up to the potential dangers of social sites, blogs and online reviews. American company Reputation Defender is spearheading the trend and has five Kiwi customers on its books. Director Michael Fertik says four of them are paying the company US$9.95 a month to undertake detailed internet searches hunting for inappropriate, hurtful or inaccurate information and negotiating its removal if required. Fertik says customers mainly use the service to ensure they impress employers who routinely check social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace before going ahead with job interviews. But many clients are also concerned about pote...

In today's crazy world of Cyberspace - it can be a free-for-all to literally destroy longstanding reputable people and organizations with a stroke of a keypad. With this, priceless services like Reputation Defender have become in demand. As a client of Reputation Defender , I can personally attest to their remarkable services as well as their compassion to help people that are being harmed via the Internet. I was a victim of Internet Defamation and now a survivor of it - not only because I won an unprecedented $11.3 Million jury verdict for damages, but because I fought back! I am not a spokesperson for Reputation Defender, but I am certainly a very satisfied client and completely amazed at their dedication to keep the Internet a safe place for everyone. For those that believe that it is about hiding the ugly, think again - Reputation Defender is selective and does their due diligent. I am proud to be their client. When I went public about retaining this service, it was a diffic...

Fighting against Internet Defamation can be an uphill battle - but there is finally light coming through. I meet with a Florida Senator for our second meeting and a very prominent lawyer joined us. Free Speech will always be in place, but it will not allow defamation or reckless regard for the truth. I will continue to be a voice in this arena and hopefully you will see some major changes and new legal avenues and ACTION soon. Stay tuned - there is much more coming.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and we have many things to be grateful for. My family as well as families throughout the country will be celebrating this day of gratitude. Proudly, my organization continues to help people throughout the world as well as my continuous fight to help those that are being abused in Cyberspace. With the help of wonderful services such as Reputation Defender , who I am personally thank for their hard work, there are many new legal doors opening that I want to thank. This will help keep the Internet a safe place. We have a long way to go, however the fact that prominent people are stepping forward to help means there will be positive movement. With the recent tragic stories of teens on MySpace and more, it is time to step up and be that voice. On this holiday of gratitude, it is also a time to reflect and move forward to continue to help and share with others. I have endured the wrath of people obsessed with me, my daughter's fight to survive a program that...