QUIXTAR: Perspection effect

Orignal Source

Perspection effect
October 5th, 2007

We respect perspectives. But they can’t hide facts.

First, the “new” Texas case mentioned in “Spaghetti.” This was a brand new case, with TEAM as the plaintiffs, attacking from a whole different angle than they did in California case. Dismissed.

The “other” Texas case: Simmons et al v. Quixtar will be heard de novo – “from the start” – by a new judge, though the previous judge recommended a preliminary injunction.

The California case: Still waiting.

The Michigan case: Our preliminary injunction remains in effect, as does the preliminary injunction won by the IBOAI.

The TROs: By our count, TEAM’s class-action spammers filed for 18 restraining orders in nine different states:

* One, the Simmons case, only has the recommendation for a preliminary injunction. But we’ll give them that one for now.

* Seven were denied, withdrawn or have expired.

* Ten have yet to be decided.

We would count that as one win for the spammers, seven losses, and 10 games still being played.

Orrin Woodward’s class-action ace D.J. Poyfair has been seen in courtrooms in Michigan, California and Texas. He has yet to attend a win.

TEAM trends:

1. Fewer leaders. We’ve already commented enough on the dwindling number of plaintiffs in the California case. But you may want to read what Fred Harteis has to add to the discussion.

2. Less transparency. When we were in Texas this week, in the course of one day we heard about TEAM; Signature Team Management LLC; Woodward International Networking Systems; and – our favorite – Signature Management Team, LLC, D/B/A TEAM, A Nevada Limited Liability Company.Now, every corporation can get confusing if you sift through enough paperwork, ours certainly included. But in this instance, we don’t like the way Mr. Woodward’s name jumps in and out of the stack, depending on legal and PR needs. Does Orrin Woodward own these companies? Does he run them? Is he a part of them? Yes. No. Maybe so.

3. More business. Or maybe less. There’s that line about “we’re going to a million.” And then there’s what TEAM CEO Robert Dickie and COO Thomas Maguire stated in their Texas affidavits about how business is going: “a deluge of product returns;” customers “calling wanting their money back;” “a significant decrease in tool sales;” attendance “has fallen and events have even been canceled.” Dickie and Maguire claim it is because of our actions; we can’t help but wonder whether attacking us as a pyramid and alienating countless former customers has anything to do with it.

Those are the facts, as best as we can gather them. We welcome your perspectives.