I posted an article about Poker Update's journalistic standards on Monday:

Cliffs: They were copying multiple paragraphs from multiple websites to compile their own article. Those that write for a living will know how serious of an offense that is.

Poker Update deleted the author of the articles after I published it.

In a letter dated the next day, an attorney representing Poker Update's parent company 180Vita claims that I am libeling and defaming them and demanded that I remove a number of articles I have published about their company through a Cease and Desist letter (C&D).

The C&D make a number of allegations. They all seem to revolve around two issues. One is the violation of affiliate program T&Cs (like giving under the table rakeback and publishing false information about a competitor). The other involves Pokervip.com's involvement in the Know Your Customer iPoker story.

Cliff: The owner of Pokervip admitted in an affiliate forum that he owned a website that had solicited U.S. players to play VPN. The site was live at least until May 18, 2013. iPoker decided to check the identity of every Pokervip.com player and sent the following letter to skins:

This was the letter sent to skins stated (with salutations etc removed):

Pokervip management apparently took issue to me reporting of these facts. One line in the C&D states:

I would find it hard to believe that Pokervip and its parent company have not seen that email. I fail to see any other logical conclusion for what the email means other than "the network suspects that PokerVIP facilitates traffic from banned territories."

Apparently Pokervip's parent company 180Vita does not understand that the truth is the ultimate defense in a libel and defamation case. The First Amendment in the United States clearly protects this. I am a firm believer in the U.S. Constitution and I will not be threatened into silence by a company that does not like me publishing facts about their company.

I take screenshots of anything that can back up a story I am writing about and have dozens of ones that pertain to this company. I will easily prevail in any such action with this and all of the other proof that backs up my statements. Trying to bully me into silence is an abuse of the legal system. I will not stand for it and I know the rest of the online poker media community feels the same way.

I will be filing a response to these absurd allegations but wanted the community to know how this company handles truthful statements made about them.

Nice post. The truth will always prevail. Seems like they are trying scare tactics to try to silence you. Keep up the writing!

Good on you. As a writer, and as a former editor of a city magazine, I detest practices such as these. To then try and silence you with legal threats is all the more abhorrent. Stay the course!

Best of luck spreading the word about these shady practices. It looks like you're doing the right thing and hopefully that wins out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slapp

I think that requires that they plagiarized him which I didn't see him claim.

bump for truth

+1

You have the support from us and keep up the good work!

LOL iPokerVIP

LOL PokerUpdate

Keep up the good work!

FWIW, John is one of the most reputable people in the poker industry.

Pokeraddict has always been of the good guys no matter what the story is, definitely backing him here.

Is this the company that owns PokerTube?

Yes, they own PokerTube.

Thank you to everyone for your support in the thread I have also had several people contact me privately offering their help. All of the support and offers to help if this gets ends up in court means a lot.

I am lucky to have lawyers in my circles and the consensus is that I should publish the C&D because then members of the community can also offer their input to further aid in my defense should Pokervip.com decide to push the issue further.

I will also probably publish my response to their attorney as an open letter. It will not be anything too long. Just enough to prove the point that their allegations are false and tell them to not contact me further.

In everyone's opinion involved it is important to get the word out and I will exercise my First Amendment right to do so while I vigorously defend myself against an attempt to restrict my free speech and freedom of the press to post facts.

Also, some of the items in the C&D covers posts I made at Two Plus Two. One of them was from back in 2010 where I questioned them about whether giving people the top VIP tier at an ipoker room violated rakeback rules. As you will see when I publish it the letter, my quotes were chopped up to take it completely out of context. The fact I was asking them a question about other people's comments was completely removed from their quote.

Great post. Keep up the good fight!

seems like a shady company(ies)

keep up the good work!

wait can someone give me uber cliffs? Is OP for or against ipokervip helping us citizens play overseas?

Kudos for deciding not to be bullied!(been there, done that).

The truth is always the best defense.

Keep up the fight. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.

(Btw, nice meeting you recently )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

wow, i'm speechless ... but glad to hear, that you have some friends, that can help you with the 'legal part'.

Keep up the good work and the fight!

i hope some writers will pick up the story.

The SLAPP was a great link too. It clearly covers the type of suit this would be if they attempt to pursue it. I live in Nevada and my state legislated one of the toughest SLAPP laws just this year for this type of situation.

Uber cliffs:

Pokeraddict makes a great post.

Intelligent people post their support.

wtf_cc? makes an idiotic post.

Hi All,

The Cease & Desist Mr Mehaffey received yesterday has little to do with his recent article or the PokerUpdate news website. Unfortunately, he has neglected to share the full content of the letter.

The purpose of the letter is to ensure Mr Mehaffey ceases his campaign to damage our business and reputation. The letter is not an attack, it's a defense and as far as I know, our company has never once provoked or attacked Mr Mehaffey.

Conversely, Mr Mehaffey has threatened our business numerous times via PM on this forum. He has called us 'scum', vowed to destroy our business and promised to contact all our partner poker rooms and ensure we lose our deals and relationships with them.

Further to this, he has published articles on his site and others, informing players their deals and possibly funds are not safe with us, accused us of behaving illegally with no basis in fact and continually gone out of his way to damage our reputation.

Our business is not perfect and Mr Mehaffey is correct that on occasion one specific writer on PokerUpdate cut up content from other news sites. However, Mr Mehaffey himself has even accepted that this was not technically plagiarism and although we should do better, it's difficult to understand why this small sin has provoked such an incredible reaction from Mr Mehaffey on his own website. Since then this author has been released and will no longer appear on PokerUpdate.

We simply wish to be left alone and treated fairly by Mr Mehaffey. We are a good company and invest a lot into poker - hopefully this is made clear by the quality of our sites and content.

Please trust that we would not be taking such action simply based on Mr Mehaffey's recent article. Assembling the Cease & Desist took time and Mr Mehaffey's damaging comments aimed at our business have been a serious problem and cause for concern for years.

We all know that lawyer's and the possibility of a subsequent lawsuit can be a financial burden and extremely stressful. This is not something that any reasonable business would actively choose to do. However, we feel that Mr Mehaffey has backed us into a corner and has caused such a level of damage to our business, that we have no choice but to take legal action.

@ProfessionalPoker - The fact that all links to our news site have been removed from the forum seemingly based on Mr Mehaffey's opinion seems very unfair. This is not how moderation is meant to be done and nobody in a position of authority on 2+2 should behave like this, if they truly have the forum's best interests at heart. Please look at the site and read the articles. If you see anything wrong or that you do not think would benefit the poker community please let us know.

Jamie Nevin
Founder 180Vita ltd

Hi Jamie, just wondering how much you pay the copyright holders in order to be allowed to offer their videos on your Pokertube site?

If what OP is writing and is saying is true, then he is well within his right. If that impedes or somehow damages your business, then run a better business.