In America, anybody can sue anybody! For any reason, even made-up ones. It's very beautiful. Anyway, 30 lampworkers, including myself, are being sued, and the way it works is that either we defend ourselves or we lose. This system seems kind of like a racket for lawyers if you ask me. So, the problem is that we are running out of money. BUT! We have pretty shiny jewelry and beads for sale at very good prices in our fundraising store! Please help keep the crazy lady from taking my house.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AGLF?ref=seller_info
For example:
(http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_570xN.186137672.jpg)
There are also loose beads. Some of mine, even, and mine are about half the price I normally sell them for.
Anyway, I'm basically posting this everywhere in the hope that somehow enough stuff will sell that we can pay the lawyer for one more month. I think this lawsuit has cost us about $45,000 so far. Not kidding. The only reason we can even defend ourselves at all is because we formed a legal defense co-op.
How is this woman winning?
Quote from: Suu on December 28, 2010, 08:19:23 PM
How is this woman winning?
She doesn't have to win. She just has to outspend them and then win by default.
Ps made this for you, hope it helps.
http://tinyurl.com/oshiny
& http://mobile.twitter.com/whererthefnords/status/19852097361022976
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 28, 2010, 08:21:48 PM
Quote from: Suu on December 28, 2010, 08:19:23 PM
How is this woman winning?
She doesn't have to win. She just has to outspend them and then win by default.
It's called justice. The lady may be blindfolded, but the scales should be a clue.
Quote from: Charley Brown on December 28, 2010, 08:25:47 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 28, 2010, 08:21:48 PM
Quote from: Suu on December 28, 2010, 08:19:23 PM
How is this woman winning?
She doesn't have to win. She just has to outspend them and then win by default.
It's called justice. The lady may be blindfolded, but the scales should be a clue.
You're so 20th century. :lulz:
Wouldn't it just be easier to put a hit out on her? I'd totally pitch in to pay for that.
Quote from: Suu on December 28, 2010, 08:19:23 PM
How is this woman winning?
She's not winning; she's stringing things out so that we deplete our resources and can't defend ourselves, at which point she wins by default. I don't think she cares about winning. But, civil suits are the opposite of "innocent until proven guilty", and without a lawyer to show the judge our innocence, she can say anything she wants about us, and win.
This woman has already harassed and libeled hundreds of online sellers of various goods, including cookies, cupcakes, beads, jewelry, and soap, and has stated openly that we're only the first wave of lawsuits she has planned... essentially, it sounds like she's planning to sue everybody who in any way could be construed as competition. Crazy much?
Quote from: Nigel on December 28, 2010, 10:40:48 PM
Quote from: Suu on December 28, 2010, 08:19:23 PM
How is this woman winning?
She's not winning; she's stringing things out so that we deplete our resources and can't defend ourselves, at which point she wins by default. I don't think she cares about winning. But, civil suits are the opposite of "innocent until proven guilty", and without a lawyer to show the judge our innocence, she can say anything she wants about us, and win.
This woman has already harassed and libeled hundreds of online sellers of various goods, including cookies, cupcakes, beads, jewelry, and soap, and has stated openly that we're only the first wave of lawsuits she has planned... essentially, it sounds like she's planning to sue everybody who in any way could be construed as competition. Crazy much?
I hope you're filing countersuits and take her for all she is worth.
Do you do beads as necklaces? (I figure as fancy as they are it'd be a centerpiece rather than a string of lampwork)
Quote from: Nigel on December 28, 2010, 08:14:20 PM
(http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_570xN.186137672.jpg)
Nigel, those are beautiful. I wish I had money and pierced ears just so I could get them.
Quote from: Sister Fracture on December 28, 2010, 10:52:38 PM
Quote from: Nigel on December 28, 2010, 08:14:20 PM
(http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_570xN.186137672.jpg)
Nigel, those are beautiful. I wish I had money and pierced ears just so I could get them.
You and me both, Sister. Those are gorgeous.
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on December 28, 2010, 10:46:04 PM
Quote from: Nigel on December 28, 2010, 10:40:48 PM
Quote from: Suu on December 28, 2010, 08:19:23 PM
How is this woman winning?
She's not winning; she's stringing things out so that we deplete our resources and can't defend ourselves, at which point she wins by default. I don't think she cares about winning. But, civil suits are the opposite of "innocent until proven guilty", and without a lawyer to show the judge our innocence, she can say anything she wants about us, and win.
This woman has already harassed and libeled hundreds of online sellers of various goods, including cookies, cupcakes, beads, jewelry, and soap, and has stated openly that we're only the first wave of lawsuits she has planned... essentially, it sounds like she's planning to sue everybody who in any way could be construed as competition. Crazy much?
I hope you're filing countersuits and take her for all she is worth.
Do you do beads as necklaces? (I figure as fancy as they are it'd be a centerpiece rather than a string of lampwork)
I am planning to countersue, and I think a bunch of other people are as well. It's only $50 to file a small claims suit in Oregon and the max I can ask for is $7500, but if enough people filed we might even be awarded enough to make up for what we've spent on defense.
I don't really make jewelry other than the little earrings I sell in my Etsy store, but the designers I sell to do all kinds of wonderful crazy things with them. The larger ones look nice on a plain silver chain, too.
Quote from: Doktor Phox on December 28, 2010, 10:53:36 PM
Quote from: Sister Fracture on December 28, 2010, 10:52:38 PM
Quote from: Nigel on December 28, 2010, 08:14:20 PM
(http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_570xN.186137672.jpg)
Nigel, those are beautiful. I wish I had money and pierced ears just so I could get them.
You and me both, Sister. Those are gorgeous.
I love them too! There are those and a couple of other pairs of earrings that I seriously wish I had the extra cash to splurge on.
yeah, there's some really beautiful stuff in there. Hopefully I get some more readings soon and can get one for my wife for our anniversary while it will still do you guys some good.
Hawk,
broker than the 10 commandments. Wish I could help.
Thanks guys! I know everyone's broke right now, but I figured that I'd put it out there and the more people know about it, the more likely it is that someone who has extra cash and wants jewelry or beads will see it. :)
Quote from: Charley Brown on December 28, 2010, 10:59:04 PM
Wish I could help.
Spags could always retweet/facebook
http://tinyurl.com/oshiny
A tacticew advance to the weew?
Quote from: Doktor Phox on December 29, 2010, 12:38:04 AM
A tacticew advance to the weew?
Pending cerebral shut-down due to inability to translate input.
ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.
Quote from: Doktor Phox on December 29, 2010, 12:38:04 AM
A tacticew advance to the weew?
:lulz: :lulz: :lulz: :lulz:
I snorted. I meant to laugh but it got stuck in my nose.
Lets network the fuck out of this and get Nigel and her lampwork crew on Boing Boing or something.
Nigle: Pretty pics and a good neutral overview description of the issue (without leaning towards slandering the bitch) will help. Especially evidence that she's done this before.
Isn't there a way to get her to pay court costs if (when) she loses?
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on December 29, 2010, 01:26:41 PM
Isn't there a way to get her to pay court costs if (when) she loses?
That's damn near impossible in reality.
I tweeted the link...how do we get them on Boing Boing?
Quote from: Nigel on December 28, 2010, 10:40:48 PM
She's not winning; she's stringing things out so that we deplete our resources and can't defend ourselves, at which point she wins by default. I don't think she cares about winning. But, civil suits are the opposite of "innocent until proven guilty", and without a lawyer to show the judge our innocence, she can say anything she wants about us, and win.
This woman has already harassed and libeled hundreds of online sellers of various goods, including cookies, cupcakes, beads, jewelry, and soap, and has stated openly that we're only the first wave of lawsuits she has planned... essentially, it sounds like she's planning to sue everybody who in any way could be construed as competition. Crazy much?
So she basically has money to burn on lawsuits? Or is it cheaper to file a suit than to defend against one?
If the latter, that's completely fucked, but also, reason to counter-sue!
Quote from: Epimetheus on December 29, 2010, 12:42:34 AM
Quote from: Doktor Phox on December 29, 2010, 12:38:04 AM
A tacticew advance to the weew?
:golfclap:
:mittens:
Facebooked and I pointed my bead-crazy mother at one I thought she'd like. And I support the Boing Boing idea. One of us can just submit it, too. We just need that neutral overview with proof she's done it before and will do it again, given the chance.
Whooo! Thanks guys!
I am looking into a countersuit and something called abuse of process. I also have a friend who is halfway through law school who has offered to do research for us!
http://www.twitter.com/anglassworkers/status/20590767961538560
Auto tweeting :)
Quote from: Able on December 30, 2010, 09:49:25 PM
http://mobile.twitter.com/anglassworkers/status/20590767961538560
Auto tweeting :)
Isn't that another way of saying "spambot"?
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 30, 2010, 09:49:53 PM
Quote from: Able on December 30, 2010, 09:49:25 PM
http://mobile.twitter.com/anglassworkers/status/20590767961538560
Auto tweeting :)
Isn't that another way of saying "spambot"?
Naw, it's RSS feeding the contents of the AGLF shop to Twitter. Hopefully this will be a good thing!
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on December 30, 2010, 09:49:53 PM
Quote from: Able on December 30, 2010, 09:49:25 PM
http://mobile.twitter.com/anglassworkers/status/20590767961538560
Auto tweeting :)
Isn't that another way of saying "spambot"?
Not on Twitter. It's only considered spamming when you actively approach people with messages. This is more something in between a (micro) blog and creating an RSS feed.
It's also not the same message over and over again (right, Yatto?)
I read somewhere that it's more expensive to defend against a lawsuit than it is to sue someone, some asset protection book... It really depends whether the lawyer charges an hourly fee or gets his money from the settlement. When defending against a lawsuit, most lawyers will not accept anything but an hourly fee, and that can be a very high price. Or at least, that's what the book said.
I'm sorry to hear that, Nigel, it's abuse of the system and it happens. Is she willing to settle out of court?
EDIT: BTW, if I had money, I'd buy some and send them as late Christmas presents to my relatives, those are awesome looking.
I'll facepimp you Nigel! I'll also take pictures of the bracelets I made with the beads I bought from you, and the necklace you made me a while ago, aaaaand the purty pink earings you send me when I bought the beads. :D :D :D
000 it only posts new items from their etsy store
Even then will only post three in a row before waiting
cabbage, your forgetting lawyers who do it for the cause...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_phelps#Disbarment
I know there are those, but I've been given the impression that the practice is not so common. Still, that would be ideal. Somebody needs to shut that bitch down. What is she suing over? Personal injury? Copyright infringement?...
I remember in Kentucky or Tennessee or some such place there was a guy who went and glued himself to a toilet seat, then sued the store for pain and humiliation, saying the store put superglue on the seat... Maybe it really did happen, I can't say for sure, but the second time he found himself glued to a toilet seat in a store there wasn't a lot of pity for him.
I found an article about the same kind of thing happening in Denver, but there seem to be so many of these instances that I can't find the one I'm looking for... Lesson? Always use one of those toilet bibs.
http://www.kirotv.com/irresistible/5280174/detail.html
EDIT: Aside from promoting the rights of African Americans, there doesn't seem to be much good about that lawyer. If he believes that salvation is predetermined, then why does he go about making such a fuss about those "sinners"? Really, he seems like a real scumbag. I'm not seeing anything about anyone working for free in there, but that's probably because I'm tired.
EDIT EDIT: Also, I apologize if I misstated the circumstances surrounding the sticky toilet seats, I think I mostly heard about that situation by word of mouth, which is quite possibly flawed.
Was trying to say the road to hell is paved with asshats like that.
My guess is she's suing cause she thinks she owns a set bead design as if it was tax related a simple showing of paperwork would have solve it, and that's assuming small claims even hears cases of tax fraud
Then again I never really cared about the details since not really my business and talking about it just gives the crazy lady transcripts
It's a long story, but the bare bones is that about two years ago, someone noticed a lady selling someone else's beads on Etsy under her own name, claiming she made them. In the art world, this is a huge no-no; it's misrepresentation and fraud. The woman was making her living buying beads in sets from other lampworkers, then breaking up the sets and selling them individually at a large profit. Normally, I would have said bravo, well done! at being able to resell something at an inflated price, but the fraud part kind of put a damper on my enthusiasm, and naturally the people whose beads she was selling under her own name were furious, and proceeded to report her Etsy store for misrepresentation. Her account was closed. She decided to retaliate by starting a blog where she publicly accused people of tax fraud, and also called around to people local tax offices to "report" them for tax evasion.
Oddly, there is not really any legal recourse against this kind of harassment. It's not a crime. Eventually, though, tax offices in various regions just started ignoring her as a crackpot. My reaction to this, even though she hadn't done anything to me specifically, was to set up a nearly identical blog that cleared the names of the people she was accusing. This was my first and only involvement with the situation.
Time went by. A bunch of people decided to sue her for libel, but they ran out of money shortly after she admitted to the court that she was the owner of the libelous blog. Too bad, because the very next thing she did was sue 30 artisans, chosen apparently at random, for tortious interference because of the complaints to Etsy getting her account closed. I did not complain to Etsy, but I guess she assumes I did because... I don't know why. Because I have a recognizable name, or something. I think there are also cupcake makers and soapmakers, because she used to sell cupcakes on Etsy and I guess thinks that someone called the health department on her, and since she was operating out of an unlicensed kitchen they shut her down. That's what I heard; honestly, if she was up to the same shenanigans in the bakery world as she was in the lampwork world, I wouldn't be surprised if someone did call the health department on her.
More info, for the morbidly curious, here:
http://artisantruthreport.blogspot.com/2009/07/simple-purpose-of-this-blog-is-solely.html
http://coloraddictionblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/artisans-vs-ullja-kuntze.html
http://www.skyisland.com/blog/2010/june/update_civil_case_against_ullja_kuntze
http://fresno-lampworkers.com/ullja-kuntze.php
I'm going to be getting a Pandora bead from you soon, Nigel.
....As soon as I have some money. But really, I am!
Quote from: Suu on January 03, 2011, 01:59:30 AM
I'm going to be getting a Pandora bead from you soon, Nigel.
....As soon as I have some money. But really, I am!
Awesome!
I keep meaning to make some more, and then forgetting to do it. So, really, the longer you wait, the more likely I am to make more awesome ones. :)
OMG, Nigel, that's awful. Can you use some of the people she has wronged before as witnesses? This woman must have made a lot of money to afford to be so vengeful. Wait, I just realized, I'm stupid and should stop asking questions about something that might come up in court, because if the woman REALLY has no life... :tinfoilhat:
Good luck, I probably wouldn't settle out of court on that one, then again, I wouldn't take legal advice from someone like me, so, there ya go.
Should I add this url to the twitter profile?
www.ulljas.com
Maybe branch out... post a few at http://www.auctionbeads.com/
I''m suddenly curious as to how one goes about making beads in the first place...
I used to tumble rocks when I was a kid,
I assume that's the base and then
you melt pretty designs over that
Quote from: Fujikoma on January 03, 2011, 05:11:30 AM
I''m suddenly curious as to how one goes about making beads in the first place...
I actually bought a couple of books and read them, and bought a torch with the intention of becoming a glassblower. Then for some reason, I didn't.
I think beads are usually formed over a mandrel, which is basically a hollow tube, which becomes the hole in the bead when it's done.
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on December 28, 2010, 10:46:04 PM
Quote from: Nigel on December 28, 2010, 10:40:48 PM
Quote from: Suu on December 28, 2010, 08:19:23 PM
How is this woman winning?
She's not winning; she's stringing things out so that we deplete our resources and can't defend ourselves, at which point she wins by default. I don't think she cares about winning. But, civil suits are the opposite of "innocent until proven guilty", and without a lawyer to show the judge our innocence, she can say anything she wants about us, and win.
This woman has already harassed and libeled hundreds of online sellers of various goods, including cookies, cupcakes, beads, jewelry, and soap, and has stated openly that we're only the first wave of lawsuits she has planned... essentially, it sounds like she's planning to sue everybody who in any way could be construed as competition. Crazy much?
I hope you're filing countersuits and take her for all she is worth.
Do you do beads as necklaces? (I figure as fancy as they are it'd be a centerpiece rather than a string of lampwork)
I found a beautiful one and am going to be giving it to my wife for our anniversary.
I am lusting after the silk-ribbon necklaces and the seahorses. You all are amazing artists, Nigel. I hope you guys win.
Quote from: Able on January 03, 2011, 05:04:33 AM
Should I add this url to the twitter profile?
www.ulljas.com
Maybe branch out... post a few at http://www.auctionbeads.com/
No, DEFINITELY do not add anything run from another website to AGLF promotion... that could lead to legal complications if the AGLF was implicated as being associated with anything that could be construed as libelous. The AGLF is for legal defense fundraising ONLY.
Anyone not involved in the lawsuit is free to spread whatever information they wish; it just cannot be connected with the AGLF.
As for branching out, trust me, with a collective 200+ years of professional experience in beadmaking, we are already well aware of
all venues and associations related to our field. Some of us founded those venues and associations.
Thank you, everyone, for all your support! I am hopeful that this will be wrapped up by Spring.
Here's a nice, simple visual explanation of making glass beads:
http://www.beadworx.com/HowToMakeABead1.html
And a very short video by the Corning Museum of Glass (It's an extraordinarily rudimentary bead and professionals never cool our beads in the flame, but it gives you the idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJsF54mHxi8
Quote from: Nigel on January 03, 2011, 07:53:17 PM
(It's an extraordinarily rudimentary bead and professionals never cool our beads in the flame,
That's what the blood of peasants is for.
Mine arrived and is truly beautiful, definitely lives up to the pics on the website. You do very good work Nigel.
Thanks! I'm glad it got there safely.