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Home > Brabus Ventures v. Zablotskyy

Brabus Ventures v. Zablotskyy [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Sun, 09/28/2008 - 22:48

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

06/04/2008

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Dismissed (total)

Location: 

California

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Trade Libel
Vlad Zablotskyy, a former real estate agent and operator of Go Beyond MLS, a blog that is focused on "using modern media and Internet as a marketing tool in the real estate industry," was sued by Brabus Ventures Corporation, which... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Volodymyr Zablotskyy; Does 1-10

Type of Party: 

Organization

Type of Party: 

Individual

Location of Party: 

  • California

Location of Party: 

  • New Jersey

Legal Counsel: 

Ronald J. Cook - Willoughby, Stuart & Benin

Legal Counsel: 

Karl S. Kronenberger - Kronenberger Burgoyne
Description

Vlad Zablotskyy, a former real estate agent and operator of Go Beyond MLS [2], a blog that is focused on "using modern media and Internet as a marketing tool in the real estate industry," was sued by Brabus Ventures Corporation, which operates ePerks.com, a provider of sales leads for real estate agents. 

From August 2007 through February 2008, Zablotskyy wrote several blog posts criticizing ePerks.com and questioning whether ePerks was a scam [3]. Following the posting of a number of negative comments about the company in response to Zablotskyy's posts, an ePerks attorney sent correspondence [4] in February 2008 demanding that Zablotskyy remove all ePerks-related content from his site and cease writing about the company in the future.

Zablotskyy removed some of the material from his blog and created a post [4] explaining why he did so.  As a result of that post, Brabus Ventures asserts in its complaint [5] that Zablotskyy defamed the company and its products by stating that it had falsely accused Zablotskyy of being a child molester on Yahoo! Answers.  (Although the copy of the allegedly defamatory post that plaintiff attached to its complaint does not directly attribute the child molestation charge to Brabus Ventures or ePerks, another blogger [6] has attempted to tie the Yahoo! Answers post to an IP address range associated with ePerks.)

On September 5, 2008, Zablotskyy filed a motion to quash the summons and complaint [7], arguing that the California court lacks personal jurisdiction over him because he is a resident of New Jersey.

On October 23, 2008, Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the action.

Related Links: 

  • Go Beyond MLS: ePerks Pulls The Trigger: I am being Sued [8]
  • Real Estate Radio USA: Brabus Ventures Corporation v. Volodymyr Zablotskyy [9]
  • BrokerScience: ePerks IP Address Link to Vlad Zablotzkyy: When the Hunter Becomes the Prey [6]
  • BloodHoundBlog: Memo to ePerks.com: You idiots! Trying to censor a real estate weblogger is a poor way to defend your reputation — such as it is… [10] 
  • Cheap Condos Are Real?: Blogger Is Sued for Business Disparagement [11]
  • CMLP Related Database Entry: ePerks.com v. Zablotskyy [12]
  • Superior Court of California Case Summary [13] (enter case number to search)
  • BrokerScience: The Beginner’s Action Guide to Learning about ePerks / Ben Behrouzi vs Vlad Zablotkyy [14] (collection of links regarding the case)
  • Superior Court of California, County of Alemeda: Notice of Entry of Dismissal [15] (scanned copy of plaintiff's request for dismissal of the case)
  • BrokerScience: Vlad Zablotzkyy Defeats Ben Behrouzi and Eperks / DotNext [16]
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

Go Beyond MLS [2]

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Blog

Subject Area: 

  • Personal Jurisdiction
  • Trade Libel
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • California

Source of Law: 

  • California

Court Name: 

Superior Court of California, County of Alameda

Court Type: 

State

Case Number: 

VG08390958

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2008-06-04-Brabus Ventures Complaint.pdf [17]
PDF icon 2008-09-05-Zablotskyy Motion to Quash.pdf [18]
CMLP Information (Private)

Priority: 

1-High

Comments

Cased Against Vlad Zablotzkyy Dismissed [19]

Submitted by Trace [20] on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 02:24

ePerks / Ben Behrouzi / Brabus Ventures have dismissed the case against Vlad!

http://brokerscience.com/re-web/eperks-com/vlad-zablotzkyy-defeats-ben-b... [16]

Updated [21]

Submitted by Matthew C. Sanchez on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 12:32

Great. Thanks for the update.

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:06pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/brabus-ventures-v-zablotskyy

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/brabus-ventures-v-zablotskyy
[2] http://www.go-beyond-mls.com/
[3] http://www.go-beyond-mls.com/eperks-a-scam-or-a-gem.htm
[4] http://www.go-beyond-mls.com/eperks/
[5] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-06-04-Brabus%20Ventures%20Complaint.pdf
[6] http://brokerscience.com/re-web/eperks-com/eperks-ip-address-link/
[7] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-09-05-Zablotskyy%20Motion%20to%20Quash.pdf
[8] http://www.go-beyond-mls.com/eperks-pulls-the-trigger-i-am-being-sued/
[9] http://www.realestateradiousa.com/blog/2008/06/15/brabus-ventures-corporation-v-volodymyr-zablotskyy/
[10] http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=2798
[11] http://condo-user.pamjundy.com/?p=498
[12] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/eperkscom-v-zablotskyy
[13] http://apps.alameda.courts.ca.gov/domainweb/html/index.html
[14] http://brokerscience.com/re-web/eperks-com/beginners-guide-learning-about-vlad-vs-eperks-ben-behrouzi/
[15] http://apps.alameda.courts.ca.gov/domainweb/service?ServiceName=DomainWebService&TemplateName=jsp/imgviewer.html&rofadt=10/23/08&Action=22083297
[16] http://brokerscience.com/re-web/eperks-com/vlad-zablotzkyy-defeats-ben-behrouzi-eperks-dotnext/
[17] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-06-04-Brabus%20Ventures%20Complaint.pdf
[18] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-09-05-Zablotskyy%20Motion%20to%20Quash.pdf
[19] https://www.dmlp.org/comment/1150#comment-1150
[20] http://brokerscience.com/
[21] https://www.dmlp.org/comment/1151#comment-1151