Colocation America v. Garga-Richardson (Lawsuit) [1]

In April 2009, Colocation America, a company providing computer server co-location to companies operating on the Internet, sued Archie Garga-Richardson, the founder and operator of ScamFraudAlert.com [2].  The complaint [3], filed in small claims court in California, includes claims for trade libel, intentional and negligent interference with economic advantage, and breach of contract. Mr. Garga-Richardson filed a separate small claims action against Colocation in another California court, which was subsequently transferred and consolidated with Colocation's case.

Colocation's complaint alleges that Garga-Richardson, formerly a client of Colocation America, published false statements about the company in writing and on the Internet after a contract dispute arose between the parties.  The contract dispute related to a distributed denial-of-service attack targeted at Garga-Richardson's site, which took down Colocation's network and upstream providers.  According to the complaint, Colocation removed Garga-Richardson from its network for a violation of its acceptable use policy.

In May 2009, Garga-Richardson filed a demurrer [4] (a motion to dismiss), objecting to the California court's jurisdiction over the case.  His filing argues that Colocation America is not registered to do business in California and therefore cannot bring a lawsuit there.  The court has not yet ruled on this motion.

Update:

05/29/2009 - Garga-Richardson filed an answer [5] to the complaint.

06/17/2009 - The court sustained [6] Garga-Richardson's demurrer.  The court stayed all action until 08/24/2009 and indicated: "[i]f proof is filed and served before then of a Certificate of qualification having been issued to Colocation under Corp Code section 2105, at that date and time the 'complaint' of Colocation will be dismissed without further notice or hearing and the case will be transferred back to the Small Claims Court for Mr. Garga-Richardson to proceed on his small claims action [against Colocation]."

02/09/2010 - After a trial on January 17, the court issued an order [7] on February 9 entering judgment in favor of Colocation America on its contract claim and awarding $1.00 in damages. The court dismissed the cross-complaint against Colocation America.