Litigation

Shop To Earn lawyer bullying bloggers

By Tracy Coenen

As expected, Gerald Nehra, the attorney for ShopToEarn sent me an email intended to bully me into not writing about Shop To Earn. Here’s his letter:

I represent ShopToEarn and advise them on direct selling legal matters.

You are on notice to CEASE & DESIST your disparaging and potential libelous references to ShopToEarn and the unapproved use of the ShopToEarn logo on your website.

The ShopToEarn program is legally and economically sound, and the company will take all steps necessary to protect its? rights.

Gerald Nehra
Attroney for ShopToEarn

And here is the response I sent him today:

Gerry ? Thanks for your note. As free speech is protected under the Constitution of the United States, I will continue to analyze and critique Shop To Earn. I?m sure you?re aware that the law clearly allows me to voice my opinion about the program, even if that opinion differs from yours or is negative about the company. If I?ve cited any incorrect facts about the program and company, I?d be happy to issue a correction if you can point out those errors and provide documentation of the correct facts. I will not amend my opinions about the program, as I still believe the program should be avoided by consumers.

I understand this is not the first time you?ve tried to intimidate a blogger who had a negative opinion about the Stop To Earn program. Your reaction to these negative critiques suggests the company may have something to hide, and I won?t hesitate to have Fraud Discovery Institute start an investigation into the company to confirm what I?ve found about the program.

It’s clear what ShopToEarn is trying to do: They are trying to silence critics of their multi-level marketing program. A couple of weeks ago, Gerald Nehra sent a similar letter to another blogger who wrote about his opinion of this MLM. It seems as if they’re trying to use scare tactics to stop people from writing about their opinions of companies.

But a clear message was sent in the case of Usanan Health Sciences versus Barry Minkow and the Fraud Discovery Institute. People are allowed to analyze and critique companies, their business plans, and their programs. The key is in being clear about what is fact and what is opinion. Facts should be true and verifiable, and opinions should be clearly defined as such.

ShopToEarn isn’t going to bully me into not talking about their program. We have the right of free speech in America, which means I’m permitted to give my opinion about Shop To Earn, even if that opinion is negative. I’m allowed to discuss the company and its pay plan. I’m allowed to say that I think it’s not a program people should get into.

I’m allowed to show you want their logo looks like, and I’m allowed to identify the company by name so that you know exactly which company I’m talking about. (Oh, and since I haven’t mentioned this before… the company also uses ShopToEarth as part of their marketing. Don’t want to forget to mention Shop To Earth too, since I’m allowed to identify the things they’re promoting.) I’m also allowed to show you the marketing tools that Shop To Earn is using, and I’m allowed to analyze and critique them.

My analysis and critique of the company will remain on this site, and I will likely publish further information about the company and its programs. If there are any factual inaccuracies in what I have recited about the company’s programs, I would be happy to receive documentation proving the inaccuracies, and I will publish a correction to the facts. I will give my opinion about ShopToEarn, and I may allow commenters to give their opinions as well.

Consumers must stand up to these dirty tactics. We have a right to free speech and we shouldn’t be bullied into not talking about programs and companies.

Full post as published by The FRAUDfiles Blog on July 14, 2008 (boomark / email).