Apr 22

Customer & Reader Testimonials: The Intrepid Way

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The Intrepid Way Series

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Various Customer & Reader Testimonials of The Intrepid Way.

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The Intrepid Way goes all the way!

If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, want to find a way to manage your life and find your own personal freedom, then this is the book for you! Matthew Chan does an outstanding job of explaining just what it takes to make the decision to choose freedom, create a plan and execute it. He explains in great detail what it really takes to break through fears, learn a new skill (or in his case, several new skills) and take it to the real world.

Matthew tells his story with conviction and truth – he pulls no punches and makes no judgments. He just simply tells it like it is for him in his no-nonsense, fact-filled style.

He understands and implements the secrets to success and now you can too!

Stephanie Frank
Author of “The Accidental Millionaire”

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Excellent book for those that want financial & time freedom

Matthew Chan explains real well what we didn’t learn from our parents or school teachers. He writes how we can achieve both financial and time freedom in these times of economic scenarios. He writes with simple language to understand simple concepts.

I did not get bored reading “The Intrepid Way”. Usually business and financial books are boring. But, Matthew kept my attention and focuses on reading and made it very interesting to read. I’m also going to share the information on “The Intrepid Way” with people that I come across and with my clients.

He talks about residual income. That’s music to my ears. I want to make money while I’m sleeping.

Matthew writes for people to think where they are in relation to current circumstances in life and get the upper hand to become financially free. No more grinding work and say goodbye to captor type of environments.

I like how Matthew expresses entrepreneurial mindset. He expresses through the power bestowed on each one of us. Use the power within and Matthew shows how to develop that inner power and transform into money and time power.

I highly recommend “The Intrepid Way” and place it with the business library books for reference. I also recommend reading the book occasionally to get the juices flowing again.

Ernie Martin
Las Vegas, NV

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A Very Enjoyable Read…

I would highly recommend the Intrepid Way–The word “intrepid” means: not alarmed; unafraid, bold; fearless; dauntless; very brave. This book really spells out the intrepid way that Matthew has obtained monetary and time freedom and puts it in a very doable format. It will challenge you to think and act differently in how you approach “earning a living”. Matthew is very open and candid in sharing his successes and failures and doesn’t set himself up on a pedestal, but as an example of one way to reach your goals in becoming financially independent. As an added bonus, it’s an easy read and very enjoyable too!

Gayle A. Brantuk
Whittier, CA

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Dear Mr. Chan,

I finished “The Intrepid Way” in two days, and just finished your Lease-Options book this evening (started it on Thursday). Thank you for sharing your perspective, insights, and experience in your writings. I wish I had these books, or least the mindset back in my early twenties! But I do feel revitalized in my outlook on life, and thanks to your books, I feel more free than I ever had. I haven’t started investing in properties yet, but I will in the near future.

I thought that a new profession or more education was answer to the happiness I was looking for. Meanwhile it was right in front of me the whole time. But it took “The Intrepid Way” to make me see that. So again, thank you!

I’ve recommended your books to my girlfriend and friends. I have no doubt that they will find the info as useful as I have.

Randy M. Yniguez, MA, LMHC, RN

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Hello:

I wanted to thank you and congratulate you on the great book: “The Intrepid Way”. What a book! Truly, a great success and definitely a future bestseller. I can tell you that I read “Think and Grow Rich” in a week, and I finished your book in less than three days. It was captivating.

Your ideas were easy to be absorbed by my fertile mind which was already familiar with the Rich Dad philosophy. But I have learned a lot of concepts from your book. I remember back in April somebody advised me to buy it, and since then I was thinking about doing so. And I am glad I did.

I appreciated the concepts about networking, using the Internet to build business relationships, and specially how to find a mentor, and what to do for them.

One of the quotes that really impressed me was this sentence on page 148:
“Wealth is often created during uptrends, and it is often transferred during downtrends.” Like Robert Kiyosaki said, it is a question of positioning ourselves to become the recipient of that wealth.

Another thing I was overlooking in my life, and which the book helped me to notice: was the power of the Internet. Thanks to your book, I am giving more attention to this arena now.

I must confess that I have to read your book a couple of times more to fully absorb the entrepreneurial spirit laying within its pages.

In one phrase: A great read from a great entrepreneur.

Thank you Sir for sharing your experience with us.

Howard Hamilton

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Another pivotal mindset book!!

I have spent many years and $$$ on personal education about investing, property & business building.

For me, Matthew’s concept of Money Layers (expense and income layering) was worth the price of the book. Everything else was a bonus.

I rate the Money laying concept right up there with the Poor, Middleclass & Rich spending habits diagram from Rich Dad Poor Dad for insight provoking and thought changing.

If passive income is something that calls to you, I suggest you should pay close attention to this concept.

Chris Bridgeman
Auckland, NZ

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The Best-Ever Guide To “Living Life On Your Own Terms”

I could easily relate “The Intrepid Way” to my own entrepreneurial struggles in pursuit of living life on my terms. Matthew Chan presents his experiences so candidly that I felt like I was in a conversation instead of reading his story. This book gives clear examples of the important decisions you must make if you truly desire to leave the corporate world and make your way in “the real world” as an entrepreneur. No hype. No gimmicks. He talks of choices and changes that are tough, but essential to regaining control of your time and financial affairs. This is the story of an ordinary, everyday guy who did what he dreamed of: Become his own man, running his own life in his own way. What could be more compelling? I was incredibly impressed.

Tony Calloway
Columbus, GA

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Fantastic Book for the Real World!

This book is Fantastic!! And in my mind it is one of the best books about the concepts of creating wealth. Specifically Time and Money Freedom = Total Freedom, and how to create money layers – So you don’t have to rely on a job for a paycheck, and latter the Government for a pension.

Rather if you follow the lesson in this book you will be building income layers streaming money into your pockets rather than having haul buckets (that make your boss rich) for the ret of your life and rely on the Government for your financial security (and think again if the Government really can provide a pension for life!! Especially with the Baby Boomers coming to retirement!).

Matthew Chan has done an impressive job to say the least! Rather than simply writing stories to explain concepts (a common criticism of other wealth books) Matthew Chan opens his real life up to us, and because of this the book stops being academic or simply a book with some stories, it is a book that provides the way to create everlasting and unlimited wealth in the real world with no hype either!

Fantastic!

Jack Williams
Sydney, Australia

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Extraordinary and Inspiring Book

I love the way Matthew verbalized the process of how he moved from his corporate job to entrepreneur effectively allowing him to retire. Matthew’s views on retirement allows him to work just 10 hours a week to meet all his own needs, leaving the rest of the time to spend working on amazing projects that serve his global community. This is an extraordinary and inspiring book!

Felicity Heffernan
Property investor

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I just finished reading Mathew’s book “The Intrepid Way” and I really enjoyed it. It does not give many specific details on starting but it’s strength is in offering a new perspective on where you are and where you will be if you do not make a choice. I found that insight very helpful. There’s no scam and Mathew is truly self-made and is not trying to sell you anything stupid like a MLM. But does offer insight in how *anyone* can make the jump and start living a life a freedom.

It was a nice surprise!

Bob O.

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It’s never too late…

It’s never too Late, Trust me!! At 50 years old looking at my retirement account doing simple math, I knew it didnt add up; And until I read the Intrepid way I didnt know what to do about it. I now see a new world of opportunity that has been there for me all along, but I couldnt see it. I now know using the lessons of the Intrepid way I have enough time to build ‘Income Layers’ that will pay over and over again.

Beverly Weaver
Columbus, GA

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A Brave New Financial World from Chan

This is one of those rare books that is full of mind bending distinctions and yet easy to read and digest. Chan provides us with new and deeper distinctions of wealth. He shatters the false but popluar myth that wealth is reserved for the select few. He shows, step by step, how true wealth can be created by ANYONE who is brave enough to believe in and take action towards “Personal Freedom.” It is a must read for anyone who wants to put their quest to exit the “rat race” in over-drive.

Marah Boyeson
Bryn Athyn, PA

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A TRUE “LIGHTBULB MOMENT”,

This book really hits home. Once I picked up this book I couldn’t put it down until there were no more pages to turn. The authors ability to take the mystery out of the equation of how to have TRUE FREEDOM is super. This is a refreshing, very enlightening read that calls me to take action! FREEDOM is what it is about for me, and THE INPREPID WAY is a valuable tool that I can use to speed up the process and use as a reference.

For all you PARENTS out there – this is a must read – the philosophy of this book is a legacy worth passing on to your children.

Mathew Chan – my hats off to you, thanks for helping me get out of my rut!

Darla Anderson
Ashland, OR

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Matthew Chan has done an outstanding job in explaining the steps and realities of achieving personal freedom in an easy to understand manner. He defines personal freedom as monetary freedom plus time freedom and explains the importance and distinctions of this definition. The book details his journey along with thought provoking ideas, many of which run contrary to “conventional wisdom.”

The book goes into detail about the psychological barriers and issues than need to be addressed. Additionally, the book explains the importance of and how to develop personal support networks, which are essential to being successful and staying the course.

I also enjoyed the insights the author provided about his life, its successes, setbacks, and things that might be done differently along his journey towards personal freedom. I found this to be a refreshing “real world” approach.

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to take charge of their life and become accountable for their own success.

Steve Copper
Littleton, CO

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A Must Read for Personal Freedom

The Authors ability to explain that “True Freedom” is not just about MONEY but it is also about TIME, is very refreshing.

He explores the ability to manage your personal life and business in order to maximize your Personal Freedom!

A Must Read for anyone wanting to succeed.

Hal Hubbard

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Outstanding!

Wow! I found this book to be unique, inspiring, and compelling, there are distinctions in this book that’s hard to find in other business related books, Matthew tells it like it is with a down to earth, no hype, no judgment approach, I believe this book will provide anyone who reads it rocket fuel to leave the rat race and experience a new sense of freedom into the world of entrepreneurship, I would highly recommend this book!

Ryan Stewart
Columbus, GA

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Apr 21

The Intrepid Way: How to Create the Freedom You Need to Live the Life You Want!

Categories:

Publishing, The Intrepid Way Series

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“IMAGINE CREATING A LIFESTYLE OF PERSONAL FREEDOM WITHIN 5 YEARS!”

Feeling exhausted at the end of every workweek? Do you feel that you can never stop working? Do you find that you have little time and energy for the important things you want to do in life? If you answered YES to any of these questions, then you probably spend too much time in the daily grind of a full-time job! The secret to getting more time in your life is to spend less time grinding away at a job!

In The Intrepid Way, the formula for Personal Freedom is:

Personal Freedom = Monetary Freedom + Time Freedom

This book is about creating a lifestyle of personal freedom by achieving both monetary and time freedom for yourself; allowing you to escape the daily grind of a full-time job in Corporate America! You say that this is impossible? No, it is not! The author did it in three years … starting from a zero income!

In this book, you will learn the philosophy and of living and working The Intrepid Way. This thought-provoking, mind-expanding book may disturb you. It will challenge your core beliefs – all that you were taught and the way you look at time, money, life, and Corporate America.

 

“WHAT YOUR PARENTS NEVER TAUGHT YOU ABOUT LIFE & MONEY!”

You will learn:

  • Why entrepreneurship is the key to your personal freedom!
  • Why perpetual wealth, not riches, will provide you financial security!
  • How to create streaming income so you can stop working!
  • How to build income layers that will achieve the lifestyle you want!
  • How you can redesign your life to have a 10-hour work week!
  • How you can “retire” within five years – but won’t once you get there!
  • How to assemble a personal network of people within your life to powerfully help you achieve personal freedom.
  • How you can use business networks to tap into like-minded business contacts and waiting customers.

The Intrepid Way is a book like no other. It is hard-hitting, controversial, and sure to upset the establishment. This lifestyle book is only for the committed and the courageous … not for the hesitant or the timid!

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(214 pages)
ISBN 1-933723-07-6

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Download FREE PDF Book Excerpt

Title page, Copyright page, Dedication, Table of Contents, Introduction, Chapter 1

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Apr 11

My Follow-Up Reply to the Issue of “Blog Hater Comments”

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Business Affairs

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This was a follow-up to my prior post regarding Blog Hater Comments. In that post, a user made her arguments in defense of the blogger I was making comments about. I had a lot to say in my reply to her.

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Steve is always going to have haters no matter what. He has said that he doesn’t read the comments and he doesn’t care what the haters say because they keep coming back anyway. People can be incredibly rude and ignorant but I think if they want to waste their time trashing somebody, then they can do it. I don’t know if deleting all the hateful comments is a good idea because they will just get even angrier and keep posting mean stuff. I’m not disagreeing with you, but I think that since Steve doesn’t read them anyways, it doesn’t really matter to him. There are so many people that like him and the haters are just wasting their time being jerks. Steve doesn’t have time to respond to rude comments (if he even reads them), and I feel like that would just make the hate even stronger. I can understand why you are upset and I agree that many comments are horrible; however, Steve has stated multiple times that he does not read the comments and he sometimes does respond to haters on his reader e-mails, for example. I think that if it really bothered Steve, he would have started doing something a long time ago, as he has always had haters. Sorry that this is so long but I just wanted to say that while the things people say are awful, I think the best thing for Steve to do is to continue what he has been doing and just not read the negativity or waste time responding, which would just fuel the fire even more.

 

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. First, let me say I do understand where you are coming from. Second, I also understand where Steve is coming from because he has pretty much said what you said. But I would have to say that I respectfully disagree with both of you. Let me explain why.

I have a strong I.T. (information technology) background which I use to my advantage both in business and personal life. I use it to help others when I can. I make it my business to study the use of technology to achieve the results of what I want. I also have a fair understanding of Internet security. That means knowing what software to use and how to use it is a big part of whether you are successful or not. You can have two people use Microsoft Word in completely different ways. Some people use it very simplistically to type a letter. Others, such as those who work in law offices, have the ability to create amazingly sophisticated and impactful legal documents with it. It comes down to the user.

Did you know that the ELI website and RealitySteve.com run on the same underlying software? It is called WordPress. The WordPress platform is used by literally hundreds of thousands of websites around the world. It is the basis of some of the most sophisticated and largest websites in the world because of its ease, flexibility, and cost (free). How I know what RealitySteve.com runs on is because I set up a user account and in the process of registration, I saw he was running on WordPress. Even without that, there are external clues that he was using WordPress.

Without disrespect intended towards Steve, he doesn’t seem overly technical. If he is, it appears to be a well-kept secret. And he certainly doesn’t show his technical side. “Haters” and “spammers” have been around since the Internet became available to the public in the mid-1990?s. There are many ways of fighting off haters and spammers. And unless a hater happens to be a programmer (which I cannot imagine many Reality Steve haters are), they can never truly overcome a well-planned system of screening out spammers and haters.

Did you know that the ELI website gets attacked by spammers 150-200 times per day? And yet, no one knows about it and their efforts are 99.9% wasted. Once in a great while, a lucky hit will get through but it is easy to delete and suspend that account going forward.

Most of Reality Steve haters are people. They are not using automated robots to post their hate. I can promise you, I can “kill” hater accounts far quicker than they can ever set up new accounts. I don’t even have to do it myself. I just have to configure WordPress and add an appropriate plug-in to make it happen. You don’t have to be a programmer to clean out the haters. There is already all kinds of free plug-ins that will do the job but it is something Steve would have to commit to do.

I don’t want to get into a psychological debate of whether “haters” bother Steve or not. I happen to believe that negativity and hate do affect people in subtle ways. I think it makes people more cynical and more irritable and overly skews their views because it overwhelmingly drowns out the good moderate people who mind their own business and avoid conflict. You don’t see me jumping into there because it would be pointless. In any case, I believe in taking care of and reward those who “love” me, not haters. Haters will continue to hate but why would anyone let them do it to your own website that you pay for?

The idea that someone won’t fight back spammers or haters because they will come back is like saying:

1. You are going to get dirty anyway, why take a shower every day?
2. You are going to get bugs in your house anyway, why waste money on pest control or bug spray?
3. Your house is going to get dirty anyway, why dust or vacuum your house?
4. Your car is going to get dirty anyway, why wash your car or clean out your car?
5. A bully is going to insult and attack you anyway, so why bother fighting back since you keep getting abused and picked on?

I could easily give you another 50 examples but I think you get my point. Spammers and haters may continue to hit your website but that doesn’t mean you let them shit all over your website. Would anyone let a stranger come shit on their car, their bedroom, or their house? If not, why would someone let spammers and haters shit on their website that they work on and paid for and is so valuable that it generates money for them?

To me, it is either ignorance (someone didn’t teach or show them), laziness, or plain indifference. For me, I care about “my people”. For example, you disagree with me. That’s ok. You were respectful and I am replying to you. You took the time to reply and I will make the effort to do the same. Now, I understand there comes a point where it is too much to reply to everyone individually but there are ways of acknowledging entire groups of people.

I come from a place where all my websites are an online reflection of me. They are certainly not perfect but I can promise I send out a strong message to spammers and haters. If they want to shit on or talk trash about me, my name, or my work, I can’t stop them from doing so ELSEWHERE on the Internet. But I sure as hell can and will stop it if it is on MY home website.

We choose to have pest control in our own homes. Well, we also have the option to have pest control on our websites. Simply saying that the bugs will be back bigger, badder, and meaner doesn’t mean you say, “I give up. Come in and shit all over my house.”

Having said all that, RealitySteve.com is not my website. The Reality Steve Lawsuit isn’t even my fight. I have done what I can to help Steve with no conditions. He can accept it or he can turn away. Either way, I have no regrets. I stand by my article about how negativity and cancerous haters can be. The haters damage his reputation and cause harm in very subtle and ugly ways that hurt him. He may not see it but I do see the harm.

If Steve doesn’t mind people shitting all over his website simply because it doesn’t bother him or whatever, then I question whether he understands the bigger picture. For me, the “bigger picture” is that as a blogger and website owner you have a duty to take care of “your people” even if it is more work for him.

He got nearly $8,000 in contributions to his legal fund. If that doesn’t prove that he has goodwill and good people on his side, nothing will. That should prove to him that having a solid community without the haters would be even better and stronger so that supporters like yourself can post on his site without some ass insult your for enjoying or supporting his website.

You posted respectfully here but I consider you “my people”. If anyone went after you or anyone else that respectfully posts and comments on my websites, you can believe I will blow them out of the water with no explanation. They can keep coming back and I will keeping stomping on them like the nasty pests they are.

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Apr 11

Ending the Negativity & Cancer of “Reality Steve” Blog Hater Comments

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Business Affairs

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This article was originally posted on ExtortionLetterInfo on March 30, 2012. Although it is directed towards the audience interested in the ongoing Reality Steve Lawsuit, this article also shares my viewpoint on hateful and disrespectful user comments on blogs.

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Yesterday, I tweeted that I was pissed about something and that I was going to take out my blowtorch. The reason I said that is that I have a huge axe to grind over a topic that has been brewing the last couple of weeks on RealitySteve.com. That issue that has gotten me all fired up is the issue of online haters, their presence, and their impact around them.

Before my involvement in writing about the Reality Steve Lawsuit, I rarely read any of the reader comments on RealitySteve.com. Like most of his readership, I primarily visited to read what Steve Carbone writes, not necessarily the reader comments.

I now read RealitySteve.com reader comments with greater interest because I look for insights, trying to get a pulse on the online community as it relates to the Reality Steve Lawsuit. I am amazed, shocked, and disgusted at the amount of outrageous, disrespectful, and hateful comments that are posted and never removed!

What amazes me more is that Carbone actually allows this hate and disrespect to go on day after day, week after week, month after month! And instead of him doing something about it by intervening, he lets his supporters fight it out with them! I think to myself, WTF is he thinking?

Before I go any further with my blistering comments, let me once again state my respect for Carbone and his accomplishments with creating and growing RealitySteve.com as he has. I respect him as an entertainment reporter, fellow entrepreneur, fellow blogger, and fellow website owner.

I also appreciate that he continues to refer people to my ongoing commentaries regarding his lawsuit. He has shown great respect to me by giving me credit for things I have started on his behalf. It certainly is no secret that I continue to support, advocate, and defend his position as a fellow blogger, website owner, and entrepreneur.

However, Carbone cannot afford to have this kind of ongoing negativity and cancer of haters in his life right now. There is enough stress and pressure from the ongoing operation of supporting RealitySteve.com PLUS the huge lawsuit against him without the pettiness of haters.  This is something he can and should do something about immediately. I am a firm believer that every bit of negativity you let into your life chips away at the fabric of your work, your life, and who you are. Some might say it doesn’t bother them but I think, as human beings, negativity inevitably slips in through osmosis. The best way to prevent negativity from seeping into your life is to stop it cold whenever you encounter it.

As blogger and host of RealitySteve.com, Carbone has a responsibility to protect his readership and fans from haters, disrespectful comments, and venom even though it may not bother him personally. His fans and readership come to immerse themselves in his world whether it is two minutes to read a short blog post, 5-10 minutes for a longer blog post, or 60 minutes to view his video blog.

Visitors who visit RealitySteve.com want to hang out with like-minded, fun people who enjoy the discussion of news and spoilers and not read bullshit hateful, disrespectful, and venomous comments from naysayers and critics who don’t offer anything constructive to his community. I don’t think it is the job of his fans readership to defend him. It is his job to set the tone and “house rules” for reader comment behavior. If people can’t follow “house rules”, they should get kicked out plain and simple.

Somehow this bullshit entitlement mentality by some readers that they are allowed to rant, rave, attack, and spew venom whenever and however they want on HIS website is incomprehensible to me. How does that serve his website or anyone else involved except for the few people who get off on being asses online?

Admittedly, RealitySteve.com commands a greater viewership and ranking than my own ELI website that I currently write from. But I can also say there are other far larger websites than his that would never allow the outrageous negative comments and behavior that Carbone seems to tolerate on RealitySteve.com. It serves no good purpose to having these destructive negative comments and only clutters up the website with unnecessary negativity and online conflict.

Let me be clear, I have no problems with honest disagreement and debate. I don’t have a problem with constructive criticism. But there comes a point where these so-called “reader comments” cross the line. It needs to be dealt with swiftly and unapologetically.

Six months ago, we had an anonymous person (they are almost ALWAYS anonymous) trash-talk me and attorney Oscar Michelen of running a scam here on ELI. I can tell you in no uncertain terms that while our community and readership quickly jumped in to support us (as RealitySteve.com readers do on Carbone’s behalf), there was no way in hell Oscar or I would allow that kind of trash-talk about us in our own website go unanswered. Although we could have deleted that post and lock out that user account, we didn’t.

We chose to respond to it openly and forcefully. Although it took more of our time to do so, we wanted to send a strong message to everyone that we would not tolerate or stand for unfounded accusations, disrespect, or hateful comments.  Oscar’s response and my response were quite lengthy.  But allow me to quote some important passages that I feel are also relevant to RealitySteve.com.

For people who offer only criticism of us but no helpful suggestions or ideas.

You say the information on this website and discussion forum is good?  Who do you think did all the work over the last 3 years to put this community and website together?  It was a tag-team effort between Oscar and myself. We brought our different strengths together and created tremendous synergy.  Did we use ingenuity, leverage, and efficiencies to get the word out and devise a way to collect information but also to serve thousands of people?  You bet we did.

We did it because it served the greater good.  Do we ask for some nominal monies to support the cause?  You bet we do!  There are real costs of our time.  Yes, we want to help but do you think Oscar and I should sacrifice our livelihoods to help others over these letters?  If you do, then do us a favor and just leave. We aren’t going to become martyrs over this.

Anonymous critics and haters are cowards and leeches. They take and don’t give anything back except negativity. Readers who truly care offer suggestions or constructive comments.  When they do, I do my best to reply and acknowledge them. The haters like to call it “ass-kissing” when it simply comes down to old-fashioned respect.

Most people don’t know the first thing about launching their own blog, website, or business.  Yet, haters are busy wasting their own and everyone else’s time with their venom. If they are going to be disrespectful and hateful towards us on our own website and property, we are going to hit back, plain and simple.

And some people like you only see the faults and criticize us.  Well, what are you doing to help the cause?  Have you spent hundreds of collective hours that Oscar and I have spent over the last 3 years on the forums, videos, phone discussions, reading, researching, negotiating, emailing, etc? I think not.  This may be a bold statement but I think there are very few people in the U.S. and quite possibly the world that have done as much work on defending the demand letter issue AND have impacted tens of thousands of people as we have.  The web statistics don’t lie. 

It is unfortunate that I had to take a strong tone in my response to you but when you start firing off your mouth with barely a clue of what is happening in the big picture, the work behind the scenes, or knowing the full story, we are not going to simply be quiet about it.

And for people screaming about free speech on OUR own website this is what I have said.

Never forget, we have the power to delete any message or user we want.  There is no freedom of speech here because this is private website and property.  You are in OUR home.  That means people should mind their manners.  We leave dumb messages like yours up to show everyone we are transparent in how we work.  We are not afraid of constructive criticism or even disagreement.  Having said that, don’t expect that Oscar or I will quietly sit and let someone disparage our personal and professional reputations.  WE could have deleted your message altogether but we chose to deal with it head-on for everyone to see.

Free speech doesn’t mean you can go anywhere and say anything you want even in a tax-payer funded federal building. There are rules for free speech. If someone wants to spew venom, they should launch their own website and spew away in their corner of the Internet. But I won’t have someone come spew venom in MY corner of the Internet.

To haters everywhere, I openly say this in very coarse and rude (Rated “R”) language:

“If you can’t offer anything good (or at least your silence) then get the fuck out and don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out. We (the community) won’t put up with your shit. If you want to act like an adult and a respectful human being, then you can come back. Otherwise, good riddance!”

Many years ago, I learned this business lesson that I practice to this day.

There are people love you.
There are people who are indifferent to you.
There are people who hate you.

You job is NOT to be all things to all people.

Your job is to acknowledge, support, and appreciate the people who love you.
Your job is to sell, court, and win over the people who are indifferent to you.

And get rid of the people who hate you. Don’t let them become a cancer to you, the people who support you, or what you do.

I truly hope Carbone will consider the intended spirit of what I have said in this commentary article as offering helpful insights as opposed to taking offense to it as he continues his ongoing lawsuit battle.

 

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Mar 31

The Reality Steve Lawsuit Saga: There Are No Accidents

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General

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The recent Reality Steve lawsuit coverage I revived is happening by sheer coincidence in between seasons of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette”. In many ways, I wish this sprung up during a fully cranked up season of one of the “Bachelor” shows. We could reach more people that way and this story could potentially insert itself into the mainstream media. But it happened when it happened for a reason none of us can really fathom at this time.

The “Bachelor” producers started this conflict up for their own petty, fear-based reasons. How can one lone Texas blogger be such a threat to a multi-million dollar Hollywood operation?  It is entirely about their fear, paranoia, and pettiness. If they didn’t fear Carbone, this lawsuit would have never happened. They would have swatted or waved him away like an annoying mosquito.

ABC Network and the “Bachelor” producers may have previously dismissed him but this lawsuit validates the notion that Carbone is way more significant than they ever admitted. The lawsuit validates Carbone’s power and influence in a dramatic way. The fact that he gets more Internet traffic and followers than the “official” Bachelor show pages and accounts is telling. The “official” pages are run by corporate drones that have no clue or personality. They think that if they build it, people will come.  That is so untrue on the Internet.

Hollywood as a whole continues to be fearful of the Internet. They still don’t understand it beyond advertising their shows and throwing money at problems. They hire technically capable people that know how to create pretty websites but have no personality, presence, spirit, or personal expression. They have no clue on creating online communities or developing a readership. People may enjoy the shows but corporate drones don’t have a clue of how to interact with their fan base or cultivate a following.  Successful bloggers do.

Hollywood cannot control people as they once did. As a result, there is fear of the power of one man, one voice, and one blogger.  All this fear and disdain over someone who dares to tell and report the truth about a highly-edited, highly-distorted reality show in an entertaining way.

Some of you might have heard the saying, “There are no accidents.” I have embraced this idea because I find it helpful in my own life.

Let me say upfront that I am not a religious person but I do consider myself a spiritual person. I believe that there is a Higher Power greater than what we can ever see, know, or understand. For people of Christian faith, they call him, God. The American Indians call it “The Great Spirit”. People of Buddhism faith, call him Buddha. There are other equivalents depending on one’s religious/spiritual background and upbringing but hopefully you the spirit (no pun intended) of what I am saying.

This means that circumstances and events don’t happen without a Higher reason.  There are always life lessons to be learned and insights to be gained. We can choose to listen and learn from them when it happens or we can dismiss them and suffer the consequences for not doing so.

Aside from ABC network and the “Bachelor” producers’ motivations for the lawsuit, there are also reasons why this is happening to Carbone.  The naysayers and critics will say that he brought this upon himself and deserves what is happening to him. And they would be correct but NOT for the reasons they think.

The people who have been drawn into the “Reality Steve Lawsuit Saga” are involved for a reason. Certainly, there is a degree of drama involved with watching this unfold.

However, Carbone, out of everyone, has the most at stake. Most of us are simply spectators. He has a lot of personal reflection to do because he is the center of this drama.  He has openly shared that he has experienced a wide range of emotions and this has been building over time.  This is normal for anyone going through the pressure of personal crisis and dramatic change. There is a deeper meaning and a greater life lesson for Carbone. This is a very critical time in his life.

Carbone isn’t “just” a “spoilers” entertainment reporter and commentator. That is what he does now but he is destined to do and accomplish much more in his life. He just doesn’t know what it might be yet. Carbone has not yet stepped into the full potential of his personal power. In many ways, this is a test of his character and resolve. There is far more to Carbone than meets the eye. There is clearly an inner conflict going on within him. You can see it on his face when he does the video blogs.

Carbone has far more power and influence than he truly realizes. There is no way in hell a person can continue garnering the readership he has built without some level of personal power.  Certainly, reporting “spoilers” in 2009 gave him the opportunity to explode into mainstream media. But let us not forget his early years of his email reports before he launched his website.  When he launched his website in 2004, his following grew gradually until he hit a “tipping point” in 2009 when spoilers began “falling into his lap”. It was the culmination and reward for the work he had done years earlier. (I highly recommend people read Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Tipping Point” that discusses the “tipping point” phenomena.)

It took only two years of crossing the “tipping point” that Hollywood felt threatened by the power and influence of Carbone. Carbone now needs to own up this power and learn how to channel it in a way that will overcome this lawsuit. His legal team is one component of this fight. But there are other fronts to fight back on as all of us now know.

As of this writing, a Canadian article and a Squidoo lens have picked up on the revival of the Reality Steve Lawsuit story . This is just the beginning. When the new “Bachelorette” season debuts, traffic to RealitySteve.com will surge. And so will the awareness of the “Reality Steve Lawsuit Saga”.

Carbone continues to hold back but he has begun to slowly come out by acknowledging the issue more instead of hiding from it. He is asking for help from those who want to help instead of shying away from the help. He is slowly getting the word out of the growing support for his cause.

One thought I am always reminded of is that “Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to overcome fear.” Day by day, it appears that Carbone is exercising his “courage muscle”. The more a person flexes and uses it, the stronger it becomes.

Years ago, I was introduced to Ilya Prigogine’s Theory of Dissipative Structures. It is a physics theory used to analyze and explain complex systems in nature. It is used frequently in studying chemical and biological systems. The theme of pressure and irreversibility of change are important components of the theory.

In simpler terms, the idea is if enough energy and pressure is placed upon a complex system (such as a person and their brain cells), that the system will reorganize itself in such a way that it is irreversible and no longer the same.

As it relates to people and behavior, this is why people who have been through personal trauma and crisis (emotionally, physically, mentally, or spiritually) become very different people afterwards.  Their brain has been altered. People often become better and stronger for the experience.

This is why most “normal” people are in awe and amazement when handicapped, “disadvantaged”, or underdogs overcome their crushing odds to create strength, achievement, and success in their lives.  These people can’t shy away from the circumstances in their lives. They are forced to live and deal with it. The very energy and pressure they were forced to experience and endure in their lives are the very things that propelled them into achievement, strength, and success.

It will be interesting to watch how Carbone evolves in the weeks to come. As an advocate, I certainly hope he will continue to grow and evolve in an empowering way. But it is entirely his decision how and what he does. Whether he wanted to be part of this new reality show of his readership’s making (remember, I am only one of his readers in all this), “The Reality Steve Lawsuit Saga” is here to stay.

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Look for the next article in Reality Steve Extorion Lawsuit commentary section.

If you haven’t done it yet, go sign the Reality Steve Extortion Lawsuit online petition.

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Mar 31

Exploring Legal Options: You Can’t Un-Ring a Bell That Has Been Rung

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Legal Affairs

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There were some very important lessons I learned a few years back regarding legal matters. I want to share them with the readership and Steve Carbone, specifically.

When I was under legal stress and up against the wall years ago, it was amazing the options I considered and the course I took to resolve a legal conflict. It had its ups and downs but I am much smarter for it today. I can never go back being the naïve puppy-dog client that I used to be. I can work with lawyers but never will I ever take a back set and never will I ever hesitate in changing lawyers if I need to. I have learned my power as a client and know how to stand my ground with lawyers that I choose to work with.

Lesson 1: “You cannot un-ring a bell that has been rung.”

What this means is there are important milestones in a case when crossed, cannot be taken back.  The jurisdiction dispute comes to mind. There are pros and cons to go either way. I know what I wrote regarding picking and choosing your battles. However, what I also know is that both sides don’t have to let a judge decide this. A judge’s decision is a moment when the bell gets rung for both sides and cannot be taken back.

Lesson 2: “A flying jet has 3 courses: 1. Continue on a course that is preset and predetermined. 2. Have the fates or someone else decide your course. 3. Be daring and jump into the cockpit yourself and take control of the jet. On that last option, it requires the most courage.  You may crash and burn but at least you didn’t sit in your seat depending exclusively on someone else.”

In the context of Steve Carbone’s lawsuit, the legal course and strategy Carbone is set on was based upon the best information and resources he had at the time. However, the “Bachelor” producers and their lawyers might have other thoughts and ideas.  Plus, he has far more support now than when he started out.

Carbone may only have a limited view simply because he appears to have very few qualified and trusted advisors.  Carbone’s current legal team, while knowledgeable, may not be aware of other out-of-the-box options or alternatives. I am greatly concerned about their knowledge and background in dealing with online issues, media issues, and publicity matters.

Carbone as the Defendant ALWAYS has the power to explore options at any time with anyone. He should not wait to explore options AFTER an important bell has been rung.  Explore options BEFORE a bell is rung. That time is now!

Getting 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th opinions is perfectly acceptable especially when you are in one of the biggest and most expensive fights of your life. When several minds are directed towards solving your problem, it is amazing all the different insights and ideas you get. I firmly believe Carbone needs more qualified opinions to draw from, not less.

Years ago, I was “forced” to learn how simple it was to set up lawyer consultations. Each consultation would last less than one hour. Some charged a small fee, others charged nothing for the consultation.

By the time I got to the 5th lawyer, I knew how to “pitch” my case and I saw my own case from a different light. And when the “right” lawyer came along, I changed lawyers immediately and it was the best decision I made. Unfortunately, I learned this after an important bell had been rung which limited my options. However, I never regretted the time and little bit of money I put in speaking to five different lawyers.

My lawyer consultation spree occurred across the span of a week, I found how some lawyers resonated with my personality better than others. Some cared more for new clients than others. Some lawyers “got me” better than others. A couple of lawyers saw a simple solution that the others didn’t. I found that some lawyers understood the “true” issues at hand and others were sidetracked by legal acrobatics.

Where is my cryptic babble going? Carbone needs to consult with other lawyers about his case if for no other reason to get some peace of mind that his current lawyer is the right man for the job. He needs to print out the docket, the complaint, and gather his court documents and start dialing for appointments.

This means Carbone must leave his comfort zone and start reaching out to others. I have said this before. Carbone is in one of the most important fights of his life and I believe he will live to regret it if he doesn’t explore several options while he still can.

In that regard, most of you know about my business associate, attorney Oscar Michelen.  He has become familiar with Carbone’s case and even read bits of the RealitySteve.com blog posts. He has also written a couple of articles on the “Bachelor” lawsuit and “Bachelor” contract matter. Oscar is far ahead of the game on Carbone’s case than any other lawyer Carbone could probably find starting out cold. I asked Oscar if he were willing to take Carbone’s call and speak with him. I am happy to say Oscar is offering a free consultation to Carbone if he wants it.

For the suspicious-minded and the skeptics, I get no commission or kickback for this. I get goodwill from it. I am doing this simply because with all the articles I have written, it would be stupid for me not to explore an obvious option. I already work with an experienced litigation attorney who has a wide range of experience in intellectual property, media-related, entertainment, and high profile cases.

Admittedly, Oscar became interested this case because of my involvement. But it doesn’t matter how he became interested because he is interested now.  All that matters is whether Carbone wants to pick up the phone and call Oscar.

Of course, no promises or guarantees are being made to Carbone. On behalf of Oscar, I extend an invitation to Carbone to call Oscar and get a free second legal opinion. Get a different perspective on the same problem. Regardless of whether Carbone stays with his current lawyer, hires Oscar, or goes elsewhere, I believe Carbone will be better off for having done so.

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Look for the next article in Reality Steve Extorion Lawsuit commentary section.

If you haven’t done it yet, go sign the Reality Steve Extortion Lawsuit online petition.

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Mar 31

Legal Threat Letters: Lessons for Bloggers and Website Owners

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Business Affairs

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Both my original plan and backup plan for all-new commentary and content on the “Bachelor” producers lawsuit against Reality Steve went up in smoke. I couldn’t do a video that I had planned because my yard was getting done this afternoon and the noise from the lawn mower and weed-eater were just too loud for me to do a video recording. The yard work took up a good part of the afternoon and by the time it was done, it was getting late. In the meantime, I also took two consecutive ELI Phone Support Calls. By the time all that wrapped up, it was time for me to fix dinner.

When dinner was over, I spoke with Sarah (volunteer editor/proofreader and RED STARS team member) to catch up on things and I finally took some mindless down time for myself. One topic that came up in our conversation was that one of my motivations in writing the Reality Steve Lawsuit series is to educate others as well as advocate for Steve Carbone.  The legal mess that Carbone is going through serves as a live case study for others to learn from.

I have become a self-appointed teacher of sorts during the last two weeks. The ELI website started out as an educational website on stock photo extortion letters but we have obviously expanded discussions to other areas over time. In the case of the Reality Steve Lawsuit, we are discussing a case of Hollywood Extortion.

I thought about skipping tonight but given that I took a break from any in-depth writing, I thought some of you might appreciate some of my past experiences that helped me relate to Steve Carbone and the bullying lawsuit against him.

In that spirit, I am providing links to three incidents I have been through. It seems like I came out of nowhere with my first Reality Steve Lawsuit article. But it really is an extension and continuation from where we have been. You can see how some of my past situations influenced my views of what Carbone is going through now.

My first legal encounter regarding a website matter was 12 years ago. In 2000, I was legally threatened twice by the Napoleon Hill Foundation, keepers of the famous “Think and Grow Rich” book franchise. I learned my early lessons of how to defend myself on the Internet and fighting back.

In July 2011, ELI received a notification letter regarding so-called defamatory remarks against a Masterfile employee. Both Oscar Michelen and I provided email responses to that matter.

In November 2011, ELI received a letter from a California Attorney objecting to his name being associated with the word “extortion” and the ELI website. Oscar wrote his response to that attorney. I also wrote a lengthy response to that attorney.

I do not know if Carbone ever responded to the “cease and desist” letters he allegedly received from the “Bachelor” producers. But the biggest mistake most bloggers and website owners make is allowing themselves to be legally threatened behind-the-scenes and NOT openly sharing it with their loyal fans and readership who are their biggest supporters and defenders.

It is too bad that Carbone’s current lawyers discouraged him from coming out sooner and asking his fans and readership for help. Most lawyers have little or no experience in harnessing the power of the Internet on behalf of their clients. They are mostly concerned about their retainers and the billable hours. Not all legal disputes have to be taken into a courtroom to resolve. That is a luxury only the deep-pocketed can afford to do. The rest of us middle-class “non-lawyers” need to get a little smarter. Otherwise, your bank account will suffer immensely.

My advice to those who are legally threatened and being pushed around is to NOT suffer in silence. Certainly, take corrective measures and respond to the letters but also use their threat letters against them by openly responding and sharing them. It will make people think twice before sending another obnoxious, bullying, and ugly-sounding legally threatening letter again especially when you are advertising their letter for all the world to see.

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Mar 31

Hollywood Extortion IV: Pick and Choose Your Battles (Reality Steve Lawsuit)

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Television & Movies

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I got done watching Carbone’s latest video blog two hours ago. I have never tuned in to one of his live video blogs but the tweet he issued about having “a rough 24 hours” was ominous to me. All indications were that he had a good time in NYC but suddenly because he is back at home in Texas, he is having a rough time? Carbone certainly had time to write out one update before coming on to his video blog. I took it as a hint that perhaps I needed to tune in to his video blog “live” just in case there was something to write about.

And boy, was I squirming in my chair watching Carbone tonight. It was as “real” as anyone has seen him on-camera.  This was “Real Steve”, not “Reality Steve”. Carbone truly owned up to the stress and upset, and shared with his fans and audience how much the lawsuit is affecting him.  It twisted me up to see him that way but I respect him for it. It takes an incredible amount of courage to do that especially for guys. Seeing his pain actually motivated me to get this post out ASAP.

What you are witnessing is the attack and slow destruction of someone who is simply too good at what he does: entertainment reporting. What you are witnessing is a multi-million dollar, old-dinosaur, big media operation being threatened by a one-man, bootstrapped media show. Can you freaking believe this?

In fact, this has become a mini-reality show unto itself if you think about it. Carbone needs to get one of his friends and start filming the stuff that no one is seeing right now: the pain, the process, and the struggle.  Carbone never signed up to be on a reality show per se, but he is on a reality show, one of the “Bachelor” producers making.  It is time to take control of this and flip it around. Get that camera rolling and start recording his daily diaries into the camcorder. Launch a separate website spotlighting his new reality show called “The Legal Extortion of Reality Steve” or something. It would get some press very quickly. Have it be a mini-series and charge for admission.  Use the monies for legal fees. Be honest with the fans and readership that the money is used for a good cause.

The footage and the experience will be worth something AFTER this bullshit lawsuit is all over with. And if someone thinks what I just said sounds like a joke, let me be clear, I am not joking.

Enough of that for now, let’s get to work.

In my Hollywood Extortion III article, I summarized how the legal combatants have not even remotely gotten close to arguing and defending the central allegations of the lawsuit (tortious interference). I also stated that Carbone looked to be in good shape for the Main Event if it went that far. That is a BIG FAT IF, unless Carbone is bankrupted first.

In the docket, I saw all kinds of lawyer jockeying.  The original plaintiff lawyers (Linda Burrow & Tina Wong) who filed the complaint were replaced by someone who appears to be a Hollywood old-time lawyer, Michael J. O’Connor on December 16, 2011.

And then on January 25, 2012, a young attorney, Andrew W. DeFrancis was brought into the case presumably to assist. It is sheer speculation on my part, but I think that he was brought in because the case involves Internet and online issues. The younger attorney may be better qualified to deal with these matters than a Hollywood old-timer that sold his practice out to a big corporate firm.

On Carbone’s side, Brad Kizzia, Texas attorney, is working with Gregg Farley attorney from Los Angeles (as local counsel in California) so that Kizzia can work in California on Carbone’s behalf. Kizzia appears to be the lead attorney at the moment.

At this point, I am giving everyone fair warning, it is going to get a bit technical going forward. Only the brave and mighty dare proceed forward. You are entering into an eye-glazing zone. I am sorry but it’s important to share some of the gritty details.  All children (and many adults) should cover their eyes because I am going to attempt to describe this money-sucking, sideshow knife-fight the best and simplest way I can.

 

On January 20, 2012, defendants (Carbone and Reality Steve LLC) filed a motion to dismiss the case due to jurisdiction issues since Carbone resides entirely in Texas. Fine, no problem there. Unfortunately, plaintiffs fought back and claimed diversity issues. This means that because defendants are entirely in Texas and plaintiffs are entirely in California, plaintiffs are asking the federal district court in California to assert its authority to hear the case.

According to the docket, on January 20, 2012, a proceeding occurred in the judge’s chambers. The judge asked the plaintiffs to show why the case shouldn’t be dismissed given that Carbone and Reality Steve LLC reside in Texas yet the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in California. As explained in the Civil Minutes, the judge asked the plaintiffs to find out who and where EVERY member of Reality Steve LLC resides since the plaintiff lawyers left that piece of information out in their effort to focus on Carbone directly and individually.

On January 25, 2012, the docket states that plaintiffs asked for more time to do jurisdictional discovery. That means they needed time to find out where all the defendant parties truly reside. They asked for 60-additional days.  Along with the 60-days, young attorney Andrew W. DeFrancis was brought in to assist the plaintiffs on their case.

DeFrancis submitted a series of exhibits consisting of copies of old posts from RealitySteve.com referencing Carbone’s references to living in California and a copy of the domain registration printout in an attempt to show that Carbone had a California presence. The problem here is that Carbone moved to Texas in 2006 and the earlier blog posts appear to be way prior to 2006. Carbone has publicly stated that he moved to Texas in 2006.  According to Carbone in his video interview in August 2010, RealitySteve.com was still a hobby for him and he wasn’t generating money.

Regarding the domain registration, it appears to show Carbone’s old address. It is an easy mistake to make and easy to refute. Most people simply pay their $10-$15 annual domain renewal fee without ever thinking of changing the contact information on the domain registration.

On January 31, 2012, the judge granted the plaintiff request for 60-days.

On February 1, 2012, plaintiffs submitted their response and Exhibit on Yea Network LLC. A formal response by plaintiff argues that California has jurisdiction due the grounds of diversity. Defendant makes the argument that Carbone lives in Texas and the burden is disproportionate for him.

On February 9, 2012 the judge ordered the defendants to provide information of where the other member of Reality Steve LLC resided within 10 days.

On February 16, 2012, defendants provided a detailed response with exhibits.

On February 24, 2012, the judge was satisfied and found the information he received sufficient even though the name of the owner behind Yea Network was never revealed. The judge determined that the parties were completely diverse for purposes of diversity jurisdiction.

 

I typed this chronology in painful detail to let everyone know how tedious the fight has become at $350-$400/hour.  All of this just to determine which court and WHERE to deal with the lawsuit Complaint!

Nearly a month has transpired without court docket activity but clearly something is happening behind the scenes. Carbone stated that settlement attempts have been made but found the language of the settlement agreement unsatisfactory. The back and forth of the language is a crock-pot process.  It is a slow-cook process wearing Carbone down while racking up the billable hours.

From what little I know, plaintiffs are motivated to settle with Carbone.  Carbone also appears to want to settle but he rightfully doesn’t want to pay a high price that will effectively cripple his career in blogging, reporting, or anything communication related.

Having spoken with attorney Oscar Michelen about similar situations when a smaller, less-resourced individual or business goes up against a much larger and better-financed opponent in court, you have to look at where the most essential battle needs to take place.

We believe in a common philosophy: pick and choose your battles. Many people say “fight them every step of the way” which sounds really good to the ear but can be financial suicide to your bank account and credit standing. Justice is not cheap. All this money and effort should be used for the Main Event, not the side fights.

Aside from travel issues, maybe it is time for Carbone to explore his options and reconsider his position and simply agree to fight in California altogether.  I know there are some downsides to this but he has to weigh out how much benefit he truly gets by moving it to Texas.

By simply “giving” the plaintiffs what they want (a fight in California), Carbone can stop and get out of the financial bleeding on the money-draining sideshow and move on to the more important matters at hand.  I would consider filing a countersuit, suing for legal fees incurred, and asking for punitive damages for filing a frivolous lawsuit against him. Admittedly, punitive damages will be difficult to get but you might as well add it to the countersuit.

But the bottom line is to get in front of the judge ASAP and get a resolution so he can move on with his life. Since Carbone never paid anyone for information and the plaintiffs have no proof or smoking gun, he stands a good chance of winning.

What I am proposing may sound radical, but it can potentially throw the other side off-balance and more importantly, conserve his financial resources for the bigger, more important battle down the road.  Sometimes you have to be willing to give in to a few smaller battles to win the larger war.

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Look for the next article in Reality Steve Extorion Lawsuit commentary section.

If you haven’t done it yet, go sign the Reality Steve Extortion Lawsuit online petition.

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Mar 31

Matthew Chan Reflects on 10-days of Covering the “Reality Steve” Lawsuit

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Television & Movies

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Similar to my last response/reaction post “Reality Steve” Link Referral Explosion, I decided to take a breather to simply reflect on what’s happened in the last week. I thank Steve Carbone for his kind words in his latest “Reality Steve” update. I appreciate the respect he has shown me considering he has not yet met or spoken with me. It’s no secret I admire and respect his genius, tenacity, accomplishments, brand, and entrepreneurial spirit.  He consistently beats Hollywood entertainment reporters at their own game by setting and making up his own rules and having a symbiotic relationship with his fans and readership.

My response is going to be slightly more subdued this time around.  I have gotten over the sudden shock of working “quietly” in my corner of the Internet (helping people defend against copyright extortion letters, real estate investing challenges, and a web presence consulting business) to suddenly being put into a spotlight covering the Hollywood extortion that I call the “Reality Steve” Extortion Lawsuit.

I know that name sounds very harsh.  It was intentional to get attention. There are probably a couple people within Hollywood such as the ABC Network and the “Bachelor” producers who might have gotten wind of my articles and don’t like me very much for using such an aggressive term and starting up this “press” coverage. After all, who gave this “nobody blogger” in Georgia the permission to write about this lawsuit? Who gave this “non-lawyer” permission to start providing legal commentary on this case? After all, aren’t only “qualified” entertainment reporters “allowed” to write about this? If so, I didn’t get THEIR memo on that.

Let me tell you, the mainstream and entertainment press was long gone before I showed up to write about this on March 11, 2012. I know because I checked.  There were a couple of rounds of superficial coverage on the “Reality Steve” lawsuit early on but it all went away quickly.  No one cared enough to even follow-up or check back on the “Reality Steve” lawsuit that I could tell. The “Reality Steve” lawsuit was old news to them. They went on to the next “bling-bling” story. From my view, the story has only just begun and the ending is far from certain or predictable with long-term ramifications for independent bloggers, hobbyist websites, and website owners.  Right now, for better or for worse, I am the only game in town that cares enough to write about all this. I will say it would be nice if someone else decided to jump in too. It feels pretty lonely out here being the lone blogger on this.

My motivations to write are certainly unusual. I have no aspirations to become a novelist but I do write about topics I am interested in and care about. I am not driven by the money although getting paid is very nice. There certainly isn’t much fame unless you get REALLY big. No one offered me so much as a cookie much less any type of spendable currency to do this. I was simply curious enough on a late Sunday night to download my own copy of the lawsuit complaint and share my thoughts on it. It didn’t matter if only 10 people read it because it represents what I believe and stand for. On the Internet, people who care about the same things you do eventually find you. That quickly became apparent last week.

We all know the story of how one of Carbone’s readers sent him an email regarding my original post sometime around March 12, 2012 and bang, one very big “Reality Steve” thank you post and link referral later, we have an online movement. I hope Carbone will look into his email archive and give that individual’s name to me who discovered and referred my article. I want to publicly acknowledge and thank him. All of us should applaud that person for taking the initiative to email Carbone.

Yesterday, I spoke with attorney Oscar Michelen and discussed where all this is going. I used the word “reporting” in my conversation with him and he jumped in and said to me, “Matthew, you have gone way beyond reporting now. You have become an advocate for Steve. You have done all this work to help Steve and even started an online petition. You are now in this thing.”

I was stunned into brief silence because Oscar was right. Although I continue to report, it certainly isn’t impartial. I do have a strong bias towards Carbone’s position. That bias is so strong that I created a movement (Mission: RED STARS) and online petition on his behalf.

In a separate conversation with my friend and team member, Robert, I told him I didn’t even fully realize what I was doing when I publicly asked to see copies of the “Bachelor” contract from anyone who might want to anonymously submit them for our review.

Between the two articles Oscar and I wrote regarding the enforceability of the $5 million penalty clause, it suddenly felt like we were becoming advocates for the rights of TV show contestants when it really started out with a mutual legal curiosity of the “Bachelor” contract. I told Oscar about how Bob Guiney (season 3 Bachelor) won his lawsuit against the “Bachelor” producers back in 2004 when they tried to stop Guiney from promoting his music CD at that time.

Carbone has more than once said there are 500+ ex-Bachelor contestants running around from 10-years worth of “Bachelor Series” shows. I thought to myself that is a lot of contestants that could be wrongfully stuck in their contracts, and I really want to investigate this. Remember, I am NOT a lawyer nor am I an agent, so I have no interest in representing them. But I do have this insatiable curiosity of learning and reporting how things work, especially from the legal end.

I asked Oscar, “What if a Bachelor ex-contestant actually comes calling?”

He said to me, “It is permissible for any ex-contestant to seek legal counsel and legal advice.”

I remarked, “Obviously, I am not the lawyer here. I only care about learning and reporting information. But if anyone needs help, can you help them?”

He replied, “I will be happy to talk to them if they need help.”

Obviously, that made me happy especially since 10-days ago, he had never heard of “Reality Steve” or the lawsuit before and here I am roping him into helping me. Roping is actually too harsh a word. Oscar was pretty gracious about allowing me to call and consult with him on different matters as I wrote my articles.

One thing that our non-technical readers should know: if anyone does a Google search on “bachelor producers”, “bachelor lawsuit”, “reality steve lawsuit”, etc., the ELI website and my articles come up quite prominently. With every article we publish, every Facebook post we make, every Tweet we make, every Tweet that gets retweeted, every signature on the Reality Steve Lawsuit online petition, and every mention/link referral by RealitySteve.com, this fight-back/push-back publicity machine (Mission: RED STARS) just keeps growing.

It is my hope (and presumably Carbone’s) that this push-back publicity machine (Mission: RED STARS. Reject Extortion Demands, Stop The Attack on Reality Steve) grows large enough to pressure the “Bachelor” producers to drop the lawsuit unconditionally and leave Carbone and all independent bloggers and websites owners alone, once and for all. I absolutely believe, given enough time, this thing can grow very large. But a lot of this depends on you (his fans and readership) and Carbone himself.

I respect Carbone’s position of not wanting to incessantly push his lawsuit situation into his readership’s face. Certainly, there is such a thing as being overbearing and excessive about it. But at the same time, I view this as a fight for his professional life and blogger rights. He absolutely needs to come out on top with his freedoms preserved and intact. Although I do provide “press” coverage, it is from an outside perspective. Remember, I still have no inside knowledge of Carbone’s situation because we continue to maintain an arms-length relationship. This helps him respect his lawyer’s advice to keep comments to himself. In many ways, I wish I could speak with Carbone because I think it would make my job easier. But for now, we will leave it be.

I know I brainstormed Mission: RED STARS and started this little movement for Carbone, but make no mistake, all of YOU are the fuel that makes the movement happen. I am only an instigator. It doesn’t matter how much I write or comment, if you guys don’t do your part such as retweeting, spreading the word on Facebook, signing the petition, emailing the petition link to your fellow Bachelor show friends/fans, and making a Paypal contribution to Reality Steve, my efforts are a waste of time. I ask no money for myself but I do want to make a difference as quickly as I can. I don’t want my time to be spent endlessly on this project.  I think we can make some magical things happen. That is why I am still here writing on this.

Carbone has done a great job building his credibility and goodwill over the years with his fans and readership. So much so, even his haters and critics cannot stay away. They may “hate” on him and openly complain but most still come back. With Reality Steve’s 40,000+ Twitter followers and 21,000+ Facebook fans, there is no reason why “his” online petition can’t meet its goals quickly.  How cool would it be if this lawsuit were to be dropped prior to the public broadcast of Emily Maynard’s season of “The Bachelorette”? That would be something to really talk about.

And guess what? Carbone has already said RealitySteve.com gets a surge of new traffic when any new season starts. So that means even more people can become supporters of RED STARS and sign the online petition. It will become a PR nuisance for this lawsuit to be around while a new season of “The Bachelorette” is running. Of that, I have no doubt.

I do want to let you know that writing an article every night for 9 straight nights has been mentally exhausting. I know I have probably spoiled some of you with this run. I did this because it was necessary to ramp up decisively and quickly. I had to take a strong position and build up enough of a body of work that could stand by itself. One or two articles wasn’t going to cut it. To take control of the message and get the word out, I had to quickly create a body of work for incoming readers to immerse and educate themselves in. With each article that I write, there is a lesser need for another article.

Regarding Carbone with RealitySteve.com, writing his blog is his main line of business.  He can write and communicate with his fans every day.  My daily writing about all this is NOT my main line of business. It is currently a pet project with a limited time span. It is my hope that when I step away that I have done enough so that this movement has a life of its own. It doesn’t mean I will abandon the movement or the work done so far. It simply means that it won’t be a daily (or nightly) affair as it has been the last 10 days. I can step in and out to monitor things and only report as needed. In some ways, it feels like time has passed by quickly, but in other ways it feels like I have been at this a LONG TIME.

Just to be clear, I am NOT complaining and I have no regrets about the last 10 days. It’s been a wild ride with all you new readers. But I want to be straight with all of you about my current line of thinking and intent. Most of you reading this are fundamentally “Reality Steve” fans, not mine. I have no problems acknowledging that. I don’t want to outstay my welcome. I don’t think I have hit that point yet but I am mindful of it.

I remain open to new ideas, feedback, and serendipity. If there is anything I need and would ask from all of you is for more comments and feedback. I am full of ideas and thoughts but I do have limits. At some point, I will hit a wall on writing and when I do, I will likely take a long break and move on to something else. I can’t stay on a project and not contribute. It’s not my style.

The way I figure it is that things will happen the way it is supposed to be. If I am meant to stay in this longer, I will get signals and signs of that. If not, then I won’t. My current thinking is to follow through on what I started and then gradually pull back. I don’t have a set schedule on this. I will simply go by the feel of it all.

For now, I am still in the game. The next piece I need to do is a series of short videos in the next week or two.  So you can look forward to that. I will sprinkle in a few new articles of commentary and analysis also. Again, if you have ideas and feedback, send them to me. I would love to hear them.

Last thing, a few days ago I was asked and invited by a reporter to do an interview regarding my interest in the Reality Steve lawsuit. I politely declined to do the interview for a variety of reasons. I didn’t think I could say anything there that I couldn’t already do here.  The people who most care about this story are the people already visiting RealitySteve.com which I think should continue to be the main focus, not “outsiders” trying to figure out what RealitySteve.com is all about.

That reporter asked if she could check in with me a few weeks later. I said she could and I wouldn’t be offended but I don’t think my position will change so soon.

I have the luxury of taking all the time and space I need to communicate my message here. But in another setting, I feel anything I could communicate would be cut short and perhaps taken out of context.

The true story is Steve Carbone’s current legal challenge and that is where the focus should be. If anyone should be giving interviews to the press about his lawsuit and case, it is Carbone himself.

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Look for the next article in Reality Steve Extorion Lawsuit commentary section.

If you haven’t done it yet, go sign the Reality Steve Extortion Lawsuit online petition.

Become part of RED STARS and LIKE the RED STARS Facebook Page.

And don’t forget to Follow the Mission: RED STARS Twitter account.

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Mar 31

Hollywood Extortion III: “Bachelor” Producers’ Intimidation Tactics Against “Reality Steve”

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Television & Movies

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This article was intended to go into more depth of the legal meat-grinding the “Bachelor” producers are inflicting upon our favorite entertainment blogger, Steve Carbone. Specifically, I wanted to discuss the annoying, knife-fighting sideshow that is supposed to determine where the Main Event would eventually be fought. The article was tentatively titled “The Battle for Where to Have the Showdown”. We’ll see if that title sticks later.

The issue I have is that the legal combatants have not even remotely gotten close to arguing and defending the central allegations of the lawsuit. From what I know thus far, Carbone still looks to be in good shape for the Main Event IF it goes that far.  However, if there is going to be a fight, it needs to quickly move forward, not slowed down by legal quicksand maneuvers.

Since December 2011, the lawyers have been battling back and forth for the lawsuit to be tried in their respective jurisdictions (their home state). The “Bachelor” producers want to argue the case in California and Carbone wants to argue the case in Texas where he lives. All the while, legal fees are being racked up on both sides.  And we all know, dollar for dollar who is going to be hurt the most, our Lone Star Blogger: “Reality Steve”.

All the while, according to Carbone, multiple attempts to settle have failed because Carbone doesn’t like the plaintiffs’ proposed terms of the settlement which would allegedly hamper him and put him in the cross-hairs of future legal action. I can’t say I blame him. I have my own ideas of what terms are being offered to Carbone but it would only be sheer speculation and guesswork on my part.

Because I am typing this in the wee hours of the night while nearly everyone is asleep, I will have to postpone the in-depth analysis for now. I want to do it right with good explanations when I can carefully read the docket, cross-reference it with the actual court documents, accurately interpret what happened, and write it clearly and concisely.

For now, everyone will have to settle for the above summary of my impressions. We should also not entirely depend on the lawyers to help get Carbone out. That is why I set up the “Reality Steve Extortion Lawsuit” online petition for supporters to sign so we can put public pressure for this lawsuit to be dropped quickly and unconditionally allowing Carbone the freedom to move forward, entertain, and blog without stress, worry, and financial bleeding.

At this point, with no graceful transition whatsoever, I want to revisit the lawsuit complaint. If you were in a car with me, you would suddenly experience a sharp swerve into a side street with no warning. That is the jolt here.  (Sorry, I am getting tired. That was the best analogy I could come up with at this crazy hour.)

In my very first article, I focused my attention on the initial Complaint because that is where all lawsuits begin. I wanted to find out what the “Bachelor” producers (plaintiff) are accusing Carbone (defendant) of. I also wanted to see what the plaintiffs are presenting as their opening firing salvo. Most lawsuit complaints I read typically have “Exhibits” (supporting documentation) accompanying the Complaint. I was and continue to be suspicious that there were no exhibits whatsoever provided with this Complaint. I interpreted the lack of plaintiff exhibits as intentionally withholding of essential information.

Why is it that the Complaint conveniently leaves out exhibits that directly support Numbered Paragraphs 15 through 18 where the plaintiff accuses Carbone of sending those emails to show contestants? It would normally be appropriate to attach copies of those emails as exhibits.

Additionally, why are there no exhibits to support Numbered Paragraph 19 where the “Bachelor” producers allegedly sent “cease and desist” letters to Carbone? It would normally be appropriate to attach copies of the “cease and desist” letters as exhibits.

My guess is that a decision was made for publicity reasons to leave them out of the initial lawsuit complaint to prevent the general public from seeing and reporting on them. After all, a lawsuit complaint can be accessed by nearly anyone. It is in the public domain. The plaintiffs wanted everyone to know that a lawsuit was filed against Carbone and have everyone see the allegations (accusations) but didn’t provide the supporting documents to support those allegations. How convenient.

The majority of the press coverage so far has been from the December 2011 time fame, shortly after the lawsuit filing date. No one has bothered to follow up on the lawsuit (besides me) because it is “boring” and not gossip-friendly. It actually requires intelligence and brainpower to understand the big picture of what is truly happening with this lawsuit, not just the gossipy nature of Carbone’s alleged emails that has not yet been shown.

The “Bachelor” producers fired the first shot at Carbone but withheld the identity of the person(s) who allegedly received the emails and the ugly words within the “cease and desist” letters.

This says to me that the lawsuit is ABSOLUTELY about intimidating Carbone into silence, cooperation, or a settlement. The complaint was written just long enough and substantial enough to meet the minimum standard of a Complaint filing in an attempt to intimidate Carbone.

I want everyone to remember this. All signs point to pushing Carbone around and bleeding him dry while using the legal system as the puppet strings to jerk him around. As I said before, if it can happen to him as a one-man blogger, website owner, and entrepreneur, it can happen to any of us should we decide to follow in his footsteps.  This Hollywood Extortion Lawsuit needs to stop now.

For more “Bachelor” producers intimidation tactics, go read my last article: “Bachelor” Show Contracts: Is a $5 million Penalty for Violating a Confidentiality Clause Enforceable?

You should also read Attorney Oscar Michelen’s article: Penalty Provisions in Reality TV Contracts – Fair or Unenforceable?

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Look for the next article in Reality Steve Extorion Lawsuit commentary section.

If you haven’t done it yet, go sign the Reality Steve Extortion Lawsuit online petition.

Become part of RED STARS and LIKE the RED STARS Facebook Page.

And don’t forget to Follow the Mission: RED STARS Twitter account.

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