Dozier Continues To Go After Ronald Riley

from the same-tactics dept

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the bizarre and troubling lawsuit filed by John Dozier against Ronald J. Riley. Riley, of course, is a well-known pro-patent system supporter who has generally made a nuisance of himself in the comments. Whenever he stops by here, it’s usually to personally insult me (and, in some cases, my family) and to spew what usually amounts to lies or totally unsubstantiated comments about the patent system. In other words, this is not someone I’m likely to defend. Yet, Dozier’s lawsuit is very troublesome. It basically highlights all sorts of questionable things that Riley has done to establish his “reputation” as a patent expert — but then the actual lawsuit is on trademark issues. The background on Riley, while amusing and interesting to us, has absolutely nothing to do with the lawsuit at hand. Dozier seems to merely be dragging Riley’s name through the mud. Why? Well, it appears that Riley insulted Dozier (similar to the way that Riley insults us) and even went so far as to put up some websites making fun of Dozier. Dozier, of course, isn’t known for taking criticism well, so apparently, he decided to go after Riley on very questionable trademark claims, while also dragging his name through the mud (which very well might be deserved — but if it’s got nothing to do with the lawsuit…)

Dozier’s still at it, with a blog post describing the latest details of what’s been happening, where he repeatedly references our original post (which slams Dozier’s lawsuit as being highly questionable). Dozier falsely suggests that Techdirt has somehow changed its opinion of his lawsuit. He says that a comment defending Riley on Techdirt was shown by commenters to likely have been Riley himself, but that’s not true. I know the IP addresses that Riley uses. And, I know who the person is who “defended” Riley and it is not Riley. It is another regular commenter who knows Riley and supports Riley (and trashes us all the time), but it’s not Riley himself. Dozier also suggests that Riley posted an article in a different forum pretending to be someone else, though there’s evidence that that’s not true either (edited to avoid confusion).

What’s much more troubling is Dozier’s claims that he’s been able to convince various webhosts to take down Riley’s websites. As much as we may find Riley to be an insulting pest, we would never suggest he doesn’t have the right to speak his mind. Dozier claims that any new webhost that hosts Riley’s websites will be accused of “aiding and abetting”, “conspiracy”, and “contributory trademark infringement” claims. Dozier must realize that such claims are a clear abuse of trademark law. The webhosts are quite clearly protected under section 230 of the CDA and are not responsible for the content hosted on those sites. Dozier, as a self-professed “internet law expert” should know this, suggesting that his claims to various webhosts are misleading. Once again, we’re probably the last people on earth to ever want to defend Ronald Riley — but Dozier’s campaign against him is equally as abusive as anything Riley has done.

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Comments on “Dozier Continues To Go After Ronald Riley”

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19 Comments
angry dude says:

Hands off Ronals Riley !!!

Hey punks

Do you have anything else to worry about ?
This economy is f***** up, and this is not because of RJR and the small inventors (aka patent trolls) he defends, but because of the actions of CEOs of large corporations and the crooked politicians they own

Accordingly, you should redirect your anger and disgust and leave Ronald Riley alone

Emerson says:

Re: Hands off Ronals Riley !!!

Well, if you insist.

No matter now many times you misread this blog, you always come back making a completely stupid statement:

“. . .this is not because of RJR and the small inventors (aka patent trolls) he defends . . .”

Um, the post wasn’t against Mr. Riley, it was actually slightly in his favor. And when the term “patent trolls” is used here, it almost never refers to small inventors. But when the term “jackass” is used, it always refers to you.

Happy now?

DanC says:

Re: Hands off Ronals Riley !!!

RJR and the small inventors (aka patent trolls) he defends

You don’t have to be a small inventor to be a patent troll. A large company is just as capable of abusing the patent system as a small inventor.

Accordingly, you should redirect your anger and disgust and leave Ronald Riley alone

Ronald Riley lies and distorts the truth to separate inventors and sympathetics from their money. He deserves the character bashing for his antics, and he deserves to be exposed as a fraud.

Dozier’s lawsuit, however, is a joke. He hasn’t substantiated the claims in his lawsuit, preferring instead to attack Riley’s character.

Arnold Kempler says:

Riley's methods

Mike,

It is important to understand that the First Amendment is not the issue here. Riley has discovered devious ways to manipulate Google rankings and copy other websites to control their publishing ability. He has divised a method through the Internet Archives to re-publish outdated web-snapshots that cause Google rankings to suffer:
http://www.archive.org/index.php

Due to his disdain for anyone who disagrees with him, he will go to any length to sabatoge websites, use slander, disparage corporate entities, and use every trick in his SEO book to cause trouble for someone he perceives as a foe.

Thanks to Dozier, Ronald J. Riley has been unmasked as an imposter, as well as a creator of bogus companies and false credentials.

Ronald J. Riley has fooled MIT, the media, Inventor’s associations, Inventor’s clubs, people in government, and individual inventors who PAID him for his patent ‘expertise’.

I know you think this issue is about Trademark infringement – and the allegations against Riley are based on this claim. However, please understand that there is a fine line between First Amendment rights and outright slander. Since slander is difficult to prove; and since Riley manipulates his websites to the top of Google pages; he is creating a method of ruining reputations by using his SEO power to slander anyone he pleases. If his hosting sites are being taken down – there must be a good reason for this.

Now, my point is, if Riley was just another mischief-maker who was unable to manipulate Google rankings – he would be just another harmless idiot. But, the fact is, he harrasses people (like his daughter’s teacher) and many others, by smearing their good names and lying about who they are and what they have done. Then – he boosts his comments to the top of Goggle pages with his SEO knowledge. This is an abuse of the system, and any host will soon catch-on to Riley’s methods and become leary of him. It’s no wonder he is being dumped.

A cyber-bully like Ronlad J. Riley was bound to encounter someone like Dozier eventually. If it wasn’t Dozier – it would have been someone else. And now, it will be interesting to watch as this case unravels itself. Soon we’ll all be able to see the depths of Ronald J. Riley’s many deceptions and distortions.

I don’t work for Dozier – nor do I know him – but, I congratulate him on exposing the false credentials of Ronald J. Riley and his indecent behavior on the web.

Mike (profile) says:

Re: Riley's methods

Due to his disdain for anyone who disagrees with him, he will go to any length to sabatoge websites, use slander, disparage corporate entities, and use every trick in his SEO book to cause trouble for someone he perceives as a foe.

As long as those SEO tricks are legal, then what’s the issue?

If the problem is that Google is tricked, then take it up with Google to improve their algorithm.

Thanks to Dozier, Ronald J. Riley has been unmasked as an imposter, as well as a creator of bogus companies and false credentials.

If he were being sued for fraud, then that’s fine. But he’s not. Dozier brought all that up for no reason at all, other than to smear Riley.

Ronald J. Riley has fooled MIT, the media, Inventor’s associations, Inventor’s clubs, people in government, and individual inventors who PAID him for his patent ‘expertise’.

If there’s a case for fraud, sue him for fraud. But he’s not being sued for fraud, because it does not appear that there’s been any fraud.


I know you think this issue is about Trademark infringement – and the allegations against Riley are based on this claim.

The lawsuit I saw only mentioned the trademark issue. Are you claiming that there is more to the lawsuit? Can we see the details?

However, please understand that there is a fine line between First Amendment rights and outright slander. Since slander is difficult to prove; and since Riley manipulates his websites to the top of Google pages; he is creating a method of ruining reputations by using his SEO power to slander anyone he pleases.

That makes absolutely no sense. If it’s slander, sue him for slander. If he’s just doing SEO, then that’s something entirely different.

Doing SEO is not illegal.

If his hosting sites are being taken down – there must be a good reason for this.

That’s simply not true. Hosts take stuff down for no good reason all the time.

Now, my point is, if Riley was just another mischief-maker who was unable to manipulate Google rankings – he would be just another harmless idiot. But, the fact is, he harrasses people (like his daughter’s teacher) and many others, by smearing their good names and lying about who they are and what they have done.

So sue him for defamation.

Then – he boosts his comments to the top of Goggle pages with his SEO knowledge.

Again, that’s not illegal.

This is an abuse of the system

Please point me to the law that says SEO is illegal.

any host will soon catch-on to Riley’s methods and become leary of him. It’s no wonder he is being dumped.

Not any host who understands section 230 of the CDA.

A cyber-bully like Ronlad J. Riley was bound to encounter someone like Dozier eventually. If it wasn’t Dozier – it would have been someone else. And now, it will be interesting to watch as this case unravels itself. Soon we’ll all be able to see the depths of Ronald J. Riley’s many deceptions and distortions.

I don’t know what this means. Ronald Riley is a cyberbully and a creep. I agree. But this attack appears to be totally based on a lack of any actual legal claim.

I don’t work for Dozier – nor do I know him – but, I congratulate him on exposing the false credentials of Ronald J. Riley and his indecent behavior on the web.

I find Riley to be a distasteful liar, to be sure. But I wouldn’t be so fast to jump to Dozier’s defense.

Arnold Kempler says:

Re: Re: Riley's methods

Mike,

I agree with many of the points you make. Ronald J. Riley should be sued for defamation, commercial disparagement, slander, libel and fraud. I hope Dozier adds all these claims to his lawsuit. Dozier will probably have a much better chance of winning his case if he amends the complaint and raises the amount of damages from 45k to $5M.

As for Google, and Riley’s ability to manipulate rankings, they will eventually catch up with him. In the meantime, it’s almost impossible to lodge a complaint with Google for the type of abuse Riley has been able to perpetrate.

His ability to create ‘mirror’ websites to cause publishing problems, and his abuse the Archive system, will surely cause more legal problems for him.

If the Dozier lawsuit doesn’t affect his zeal to abuse the system, there surely will be others to pursue the type of legal claims you have mentioned.

Thank you for your reply.

Ronald J Riley (profile) says:

Re: Super Lawyer?

I really got a yuck out of the cape comment. It is funny.

Excerpted from http://www.CyberTrialLawyer-SUCKS.com

A Super-Lawyer?? 🙂 DOZIER Internet Law

IN MY OPINION their own posts, both those that were signed and the anonymous ones are pretty lame. All of which goes to show that even super-lawyers can screw up and step in super-sized steamy piles. While on the Super-Lawyer topic Super Lawyers® is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc. and is published in July in Richmond Magazine. In other words it is a great media opportunity for an attorney to get a large picture and a few hundred words of hype. (Gee, opinion can sure sting sometimes)

Two testimonials for Super-Duper-Lawyer listings:
“As a result of my profile in Super Lawyers, both existing and prospective clients have contacted me. I have found it to be more effective marketing than Yellow Page advertising.”

William L.H. Lubov
Lubov & Associates
Minneapolis, MN

“I received a huge response from my Super Lawyers profile. Many of my clients commented on it. It lends great credibility to my practice.”

Jeffrey Baill
Yost & Baill
Minneapolis, MN

Personally I think they should start a Super-Dud service. Hell I might be willing to take out an ad or two!

In the referenced Super-Lawyer article it says “John (the architect of an integrated software, EDI, and ASP system for major financial institutions) on a wild ride on the Internet bubble. In 2001, John’s interest returned him to the practice of law,” (This quote is an example of FAIR USE Bull…. Dozier)

This begs that the question be asked as to WHY Bull…. Dozier’s “interest” returned him to law at this time. Isn’t it reasonable to wonder if Bull…. Dozier’s interests changed in the aftermath of the Dot Com bubble bursting and returning to law was a financial necessity? (Please Bull…. Dozier, this really is a question and I do not expect to see you claiming that this is liable-defamation.)

To more fully understand the comments see: http://www.cybertriallawyer.com/articles/DL_SuperLawyer2006.pdf

Ronald J Riley (profile) says:

Mike, we have found common ground.

Mike,

Thank you and it is nice to see that we have finally found an issue which we pretty much agree on. Interference with people’s First Amendment rights in the manner revealed in this case is another troubling aspect of net neutrality. I think that we both agree that society cannot allow Internet content to be controlled in this manner.

Might I suggest that we work on a legislative solution to this?

To more fully understand this case see:

Dozier Internet Law threatens InventorEd and others on behalf of its invention promotion client Inventor-Link:
http://www.InventorEd.org/caution/inventor-link/

As a response to these threats the following site was created:
http://www.CyberTrialLawyer-SUCKS.com

Public Citizen steps in to address SLAPP:
http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/2008/10/another-case-of.html

Ronald J. Riley,

Speaking only on my own behalf.
Affiliations:
President – http://www.PIAUSA.org – RJR at PIAUSA.org
Executive Director – http://www.InventorEd.org – RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow – http://www.patentPolicy.org
President – Alliance for American Innovation Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 – 9 am to 9 pm EST.

Arnold Kempler says:

Riley's request to team-up with Mike

Hey Ron…So, you want Mike to “team-up” with you?

“it is nice to see that we have finally found an issue which we pretty much agree on…Might I suggest that we work on a legislative solution to this?”

Even with your fake credentials, lies, deception, and fraud coming out into the open – you still want to drag others into your world of trickery and dishonesty?

So, here you are – still carrying on about trying to pass legislation – when you have absolutely no ability to do so.

The rhetoric just never ends….

Alan Leighhorton says:

Riley and Capone

The US got Al Capone on income tax evasion. Not liquor, gambling, murder, extortion, rape, robbery, etc.

Ron Riley has been hiding behind everything for so long, it only took him insulting someone with the balls and abilities to fight back and bring little Ron to his knees.

I, personally, think it is very creative to sue for Trademark issues. It has nothing to do with the scurrilous behavior Ron has exhibited and his unbridled disdain for the truth.

People like Ron Riley deserve innovative opponents, Robin Hoods, if you will, who will be creative in the destruction of bugs who hide behind the 1st amendment. The first amendment was never meant to protect lairs, cheats, and leaches. There are a hundred people who would have sued him if they didn’t have to pay a lawyer. Now that he has pissed off a lawyer, he will be faced with the only pain he understands…financial pain. A trademark suit can go on forever. How long can Ron’s bank account last?

This is the same method the US used to whip the KKK. Seems suitable, doesn’t it?

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