AXA Ban Update and Appeal - February, 2008

Remember all of the reasons given for my ban ? Remember linking me to PnP and his unfair ban ? Remember AdamF saying that a law suit had been threatened for harassment ? Well, none of those things apply or are true in the instance of my unfair ban.

In response to an earlier email (see end of this post) I received this ‘Valentine’ from Jay:

On Feb 14, 2008, at 1:29 PM, Jay Campbell wrote:

Charles,

Your attempts at arguing BlogShares rules are moot. The administrators informed me that you have been considered “damaging to the community” for some time now, and your expulsion from the site was at the service level, not the player level.

BlogShares is a privately owned service, which like any business reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, as referenced in the Terms of Service. Player “assets” are intangible data, with explicitly no real world value nor any real world ownership by the player, also per industry standard.

Please drop this issue. If you insist on pursuing a lawsuit (which must be filed in California) I will not only win hands down, I will counter-sue for wasting my resources and time.

Jay Campell

***********

I made a reply to Jay and this is a slightly edited and updated version of that reply:

Hello, Jay,

What happened to your offer of a teleconference ? I was willing and there was no followup from you.

I would love to drop the issue and I will as soon as a fair outcome is obtained. Now or after filing suit ? Your call.

I really don’t want to argue about this or be forced to seek a remedy in court so I am still hoping you will realize I have been wronged/harmed and that you will take the best and fairest actions to resolve this amicably and without any real money costs to you or the game before I file suit.

From what you wrote I see that you are stating that my ban is not for reasons of game play or rules violations but merely because I am disliked by your game administrators. Interesting.

They say I am “damaging to the community”. Well that is truly an unknown - merely a subjective assessment based on their personal prejudices towards me.

Given the facts and the evidence that I can present their subjective assessment of me will be irrelevant to the suit and in any case will not hold water in court.

At the very least your administrators have misinformed you and if you have received any legal advice you have been misinformed in that respect as well.

Your administrators have even lied in the forums about my ban. This is documented. It doesn’t matter because why I was banned is not the issue.

The issue will be: can you treat me and my game assets differently than any other players; and, my case will be based on chips and other game assets that are regularly exchanged for real cash, another well documented practice that in fact that has been allowed for other players.

The fact that these types of exchanges have been permitted for other players and that Blogshares has profited from such exchanges is the real issue and will be at the heart of any law suit should one be filed. Denying me the same treatment as all other players and their game assets is why you will lose in court.

The TOS have been rewritten more than several times during my time in the game as well as after my ban was imposed. The TOS can not be a moving target. At any rate, in this case the TOS does not apply.

The idea that you seem to reiterate i.e., that “Player “assets” are intangible data, with explicitly no real world value nor any real world ownership by the player” is patently untrue. It may sound good but it is absolutely contradicted by the facts and the evidence.

There is a long history of players buying and selling their various form of game “assets” for real world cash through the Blogshares forums and using ebay and paypal to transfer real world cash.

This is well documented in the Trading Floor areas of the Forums and my attorney has a library of screenshots demonstrating this fact.

Not only that, you and by extension Blogshares the game have condoned, benefitted and profited from such real world cash transactions numerous times.

When a player offers 15000 chips for a Premium membership and another player ‘buys’ those chips and pays you/Blogshares real world cash for the Premium membership real world cash money not only changes hands but ends up in the actual cash holdings of Blogshares.

The average cash value for such Premium membership transactions is 1000 chips = $1.00. There is also a library of screenshots with my attorney demonstrating these types of real world cash transactions and cash valuations.

All other players who have wished to do so have been allowed to transfer their game assets for real cash in the past.

I was offered a substantial sum for my game assets by player Onyx. Onyx will testify to that fact in court.

Onyx real world cash assets/bank statement and testimony will prove that she could and would have paid me real world cash of $6000.00 for all of my game assets. I want my game assets and account back so I can effect that transfer if I so desire or I want that cash by means of legal remedy in a court of law.

Add to that the costs I have already incurred for legal counsel, the possible additional costs of filing suit as well as any additional associated court and document costs, and any related travel costs and you will understand why I am not just going to drop this because you ask me to.

One way costs you nothing but the time it takes to reconstitute all my game assets and assets due. The other way quickly becomes costly to you and Blogshares in real world cash money.

Also, I will not bow to any attempts to threaten or intimidate me. That is not a character trait I possess.

Quite simply: I have been denied the ability to effect the transfer of my assets to player Onyx for her real world cash offer.

The ban and the consequent actions have denied me the opportunity to make a ‘cash for assets’ transfer yet other players (excepting me) have been able to do so in the past.

It seems that you fail to understand that by treating me so very differently than every/any other player in regard to my game assets, their real world cash value and my ability to carry out cash transfers of my property (assets earned legally through my time spent in game legal play) you are in an absolutely indefensible legal position.

Your administrators not liking me and the TOS will not be relevant. They will serve no purpose as a defense in a court of law. Unprecedented and unwarranted actions have been taken against me and my game assets. I am seeking a remedy for those unfair actions.

It can be can be clearly demonstrated with actual evidence (screenshots, etc.) that such actual transactions with actual real world cash value for game assets have been made by numerous other players and that you/Blogshares have profited by accepting the real cash traded in such transactions for Premium memberships. It can be shown that you have prevented me from making the same type of cash transaction.

Any judge will clearly understand this. That is why you will definitely lose in court: because exceptional, unprecedented and unwarranted actions have been taken against me and my legally earned property/game assets.

As I said, I don’t want to have to file suit, that is up to you.

Instead, I want you as game owner and game director to do the only right and fair things as stated in my appeal to you. Take charge and override the poorly considered decisions of your administrators before I feel forced to file suit.

I will remain on hold for now to let you think about it and decide if you want to work it out between us before a suit is filed or afterwards at much higher costs in court. The sooner this is resolved the better.
Meanwhile I will be thinking about it, too. I have plenty of time. Under the statute of limitations I could already have filed suit and I can file suit anytime from this instant until about four years and two and a half months from now. We’ll have to see how quickly you act to remedy this or patient I am before filing suit.
Once again I urge you to do the right thing. Thanks.

Best regards,
Charles Silver/AXA

*****************

This is the email Charles Silver wrote to Jay:
Hello, Jay,

I have been waiting to hear from you regarding the teleconference you suggested. Will it happen soon ?

I would still like to work this out with you amicably. I am hoping this can be done before I must leave town this weekend for a photo project.

If we don’t have time to discuss it in the next several days maybe you can get it all worked out before my return ?

In any case I maintain my innocence. I believe I was wronged, that I never should have been banned and that my account should be immediately reactivated.

All further actions taken against me and any of my assets after the ban was imposed should also immediately be reversed and all my assets returned to me.

This is especially true in regards to my Ideas Collection. It was the best in the history of the game and the focus of the majority of my game play for the whole time I played.

Please, if you will, reactivate my account and return to my account All of my assets including ALL of my Ideas Collection and all Assets Due(*) since the wrongful ban went into effect.
(*)Assets Due: .05% compound interest per day from my corporate investments and extension of my Premium account to compensate me for all time missed due to the ban).

All game privileges, forums access and #blogshares irc access should be reinstated.

Please lift my ban now and let’s go forward with a better understanding.

I’d love to be collecting ideas again upon my return.

Thanks, respectfully,
Charles Silver/AXA

PS: There is no good excuse for the mistreatment of player Onyx, either. Thanks

****************************************************************************

Technorati Tags: blogshares, games, chips, cash, stock, bonds, stock market

Posted on February 15th, 2008 by AXA and filed under AXA, Blogshares, ban | No Comments »