Legal fund for Reviewers/Erin?

[Groove01]

Here is a big question: has his intimidation worked? I can see every reviewer that reads what is going on here think twice about writing anything negative about a product. I will continue of course as I have but others? I can see fingers shaking as they write anything remotely not complimentary. And not just about Tekton speakers. But everything.

If this is true, we have a major setback here that we need to repair.

I might suggest the opposite may in fact occur. Manufactures might (and should) think twice about trying to strong arm or bully reviewers after this.

The internet is strong, and fickle, and can turn on you quickly. If I were a manufacturer, this would certainly make me rethink such tactics.

From a practical view, IME the last thing someone wants to hear when using legal intimidation tactics is “come get some”. Especially if they know they’re on shaky legal ground to begin with (and most do).

After this fiasco, there is also an inherent reputational risk factor that hardly seems worth it.

Yeah, Some people be crazy. But in general, I think this could strengthen the reviewers position.

*Assuming of course honest intent, credible/knowledgeable, and validity of process on the part of the reviewer.

 

[Tell]

I heard in Erins latests video that New Record Day have had problems with Tekton as well, anyone care to give a short summary of that?

 

[tomtoo]

You’re correct: Tekton will only get solicited (paid / controlled) reviews from now on… Isn’t this what EA wanted?

This depends on us. If people realy enjoy to pay that show tekton wins. If people say without free and open measurements i buy absolutly nothing from you tekton looses.

 

[Katzz]

Apparently this is the reason on why Eric took down the troubadour from sale in his website

 

[Salt]

Tired of reading this thread as there's a successor.
Hard to follow all.

 

[USER]

You’re correct: Tekton will only get solicited (paid / controlled) reviews from now on… Isn’t this what EA wanted?

I just don't know if those sites known for that stuff have a future (or a present, quite frankly). Look at Audiogon, that site has always provided a temperature of that market to me and it is a wasteland these days. Are you going to survive depending on 6moons in 2024? I really do think he needs Stereophile for his aspirations, which are those $30k speakers. (The timing of this is just horrific for him, lol. He could have been celebrating and calling the Brink's truck over. What an absolute IDIOT.) At the very least he needs Youtube and it's not looking hospitable for him right now. Would Darko want anything to do with him now? Maybe the Audiophiliac, which I guess is more "important" than Stereophile nowadays. But when you publicly lose New Record Day things aren't looking great. These reviewers are taking it personally.

 

[coonmanx]

That troll was over on Audioholics and he got called out and hammered. Pretty funny stuff.

I am following all of this in a few different places.

 

[amirm]

I heard in Erins latests video that New Record Day have had problems with Tekton as well, anyone care to give a short summary of that?

Sure. It was a video Ron from NRD post that said he was doing paid infomercials (my wording) for companies. I *think* he measured Tekton speaker or said something that was not to the liking of Eric. As with our situation, he showed emails and such. We all focused on the notion of what looks like a review but being work for hire for a company. But apparently Eric threatened him as well resulting in that video being taken down. Further, Eric claimed this was all setup to show Ron was doing paid reviews. Either way, his threats worked and that video is no longer in public.

In my research, I found that an owner had problems with the company so published a video called An Objective Review of Tekton Double Impact Speakers. That video also has disappeared but you can read about it a few posts down in this thread: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/an-objective-review-of-the-tekton-double-impact-speakers. The owner is apparently a famous saxiphone player and has his own channel and such.

Both of these instances gave me resolve to stand up to Eric Alexander's threats. And explained some of his actions (threatening people with legal force works).

 

[Ron Party]

A relatively succinct description/analysis of the state of Washington anti-SLAPP law

 

[mps]

Has @Eric Alexander given any response to Erin’s updated review (beyond taking down some videos)?

 

[kemmler3D]

Has @Eric Alexander given any response to Erin’s updated review (beyond taking down some videos)?

He got a friend of his (or is using his account) to defend him in the comments of Erin's video, but that's all I know of personally.

 

[KenA]

Amir, if I may give you advise:
1. Don’t panic.
2. Stand strong. Set your stance and don’t back down. Make sure your lawyer agrees with that stance.
3. Be a little cautious about what you write. If court action happens, your writings may be produced in Court. Typically it would go like this: you’d be on the stand and their lawyer would hand you a sheet of paper with what you’ve written and get to confirm it’s yours. That then opens them to challenge it and you. They use it to attempt to make your evidence weaker in the eyes of the judge by making it look factually wrong or attack your character eg or that you lied, or exaggerate, or are inconsistent, or hated Eric, were over- emotive etc. etc.
4. The GOOD thing about point 3 above is that the same applies to Eric. Let him rant, and carry on like a turkey. Your lawyer can then produce his writings, videos, emails, etc and do the same to him. Judges listen to and watch witnesses and are allowed to judge character to help them determine their credibility and therefore the weight they give their evidence.
5. We have your back. You’re all good mate. Power to the majority.

 

[Phineas Newborn Jr.]

Wait, the owner of Tekton is THE Eric Alexander, world-famous tenor saxophonist? When I first watched Erin on YouTube this morning, I thought it was funny that the Tekton proprietor’s name sounded the same as Eric Alexander’s, whom I’ve heard many-many times in various clubs in New York in the past 25 years. Is it really the same person?

 

[andrewjohn007]

I'm late to the party and didn't have time to read all 60+ pages, so I am a little in the dark on any recent developments and only picked up the general gist of the kerfuffle. That being said, I've practiced civil litigation for (almost) three decades in courts across the country. Although my forte is toxic tort & personal injury litigation, I've got enough friends in low places, that can always wrangle up assistance if I find myself out of my depth or needing a second opinion, especially when you are in someone else's backyard litigating If anyone (Amir, Erin, etc,) wants to reach out to me privately, I'd be more than happy to discuss.

 

[amirm]

Wait, the owner of Tekton is THE Eric Alexander, world-famous tenor saxophonist?

No, no. His customer was. Not Eric. I think Eric plays drums or something like that.

 

[amirm]

Amir, if I may give you advise:
1. Don’t panic.
2. Stand strong. Set your stance and don’t back down. Make sure your lawyer agrees with that stance.
3. Be a little cautious about what you write. If court action happens, your writings may be produced in Court. Typically it would go like this: you’d be on the stand and their lawyer would hand you a sheet of paper with what you’ve written and get to confirm it’s yours. That then opens them to challenge it and you. They use it to attempt to make your evidence weaker in the eyes of the judge by making it look factually wrong or attack your character eg or that you lied, or exaggerate, or are inconsistent, or hated Eric, were over- emotive etc. etc.
4. The GOOD thing about point 3 above is that the same applies to Eric. Let him rant, and carry on like a turkey. Your lawyer can then produce his writings, videos, emails, etc and do the same to him. Judges listen to and watch witnesses and are allowed to judge character to help them determine their credibility and therefore the weight they give their evidence.
5. We have your back. You’re all good mate. Power to the majority.

Thank you Ken. I am pretty familiar with these concepts. On #4, as I have shared, clearly Eric is not given what all he has written me and Erin.

 

[vicenzo_del_paris]

Amir, if I may give you advise:
1. Don’t panic.
2. Stand strong. Set your stance and don’t back down. Make sure your lawyer agrees with that stance.
3. Be a little cautious about what you write. If court action happens, your writings may be produced in Court. Typically it would go like this: you’d be on the stand and their lawyer would hand you a sheet of paper with what you’ve written and get to confirm it’s yours. That then opens them to challenge it and you. They use it to attempt to make your evidence weaker in the eyes of the judge by making it look factually wrong or attack your character eg or that you lied, or exaggerate, or are inconsistent, or hated Eric, were over- emotive etc. etc.
4. The GOOD thing about point 3 above is that the same applies to Eric. Let him rant, and carry on like a turkey. Your lawyer can then produce his writings, videos, emails, etc and do the same to him. Judges listen to and watch witnesses and are allowed to judge character to help them determine their credibility and therefore the weight they give their evidence.
5. We have your back. You’re all good mate. Power to the majority.

Don't worry about it.
Amir seems to be an extremely experienced and wise man.
I am impressed about how Amir handled this situation in such professional and clever way.
Blameless and faultless

 

[andrewjohn007]

One aspect that is often overlooked or misunderstood by most laypersons is how plaintiff's attorneys are compensated,

Plaintiff's attorneys typically work on contingency, meaning they only earn a fee (and recoup their expenses) when a settlement or judgment is collected, You'd be surprised how many people (young lawyers included) overlook that critical factor, A great case and huge verdict ain't squat if you can't collect! Most individuals are "judgment proof" - meaning you won't be able to collect on a winning verdict, Obviously, there are exceptions such as wealthy individuals with a public persona to guard (e.g. Puff D) or there may be insurance coverage that comes into play. Or someone may live in California, one of the few states that doesn't have a homestead exemption and their house could be subjected to a lien and foreclosed upon in order to satisfy an adverse judgment (scary). These are just a few examples.

However, there are instances in which a plaintiff's attorney will take a case and the plaintiff/client pays an hourly fee to that attorney. That usually means the client is wealthy and wants to go scorched earth or is emotionally invested to the point of making poor fiscal decisions, Typically, of an attorney "believes" in the cause, they want that back end payday. However, if they are being paid hourly, it usually means the case is a dog....

Just wanted to throw that out there...

 

[USER]

Tekton just lost Zero Fidelity, who took his respective videos down. I believe one was the most viewed Tekton video on the internet at 100k+. Brutal.

 

[andrewjohn007]

If a mistake was made during a review, or if a review gave the appearance of impropriety, the best thing to do is get ahead of it, address the issue and nip it in the bud using the same forum and means in which the conflict arose, Mitigating actions after the fact are huge and can save the day. Everyone makes mistakes, Judges absolutely adore parties that own up to their failures and fall on the sword,

Since I am shooting in the dark, I'll stop here! Please don't hesitate to hit me up if needed.