1st Technology expands legal battle against Bodog; Ayre to potentially face arrest warrant
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The battle between Bodog and 1st Technology continues on. After a court decision earlier this month that most observers viewed as a bit of a draw, 1st Technology announced this week that they were ratcheting up their actions against Bodog.
For background on this story, read our archived coverage here.
From a press release issued by the company:
Nevada based 1st Technology LLC announced an expansion of its legal campaign following last week’s U.S. Federal Court’s decision denying a challenge to 1st Technology’s $49.4M judgment total, with accruing interest, for patent infringement in 1st Technology LLC vs. Bodog Entertainment Group S.A., Bodog.com, Bodog.net (the “Bodog entities†per court filings.) …
…This announcement also follows last week’s order in U.S. Federal Court lifting the previously stayed Federal Court order for the personal appearance of CEO and founder Mr. Calvin Ayre as a debtor in the 1st Technology judgment. The Court debtor order stemmed from 1st Technology’s notice to the Bodog entities and Mr. Ayre for production of documents, including bank records, check registers, copies of income tax returns for the past five years, as well as the Bodog entities U.S. customer, sponsor, and affiliate lists, and records of payments. The Federal Court debtor order calls for Mr. Ayre to appear under oath in 1st Technology’s Las Vegas Nevada lawyers’ law offices on November 2, 2007 and that failure to appear, according to the signed order, “… will result in a bench warrant being issued for the arrest of Calvin Ayre….â€
Bodog founder Calvin Ayre responded in typical Ayre fashion, challenging 1st technology founder Scott Lewis to a MMA fight, 3 rounds long, to settle the matter. From Ayre’s blog:
What I propose is that I put up US $1 million in trust with a lawyer. We then set up a three-round Bodog Fight rules mixed martial arts event at a jurisdiction in which we are licensed. If you win the fight you get the money. If I win? I’d want those now valueless domains you stole to be given back to their rightful owner. BodogTV would produce the event and own the television rights. (Your lawyer bosses can work this out with some of our lawyers.) You should have no problem with this, right? After all, that was a big testosterone move grabbing those domains and black holing them like that knowing that you were not being entirely fair wasn’t it? You were going to show everyone who the tough guy was weren’t you?
Remember the first few days after you first black holed those domains and I never begged you to give them back as your plan predicted? Two times I got two separate messages from you, through two different channels saying how you were going to involve the government if [that dormant company] tried to defend itself. And about that arrest warrant you are pretending in your press is possible? You have to know that there is no way that a US court has jurisdiction over me so an arrest warrant [even if improperly issued since I am not associated with that company in any way], would have no impact in reality.
