I have received the following letter by certified mail:

* * *

Law Offices of Anthony J. Pirrotti, P.C.

Dear Mr. Hanke:

Please be advised that I have been retained by Ms. Susan Polgar and Mr. Paul
Truong in reference to certain libelous statements which you have made on
e-mails and over the Internet regarding their character.

The statements made by you constitute libel per se and I beg to advise you
that unless you cease and desist your conduct, directly or indirectly, my
clients have advised that they will commence a lawsuit against you for
damages and for an injunction to restrain your unlawful conduct.

Yours faithfully,

Anthony J. Pirrotti

cc: Board of Directors of the United States Chess Federation
Zsuzsanna Polgar
Paul Truong

* * *

Tim Hanke

Hell hath no fury, like a woman ... [lawyer], eh Tim?

LOL

Tom Klem


"Tim Hanke" wrote in message
news:JNnIb.79540$VB2.161693@attbi_s51...
I have received the following letter by certified mail:

* * *

Law Offices of Anthony J. Pirrotti, P.C.

Dear Mr. Hanke:

Please be advised that I have been retained by Ms. Susan Polgar and Mr.
Paul
Truong in reference to certain libelous statements which you have made on
e-mails and over the Internet regarding their character.

The statements made by you constitute libel per se and I beg to advise you
that unless you cease and desist your conduct, directly or indirectly, my
clients have advised that they will commence a lawsuit against you for
damages and for an injunction to restrain your unlawful conduct.

Yours faithfully,

Anthony J. Pirrotti

cc: Board of Directors of the United States Chess Federation
Zsuzsanna Polgar
Paul Truong

* * *

Tim Hanke

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 23:23:21 GMT, "Tim Hanke"
wrote:

I have received the following letter by certified mail:

* * *

Law Offices of Anthony J. Pirrotti, P.C.

Dear Mr. Hanke:

Please be advised that I have been retained by Ms. Susan Polgar and Mr. Paul
Truong in reference to certain libelous statements which you have made on
e-mails and over the Internet regarding their character.

The statements made by you constitute libel per se and I beg to advise you
that unless you cease and desist your conduct, directly or indirectly, my
clients have advised that they will commence a lawsuit against you for
damages and for an injunction to restrain your unlawful conduct.

Yours faithfully,

Anthony J. Pirrotti

cc: Board of Directors of the United States Chess Federation
Zsuzsanna Polgar
Paul Truong

* * *

Tim Hanke

I think that they have a very strong case. Among other things, Hanke
claimed that Zsuzsa did not play her own games but essentially cheated
by having Truong play for her using a computer.

Such an allegation is clearly libelous.

Sam Sloan

Perhaps someone has hit upon a new method of funding the Olympiad
Women's team?

You know, I don't recollect Tim ever saying ANYTHING on RGCP about
Polgar, but I remember Sam Sloan posting one of his "exclusives" about
it. Maybe they could sue Sam Sloan for saying something that Hanke had
allegedly said or done, but I doubt it. Now I do think that Booz has
criticized both of them, but I don't remember Hanke saying much of
anything.

Best Regards,

Bruce

"Bruce Draney" wrote in message
...
Perhaps someone has hit upon a new method of funding the Olympiad
Women's team?

You know, I don't recollect Tim ever saying ANYTHING on RGCP about
Polgar, but I remember Sam Sloan posting one of his "exclusives" about
it. Maybe they could sue Sam Sloan for saying something that Hanke had
allegedly said or done, but I doubt it. Now I do think that Booz has
criticized both of them, but I don't remember Hanke saying much of
anything.

I don't recall Hanke posting anything either. I do remember Sloan posting
some trash or other. It's strange that the letter Hanke received does not
specify the alleged libelous remarks. As it is, how is Hanke to know what
Truong objects to?

The whole thing strikes me as more political than legal; Truong wants to
silence a critic, and so he rattles a sabre. Shades of Don Schultz suing
Larry Evans...

Bruce Draney wrote in message ...
Perhaps someone has hit upon a new method of funding the Olympiad
Women's team?

You know, I don't recollect Tim ever saying ANYTHING on RGCP about
Polgar, but I remember Sam Sloan posting one of his "exclusives" about
it. Maybe they could sue Sam Sloan for saying something that Hanke had
allegedly said or done, but I doubt it. Now I do think that Booz has
criticized both of them, but I don't remember Hanke saying much of
anything.

Best Regards,

Bruce

The Law

Defamation Generally
The reason for having defamation laws as a civil remedy in tort is
because 'A person has the right to his good name'. Defenses are
nevertheless available for balancing the interest of freedom of
speech, such as the defense of fair comment and justification.

What is defamatory?
A statement is defamatory if it tends to lower the plaintiff in the
estimation of right thinking members of society generally.
Alternatively speaking, the matter tends to make the plaintiff shunned
or avoided by right-thinking members of society. The meaning of the
defamatory nature of the statement can be literal or by inference

Libel and Slander distinguished
A distinction has to be drawn between libel and slander. Libel: are
publications in permanent form while slander are publications by
spoken word or other transient means. Unlike slander, damage is
presumed in libel actionable without proof of special damage.

Meaning of 'Permanent form"
Permanent form can be something in writing or in other permanent form.
Examples are electronic communications via e-mail, newsgroups, message
board, homepages are matters of permanent form. Broadcast by radio,
TV, Internet, public performance, film soundtrack, CD, tape-recording
also meet the requirement of 'permanent form'.

Requirement of Publication
The statement must be published by communicating to at least one
person other than the person defamed.

Examples on the Internet a
Usenet posting / e-mail to a third party, such as by cc. copy /
message board / chat room /world wide web /

Defenses
Fair comment / justification / absolute privilege / qualified
privilege / apology and payment into court / unintentional defamation
/ innocent dissemination /

_
"By the same token, IBM's alleged involvement is probably a
complete fantasy, like the 1,000 letters a month Truong
claims that Susan Polgar gets for her openings column in
Chess Life." - Timothy Hanke (29 Dec 2003 18:11:06 PST)

Bob Bennett

It will be most interesting to see if anything becomes of this case. If
Polgar/Truong has a legit case against Tim Hanke, then I suspect that
many other posters here on this forum might also have legit cases
against other posters here.

To me, this sounds more like someone hopes that the threat of a lawsuit
will encourage someone to cease and desist activity that they dislike.
But I will be interested to see what becomes of this.

John




Bob Bennett wrote:

Bruce Draney wrote in message ...
Perhaps someone has hit upon a new method of funding the Olympiad
Women's team?

You know, I don't recollect Tim ever saying ANYTHING on RGCP about
Polgar, but I remember Sam Sloan posting one of his "exclusives" about
it. Maybe they could sue Sam Sloan for saying something that Hanke had
allegedly said or done, but I doubt it. Now I do think that Booz has
criticized both of them, but I don't remember Hanke saying much of
anything.

Best Regards,

Bruce

The Law

Defamation Generally
The reason for having defamation laws as a civil remedy in tort is
because 'A person has the right to his good name'. Defenses are
nevertheless available for balancing the interest of freedom of
speech, such as the defense of fair comment and justification.

What is defamatory?
A statement is defamatory if it tends to lower the plaintiff in the
estimation of right thinking members of society generally.
Alternatively speaking, the matter tends to make the plaintiff shunned
or avoided by right-thinking members of society. The meaning of the
defamatory nature of the statement can be literal or by inference

Libel and Slander distinguished
A distinction has to be drawn between libel and slander. Libel: are
publications in permanent form while slander are publications by
spoken word or other transient means. Unlike slander, damage is
presumed in libel actionable without proof of special damage.

Meaning of 'Permanent form"
Permanent form can be something in writing or in other permanent form.
Examples are electronic communications via e-mail, newsgroups, message
board, homepages are matters of permanent form. Broadcast by radio,
TV, Internet, public performance, film soundtrack, CD, tape-recording
also meet the requirement of 'permanent form'.

Requirement of Publication
The statement must be published by communicating to at least one
person other than the person defamed.

Examples on the Internet a
Usenet posting / e-mail to a third party, such as by cc. copy /
message board / chat room /world wide web /

Defenses
Fair comment / justification / absolute privilege / qualified
privilege / apology and payment into court / unintentional defamation
/ innocent dissemination /

_
"By the same token, IBM's alleged involvement is probably a
complete fantasy, like the 1,000 letters a month Truong
claims that Susan Polgar gets for her openings column in
Chess Life." - Timothy Hanke (29 Dec 2003 18:11:06 PST)

Bob Bennett

I did a search and haven't found anything about Mr. Hanke attacking
Susan for cheating or really anything else, though he did criticize
her choice as GM of the year. I happen to agree with him on that, but
nevermind. On the other hand even if he did say she cheated using
PTruong and a computer online (which I don't see why she would
bother), there's no way a libel suit would succeed as he can simply
state it is his opinion that it is so, and Ms. Polgar would have to
prove definitively that she did not cheat to succeed in a lawsuit, and
that would be hard to do.

Bob Bennett wrote in part about libel:

Defenses
Fair comment / justification / absolute privilege / qualified
privilege / apology and payment into court / unintentional defamation
/ innocent dissemination /

_
"By the same token, IBM's alleged involvement is probably a
complete fantasy, like the 1,000 letters a month Truong
claims that Susan Polgar gets for her openings column in
Chess Life." - Timothy Hanke (29 Dec 2003 18:11:06 PST)

Bob Bennett


If this is the best they've got they'll be laughed out of court in my
opinion. Truong did actually say she got 1,000 letters a month about
her column in a usenet post, and Tim was questioning the veracity of
this statement. I don't see libel as an issue, but then again I'm not
involved.

She would have to demonstrate that something was false, malicious and
that it did damage to her reputation.

Best Regards,

Bruce

Yeah, the first line of defense for those who lack character is the
threatened lawsuit. Best response to this is "see you in court, assholes."


TMB (who remains anonymous for several reasons, this bull**** being one of
them).


"Tim Hanke" wrote in message
news:JNnIb.79540$VB2.161693@attbi_s51...
I have received the following letter by certified mail:

* * *

Law Offices of Anthony J. Pirrotti, P.C.

Dear Mr. Hanke:

Please be advised that I have been retained by Ms. Susan Polgar and Mr.
Paul
Truong in reference to certain libelous statements which you have made on
e-mails and over the Internet regarding their character.

The statements made by you constitute libel per se and I beg to advise you
that unless you cease and desist your conduct, directly or indirectly, my
clients have advised that they will commence a lawsuit against you for
damages and for an injunction to restrain your unlawful conduct.

Yours faithfully,

Anthony J. Pirrotti

cc: Board of Directors of the United States Chess Federation
Zsuzsanna Polgar
Paul Truong

* * *

Tim Hanke