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IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MUSCOGEE COUNTY G E O R G I A The Correct Case # is: ) SU-2013-DM-409. ) ) ) ) CIVIL ACTION FILE NO. ) SU-2013-DM-40 ) ) ) MOTION HEARING )

LINDA ELLIS, Petitioner, vs. MATTHEW CHAN, Respondent.

HEARING of the above cause came on to be heard on the 28th day of February, 2013, before the Honorable Frank J. Jordan, Jr., Judge of the above-styled Court, 10th Floor, Columbus Consolidated Government Center, Muscogee County, Columbus, Georgia.

APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL: For the Petitioner: For the Respondent: HONORABLE ELIZABETH MCBRIDE Attorney at Law Pro se

KATHY S. BOSTIC, R.P.R. OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER CHATTAHOOCHEE JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

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FOLLOWING PROCEEDINGS WERE HAD AND TAKEN: THE COURT: All right. Call your case.

MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: MR. CHAN: THE COURT:

Thank you, Your Honor. Are we ready?

Okay.

Yes, sir. Can we agree that this is

the proper venue for this case? MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: Yes, Your Honor, we agree. And is there any --

Okay.

are there any stipulations that the parties can enter to shorten the hearing? MS. MCBRIDE: We might be able to enter I've not

some stipulations, Your Honor.

spoken with Mr. Chan, who is the Defendant. Your Honor, I represent obviously the Petitioner, Ms. Linda Ellis. And, Your

Honor, this concerns activity -THE COURT: You can have a seat. Your Honor, Ms. Ellis is

MS. MCBRIDE:

the author and writer of a poem called The Dash. And it is now a very well-known poem,

and it was copyrighted in 1996, and I believe it was -- received its certification, I believe is the correct terminology, in 1998. And it is a well-known work. It is known on

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the Internet, and it is protected intellectual property. And this case concerns basically Mr. Chan and his Internet website that he privately owns and operates, and his response to how she has chosen to protect her property rights. But basically when there's the

unauthorized use of her poem, she -- it's legally copyright protected, and she has attorneys or she, herself, will contact persons illegally using her property, and ask them to either stop using it or pay for it. Now, in response to that, I believe Mr. Chan has clients -- I think he will testify to that -- that he assists in responding to her request to be paid for it. And this case

today before the Court is a petition for stalking protective order. Ms. Ellis filed

this petition on her own pro se, and only contacted me after the fact to become involved for purposes of the hearing today. What we will prove today is that under the applicable statute -- and I know the Court already knows the statute -- 16-5-90, et al., under the stalking statute, that the

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Court will be authorized and should in fact enter a permanent stalking protective order to protect Ms. Ellis from communications on the Internet made by Mr. Chan. And that's

what we believe we will show the evidence to show today, Your Honor. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Okay. Your Honor, I would agree to Thank you.

certain stipulations in the interest of expediency, if that means anything to you. MS. MCBRIDE: Well, Your Honor, if he

could go ahead and agree to certain things about his Internet website that would speed it up a lot. MR. CHAN: I will agree to -- I'm sorry. Yeah. He is the owner and

MS. MCBRIDE:

operator -- I think I can develop it on cross, Your Honor. And I had planned on just And if

going into it in cross very quickly.

he'll just stipulate to it as part of cross, I think we can move through much of it very, very quickly. THE COURT: Can we stipulate that she is

the owner of the copyright on the poem? MS. MCBRIDE: Yes.

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THE COURT:

And that she has -Legally copyrighted --

MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT:

-- legal --- protected interests --

MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT:

Do you agree to that? -- in her intellectual

MS. MCBRIDE: property. MR. CHAN: Honor. THE COURT: can we agree to? MS. MCBRIDE:

I would agree to that, Your

All right.

And what else

He is the owner and

operator of a privately owned and controlled website called extortionletterinfo.com, currently on the Internet. stipulate to that? MR. CHAN: Your Honor. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: THE COURT: Are you an attorney? No, sir. I just heard her say that Yes, I think I can do that, Would you

you were giving advice to people. MR. CHAN: Honor. MS. MCBRIDE: I think he can talk about They're conversations, Your

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what was meant by that on some of his postings on his website, just -MR. CHAN: I don't represent myself as My bio is up there.

counsel, and I never do.

It's fairly self-evident, Your Honor. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Okay. All right.

And could we stipulate that I

have never ever represented myself as an attorney? MS. MCBRIDE: of that, Judge. goes into it. I have no knowledge of any

I don't have a problem if he I think it will be reasonable

taking the time -THE COURT: Okay. -- if he wants to testify

MS. MCBRIDE: to that. THE COURT: rule?

Do you want to invoke the

I see there's one -MS. MCBRIDE: Yes, Your Honor, we'll Mr. Jolin will probably be

invoke the rule.

our witness, and he can -You'll have to wait outside, sir. you. THE COURT: All right. Anything else? Is Thank

I think you've given me the basic facts.

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there anything else in the way of opening statements that you'd like to say, Mr. Chan? MR. CHAN: Yes, an additional

stipulation in the interest of saving time is that we discuss those posts, whatever they may have, that I'm only responsible for. I

am not responsible for what other people post on this discussion forum, can we agree to that? MS. MCBRIDE: No, we cannot, Your Honor.

I believe that part is in dispute. THE COURT: else? MR. CHAN: Well, this might be part of Okay. All right. Anything

the testimony, but there's like 14,000 posts. I can stipulate we're going to not -- you know, they've got boxes over there. Honor going to see 14,000 posts here? MS. MCBRIDE: No, Your Honor. We are Is Your

not going to present 14,000 posts, just a few. THE COURT: started. Okay. All right. Let's get

Swear your witness. I'd like to swear -- I'll

MS. MCBRIDE: swear both parties.

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Mr. Chan and Ms. Ellis, if you'll both raise your right hands. (Petitioner and Respondent sworn.) THE COURT: All right. One other item

of housekeeping, do you agree to share in the takedown of the proceedings by the Court Reporter? MS. MCBRIDE: It's all the same to me.

We'll pay for all of it, unless he wants to share, Your Honor. THE COURT: In other words, here's the

-- if you agree to pay half of the takedown then you would have the right to the transcript. If you don't pay then the

transcript would belong to the Petitioner. MR. CHAN: I don't know how much this

will be or how much time it will take to pay for this. I would be interested, Your Honor,

in paying for half of it, but I would like an estimation if possible. THE COURT: record? THE REPORTER: MR. CHAN: request. Sure. Kathy, can you go off the

And, Your Honor, I have a

I was asked by the bailiff to put

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my water -- obviously, I'm unaccustomed to presenting, may I have a water by me? THE COURT: MR. CHAN: it? THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Yes. Thank you, Your Honor. Yes. Thank you, sir. Can I get

(Brief interruption in proceedings.) THE COURT: takedown? MR. CHAN: THE COURT: settled. All right. Go ahead. Your Honor, I would call And, Yes. Okay. All right. That's Do you want to share in the

MS. MCBRIDE:

Mr. Matthew Chan, first as a witness.

Your Honor, I'd request that he take the witness stand. THE COURT: All right. If you would,

come to the stand. MR. CHAN: Seeing as I'm representing

myself, Your Honor, may I bring a notepad and pen -THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Yes. -- in case I have rebuttal?

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MS. MCBRIDE:

Good morning, Mr. Chan.

We haven't met before, I'm Elizabeth McBride, obviously representing Linda Ellis. MATTHEW CHAN, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows: CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Mr. Chan, I believe you stipulated that you are

the owner and operator of a privately-owned website called extortionletterinfo.com, E-L-I, correct? A. Yes, we call it ELI. MS. MCBRIDE: the witness? THE COURT: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Mr. Chan, I want to show you Plaintiff's Exhibit And I want to ask you if that is your Yes. Your Honor, may I approach

1, I've marked it 1.

picture on your website? A. Q. It is. And is this the name of the website,

extortionletterinfo.com, E-L-I? A. Q. Yes. And who is this a picture of here to the right

on your website?

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A. Q. together? A. Q. A. Q.

Oscar Michelen. Now, do you and Mr. Michelen own this website

We do not. Okay. I do. All right. And I'd like to direct your Do you see Do you own it alone?

attention to your welcome page on your website. that? A. Q. I do. All right.

And on your website page it says

E-L-I is a privately owned and privately managed website, correct? A. Q. Correct. And that is a statement you put on your website

that's currently on your website right now? A. Q. I believe so. And that says that it is privately owned and

privately managed, and you've already stipulated to that, correct? A. Q. Yes, but we've said this many times. Sorry.

Now I'd like to direct your attention to one of

the statements on your website, and I believe you're familiar with it, where you put My Case By Matthew Chan. A. Correct.

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Q. A. Q.

And it's all about how you started this website. Yes. Okay. And it says: My name is Matthew Chan. I

am an independent publisher and business author that was unwillingly drawn into this fiasco. sentence, is it not? A. Q. yourself? A. Well, I mean, I am the forum moderator. I'm not Yes. All right. So you independently publish this That's the first

the -- I don't publish every single post that's on there. I accept responsibility for those posts that I write. Q. website? A. Q. A. Q. Yes, it's an open forum -But you delete --- available. You delete posts from it sometimes, don't you, And you allow other people to post on your

posts you don't think are appropriate? A. Q. Occasionally. Okay. So you control whether a post is on there

or not, because you can delete some of them? A. I can delete them, but there are no controls for There are no --

people that post. Q.

Well, you can delete a post that's on there if

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somebody posts it? A. Q.

You deny that?

I have control. You have control over the posts that are on

there because -A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. I don't have --- you can delete them? I can delete them, yes. And you put posts on there yourself? Yes. I do participate myself.

You participate a lot, don't you? It's -- it goes up and down. Now, Mr. Chan, I want to show you another part

of your -- this is the front page of your website where you have these links to various things you have posted on your website, correct? A. Q. Yes, they are like blog posts. Blog posts. And of course you could delete

those if you wanted to, correct? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. That's correct. And you have chosen not to delete them? That's correct. Okay. And they concern Ms. Linda Ellis?

No, not all of them. Do some of them concern Ms. Linda Ellis? Yes, I would say a small fraction, yes.

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Q.

You would say that some do.

Very good.

Now, we

have these right here, E-Mail Wars, Part One, April Brown, auctioneer versus Linda Ellis, author of The Dash poem. There's a link to that. And there are several e-mails

between her and a lady named April Brown. A. Q. Yeah, she submitted them to me. And E-Mail Wars, Part Two, more e-mails, April

Brown versus Linda Ellis, author of The Dash poem? A. Q. Yeah. It was so long I had to do a second link. And then you had to do another

That's right.

one for Part Three, didn't you? A. Q. That's correct. All right. So all of that is content that you

control that is on there concerning Ms. Linda Ellis? A. Q. That's correct. And then I think you have some other drop downs

for her, some other links, The Dash for Cash poem that somebody put on there, correct? A. Q. That's correct. A Poem For Linda by Ron Trammer (phonetic),

that's on there, correct? A. Q. Yes, that's correct. Okay. And you -- all of this you could delete

any time if you wanted to? A. That's correct.

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Q.

You can delete anything on there that you want

A. Q.

That's correct. Now I think on your website you say that you're

a cult leader? A. Yes. That's a colloquial term. It's

tongue-in-cheek and not meant for anybody to seriously believe in that. Q. A. Q. A. I'm --

Are you -Go ahead. Absolutely. Obviously, I'm not so influential and so magical

that everyone's going to blindingly follow everything I say. So that has been done in humor. Q. Your website right now, does it have any terms

and conditions published on it for usage of the website? A. Q. There are general guidelines. All right. So if we turn on a computer and get

on the Internet right now, can you show me where your terms and conditions are on your website? A. I don't think I have a specific link that says There are --

terms and conditions. Q. website.

I think you have no terms and conditions on your I mean let's -- to make this quick, let's

stipulate that there are no terms and conditions for usage

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of the website at this time, correct? A. Q. I didn't know that was required. I'm asking you -- if you'll answer the question,

then you can explain your answer. A. Q. Sorry. So the answer is no, ma'am, there are no terms

and conditions governing usage of the website at this time, correct? A. Q. A. Q. That's correct. Could you please speak up? Yes, that's correct. All right. Now are you familiar with an

attorney named Timothy B. McCormack? A. Q. I am. And I believe that you and Timothy have had some

disputes, correct? A. I never -- I wanted to backtrack. I mean, I've

never met him personally. letter. Q. A. Q.

He sent me, I believe, one

And he is a lawyer representing Getty Images? That's correct. And the purpose of your website, among other

things, is to address letters seeking to prohibit your followers from cooperating with these attorney letters to protect copyrighted information such as Getty Images would

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seek -A. That's not correct. We help people defend

against extortion letters.

Because many of the people who

have come to our website are unsophisticated, they have no legal counsel, and as an open forum for everyone to discuss these matters in a comfortable, safe way. Q. All right. So you had -- Mr. Timothy McCormack

is an attorney for Getty Images, correct? A. Q. Yes, I believe so. And he has written to you before in the past,

has he not? A. Q. Once. And I think you replied to him in a letter to

him, didn't you? A. Q. website? A. Q. I did. All right. So let's -I'd like to approach, Your I believe it was in an open letter. And open letter meaning you put that on your

MS. MCBRIDE:

Honor, may I approach the witness? THE COURT: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Okay. So I'd like to show you Plaintiff's On your website here, on Yes.

Exhibit 2 (tendering).

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extortionletterinfo.com -- there's your picture again, correct? A. Q. Yes. Okay. And you put your open reply to Timothy B.

McCormack on E-L-I? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. Yes. Do you recall putting that on there? I do -And I think --- not specifically what day, but -That's still on there, isn't it -Yes --- on your website? -- I believe so. So we can turn on a laptop computer right now

and pull this letter up on your Internet website right now, can't we? A. Q. That's correct. Okay, good. And you agree we don't have to do

that for purposes of today, you're satisfied that this is a copy -- if you'll take a look -- see if this is a copy of your open reply letter that's on your website to Mr. McCormack. A. Q. Yeah, it appears to be. Well, is it or isn't it? Do we need to fire up

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the Internet or not? A. Q. No, we do not. All right, sir. Okay. Very good. So stipulated.

Now this is in response -- first of all,

this letter is by Matthew Chan in response to a letter that Timothy B. McCormack wrote, correct? MR. CHAN: Your Honor, I would like to

understand what the relevance of all of this is. She keeps belaboring the point over and My picture? What does that have to

over.

do -- I mean I don't -MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: minute. I'll tell him right now -Just a

Wait just a minute.

What I want to know is, I heard

nothing in your opening statement about stalking. This is a stalking case. That's correct. This is not an intellectual It may be tangential to the I

MR. CHAN: THE COURT: property case.

stalking, but let's get to the stalking. told you I've got limited time.

And that's

why I wanted you to stipulate if you can. MS. MCBRIDE: Your Honor, he's very

sophisticated, and I didn't want to say what I plan to prove, but since the Court's asked,

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I will tell you that he has encouraged people on his website to harass Linda Ellis. He has

had some of his followers take a picture of her home, go to her home. threatened -MR. CHAN: THE COURT: MR. CHAN: THE COURT: MR. CHAN: THE COURT: I object to that. Wait just a minute. She's just -Wait. Wait just a minute. He himself has

Oh, I'm sorry. She's just telling me what

she expects to -- now -MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: gotten into that. MR. CHAN: testifying. THE COURT: -- ask him, ask him the Picture of her home -You've already

All right.

Let's go ahead and --

I believe that she's

questions that you -MS. MCBRIDE: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. So on this letter from you to Mr. McCormack you All right.

"My dazzling hypnotic, persuasive and entrancing I

words and prose are somewhat masterful, I must confess. can convince the most intelligent, self-determined and

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self-motivated person to blindly follow my public" -"blindly follow any public suggestion I might make." you said that, didn't you, in your letter? A. I did. But any reasonable person reading that Now

would not take that literally, that I'm dazzling and masterful and I'm hypnotic. I'm not a hypnotist. I'm just

an average guy who runs a website. sarcastic.

It was meant to be very

And I think the average, reasonable person It was meant to be

would be able to determine that.

sarcastic, and meant in somewhat -- maybe vicious humor. MS. MCBRIDE: approach? THE COURT: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. All right. MR. CHAN: So -And, Your Honor, I don't see My Yes. Your Honor, may I

how -- you know, it refers to stalking. influencing, my masterful, my hypnotic effects. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Well, let's let the Court decide.

Now, here you Linda Ellis

have a posting on your website, it says, "Re: is also a meme...what an Internet icon." "Linda wanted to be right.

And you say:

Well, she is "dead" right now. Nice little

All of this might be part of her legacy.

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milestone in her dash" -- meaning on her tombstone, because The Dash poem you stipulate refers to what we say -- what people say about us when we die -- "her dash during the summer of 2012." website? A. Q. A. I did not. The -Did you say that on your Internet

You deny that? I deny the part where Ms. Linda Ellis is a meme,

that was simply a carryon of a threat, and I would also like to emphasize that the word dead is in apostrophes, it is not meant -- it was meant to be a figurative speech, and it was meant -Q. A. Q. Okay. You said that. You did say that part?

I did say that figuratively. Okay. Said that figuratively. Okay. Now, next

page, you go on and on talking -- and this is your posting from that -- and you say: THE COURT: "So, maybe she" --

Let me interrupt just a

second and find out what the status of their case is. MS. HARDY: We're going to need a

hearing on that, Your Honor. THE COURT: All right. And I've excused

everybody until 1:15. y'all staying here.

So there's no need in

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MS. HARDY:

Thank you, Judge. Your Honor, I'm getting

MS. MCBRIDE:

through this as quickly as I can. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. "So maybe she will understand potential You said that about Linda

consequences to her personally." Ellis, didn't you? A.

Yes, but there was nothing specific, it was just

a boisterous post. Q. Okay. And another boisterous post: "I was far

more patient and had restraint with Julie" -- who was another lady you went after -- "than I should have. won't happen here. if need be." A. Julie was an attorney, much more sophisticated, It

I will pull that trigger much quicker

accusing us of defaming her when that was not the case. Q. need be." A. Again, a figurative speech, done in public, open Okay. "I will pull that trigger much quicker if

forum, around several hundred people. Q. A. Q. A. Q. "And I don't fight alone." You said that?

That's another figurative speech. But you admit to saying it on your website -Yes, it is in print. -- posting it on your website?

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A. Q. A. Q.

That's correct. Probably still there? That's probably -- that's correct. It's still there. All right. Now, you go on

and you say: Team Ellis? A.

"I say all this to let Team Ellis" -- who's

It's an ambiguous -- it was an opened-ended I guess Linda

term, because I don't know her operation.

Ellis is supported by John Jolin and her legal team, such as yourself. Q. Okay. So this is all of us. "I say all of this

to let Team Ellis and others know that my client" -- your client -- is your client April Brown? A. I don't know the context of this particular

post, off my head. Q. Well, you may take a look at it and tell me who

your client is in that. A. Q. A. Q. Is that relevant to the -- to the stalking? I submit that it is. It was actually Peter Burwash. Okay, your client Peter Burwash. And how much

did Peter Burwash pay you to do this? A. How is that relevant to anything? There was no

legal counsel there, so I don't see the relevance at all. Q. Well, how was he a client?

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A.

He's a -- we do PR as well.

And as I will

testify later, one of the things we do is online publicity as well as reporting. Q. So he is a client for whom you provide some type

of services, but not legal services? A. Q. A. No, no legal services. I have --

And how much did he pay you? I don't see how it's relevant, but I think it

was -- I don't see how that's relevant. MS. MCBRIDE: Your Honor, would the

Court instruct him to answer the question? THE COURT: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. A. Q. How much did he pay you? I believe it was $300. Okay. So you're paid to talk about Linda and Yes, answer the question.

Team Ellis on the Internet? A. It wasn't specific, it was open-ended. He did

not give me instructions. Q. A. the case. Q. Is the purpose of your website to pressure Linda Okay. He wanted help into motivating Linda to settle

to settling the case on behalf of your client? A. It is not. The website is much larger than

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Linda Ellis, it's much larger. Q.

In fact --

What is the purpose of all the postings against

Linda Ellis? A. Well, Peter Burwash took offense to coming after

a hundred thousand dollar claim over sharing a poem, and that sparked a lot of anger. Q. So what is the purpose of communicating with

Linda on the website? A. Q. A. I didn't communicate with Linda. What is the purpose of the postings? I didn't ever communicate with Linda, and that's

part of my testimony. Q. Linda? A. Q. A. doing. Q. It is an open forum which anybody can read. Well, what's the purpose of it? The purpose was to let people know what I was And it speaks for itself. Okay. "Once you get the attack machine going What is the purpose of the communications about

using the resources that I do, it will be hard to stop it without a great deal of effort." you, on your website? A. Q. Correct. Another heading, Collateral Damage: "I already You said that, didn't

have an idea of how this might work, but it is all

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contingent upon Team Linda's actions and if they become nasty or not. I predict there will be some collateral

damage to innocents on her side, but it doesn't matter to me. This could mean exposing information on her family You said that, didn't you? Yes, but I have never done it. I have never

members." A.

acted on it. Q. Another, Personal Revenge in Payback: "I

absolutely believe in revenge and payback. long memory. I make no secret of it.

I also have a

If pushed far I won't elaborate on

enough, I am capable of many things.

what I might be capable of, and I don't ever want anyone to push me too far." A. that. Q. And I suppose this was colloquial too? "I You said that, didn't you?

I did that simply in a colloquial way, I did say

absolutely subscribe to getting personal revenge and personal payback against those copyright extortion employees." A. It's an -- it's an open statement for people to

read, which I've never acted on. Q. A. Q. You said that on your website? I did. Thank you. Okay. "I am holding back for a

couple of good reasons.

One of them is your daughter.

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Yes, I know a lot about her."

Now I think you're basically

directing this comment to Linda, aren't you, about her daughter? A. change. Q. did you? A. Q. I can't recall exactly. It's possible. It's Okay. So you didn't mean Linda personally or It was open -- I mean, when I write the tenses

You can't recall if you meant that.

possible you meant Linda. Okay. "I believe she is innocent in all this

and she could be affected by the info I have released." You said that, didn't you? A. Q. Yes. Okay. "I hesitate a bit on going more personal

simply because I know there will be a ripple effect" -A. Q. A. Wouldn't it be quicker --- "that will go beyond you." -- just to admit this as an exhibit instead of

using up the Court's time? Q. A. You said that, didn't you, that last statement? Wouldn't it be quicker just to -THE COURT: MR. CHAN: asking. This is her case, sir. Oh, I'm sorry. I was just

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THE COURT: MR. CHAN: THE COURT: MR. CHAN: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. A. Q.

You don't get to decide -I'm sorry. -- what she puts up. Yes, sir.

Did you say that? Can you repeat the post? "But I hesitate a bit on going more personal

simply because I know there will be a ripple effect that will go beyond you," talking to Linda? A. Q. A. I wrote that. You were talking to Linda, weren't you? It changes from paragraph to paragraph, that's

the whole thing. Q. So are you saying that's not directed to Linda

personally? A. time was. Q. A. Q. So it could have been Linda? It could have been. Could have been. Okay. Well, it was some I can't remember what my state of mind at the

person, some person whose child -- if it's not -A. It's an open post. But that was never e-mailed. We have

It was never transmitted.

It was never faxed.

never had -- I'm going to testify to that.

It was never

29

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

directed -- I have never directed anything at her. Q. you." "Believe me when I tell you I have a lot on "There are people who hate you and looking to

Okay?

put you in the ground." A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. you? A. Q. Yes. You wanted the recipient of that to see that, That's a figurative speech. You said that, didn't you? I wrote it. On your website? Yes. Okay. You could delete it any time, couldn't

didn't you? A. I had no -- I believed that she saw it, but

whether she saw it or not doesn't matter. Q. A. Q. Okay. "I do have" -Anybody participates.

It's an open forum.

"I do have information that I can post that I am Again,

certain you would like and not do you well." talking to Linda? A. Q. A. Did I write that?

Yes, I did write that.

Were you talking to Linda? I have no confirmation, I have no idea whether I suspect that she read it, but

or not she ever read it.

30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

that's about it. Q. deny that?

It's an open post. Do you You were

You intended it for her, didn't you?

Are you denying that to Judge Jordan?

talking to Linda, weren't you? A. Q.

Are you going to deny that?

No, I won't deny that. All right. And, in fact, you go on to say:

"But I will leave a few nuggets to let you" -- meaning Linda -- "know I mean business. Some of this will mean

very little to most people, but YOU" -- capitalized -"should get it. and age. A. Q. A. Q. Public information. 2, David Lynn Ellis, 52, her husband. Yes, that was public information. 3, MEE, the initials of her daughter, and then Do you deny it? 1, Linda Marie Hicks Ellis, 50, her name

museum, where her daughter works. A. Q. she lives. A. Q. A. Q. No. Okay.

4, Roswell Downs, her subdivision where

Do you deny it? But no one would know. She would know, correct? Yes. Okay. So you threatened by letting her know you

know where she lives, you know her daughter and where her daughter lives?

31

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 low.

A.

I made no such -- I made no threats, in a way,

it was more because this is a business dispute, as you have said, in the beginning. You stipulated that in the opening

and that's actually what I would be opening with, but anyhow. Q. Okay. "So there are people who hate you and Now you said to the

looking to put you in the ground."

attorney that you can get people to blindly follow any public suggestion that you make. that a few minutes ago? A. That is boisterous statement. No reasonable I'm just -Do you recall identifying

person would ever believe that I'm that good. they just wouldn't.

If I told somebody to go kill

somebody, they're not going to do it, I can promise you that. Q. Okay. "Just so you know, my patience is fairly

It wouldn't take much to push me over the edge on You said that right after your list of little

this."

nuggets for Linda, didn't you? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. I did say that. It's probably up there right now, isn't it? I wrote that, yes. You haven't deleted it? I have not. You're probably going home after this and

32

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

deleting it, though, aren't you? A. No. I generally don't delete posts. Even -- I

knew this was -- I knew there were posts that would be hurtful -- possibly hurtful and ruin my image, but I left it up there. Q. A. Q. isn't he? A. Q. A. reseller. Q. A. Q. A. Q. Who's the host? I don't really know. I think you'd know the host of your website. No -Are you telling Judge Jordan you don't know the I believe he's a reseller of a host, yes. Does he host your website? He helps -- he's not the true host, he's a Who is Robert Krausankas? He's a person that lives in Jupiter, Florida. And he is the host of your website currently,

host of your website? A. -- I do not know the host. He resells it, I go

through him.

But there is a -- he doesn't own the

multimillion dollar equipment. Q. as host? A. I consider him the host, but he truly is not the Is your website established and run through him

33

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

equipment owner, I mean, if we're going technical. -- he doesn't own servers. house, okay?

I guess

He's a guy that works out of a

We call him a host, but most people -- even a

Columbus, Georgia website here, the government website, I mean, do we consider the host to be the person that, you know, services the website, or is it the person that owns the equipment? So that's the distinction. But I do go through Robert,

MR. CHAN: Your Honor. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q.

Your prior host stopped doing business with you

because of your content, didn't they? A. I moved -- I actually moved the content and And that's another --

released -- and cooperated. Q. A.

And they still fired you, didn't they? Yes, they terminated our eight year

relationship. Q. That's right, terminated an eight year business Now --

relationship because of your content, that's right. A. No, the content was removed. MR. CHAN: It was entirely removed in 24 When they brought the

hours, Your Honor.

objection, we chose to move it off. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Okay. Mr. Robert Krausankas put a comment and a

34

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

post on your website.

Do you see his picture there?

That's him, isn't it, Robert Krausankas? A. Q. Yes. Okay. He says: "Matthew Chan visits Linda

Ellis's hometown of Marietta, Georgia." A. Q. A. Q. That is true. And that's on your website today, isn't it? Yes, that is true. And he says: That was -- yes.

"Just spoke with Matthew, he's

en route to none other than Marietta, Georgia for a social event, dot dot dot. Wouldn't it be ironic if he, quote,

"happened upon Dash author and copyright troll Linda Ellis"? A. First of all, I'm not responsible for that post,

but I think he meant that as sort of a jab. Q. Okay. "Re: Then you put a little response on there, Matthew Chan visits Linda Ellis's I'm not going to say where

didn't you?

hometown in Marietta, Georgia.

exactly in Marietta I was, but let's just say I was in East Cobb very close to a Kroger grocery store, essentially a short distance from Roswell Downs," her subdivision. A. Well, I said that. I don't really know exactly

how far, but I know the East Cobb area is generally fairly large. Q. Okay. Now --

35

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

A.

And for the record, I was on a date, Georgia And that was a reason. It was a

Lipp (phonetic).

tongue-in-cheek comment. Q. Now, here's Mr. Krausankas, and I believe he

posted her home? A. Yes. MR. CHAN: That's a public photo coming

from Google Street View, Your Honor. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. I guess you are referring to this house located

at 3349 Preakness Court, Marietta, Georgia, her home? A. he posts. He posted it, but I'm not responsible for what And plus, he got it from -- he got it from

Google Street View, where anybody can pull up her picture. Anybody can pull up my picture, even Your Honor's picture, any one of these. Q. Okay. Google is everywhere. So you think it's okay to put a picture

of her house on your website? A. Q. A. Well, Google apparently thinks it's okay. I'm asking you do you think it's okay. I was -- I was neutral. I wasn't -- I didn't --

I didn't bring judgment. Q. A.

I don't --

You could delete this off, couldn't you? I could. There was no judgment on that, one way

or the other.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Q.

Okay.

This was December the 14th -- so 2012,

it's been up there for awhile? A. Yes, but I didn't post it. I didn't even tell

him to post it. Q. And it's been up there since two weeks ago when

you got served with this temporary protective order, because you just said it's still up there now. A. It is, because I figured the Court would want to So there has been --

preserve whatever it is. MR. CHAN:

There has been no deletions,

Your Honor, intentionally, good or bad, because I respect the courts. live in Marietta. You know, I

You know, I sort of know

-- and I file evictions and stuff, and I want to let Your Honor see these things, good and bad. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Okay. You also say: "If anyone knows me and You said that too on

how I operate, this is no bluff." your website, didn't you? A. Q. picture.

Yes, everybody knows I'm a big talker. Now, let's look at this: Laughable, isn't it? Ready, Aim, Fire, a

Sexually explicit,

humiliating pictures -A. It is not sexually explicit. It's a --

37

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 area.

Q. A.

Do you think it's funny? It is humorous. It is humorous. If you look at

it, these are 1776 uniforms. it. Q. A.

It's the strike you put on

There's Linda's head put on it, isn't it? You know, in my website, my head's been put on

different things as well, all of us. Q. A. I'm asking if Linda's head is on there. Yes. Her head is on this costumed uniform. It

has not moved. Q. Sitting there, her hands covering her private

It says Ready -A. Q. A. It's a soldier. -- Ready, Aim, Fire? Yes, it was humor. And I think anybody that It

would ever see that would see that it's very humorous. may not be appropriate. Q. A. You think it's humorous?

I would say that more than one person could see Probably a little mean-spirited, but maybe There's a lot

that as humor.

it would be -- you know, but it is humorous. of mean-spirited humor in this world. Q.

No Hard Sells is another posting on your "Even if Peter" -- your client --

website, and you say:

"wanted us to stop going after Team Linda, it might be too

38

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

late after a certain threshold is crossed.

Once you get

the attack machine going using the resources that I do, it will be hard to stop it" -A. Q. A. This is all talk --- "without a great deal of effort." -- of what I might do. I have not done anything

related to stalking.

This is all boisterous talk, as I

will testify to, when I present my case. EXHIBIT TENDERED-PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 3 MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Your Honor, I'd offer P-3. Any objection?

Okay.

And, Your Honor, there are -There's 20,000

I would like to offer this. posts, okay?

I mean minus -I don't want to offer

MS. MCBRIDE: 20,000. MR. CHAN: like that.

-- or 19,000, or something

And this is a small fraction of And it's

what goes on, a small fraction.

read by thousands of people every month. Almost nobody lives in Georgia. this in the proper context. EXHIBIT ADMITTED-PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 3 THE COURT: All right. Plaintiff's Let's put

Exhibit 3 is admitted.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Now in your letter to Mr. McCormack, the

attorney, you talk about how it's okay to record telephone conversations in Georgia. A. I believe that's correct based on the I

information that I saw, as long as it's two parties. don't remember the specifics, but I did look it up. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. So you've made some phone calls? To who? To Mr. Jolin, who's a witness outside. I have never called Mr. Jolin. You have called his home, have you not? I have never called his home. You deny that? I absolutely deny that. You deny ever calling his home, where his

fiancee has been -A. Q. A. I absolutely deny that -You deny calling his --- absolutely and equivocally, on my life, never

called anybody, Ms. Ellis or Mr. Jolin. Q. fiancee? A. I absolutely deny. And I will absolutely All right. Do you deny calling Mr. Jolin's

testify and I will swear on my life that I have never

40

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

called anybody.

I am a big talker, and that's -- but it And this is what -- the case

has never crossed the line. is about stalking.

And I'd really -Okay. Let's limit it to the

THE COURT:

case of Ms. Ellis against him. MS. MCBRIDE: that. Yes, sir. I'll live with

Thank you, Your Honor. MR. CHAN: Thank you, Your Honor. I got

angered. MS. MCBRIDE: approach? THE COURT: All right. While you're Okay. Your Honor, may I

doing that, let me ask Ms. Ford, do you have any cases? MS. FORD: make proof. THE COURT: If you'll wait till we get Yes, Your Honor, I have one

to a stopping point, we can do that. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. You have a video currently shown on a website

called Vimeo, correct? A. Q. That's correct. And it's a conversation between you and Mr.

Krausankas? A. It's a very open conversation, yes.

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Q. A.

About Linda Ellis? Yes. We talk about a lot of people in our

broadcast shows. MR. CHAN: We run a show called the ELI

Factor, Your Honor, which people are interested in our commentary and feedback. It's open nature. We do a lot of laughing.

It's not -- you know, we're dressed in casual clothes. And, you know, it's all done in

good humor. MS. MCBRIDE: Your Honor, may I approach

the Bench and the witness simultaneously? THE COURT: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. A. Mr. Chan, that's you on the video, isn't it? That's correct. MS. MCBRIDE: All right. Your Honor, Ms. Yes.

I'm not very good with technology.

Ellis, if she can approach, with the Court's permission, she's going to press play. just afraid I'll mess it up. MR. CHAN: I believe this is a 30-minute I'm

video, Your Honor. MS. MCBRIDE: It's not -- we've got it

at fast forward to the appropriate --

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MS. ELLIS:

We do have the entire video,

but we have it fast forward. (Video played for the Court.) MR. CHAN: I did say that.

It's a show, Your Honor. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Wait just a second. I'm sorry.

(Video concluded.) MR. CHAN: I would like to add that I

was venting, Your Honor. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Okay. All the Linda Ellis stuff on your

website's directed to her personally, isn't it? A. Q. A. That is not true. All the stuff regarding Linda Ellis -The ones you pointed out appears to be, but not There's so many. Again, if

everything is directed to her.

you want to produce every single post, you'll find that so many is not directed to her. MR. CHAN: And, again, I would like to

emphasize, Your Honor, it is done openly. You know, I can be a little bit mean, and I get a little bit irritated. Your Honor just

saw me get a little irritated a little bit earlier when they were saying things. I do

43

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

get irritated. I get irritated that she -- it's not my -- I don't have a dog in the fight, but I do get passionate about these seventy-five hundred dollar letters. them to me. crying. People keep sending People are And

They complain.

You know, I get all of this.

this hundred thousand dollar lawsuit just made me crazy. Maybe it was inappropriate,

but it's not -- I really don't hate Ms. Ellis. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: THE COURT: questions. Any more questions? MR. CHAN: ahead. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. I'd like to show you Plaintiff's Exhibit 4, Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Go Sir -Oh, I'm sorry. You must be responding to

which is an affidavit of Mr. Timothy B. McCormack with his signature on it. This is the original which I'm going to

set here for just a minute, and I'm going to work from a copy. Mr. Timothy McCormack, the lawyer that you have had

some dealings with by mail -A. No. I've only had -- he interacted with me once

44

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

and I wrote one open letter. interactions. Q. you. Okay.

That's not a whole bunch of

Well, let me tell you what he says about "Based on

He says in Paragraph 7 of his affidavit:

recent posts attached as Exhibit B" -- which are posts from your website -- "and on my experience as an attorney, and based on his own words and pattern of escalating behavior that I have personally witnessed, I believe Mr. Chan is likely to follow through on his threats of physical retaliation against Linda Ellis." A. Q. A. Q. A. That's ridiculous. You deny that -I deny that --- deny what this lawyer says in this affidavit? Oh, no, I don't deny it, but I deny that I would I've dealt with landlords

ever get physical with anybody.

and tenants who have pissed me off so much, but I've never done anything physical. I always go through the court And I'm in

system, and I -- you know, that's what I do. the -- well, go ahead. Q.

"I have already witnessed manifestations of

Mr. Chan and his website's threats in the past, my home property has been vandalized since becoming a target of extortionletterinfo.com, which I believe to be a direct result of Mr. Chan's hate and harassment campaign directed

45

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

against me.

Members of Mr. Chan's website have visited the

physical location of their targets, taken pictures, and shared details of these locations." Do you deny that? A. Q. house. A. Q. A. But that was a Google -You still deny it? That was a Google photo that Robert posted. I This is all news to me, to be honest with you. You saw the picture on your website of Linda's

didn't do that. Q. So you don't deny that they do post location of

your people that you have a campaign against on your website, location of their home? A. Q. We stick to publicly available information. No, but the answer -- you can explain your You don't deny that

answer, but answer the question.

members of your website and people authorized to put on posts, will post personal information, including the home and location of -A. Q. Occasionally, yes. You don't deny that. That's true in this

affidavit, isn't it? A. Yes. I just don't want my statements to be

taken out of context.

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Q.

Okay.

Paragraph 9 -Very quickly, Judge, I'm

MS. MCBRIDE: almost done. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q.

"Extortionletterinfo.com regularly posts home

addresses, photos of family members, and other personal details of its targets. Extortionletterinfo.com has also

targeted other female victims with aggressively misogynistic and violent threats." A. Q. Do you deny that?

Well, that's a lot right there. Well, I want to know if you deny it or not.

Read it for yourself. A. Well, first of all, you're trying to attribute

all of that to me, and I already stated to you that I'm only responsible for my posts -Q. A. Wrong. You said you could delete any post.

That's doesn't -- deleting is not the same thing I'm not the author. I don't tell people over

as posting.

there -- like, I didn't tell Robert, hey, go post this thing. Deleting is not the same as posting, and providing And I think everyone would agree with that. "He" -- meaning Mr. Chan -- "is

information. Q.

Paragraph 10:

effectively using the Internet as a weapon to circumvent normal legal channels and frighten his opponents into submission." Isn't that what you use your Internet website

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for? A. 2008. No, because my fight has long been over, back in And

It's used -- there's a lot of good information.

I would like to add, you mentioned in your -- that Oscar Michelen, he's a New York attorney with 25 years of experience -MR. CHAN: Which I have a letter for

you, Your Honor -A. -- that he would not associate himself with

anybody that would do criminal behavior. EXHIBIT TENDERED-PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 4 MS. MCBRIDE: Your Honor, I'd offer

Plaintiff's 4, which is the affidavit of Timothy McCormack. signature on it. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Any objection? I object that he really can't He's not It has an original

speak to the motives of the people. anywhere in Georgia.

He can't speak to the

-- he's in Seattle, thousands of miles away. He has no context whatsoever. And he is -- I He

don't believe he's ever met Linda Ellis. can't speak to that. He can speak to his

opinion about me, regarding him, but he can't speak to me regarding Ms. Ellis, since we're

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thousands of miles apart. THE COURT: All right. The objection

goes to the weight, not the admissibility. MS. MCBRIDE: I trust the Court to give

it the appropriate probative value, Your Honor. EXHIBIT ADMITTED-PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 4 THE COURT: objection. MR. CHAN: you. THE COURT: I've admitted the exhibit What' that? I didn't hear I'll admit it over

over your objection. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Okay. Now, Mr. Chan, very briefly, any attorney

that has been -- had the nerve to take you on, you also start a campaign against them on your website, don't you? A. question. Q. Have you ever started a campaign against an What attorney -- that's a very open-ended

attorney on your website? A. Q. A. I would say not. Not ever? Well, I don't know what you mean by campaign. I

mean -- can I speak out about it?

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Q. A.

Did you ever post -When I -- when I was served the TRO, I wanted I didn't say anything It's open forum. I

help, and I posted on that. derogatory.

I mean, I asked for help.

mean, people keep forgetting that. Q. I think you've posted on your website comments

about Mr. McCormack personally. A. Yes. You know, there's all kinds of websites In fact, I have people

that post all kinds of things.

write about me, some bad things, it's happened to me. Q. Mr. McCormack in his affidavit says that there

are attorneys in his law firm that don't want to take you on because they're afraid you'll go after them on your website. A. Q. A. What -Is that overkill? What do you mean by going after? Because we

publish information about them? information.

This is publicly available I

There's nobody visiting that I know of.

certainly don't sanction that. Q. A. record. Okay. And I have no record. I have no criminal

There is no record of this behavior, besides me

talking a lot, and I -- you know, I do use profanity -Q. Now, you were served --

50

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 15th? done.

A.

-- but judge me for my actions, what I have

THE COURT: question. MR. CHAN: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q.

Okay, Mr. Chan, answer the

I'm sorry.

You were served with a copy of the Stalking

Ex Parte Temporary Protective Order on February 15th, were you not? A. Q. A. Yeah, that's -- sounds about right. Sir? I believe so. I don't remember the exact day.

In front of me, I don't have the paperwork. Q. So it's been about -- on or around February the

A. Q.

Correct. And you have not taken down any of those

postings I've showed you, since you got this? A. I -- I feel that it would be much more

inappropriate if I did take it down, in light of this upcoming court case. That -- it could have been spun the So

other way around, oh, okay, he decided to take it down. I chose to leave it up. MS. MCBRIDE: That's all of this

witness, Your Honor.

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THE COURT:

All right.

It's 12, and

I've got to take -- go to a meeting. MS. MCBRIDE: We've got about five

minutes to go, Judge. THE COURT: Huh? Five minutes for her to

MS. MCBRIDE:

just testify briefly. THE COURT: Okay. And then I've got to

take this right here. All right. Five minutes.

LINDA ELLIS, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Very briefly, Ms. Ellis. You are author of The

Dash poem, correct? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. Yes, I am. Copyrighted in 1996? Yes. And do you live in -- where do you live? Preakness Court in Marietta, Georgia. And what is the name of your subdivision? Roswell Downs. So that list of items that Mr. Chan just

52

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testified to, your name, that was your correct name, wasn't it? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. My name. And your husband's name? My husband's name. What's MEE, which he put on that list? That's for Marie Elizabeth Ellis, my daughter. And where does Marie work? At the High Museum of Art. Okay. So when he put MEE, museum, did you feel

that that was targeted toward your daughter? A. Q. A. Q. A. home. Q. A. out front. Q. A. Ms. Ellis, is this a copy of The Dash poem? Yes. MS. MCBRIDE: Your Honor, I'd like to And that was a picture of your home? A picture of my home, vehicles and everything I did. And when he put -- was it Roswell Homes? Roswell Downs. Roswell Downs. He put that on his website?

He put that on his website with a picture of my

just hand it up to the Court so the Court can see an example of her work to understand the

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context of it. read it. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q.

The Court doesn't have to

Very briefly, Ms. Ellis, how did -- how does

this -- first of all, do you believe Mr. Chan has a campaign of harassment against you? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. I do. And is he trying to scare you? He is and has. Are you scared? Yes, ma'am. Are you intimidated? Yes. Why? Why is that so scary for you?

Because of the threats he's made saying that I'm My mother's in We're I take

dead, putting me in front of a firing line.

tears when there's a car parked outside my home. afraid to go inside. We have the shades drawn. If he says they're

these threats seriously.

tongue-in-cheek, there's no way for others that follow him, nor myself to know those are tongue-in-cheek. made as a comedy. They're not

They're direct threats to me and my

safety and my child. Q. One last thing, Plaintiff's 7, is this a posting

that was on Mr. Ellis's website?

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A. Q. A. Q.

On Matthew Chan's website? Excuse me. Matthew Chan's website. I'm sorry.

That's okay. And it says, Re: Ellis, get ready, we are

coming after you, exclamation, exclamation, posted on December 4th, 2012? A. Q. Yes. And then it has pictures of very horrible demons

it looks like. A. Q. Right. All right. MR. CHAN: And then it has these words -I object, Your Honor. These

posts were not -- I mean, she's just testified to what has been posted, but it's not by me or -- it's not by me. this. MS. MCBRIDE: Internet? THE WITNESS: MS. MCBRIDE: Do you want to hear it? Judge, she'd be happy to Can we pull it up on the I object to

pull it up on the Internet -MR. CHAN: She can post it, but it It's being

doesn't reveal that it's my name. taken out of context. MS. MCBRIDE:

I didn't post that.

We can go to his Internet

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

website right now and pull it up. MR. CHAN: It's on the website, Your

Honor, but I object to that, because -THE COURT: MR. CHAN: me. THE COURT: That goes to the weight and I'll admit it if All right. -- it's being attributed to

not the admissibility.

you're going -- are you going to publish it? MS. MCBRIDE: I offered Plaintiff's 7

and she can -- it's on there right now on the Internet. The lyrics of The Hearse Song. They have this posted next

THE WITNESS:

to we are coming after you. (Video starts playing.) MR. CHAN: video at all. even heard. (Video stops playing.) THE COURT: Okay. Is this on the I have not even heard this It's a song that I have never

website that we've been talking about? THE WITNESS: THE COURT: website? MS. MCBRIDE: Yes. Yes.

Is this a shot from that

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MR. CHAN: Your Honor.

We do not post that video, I'm not trying to

I apologize.

-- I'm just saying that they post a link and it shows up. And it is out there on -I did not post it.

somewhere, on YouTube. MS. MCBRIDE: isn't it? MR. CHAN:

It's on your website,

Yes, it is. And you can delete it,

MS. MCBRIDE: can't you? MR. CHAN:

Yes, I can. Been on there since

MS. MCBRIDE:

December 4th of 2012? MR. CHAN: I believe so. And definitely still on

MS. MCBRIDE:

there since you were served with this Stalking Ex Parte Temporary Protective Order? MR. CHAN: Once again, I felt it was

much more inappropriate to do housecleaning in light of this hearing. was very inappropriate. I felt that that I'm not a lawyer,

but I didn't think the Court would like that sort of thing. It sort of makes it seem like

you're trying to cover something up. BY MS. MCBRIDE:

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Q.

Ms. Ellis, are you asking for a permanent

stalking protective order? A. Yes. Yes, please. That's it, Judge. That's

MS. MCBRIDE: all we have. THE COURT:

We're going to have to And I'll -- I've

continue this after lunch.

got two other cases, and I'll have to see what the status of those cases are. How long do you anticipate your presentation will be? MR. CHAN: Well, Your Honor, I thought

it was going to be shorter, but, you know, obviously I got, you know, surprised by some of the things that were presented. guessing maybe an hour. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Okay. All right. I'm

I mean, I will do everything

I can to expedite, Your Honor. THE COURT: Be back at 1:30. Thank you, Your Honor.

MS. MCBRIDE:

(Lunch recess.) THE COURT: had rested. MS. MCBRIDE: Yes, Your Honor, we rest. Ms. McBride, I believe you

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THE COURT: witnesses? MR. CHAN: person. myself. THE COURT:

Mr. Chan, you have

I do not.

I will be the sole

I'll be testifying on behalf of

All right.

And you've

already been sworn, so I'll hear from you now. MR. CHAN: You know, we were in such a

flurry before lunch, and I didn't want to interrupt you, but I never got a copy of the exhibits. I mean, I've got exhibits for

them, but they didn't give me any exhibits that they've submitted. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Okay. Again, respectfully, because

I am in the cross-examination stage, I would like the opportunity to review it, because I was caught off guard. counsel to -THE COURT: (tendering). Here's the exhibits I wasn't prepared for

You can come up and -May I have some time? How much time do you need? Would 30 minutes be

MR. CHAN: THE COURT: MR. CHAN:

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appropriate? THE COURT: Okay. I'll have to go on

with another case, and it may -- I don't know when I will -MR. CHAN: Okay. Also, I mean, because

I know your time is valuable, I do have a memorandum of law that I would like to submit to you, Your Honor. both sides. And I have a copy for

May I give it to you? Yes. Okay.

THE COURT: MR. CHAN:

I guess -- am I allowed to

take 30 minutes, and have you go on? THE COURT: minutes. MR. CHAN: THE COURT: back. (Break in proceedings.) THE COURT: MR. CHAN: THE COURT: All right. I'm sorry? Are you ready to proceed? You may proceed. Thank you, sir. All right. If you'll move Okay. We'll give you 30

EXHIBIT TENDERED-DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT A MR. CHAN: Yes. I forget to mention

that the memorandum of law that I submitted to you, I'd like to submit that as Exhibit A.

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THE COURT:

Any objection? No objection.

MS. MCBRIDE:

EXHIBIT ADMITTED-DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT A THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Ms. Ellis. please? CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. CHAN: Q. Ms. Ellis, on Exhibit 7, on this video, who Okay. It's admitted.

I would like to cross-examine

Would you take the witness stand,

posted that? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. house? A. Q. A. This was one of the -What does that say? BuddhaPi Krausankas, the gentleman in the video April Brown posted it on your website. Okay. So it was not me that posted it?

No, you commented afterwards. But I didn't post it? You didn't post it and you didn't delete it. Is that a song? Yes, it is. Yes. Okay. It's a video of a song. Who posted this picture of your

with you earlier. Q. Do you know where he got that photo from?

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 kind?

A. Q.

No, I don't. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Ellis, have we ever met

before today? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. In person, no. Okay. Have we ever spoken before today?

Voice to voicemail. Have I ever e-mailed you? Personal e-mails, e-mail to e-mail, no. Have I ever telephoned you? Not me personally. Have I ever telephoned you directly? No. Have I ever mailed you a letter or a note of any

A.

Yes, I did, I received a letter from

extortionletterinfo.com, which I am currently trying to locate so I can honestly say yes, I have been notified with a ransom note type letter. Q. A. Have I personally, Matthew Chan -It was from extortionletterinfo.com, which is

what you own, so I say yes. Q. A. Q. A. Okay. No. Have I ever text messaged you? Not that I know of. Have I ever faxed you?

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Q. A.

Isn't it true that I've never contacted you? I feel you have contacted me with open letters

that are on the Internet right now that say open letter to Linda Ellis. Q. Okay. But based on the other questions I asked

you, I haven't -- you don't believe I've contacted you? A. The other question -- an open letter is a

contact to me. Q. Okay. Have you ever seen me or come over --

come over to your house? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. Seen you come over to my house? Yes. No, I have not. Have you ever seen me follow you? I've never seen you follow me. Okay. Do you have any evidence I've ever

followed you? A. I have your postings on the Internet that you've

been near my home. Q. On surveillance. Okay. Have you ever seen me

drive by your house? A. I've only read that you've posted that you've

driven by my subdivision, on more than one occasion. Q. A. Can you show us that? We did, it's in the exhibits, yes. It's in Tim

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McCormack's exhibit -- affidavit, the postings by you on your website where you say you went by Roswell Downs, my home. Q. A. Q. Okay. That's not true, but okay. They're in proof.

Oh, I have them. That's fine.

Have I ever placed you or your

home under surveillance? A. I believe -- no, not that -- except for your I'm sorry.

postings on the Internet, that's all I know.

There is one post where you say that you're coming to my home with high powered lens cameras, video cameras. do have that proof. Q. And we

So I believe that's surveillance.

Would it be a fair statement to say that

everything that you're complaining about is a public Internet post on an open forum? A. Q. A. Q. It's also for the world to see. So it's public? You're on a privately-owned site that you own -Anybody can see those. MS. MCBRIDE: Let her finish. Let her

answer your question. MR. CHAN: THE COURT: answers. MR. CHAN: Yes. Okay. No, I'm asking the questions. But she can explain her

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THE WITNESS:

Posted on a website that

you own and control. BY MR. CHAN: Q. A. Q. On your petition -I'm sorry? This petition (indicating), is this your

handwriting? A. Q. Yes, it is. Okay. Okay. It says here that I've posted --

I've posted threats of death. A. Q. A. Right. Is that true? Yes. You said you are dead. You said -- you

put pictures of me in front of a firing squad that says Ready, Aim, Fire. You've -- you've let be posted on your

website and did not delete -Q. A. But that wasn't me that posted. But you're in control of your website. MS. MCBRIDE: Excuse me. I'd like for

her to be allowed to finish answering and explaining her answer. MR. CHAN: Okay. You had the ability to

THE WITNESS:

delete the post that says we are coming after you, but you participated in that discussion

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with a video, with a video with a song that said you are the next to die. a threat. MR. CHAN: But we -- but I wasn't the I take that as

one that posted we are coming after you. THE WITNESS: You participated in the

forum and you're in control. MR. CHAN: Nonresponsive. I'm sorry. No, you didn't

THE WITNESS: post it. BY MR. CHAN: Q. Okay.

You didn't delete it either.

To the best of your knowledge, have I

ever visited your daughter's employer? A. she works. Q. No. It says here on the petition that -- boasts No. You posted my daughter's initials and where

about driving -A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. It says he boasts about driving --- like boasting. -- by my subdivision and -I boasted, but I didn't. -- and boasted. But I just want to be clear, it says boast --

that I'm boasting. A. The petition is one hundred percent correct.

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You boasted about driving by my subdivision, and that's what I wrote. Q. To the best of your knowledge, I didn't actually

follow through? A. That's not what the petition says, and I don't

know if you followed through or not. Q. A. That's fine. That's what surveillance is. I don't know if

you followed through or not. Q. A. Q. A. Have you ever called the police? I have. And what have they done? I called the police in Cobb County. I've called

the F.B.I., the GBI. Q. A.

I've called Columbus Police.

Have any of them contacted me? Yes, they have. I called the Columbus Police,

and came down here and asked for advice. Q. But prior to the -MS. MCBRIDE: And I'm going to object to

any hearsay evidence that he's trying to bring out. He could have subpoenaed the

police department if he wanted to have them testify. MR. CHAN: I'm asking if she has

personally contacted the police.

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MS. MCBRIDE:

And he can ask that, and

she can answer that, but he can't ask her what they said. BY MR. CHAN: Q. Okay. You state in the petition that I've

boasted by driving your subdivision and get -- got photos of your home and daughter's employment. really -- I have not done these things? A. Matthew, I don't -- you boasted about doing If you're saying you didn't, then you've How am I to know that what you It's what you said you did. Isn't it true I

these things.

lied on your own website. said you did you didn't do? Q. Okay.

Have any of your representatives ever

issued or authorized a DMCA copyright takedown complaint was Scribd against our attack? A. Q. Yes. Was it done on one of your settlement demand

letters that was taken down? A. Q. I -- we've done, I believe more than one and -Isn't it true that you are unhappy that we

posted the letters for others to read? A. I'm unhappy about your forum against me and

everything you post for others to read, that is derogatory, defamatory and threatening. Q. So the answer is you were unhappy that we posted

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letters for others to read? A. Q. Yes. Isn't it true that Scribd agreed with our

position and restored the document? A. believe -MS. MCBRIDE: Also, if it's getting into I wasn't involved in the issue of that, and I

any hearsay, again, I'd object. MR. CHAN: BY MR. CHAN: Q. Is it true that you made complaints about ELI to That's fine.

Eapps, my old web posting provider? A. Q. Absolutely. Isn't it true you threatened to file a lawsuit

to hold Eapps accountable, if they didn't convince me to remove content that I was -A. Q. Never. After I decided to move ELI to another web host,

isn't it true you made a complaint to my second web hosting provider? A. I made a complaint about the sexual content, the

measuring of certain body parts, that is on with my name and videos -Q. A. But I'm not the one --- which breaks -- which breaks the terms of

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service. Q. A. Q. A. Q. -- that did it, right? No, it's on your website. Okay. But I'm the -- I didn't personally do it.

But I'm complaining to your host. Isn't it true that the second web hosting

provider agreed with our position of free speech and wouldn't shut down our website? A. pending. MS. MCBRIDE: And also hearsay. Again, Actually, with court documents, that's still

he's asking to have her testify to outside comments for the truth of the matter asserted, and I object. THE COURT: BY MR. CHAN: Q. Isn't it true that you were unhappy with their Yeah. Don't ask her --

position, their response? A. Q. A. Their response? Yes, to you, on your second complaint about us. I haven't complained yet about the harassment,

what I complained was the sexual content that broke their own terms of service, so yes. Q. Isn't it true that after your two attempts to

take down the ELI website you then decided to file the

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petition for temporary protective order against me? A. Clarification, I did not attempt to take down

your website, I requested that they take down your threats against me. They decided to take down your website. I

didn't ask for that, ever.

They decided because of your

harassment, and your publication of my personal information that broke their terms of service, their officers met and decided to make that decision to take your website down, not me. What was the second question? Q. A. Q. A. Q. That was it. I wanted to address that. That's it. There was another part that I wanted to address. It was just one question, isn't it true that

after your two attempts to take down the ELI website, you then decided to file the petition -A. Q. A. Wrong. -- for temporary protective order against me? Wrong. After seeing the video where you say

that nothing -- I understand nothing but brute force, that's what's convinced me to file a restraining order against you, protection for myself and my family. Q. You were complaining -- is it a fair statement

to say that you are complaining today solely because of the

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Internet posts? A. No. I'm complaining because of your

intimidation, harassment and threats on my family. Q. A. Q. A. But it's based on Internet posts? Based on open letters, Internet posts, and your -Thank you. Sorry. MS. MCBRIDE: Your Honor. THE COURT: You can finish. And it's not just the She can finish her answer, Thank you.

THE WITNESS:

visitors of your website, you were second on a search for my product and my reputation. And I believe that people can follow your threats and harassment. BY MR. CHAN: Q. Okay. Have you ever registered a user account

on ELI forums? THE COURT: MR. CHAN: BY MR. CHAN: Q. Have you ever registered a user account on the Say again? Oh, I'm sorry.

ELI forums? A. Possibly in the beginning, when I intended to

defend myself, before I realized that you would post the

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things that you posted about me. Q. Isn't it true that you visit and read the ELI

forums more than once a week? A. Not me, no. I have other people do it for me,

because I'm so stressed, that I have others make sure that there's no imminent danger to me or my family. Q. A. Q. So you never read the ELI forums? Oh, I read them, but not as often as you say. Isn't it true that ELI publishes a lot of

negative and unflattering comments about you, your business, and your demand letters? A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Yes. We're pretty mean-spirited, aren't we? You are dangerously mean-spirited. Okay. Yes. Would you say we are sarcastic? One doesn't know sarcasm if one doesn't know the Would you say we mock you?

person who is posting. Q. Okay. All right. Isn't it true that you make

money off of your letter program? A. Q. isn't it? A. No. Yes. Okay. And ELI's a threat to that money source,

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Q.

Okay.

Isn't it true that everything I have

published about you came from publicly available resources of websites? A. I did everything I can to make myself unlisted,

so where you obtained personal information about me is not -- I don't know. home. I don't know who took the picture of my

It never ever -- you never posted with that picture That image of my home

that it was a Google image, ever.

was posted right on the same page where you said you were driving by my house to take photos. together. Q. Isn't it true that I was not the first person I put the two and two

who posted your home address? A. I don't know anyone else who's posted my home

address, except for you and Krausankas, Robert? Q. address? A. You are the first person that I know of to post But I was not the first person to post your home

my home address on the Internet, as a threat against me and my family. Q. Do you know that real estate records are a

matter of public record? A. The real estate records that you posted -- all Those

of my mortgage is not my concern, nor my complaint. are not threatening or harassing to me.

I don't care if

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people know that I refinanced my home, Matthew. MR. CHAN: Okay. That's all I have on

-- oh, I'm sorry, I've got a couple more. BY MR. CHAN: Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. Have you ever met Tim McCormack? Not in person. Okay. Where is he from?

Seattle. Okay. You mentioned that earlier in your statement. Is Tim McCormack licensed in the state of

Georgia as an attorney? A. Q. How would I know? Is it a fair statement that he isn't an expert

in Georgia law? A. How would I know? MR. CHAN: Okay. Thank you.

REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. You said that you were never contacted by Isn't Mr. Jolin your employee?

telephone indirectly. A. Q. A. Yes, he is.

And wasn't his family contacted by telephone? Yes, she was. MR. CHAN: I object, Your Honor. He's

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not the one being accused of being stalked. MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: can go into it. MS. MCBRIDE: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Mr. Jolin is outside ready to testify, is he Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor, it --

You opened the door, so she

A. Q.

Yes.

Actually --

And he will testify to an incident where his

family was contacted by the telephone number that is Mr. Chan's telephone number? A. Q. A. Yes. Could you tell us about that incident, please? Yes. Mr. Jolin had a trip, and he had later in

hindsight realized that he posted where -- that he was going away one weekend. That same weekend his fiancee and She called that number

small child were called at home.

back and it was Matthew Chan's voicemail. MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: That's all.

You may step down.

Do you have any other witnesses? MR. CHAN: Well, let's see here. Your

Honor, I already submitted to you the memorandum of law, okay, it's Exhibit A. And

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basically what I'd like to do is make a motion to dismiss this case on the following grounds. The statute prohibits specific I

conduct, none of which I engaged in.

didn't do any of the actions in the statute. None of the majority of the -- the majority of her complaint is actually covered here in the petition. And I have a right of And

notice of conduct that is objectionable. no one ever sent me anything, in any way, shape or form. in the petition.

I didn't do the allegations

And in the matter of posting content on the Internet, the Georgia Court of Appeals already decided this in two different cases, that posting on the Internet is not contact. And Marks versus State -- well, let me go higher. On Collins versus Bazan, Court of

Appeals 256 Ga. App. 164, it discusses the publishing and discussing the ex-girlfriend's private medical condition. "The question

therefore" -- I'm just quoting an excerpt -"The question therefore is whether the Court's power in Subsection (d)(2) to prohibit a party from harassing or

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interfering with the other party authorizes a prohibition against publishing or discussing the other party's medical condition with third parties. We hold it does not."

The other part that I thought might be relevant is: "Thus, under Johnson, O.C.G.A.

16-5-94(d)(2) can only authorize prohibiting speech that at least places the victim in reasonable fear for her safety or that of her immediate family. Here there was no evidence

publishing or discussing Bazan's medical condition with others would threaten her or her family's safety. This author notes that this conduct is extremely insensitive and unacceptable; however, at most, knowledge of the condition would be embarrassing to Bazan. Accordingly,

the court lacked authority to prohibit Collins from publishing or discussing that condition with others." Now the other case is Marks versus State, 306 Ga. App. 824, and it was relating to the posting of untrue statements about ex-wives -- about his ex-wife, on several websites. We note that we have previously

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found that the term contact is readily understood by people of ordinary intelligence as meaning to get in touch with and communicate with. While a probationary condition that forbids a defendant from contacting the victim may also be interpreted as proscribing indirect contact, such contacts still must be for the purpose of getting in touch with or communicating with the victim. other part is: This -- this

This case is more like

Collins versus Bazan, which I quoted earlier, in which we found that a defendant's publication and discussions with third parties regarding his ex-girlfriend's private medical condition obviously does not constitute contacting that person. Your Honor, respectfully, the most danger -- I -- the most dangerous thing about this petition is that it shows that the -this statute with these cases specifically exempts constant -- constitutionally-protected speech. The constitution protects uncomfortable,

controversial, offensive, profanity, bravado and the like.

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In conclusion, to allow this petition to go forward would have a chilling effect on free speech on Internet. dismiss, Your Honor. MS. MCBRIDE: Judge, I think I get to That's my motion to

respond to his motion. THE COURT: Sure. It's my understanding,

MS. MCBRIDE:

since he's made a motion to dismiss, that he's rested, he's closed his evidence. THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Honor. Have you rested your case? I have not rested, Your

I wanted to dismiss it to save the

time, Your Honor, and I am prepared to move forward if I must, but I wanted to save time and not do it at the very end, where I'm over time. THE COURT: All right. I'll reserve

ruling on your motion until you've rested. MR. CHAN: Okay. I stringently --

MS. MCBRIDE:

And then I would ask to be

able to argue my part of that motion. MR. CHAN: I stringently -- I mean, I'm

not telling you your job, Your Honor, I mean, I know you're an expert, but a lot of what's

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been articulated is better articulated in written form in the memorandum of law, I am not as well articulated in verbal form. you're going to -- you reserve, okay. Okay. I've written an opening I So

statement, Your Honor, if that's okay.

mean you already know that I'm Matthew Chan, and locally I'm best known as a local landlord. I've lived in Columbus -Your Honor, I think he's

MS. MCBRIDE:

already given an opening statement, and he's already gone into his evidence. was supposed to -MR. CHAN: have not. MS. MCBRIDE: MR. CHAN: He's arguing twice. No, Your Honor, I actually I mean he

I have the right to present I ask for

my -- I mean my side of things. latitude. Your Honor.

I'm trying to move this quickly, Please give me some latitude. I don't have a problem if

MS. MCBRIDE:

this is his testimony, if he's testifying. THE COURT: go ahead. MR. CHAN: Okay. All right. I'm best If this is your testimony,

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known as a local landlord.

I've lived in

Columbus for 12 years, and I'm a civic-minded registered voter with no criminal record. I'm 46 years old. In the 14 years I've been

a landlord, I've never had any physical or violent disputes with anyone. As it relates to the Internet, I'm known -- better known as an author, book publisher, blogger and Internet broadcaster. There have

never been any physical or violent disputes with anyone in this arena -- any in this arena either. However, I am here today

because I am also a passionate and zealous reporter, advocate and commentator for victims of copyright trolls and copyright extortionists. Those are colloquial terms

for people who abuse copyright law for financial gain. Central to this case, we are here because of a business dispute between Ms. Ellis and me and my website. She is

initiating an attack on my business and website, not because I've actually stalked, harassed or committed any crime against Ms. Ellis. I can unequivocally say that Ms.

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Ellis and her family have never been or ever will be in any danger -- physical danger from me. Ms. Ellis is the author of The Dash poem, a popular poem that's been spread widely through word of mouth since 1996. poem is often shared by the bereaved and passed to the bereavement industry, like funeral homes. It is also shared by those in The

the medical comfort industry. For those who dare share her poem in print or website, it's a financial deathtrap. Okay. You have in the exhibits a copy of her

poem on the little bookmark. Now, Ms. Ellis with the help of her legal team secretly earns significant income from her copyright enforcement letter program. Moneys come from charities,

nonprofits, churches, funeral homes, educational institutions, medical and dental businesses and even the bereaved individuals themselves. Recent letters I've seen are currently $7,500 per infringement for accidentally sharing the poem or -- or cut and print or

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website.

And I have this for you. Judge, I'd like to see it

MS. MCBRIDE:

before he hands it up. MR. CHAN: Yes, I have a copy for you.

And I also have a recent lawsuit or a threat by -- this is one of Ms. Ellis's attorneys for a hundred thousand dollars. The backside on the first page (indicating). Her letters instill fear to the legally ignorant and unsophisticated. Her letters

mislead victims with absolute worse case scenarios, and distort interpretation of copyright law. Ms. Ellis, despite how she

would appear, is a sharp, savvy business woman who knows her way around lawyers and the legal system. She isn't just a housewife

working for babysitting money, this is a serious business for her, she knows her victims well and knows how to get them to pay exorbitant amounts of money without ever going to court. How does this relate to me, Ms. Ellis, in this case today you may ask, Your Honor? This part -- this is part of a series of ongoing attempts to shut me up, my online

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community, and shut my website down. Prior to 2012, to the best of our knowledge, Ms. Ellis operated with little resistance. No information was ever put

online about her copyright extortion operation. and paid. Her victims simply rolled over In June of 2012, I, through April

Brown from Seattle, Washington discovered and was informed of Ms. Ellis and her copyright extortion operation. I opened up a dedicated discussion forum to solicit information and invite discussion. Over time, prior Ms. Ellis' letter victims secretly informed us through April Brown about their unhappy and fearful experiences and provided me copies of Ms. Ellis' extortion letters, which I have with me today, which I've submitted. They are ELI

fearful of retaliation themselves.

reported and commented on them and continues to do so until today. Since that time, my

website and I have been subject to her multiple attacks. MS. MCBRIDE: interject. Judge, let me just

I've let him go on --

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MR. CHAN: Honor. THE COURT: object.

I'm still presenting, Your

Okay.

She has the right to

Tell me what that objection is. Does she? Okay.

MR. CHAN:

MS. MCBRIDE:

Your Honor, I've let him

go into this because he is pro se, and I want him to get as fair a hearing, and I know he will get a fair hearing today, but, Your Honor, we are not here to resolve the business dispute, we just want him to stay away and stop harassing her and making threats. We are not trying to do anything to

his website or to stop his work in that fashion, and he would be -MR. CHAN: picture. THE COURT: Just a minute. One at a Your Honor, there's a bigger

MR. CHAN:

I'm sorry. No, but we basically want

MS. MCBRIDE:

this stalking protective order to be made permanent. And since he has no personal

dealings he says, I don't know why he would object to -- in other words, the stalking

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protective orders are very limited in their scope, in the sense of making him have to stay away, and making him stop making threats towards her and her family via any communications, Internet or otherwise. But that has nothing to do with the business dispute. And I understand he's

basically telling the Court why he thinks he's justified in harassing her this way, but that is -MR. CHAN: That's not true. -- but that is not before

MS. MCBRIDE: the Court.

We're not here on a business

dispute, and we're not trying to shut his website down. So I would object on the He's

grounds of relevancy at this point.

gotten in one example that he says is an extortion letter, quote/unquote, which is a letter -- and it is into evidence, the Court has it now, but he does not need to be allowed to go on for hours today -MR. CHAN: Your Honor. MS. MCBRIDE: MR. CHAN: -- on a business dispute. I have no desire I'm not going to go on hours,

Believe me.

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to stay here any longer.

Please.

I am

moving through this as quickly as possible and I just feel like it's a much bigger picture, because I don't have a -technically, a dog in this fight. But, anyway, I was getting into the attacks. I guess you can't really see it

that well, but I'll go ahead and read it off. Basically, on June 6th, was Ms. Ellis' first attack, where there was a DMCA copyright takedown notice by John Jolin. And it was

subsequently restored on June 27th, 2012. On December 1, 2012, we received -- I received a victim's copy of a hundred thousand dollar lawsuit threat from Ms. Ellis' attorney, and of course I posted it for everyone to see, and the ELI community was morally outraged. Attack number 2 was January 17, 2013, we received an abuse notice from Ms. Ellis' complaint regarding death threats, posting of personal info from Eapps, the web host. Voluntary shutdown -- we voluntarily shut down our website and moved it to the RK web host provider.

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On January 23rd, as was testified earlier, Eapps terminated the eight year business relationship with me due to the complaint. Attack number three, Your Honor, was February 6th, 2013, she makes a complaint to the web hosting provider. And on February

11th, on or around February 11th, 2013, the RK web host provider did not -- I guess denies that Ellis complaint. Attack number 4, Your Honor, was on February 13th, when she filed this bogus stalking complaint and tried to get a TPO against me. And on February 16th, by my So that's

record, I was served with the TPO. the four -- that's the timeline.

An example of this attack on me and the website is here. This is a letter of their

complaint by Mr. John Jolin and the counter response (tendering). Okay. Now to move forward here, this

chart, Your Honor, is a diagram, a schematic of how we work, to make it easier for you to understand. MS. MCBRIDE: I'd like to see it.

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MR. CHAN:

Yeah, I'm looking for a copy. And I may object to it. I've got a

MS. MCBRIDE: MR. CHAN:

Oh, here we go.

copy (tendering). Okay. Going through this quickly, Your

Honor, this is a schematic of how the ELI website works, okay? The central area -On the left

this is what I control directly.

side is the ELI blog, okay, where there's articles and editorials, but by far the busiest area is what we call the ELI discussion forums. Ms. Ellis is not being singled out. There's the Getty Images from -- that covers the USA, Getty Images for the United Kingdom, of course Ms. Ellis, the legal -- a general Legal Controversies forum, a P2P Bittorrent lawsuits, Righthaven lawsuits, and Riddick and Imageline extortion letters. She is one

of many topics that gets discussed. The nature -- oh, I'm sorry. Right

here, on this particular diagram, ELI Discussion Forums Access, its publicly accessible and it requires specific intentional mouse clicks. There's no

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accident to getting on -- you can't just stumble onto it. Somebody has to consciously

visit the website to read anything. Each forum is topic specific, and it's sort of a moderated chat room. Contributors

register with a user account with validated e-mail addresses. Each contributor is Each post

responsible for what they post. has an identifiable author.

Now, regarding the content, Your Honor, in trying to make this easy for everybody, is, it's a communicate platform for letter extortion victims and their advocates. The

primary focus is education, reporting, open dialog, and publicity. Now we do have announcements and news, legal research and analysis. There's There's There's

commentaries and there's editorials. humor, sarcasm and parody on there.

speculation and prediction, and there's also venting of emotional rhetoric for people that are just simply upset. The language usage, okay, we do have a military motif in what we talk about, okay? And it's the military culture. And so like

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we use words like war, weapons, fight, battle, collateral damage, attack and defend. But it's a copyright issue, Your Honor. one would -- you know, would reasonably assume that -- you know, if we were going to fight or attack somebody, we're going to do it, you know, in a physical format, given the subject matter. We do use flamboyant and colorful and spirited language, like extortionist. trolls. We talk about shakedowns. We use No

We talk

about troll thieves.

We use euphemisms,

slang, colloquialisms and rhetorical metaphors. of them. I, myself, have engaged in many It doesn't paint me in a very good

light, but that's not -- it's constitutionally protected. There's name calling, there's insults and profanity. that. I admit I've done my share of

There's ranting, raving, blustering, And the one thing I

venting and bragging.

want to emphasize, Your Honor, is that it's legal and it's constitutionally protected. Now, Your Honor, this is really actually too small up here, but on your copy if you

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flip to the last page you will see that Ms. Ellis is by far not being singled out at all. It's the web of this industry that we're talking about. concept of ELI. Okay. Now, I'm moving on to the I know time is So that's to give you a

stalking charge, Your Honor. short.

So, what I want to offer here is that

Chan, that's me, I have never contacted and I have no intentions of ever contacting Ms. Ellis. I have never met her, I've never seen

her in person up until today, never spoken to her, never phoned her, never faxed her, never mailed her, never text messaged her, I've never e-mailed her. There has never been any personal or property danger to Ms. Ellis or her family whatsoever, now or forever from me. Now in examining the statute, Your Honor -- and I'm not telling you how to do your job. I mean, I had to bring myself up You know, I

to speed, you know, and learn. got quite an education.

So there's -- my

understanding is all elements of the statute needs to be met. The first is have I

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followed her.

Okay.

The second point is

places -- have I placed her under surveillance. Okay. Have I ever contacted her,

meaning by phone, text message, mail, e-mail, fax, et cetera. Another person -- I'm just

going word-by-word, Your Honor, from the stalking statute -- which is Ms. Ellis -- at or about a place or places. house. The place is her

Except that, Your Honor, I live,

aside from social trips -- socializing up there or, you know, my rental house, there's some affairs I do take care of. And I'm not -- I live here, Your Honor. Ms. Ellis' home is 130 miles away. hours away. It's two

It's four hours minimum round

trip, if I decide to go up there and then come right back. So -- and like I said, I don't want to -- I'm not trying to tell you -- I mean, you know more law than I do, but I felt that Collins versus Bazan and Marks versus State acknowledged this directly, you know, as it pertains to Internet posts. On a personal note, Your Honor, I really

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-- I've never met Ms. Ellis, I bear her no malice. I talk a lot and she has made me

unhappy at times, but believe it or not, I've told a number of people, I don't hate Ms. Ellis. What I dislike is her tactics. And

that's -- that's all I can say.

Let me see.

Now, personally, Your Honor -- I mean, you are the judge, and personally -- but, I mean, I've talked about this with a lot of people, legal counsel, I've spent some money. And, you know, I do feel like that this is an abuse of the stalking. What I do is -- is

unpleasant, and I've said some bad things, but if you look at my record, I've never done anything. If I was going to do something, I would have done it much younger. any younger. I'm not getting

I'm not looking forward to And to counter counsel's

doing anything.

point this isn't a big deal, it is a big deal, because, Your Honor, it's my reputation. seriously. I mean, I take this very, very I've taken this whole thing to But it does matter. I don't

heart, okay?

want a permanent injunction.

She has nothing

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to fear from me.

But I don't want this.

It's not right, Your Honor. You can criticize me for a lot of things, okay? I'm a bad person. I've said

some mean things, and stuff like that, but you cannot attribute the things that other people do to me. And the last point -- and I

really didn't want to bring this up, simply because -- you know, mostly because of the time thing, but the section -- Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act -- this is my last submission -- and this is a Wikipedia -it provides immunity to people like me who host forums and websites, okay, because -and I don't want to get into why they did this, but I do have immunity, I can't be held responsible for other peoples posts. I mean, we launched ELI in 2008. much smaller back then. It was

There are -- today,

there are about 14,200 posts, Your Honor, across 740 threads of discussion. And Ms.

Ellis' forum has 1,900 posts under what would cross 180 topics. So I just want to make

sure you've got a perspective of that, Your Honor.

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I guess the last thing that -- without reiterating the point -- on a personal note, she has nothing to fear from me. There has

been no -- I have not -- I have not even come close to violating the stalking statute, Your Honor. I hope you will look at that closely,

and I know you will. And I'm a businessman in Columbus, Georgia, and that's what I intend to do. And, you know, I intend to continue to keep my nose clean. I have no criminal record.

I've got maybe one traffic ticket in this area in 14 years. THE COURT: Rebuttal? MS. MCBRIDE: The only rebuttal I would Thank you, Your Honor. Okay. Thank you.

have, Your Honor, would be the testimony of Mr. Jolin, who was the employee of Ms. Ellis, due to the telephone contact that he denied in his cross-examination this morning. MR. CHAN: Absolutely deny. So that would be the only I

MS. MCBRIDE:

rebuttal evidence, you know, at this time. hate to waste the Court's time with it, because I feel you already heard from her.

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know we're pressed for time, Your Honor. Very briefly then, if I could call the witness? THE COURT: Yes, call your witness. Okay. Mr. Jolin.

MS. MCBRIDE:

SERGEANT MCANENY: sir.

Come forward, please,

JOHN W. JOLIN, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Mr. Jolin, could you state your name for the

record, please? A. Q. John W. Jolin. And, Mr. Jolin, I hope that I represented to the

Court correctly, I just got in this case yesterday, but you are the employee of Ms. Ellis? A. Q. A. Yes, ma'am. All right. And tell me what you do for her.

I help her with her copyright infringement

enforcement. Q. All right. And have you had -- well, let me ask

this question.

Was there an incident where Mr. Matthew

Chan contacted by telephone your fiancee?

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A. Q.

Yes. Could you please start from the beginning and

tell the Court as precisely as possible what happened? A. I was going out of town with a friend for two

days, and before I left town, I posted on my Facebook, hey, going out of town, can't wait for this trip. I get into

town from my trip, and I get a call frantic from my wife -well, at that time fiancee, stating that she got two calls, one was a local call and one was from Columbus, Georgia. So she called the number back from the Columbus, Georgia number and reached Matthew Chan's voicemail. Q. Now, I'm going to approach -MS. MCBRIDE: the witness? THE COURT: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Tell me if you can identify this document I'm Yes. Your Honor, may I approach

giving you right here (tendering). A. That's a picture of my wife's phone with the

call on it from Matthew Chan. Q. number. A. Q. A. Right there, the 762 number. 762-359-0425? That's correct. All right. And show me Matthew Chan's phone

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Q. number? A.

And how do you know that that is his phone

I Googled the number, and as soon as I Googled

the number it was related to four different websites of Matthew Chan. Q. All right. And I think you gave me a copy of

the Googling. A. Q. Yes, I did. That's from the Whois website. I'm going to mark that

So let me hand you this.

as -- I believe it's going to be Plaintiff's 8, and then this one I'll mark as Plaintiff's 9. me what that is, please. A. This is Whois, which is a record of websites, Plaintiff's 9, tell

and the information about different individual websites. And this phone number's related to actually, excuse me, six different websites, extortionletter -Q. A. Say the phone number again. 762-359-0425, which is related to

extortionletterinfo.com, turnkeypublisher.com, ownerfinancehomes.com, webdomainstrategies.com (sic), turnkeyinvestment.com, tempestbroadcasting.com. Q. So linked to extortionletterinfo.com, which is

owned and controlled by Matthew Chan? A. Correct.

EXHIBITS TENDERED-PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBITS 8 AND 9

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MS. MCBRIDE:

Your Honor, I'm going to

let Mr. Chan take a look at these, but then I'd offer Plaintiff's 8 and 9. MR. CHAN: THE COURT: MR. CHAN: something? THE COURT: MR. CHAN: Yes. I don't challenge that this Okay. Can I have a rebuttal?

Do what? Am I allowed to say

is my phone number, I don't challenge that these are my websites, so we'll get that out of the way. Okay. This is my phone number

on here, all right, and I'm actually flabbergasted -MS. MCBRIDE: He doesn't get to testify.

He can object or not. MR. CHAN: They brought up new

information, Your Honor, I have to have the opportunity to discuss it. MS. MCBRIDE: MR. CHAN: rebuttal. THE COURT: objection. Okay. You're just making an To rebut --

I'm rebutting her for

What's your objection? Well, the thing about it is,

MR. CHAN:

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I'm actually very stunned about this.

Okay.

Number one, if I was going to call somebody, I wouldn't use my phone number. But number

two, I want to let you know there are spoofing programs. Now people know that I'm I have no

the one that does this thing.

vested interest in calling Mr. Jolin and Ms. Ellis. I mean, she reached out to me last year and I didn't want to talk to them. there is no incentive. this fight. it. I mean,

I don't have a dog in I don't have

It's not my fight.

The only thing I get incensed about is

this, but I don't -- I am not a victim of them, per se, up until this point. There is

no vested interest in me to -- to harass them. Yes, I mean I don't deny that Mr. Jolin is providing an accurate record, but all I can say is the only -- it's either being spoofed, okay, or that when people call me sometimes I get curious, and I'll just say, well, who called me. And that's the only There's no vested

possibility, Your Honor. interest.

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EXHIBITS ADMITTED-PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 8 AND 9 THE COURT: Okay. They're admitted.

MS. MCBRIDE: up? THE COURT:

Your Honor, may I hand it

I think the exhibits were

right down there on the -MS. MCBRIDE: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. Mr. Jolin, did you pull a copy of your telephone Oh, okay.

records from your account with your phone company? A. Q. A. Yes, ma'am. Is it with Sprint? Sprint. My wife and I both have a phone with

Sprint, with one account. Q. All right, sir. And is this a copy of what you

printed off from your Sprint records from the Internet? A. Q. Yes, it is. All right. And you have done a blue highlight

on one of the phone numbers, and the date of the call was, I believe -A. Q. January 6th. -- January the 6th. And tell me what phone

number is on there. A. Q. 762-359-0425. And was that call made to your phone number?

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A. Q.

It was made to my wife's phone number. To your wife's phone number. And what's your

wife's name? A. Q. Teresa Mixon. Now, did Ms. Ellis ask her to testify today or

to sign an affidavit for today? A. Q. A. Q. A. Yes, she did. All right. And did she refuse?

Yes, she did. And why did she refuse to sign an affidavit? She's in fear of Matthew Chan, you know, pulling

up information on her. Q. Explain that. MR. CHAN: A. That's hearsay.

Fear of Matthew Chan. MR. CHAN: It's hearsay.

Q.

Fear of Matthew Chan and -MS. MCBRIDE: Withdrawn. It's

withdrawn. THE COURT: It's hearsay. Yes, sir.

MS. MCBRIDE: BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q.

And based upon this record on your wife's Sprint

account, you believe that that's how -MR. CHAN: May I see that?

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A.

We share the account -- we share the account,

and it's on both of our numbers -MR. CHAN: A. May I see that, Your Honor?

-- both of our numbers are on the same account. THE COURT: She hasn't tendered it yet. I haven't offered it into

MS. MCBRIDE: evidence.

I'd like him to finish. We have one account with

THE WITNESS:

both of our phones on it. BY MS. MCBRIDE: Q. A. All right. And is that this account? You can see the last page,

That's that account.

her phone number is the number -- well, there's one highlighted that related to all these numbers here. Q. A. Q. Okay. Were you out of town on that day?

Yes, I was. And did you post on your Facebook page that you

were going to be out of town that day? A. Q. A. Yes, I did. Was your wife afraid after that? Yes, she was. MS. MCBRIDE: Plaintiff's 10. MR. CHAN: May I cross-examine him since Your Honor, offer

she brought him up?

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THE COURT:

No, we're -It's not time for any

MS. MCBRIDE: cross. THE COURT:

You can cross-examine him

once she gets through. MR. CHAN: Well, that's what I meant,

just on this one matter. MS. MCBRIDE: I'm done. That's fine. Actually,

He can go ahead with his cross. CROSS-EXAMINATION

BY MR. CHAN: Q. I just want to get clarification. Is this the

-- in the time, Mr. Jolin, in the time since last year, is this the only call you've seen? A. Q. A. Q. That's the only call from you, yes. Okay. What does it say? How long does it say?

One minute. Okay. Is it a possibility at all that it was

done by mistake? A. How would you get my wife's phone number and

call her by mistake? Q. Is it possible? One minute. What would I have

accomplished in one minute? A. Q. I have no idea. Okay.

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A.

I mean, why were you calling my wife?

How did

you get her phone number? MR. CHAN: number. minute. EXHIBIT ADMITTED-PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 10 THE COURT: MR. CHAN: THE COURT: MR. CHAN: something. 10's admitted. There is no pattern. Any other questions? Your Honor, I forgot This is I didn't get her phone

But anyway it's less than one

This is very relevant.

extremely relevant, in fact.

There is no -When I

my cell phone, I just updated it.

call somebody, and I can demonstrate it to you, that is an incoming number, it's a Google voice number. I have actually tried

to get that number to be outgoing, because when I call out, all right, it always displays the number that I don't want to share. So -Do you have a question for

THE COURT: this witness? BY MR. CHAN: Q. A.

Are you familiar with Google Voice? Yes.

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Q. A. Q.

Do you use Google Voice? No, I do not. Are you familiar that you can set up a Google

voice number? A. Q. A. Q. A. Yes. And it's a voicemail service? Not necessarily. I'm sorry. Do you use it?

No, I do not. MR. CHAN: THE COURT: Okay. Okay. Thank you. You may step down.

THE WITNESS: MS. MCBRIDE: MR. CHAN: THE COURT: MR. CHAN:

Thank you. We rest.

May I add to that? Do what? I just wanted to just go

ahead and finish my statement on the Google Voice thing, that I've actually tried to have that feature activated. When I call out that

number displays -- that gives me an additional reason to be very, very skeptical about that. MS. MCBRIDE: witness be excused? THE COURT: Do what? Your Honor, may this

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MS. MCBRIDE: courtroom now? THE COURT: All right. rebuttal? MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: -- okay.

And may he remain in the

Yes.

He's excused.

Any other witnesses in

No, Your Honor. Do you have any

All right.

I'll give each one of you five

minutes to do a summation. MS. MCBRIDE: to open and close. I think we have the right We'd waive opening and

close after he finishes. THE COURT: minutes. MR. CHAN: Well, Your Honor, obviously All right. You have five

I've never had a stalking charge, and the only thing I will ever emphasize is I have never reached out to her. malice. I bear her no

I am very zealous in what we do, Have I used

there's no question about that.

some profanity, have I made fun of her, have I been a little mean-spirited? things are true. All of these

But for it to become

stalking and to put me under a temporary -- I mean a permanent injunction is ridiculous --

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I'm sorry, not ridiculous, but I mean it's just -- it's unnecessary. unnecessary. Because she lives 130 miles away, two hours. I don't have a vested interest in And I implore you, Your Honor, There are It really is

doing that.

to take the big picture involved. 20,000 posts.

And what you've seen, clearly

I wrote some of those, there's no question, but in the bigger context of things, this thing is just -- it's not me. of all this is not me. I'm just one of many members. happen to host it, Your Honor. need for it. Plus, what I do is And obviously we I just The majority

There is no

constitutionally protected.

-- you know, we feel that like we have a right to say certain things, and -- but I cannot emphasize enough, I bear no malice to Mr. Jolin. I bear no malice to Ms. Ellis. I

certainly don't bear any malice towards her children or anything. I mean, it was just talk. no need for a protective order. think there's any reason. And there is I don't

And I think that

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the courts -- the Court of Appeals pretty much covers a lot of it, Your Honor. And I

hope you will take that into consideration. THE COURT: Okay. Ms. McBride?

MS. MCBRIDE:

Thank you, Your Honor.

The constitution -- the constitution is very important, and constitutionally protected speech is also important. And while I agree

with Mr. Chan that there is some speech, especially on the Internet, that is constitutionally protected, what has been demonstrated and proven today is not constitutionally protected. I know the Court is aware of the relevant stalking statute under 16-5-90, and let's talk about that. A person commits the

offense of stalking when he or she follows, places under surveillance, or contacts another person, at or about a place or places, without the consent of the other person for the purpose of harassing and intimidating the other person. First of all, what we have proven today, this website has as its purpose to harass and intimidate various people. Ms. Ellis is one

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of those people.

The website is owned

privately and controlled completely by Mr. Chan. MR. CHAN: THE COURT: No response. MS. MCBRIDE: He admitted in -- this I am not responsible -Wait a minute. No answer.

morning for an hour, he admitted over and over again that he can delete any content that comes on there. wants to. He can delete it if he

He lets it come on there, he

encourages it to come on there, and he refuses to delete it. He also admitted that he refused to take off the things we presented after he received a copy of the temporary protective order, which means he has absolutely no respect for this Court, he has no respect for the restrictions on that speech, and he doesn't want to restrict any of his speech. 16-5-90 says the terms computer and computer network shall have the same meaning as is set out in Code Section 16-9-92. The

term contact shall mean any communication, including without being limited to,

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communication in person, by telephone, by mail, by broadcast, by computer, by computer network or by any other electronic device. Now what was proven today under this statute? We proved that, first of all, he

contacted by telephone the employee of Ms. Ellis, who routinely deals with him on his website. That's number one. He did it, he

contacted the fiancee, made a call to her, when he was out of town, and he knew he was out of town, because he had put it on his Facebook. That was the first thing.

The second thing is it says by computer or computer network. The postings, and its

massive postings on the Internet, on his website that he controls, that he controls and can delete from, basically are personally addressed to Linda Ellis. Well, it's more than just saying mean things about her and insulting her. It's

true that that's on there, but this goes beyond that. He specifically threatened her,

by listing her -- Roswell Downs, her subdivision, by listing her daughter's initials, and the place where her daughter

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works, her relatives, and listing her husband. He allowed a picture of her home, that someone drove by and made a picture of, to be placed on his website, and said that he had driven near it. He said that he -- he said But,

he didn't make the picture himself.

Your Honor, if he causes or tells another person to do the surveillance, that meets the standard of the statute. surveillance. And he has done

The picture of her home that

he put on his Internet website proves that. He stated on his website that he's visited her hometown. He put on his website a video that we're coming to get you, to Linda Ellis, we're coming to get you, with The Hearse Song on it. And it's stayed up there. It's been up

there as of today.

He said it was still on

there, in violation of the protective order. He said on his website that he can make a public suggestion and people will follow it. That's what he said in his letter to the

attorney, that he posted on his website. So, Your Honor, his intention is more

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than just to bloviate.

His intention is to

intimidate a specific person, to contact a specific person for the purpose of putting the heat on her. And I would like to finally draw the Court's attention to this document that he entered into evidence, his own document, this brief. And I'll just point out a couple of First of

things that he admits in his brief.

all, this morning, he said that Linda Ellis was just a small portion of this. But in his

brief on page 9, he said, This discussion forum allows people to post anonymously and openly describe their experiences dealing with this issue, referring to Linda Ellis' -The Dash poem and her lyrics. This discussion forum is popular, and is now six pages deep on the ELI site with 170 different and separate topics housing 1,900 individual posts. This discussion forum

continues to grow steadily in content and popularity. If you look at that one exhibit that we submitted with the drop downs for Linda, there are about six or seven for her, just

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specifically for her.

So she's specifically

targeted and communicated. On page 11 of this document, he admits that he received an abuse notice of Ellis' complaint, parentheses, death threats, posting of personal information from Eapps web host. Chan voluntarily shut down the ELI

forum and moved the ELI website to RK web host provider, RK being Mr. Krausankas. So, in other words, Eapps consequently terminated the eight year business relationship after Ellis filed the complaint. So he did voluntarily shut down his death threats, posting of personal information. That's no longer there. So he has been

contacted in the past, by his own admission, and had to take some things off. In other

words, he's going to push this as far as he can, and keep those postings on there as far as -- as much as he can. Encouraging people

to go by her house, threatening her that he knows who her daughter is, that he knows where his daughter works. The other thing the evidence proved today is that she is afraid. He has

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succeeded in scaring her and intimidating her. His purpose is to harass and And that meets the standard

intimidate.

under this statute. Subsection (2)(A) -- excuse me, 16-5-90(A)(1) continues to say: For the

purposes of this article, the term harassing and intimidating means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person. Well, I think if you look on his

website right now you can see a course of conduct that's willful and directed at a specific person, Ms. Ellis. Which causes emotional distress. And I

think she testified and very credibly, that she's naturally afraid. Sometimes when she

sees a strange car across the street from her house, she's afraid to go in. for her daughter. Which causes emotional distress by placing such person in reasonable fear for such person's safety or the safety of a member of his or her immediate family, by establishing a pattern of harassing and intimidating behavior which serves no She's afraid

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legitimate purpose. The video of The Hearse Song, saying we're coming to get you, Linda; the postings of her house; the picture of her house; the listing of her daughter's initials; the numerous comments about her, everything he has on his website, show a pattern of harassment specifically directed to her, that is designed to intimidate, and it has succeeded, she is intimidated. So, Your Honor, I would ask that this Court grant a permanent stalking protective order on behalf of Ms. Ellis. THE COURT: one aspect. Thank you.

Let me just try to clear up

The lawsuit that you handed up

was against Peter Burwash and not against you, correct? MR. CHAN: Honor. THE COURT: The lawsuit, or a copy of a I couldn't hear you, Your

lawsuit -- I don't know if it was ever filed or not -- in the exhibits that you handed up -MR. CHAN: THE COURT: Yes. -- there was a demand for

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damages for copyright and trademark infringement on behalf of Ms. Ellis' lawyers, but that was against Mr. Burwash and not against you, correct? MR. CHAN: THE COURT: Correct, Your Honor. Okay. Looking at the

statute O.C.G.A. 16-5-90(A)(1) a person commits the offense of stalking when he or she follows, places under surveillance or contacts another person. And in this case

we're dealing with whether there was a contact or not. Also, there was a question about surveillance. And you handed up, Mr. Chan,

two cases, Collins versus Bazan and Marks versus the State, which dealt with the issue of contact. The Court finds that those cases can be distinguishable. In the Chan case -- I'm

sorry, the Marks case, the court specifically found that no evidence was presented suggesting that the boyfriend actually authored the web postings. Okay. In the

second case, which was the Collins case, the court found that there was no evidence that

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the postings or the prohibited speech places the victim in reasonable fear for her safety or that of her immediate family. And there was no evidence that publishing or discussing this medical condition would threaten her or her family. In this case, I find that there has been evidence that the contact did place the Petitioner in fear for her safety, and reasonable fear for her safety or that of her immediate family. Furthermore, the definition of -contained in the article 16-5-90 (A)(1) provides that -- this article -- the terms computer and computer network shall have the same meaning set out in 16-9-92. The term

contact shall mean any communication including, without being limited to, communication in person, by telephone, by mail, by broadcast, by computer, computer network, or by any other electronic device. The Court finds that the

contact here meets that requirement. Further, for purposes of the article in this Code Section, harassing and intimidating means a knowing and willful course of conduct

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directed at a specific person, which causes emotional distress by placing such person in reasonable fear for such person's safety, or the safety of a member of his or her immediate family, by establishing a pattern of harassing and intimidating behavior which serves no legitimate purpose. A person also commits stalking when that person broadcasts or publishes, including electronic publication, the picture, name, address, or phone number of a person for whose benefit the condition was made and without such person's consent in such a manner that causes other persons to harass or intimidate such person, and the person making the broadcast or publication knew or by -- or had reason to believe that such broadcast and publication would cause such person to be harassed or intimidated by others. I find that the conduct -- the contact by virtue of the website was not constitutionally protected, it did harass and intimidate Ms. Ellis, and it placed her in reasonable fear of her safety and the safety of her family when -- even though there was

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public documents, those documents or that information was used to place her in a position to where she and her family were intimidated, or feared for their safety. I'll issue a permanent restraining order. The next question will be how to frame that order, okay? And I've got a courtroom

full of people here waiting to have their case heard as well, and I will have to work on that based upon my notes and the facts, and I'll have -- try to have the order done within seven days. In the meantime, the temporary protective order shall continue, and that was a protective order that was dated -- I will mention too that there was an admission on page 21 of the letter brief that you submitted, and specifically it says: "This

again establishes that Respondent and ELI are trying to get Petitioner to see the errors of her ways to stop extorting people for their use of The Dash." There's no question that The Dash is a constitutionally-copyrighted document, and the illegal use of -- a violation of the

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copyright certainly gives her the right to enforce all the copyright infringement laws, and that is not a grounds or basis to give the Respondent in this case the constitutional right to use the website to intimidate her, which he says has been his intent. All right. MS. MCBRIDE: THE COURT: Thank you, Your Honor.

I'll get a permanent order

out within seven days. MS. MCBRIDE: Honor. MS. ELLIS: THE COURT: 10 minutes. Let me make sure that we have all the exhibits here. If y'all would come up and Thank you, Your Honor. All right. We'll take about Thank you very much, Your

check the exhibits. MR. CHAN: I wanted to -- I just want a Obviously,

clarification on what that means.

I don't want to be accidentally arrested, so I want to be clear on what I'm supposed to do. THE COURT: Well, the temporary order

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provided -MR. CHAN: Well, it never mentioned

anything about removing posts or anything, so am I supposed to go and remove posts or -- I mean, it's -- because it's really unclear. mean, because clearly there's no physical stuff, I mean, there's no physical, you know, encounters or anything. just remove posts or -THE COURT: It's the intent of this Am I being asked to I

Court that you immediately remove all posts referring to Ms. Ellis. MR. CHAN: THE COURT: Okay. Okay? Thank you, Your Honor.

MS. MCBRIDE:

Thank you very much, very much. MR. CHAN: THE COURT: All posts? All posts. Thank you, Your Honor.

MS. MCBRIDE: May we be excused? THE COURT:

You may be excused. Thank you, Your Honor.

MS. MCBRIDE:

(END OF PROCEEDINGS.)

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STATE OF GEORGIA COUNTY OF MUSCOGEE C E R T I F I C A T E

The foregoing transcript of the proceedings was taken before me and reduced to typewriting under my direction and supervision, and I certify that it is a true and correct transcript of the proceedings. WITNESS MY HAND this 19th day of June, 2013.

KATHY S. BOSTIC, RPR Official Court Reporter for the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit Certificate No. B-1863

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