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Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 62

Jeffrey J. Hunt (5855) Joshua A. Glikin (pro hac vice)


David C. Reymann (8495) BOWIE & JENSEN, LLC
PARR BROWN GEE & LOVELESS 29 West Susquehanna Avenue
185 South State Street, Suite 800 Suite 600
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Towson, Maryland 21204
Telephone: (801) 532-7840 Telephone: (410) 583-2400
Facsimile: (801) 532-7750 Facsimile: (410) 583-2437
Email: jhunt@parrbrown.com Email: glikin@bowie-jensen.com
dreymann@parrbrown.com

Walter E. Diercks (pro hac vice)


RUBIN, WINSTON, DIERCKS, HARRIS, &
COOK, LLP
1201 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20036
Email: wdiercks@rwdhc.com

Attorneys for Defendant ReportSee, Inc.


______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT


DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION

PUBLIC ENGINES, INC., a Delaware DEFENDANT’S MEMORANDUM


corporation, OPPOSING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION.
Plaintiff,

vs. Case No. 2:10-cv-317

REPORTSEE, INC., a Delaware corporation, Judge Tena Campbell

Defendant.
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 62

Table of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 4

II. FACTS RELEVANT TO THIS OPPOSITION BRIEF................................................. 5

A. Facts regarding ReportSee. .............................................................................................. 5

B. Facts regarding Public Engines alleged in the Complaint or adduced during


discovery in this Action. .......................................................................................................... 12

1. Agencies maintain complete editorial control over crime data published on


CrimeReports.com through an “Admin. Tool.” ............................................................... 13

2. Public Engines and its agency customers collaborate in responding to and denying
ReportSee’s requests for crime data. ................................................................................. 15

3. The CrimeReports.com Terms of Use do not prohibit business entities, such as


ReportSee, from accessing crime data; they proport to prohibit only certain uses of any
data obtained. ....................................................................................................................... 19

4. The only agency that terminated its contract with Public Engines did so for
reasons that are not exclusive to ReportSee. ..................................................................... 20

5. ReportSee scraped data from an agency website that posted a portal to


CrimeReports data, and the portal did not contain the TOU. ........................................ 21

6. Public Engines is alleging that the De-Identified Data has been organized by its
proprietary software in a unique way. .............................................................................. 23

III. LEGAL STANDARD ...................................................................................................... 23

IV. ARGUMENT .................................................................................................................... 24

A. Public Engines seeks a disfavored type of injunction, which is overbroad. .............. 24

B. Public Engines Has Not Made a Strong Showing That it is Substantially Likely to
Succeed on the Merits of the Claims in its Complaint. ........................................................ 25

1. CFAA claim (The First Claim for Relief). ................................................................. 25


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 62

(i) The two CFAA subsections cited in the Moving Brief are not supported by any
allegation in the Complaint or evidence submitted to date by Public Engines. ......... 26
(ii) Public Engines should be estopped from asserting a CFAA violation. ............ 27
(iii) The CFAA does not impose liability for unauthorized use of information
obtained from a computer that a defendant had authority to access.......................... 28
(iv) Using the CFAA to criminalize a breach of contract would render the statute
unconstitutional. ............................................................................................................... 32
(v) The CFAA Claim is preempted by the Copyright Act. ..................................... 34
2. Public Engines does not have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of its
breach of contract claim (the Second Claim for Relief). .................................................. 36

3. Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its Utah Unfair Competition Action
claim (the Third Claim for Relief). .................................................................................... 39

4. Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its Lanham Act claim (the Fourth Claim
for Relief). ............................................................................................................................. 40

5. Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its Hot News Misappropriation Claim
(the Fifth Claim for Relief). ................................................................................................ 43

6. Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its Interference with Contract claim (the
Sixth Claim for Relief). ....................................................................................................... 44

C. The facts establish that Public Engines is a “state actor” attempting to impose an
unconstitutional prior restraint on speech and publication. ............................................... 45

1. Public Engines is a state actor. .................................................................................... 46

(i) Public Engines is exercising a right or privilege and rules of conduct created by
persons for whom the State is responsible. .................................................................... 47
(ii) Public Engines acts together with or obtains significant aid from state officials,
or its conduct is otherwise chargeable to the state. ....................................................... 47
2. Public Engines seeks to impose unconstitutional prior restraints upon
publication. ........................................................................................................................... 52

D. Public Engines is not likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an


injunction. ................................................................................................................................ 57

 
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E. The Balance of Harms factor weighs against issuing an injunction........................... 59

F. It is in the public interest to deny the injunction. ........................................................ 60

V. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 61

 
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For the reasons explained in this Memorandum of Law (the “Opposition Brief”)

submitted by Defendant, ReportSee, Inc. (“ReportSee”), the Court should deny the Motion for

Preliminary Injunction by Plaintiff, Public Engines, Inc. (“Public Engines”).

I. INTRODUCTION

The allegations in Public Engines’ Complaint and evidence and arguments presented in

its Memorandum in support of its Motion (the “Moving Brief”) do not establish that Public

Engines has a substantial likelihood of succeeding on the merits of any of its claims, that it

would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction, or that any injury to Public

Engines outweighs the harm to ReportSee if an injunction is issued. Also, this is a case in which

the public interest clearly favors denial of the requested injunction. Public Engines essentially

seeks a total victory at the preliminary injunction stage. Its Moving Brief argues that it is likely

to succeed on all six claims in its Complaint and the injunctive relief it seeks would encompass

every form of relief except for money damages. 1

After this Memorandum explains why Public Engines does not satisfy the four injunction

factors that are its burden to prove, it explains why Public Engines is effectively attempting to

use the present Motion to obtain the Court’s preliminary stamp of approval on a business model

that presents significant First Amendment concerns. The Court should find that Public Engines,

which works in tandem with its law enforcement agencies to provide an “official” agency

website, is a state actor subject to the same Constitutional restrictions as the law enforcement

agencies themselves. The Court should not place its preliminary approval on a relationship
                                                            
1
    The Complaint has a seventh cause of action requesting an injunction, which is in essence a claim for
relief.

 
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between the agencies and a private entity that results in the privatization of basic crime data,

which is then published only on one “official” law enforcement site that purports to prohibit any

member of the media or other business entity from republishing or making any other use of it.

II. FACTS RELEVANT TO THIS OPPOSITION BRIEF

A. Facts regarding ReportSee.

Mark Colin Drane is the founder and sole shareholder of ReportSee. See Declaration of

Mark Colin Drane (the “Drane Dec.”), attached at Exhibit 1, at ¶ 3. In or about 2007, Mr.

Drane had the idea to improve the method by which crime information is delivered to the

public, and so in late 2007 he started a test site called CrimeBaltimore.com. See id. at ¶ 4. He

founded ReportSee as a Delaware Corporation in February of 2008, for the purpose of

collecting news and user reported data and geo-locating that data on a website using Google

Maps type interface. See id. at ¶ 5. ReportSee's initial approach was to map news reported

crimes for Baltimore. See id. at ¶ 6. Subsequently, ReportSee began collecting data from the

Baltimore police department mapping system and re-representing the data on a Google map on

CrimeBaltimore.com. See id.

About a month after forming ReportSee – in or about March of 2008 – the SpotCrime

brand was created to use this approach of combining news and police data on a national level.

See id. at ¶ 7. In about March of 2008, SpotCrime.com began providing daily crime alerts to

subscribers through SMS and email. See id. SpotCrime now covers more than 300 cities and

counties around the nation. See id. at ¶ 8. Approximately 98% of SpotCrime’s data comes

directly from police reports in the form of emails from police, police websites, police mapping

vendors and direct delivery from police agencies to SpotCrime’s servers. See id.
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There are approximately 212 police departments around the nation that either supply

ReportSee directly with crime data or from which ReportSee obtains crime data from public

feeds. See id. at ¶ 9. ReportSee uses multiple criteria for requesting data from police agencies.

See id. at ¶ 10. How an agency is selected depends on the size of the population that the agency

serves, the agency’s proximity to a SpotCrime media partner, and evidence of the agency’s

ability to provide data. See id. If the data is automatically published on the agency’s site, and

if the data is easily automated, then ReportSee creates an automation script to get the data. See

id. Cities that provide fully public feeds in this manner include Dallas, Washington D.C.,

Orlando, Tampa, Milwaukee, and San Francisco. See id.

Agencies without direct data feeds have many different methods as to how they make

data public. See id. at ¶ 11. Output can vary from .pdf reports, written blotters and in some

cases faxed reports. Additional sources include email alerts and email press releases. See id. In

situations where the police department is reluctant to provide public crime data, ReportSee

relies on open access or public information act request laws of the various states to request

access to the crime data. See id. at ¶ 12. In most cases, ReportSee’s efforts our successful –

meaning that the Police Agency either provides data directly to ReportSee or instead elects to

publish crime data in a fully open format for everyone (including SpotCrime) to access. See id.

ReportSee has been the least successful in areas where CrimeReports has a contract with

the police department. See id. at ¶ 13. Most major metro area police agencies in the United

States provide accessible data to SpotCrime. See id. at ¶ 14. There are only three major cities in

the nation that do not provide any type of fully public crime feed: New York, Seattle and Salt

Lake City. See id. Both New York and Seattle have indicated intent to create open data feeds
6

 
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similar to San Francisco and Washington DC, but Salt Lake City has given no indication of its

future plans. See id. at ¶ 15. In addition to making requests to police departments for crime data,

SpotCrime also receives unsolicited requests from police departments seeking to place their data

on SpotCrime, at a rate of about one unsolicited request per month. See id. at ¶ 16.

ReportSee does not charge the departments a fee to report crime data on SpotCrime.com,

nor does it charge the public or require the public to subscribe to any service (although they are

able to elect to receive email alerts from SpotCrime). See id. at ¶ 17. Instead, ReportSee earns

income from entering into contracts with media outlets and by providing a crime mapping widget

for those media outlets’ websites. See id. at ¶ 18. To date, ReportSee has contracted with more

than 100 media outlets whose owners include New York Times, Cox, Tribune, Hearst, CBS,

Fisher Communications, Newport Television and Belo. See id. Even in areas where SpotCrime

is the sole mapping provider for agencies, it does not charge any fee for the service. See id. at ¶

21. ReportSee does not have contracts with these agencies and requires no exclusivity with

them. See id.

Of all the media relationships ReportSee has had over the last few years, it has terminated

only one, which was with ABC4 in Salt Lake City. See id. at ¶ 19. ReportSee requested the

termination on April 27, 2009, because it was not able to obtain data from the Salt Lake City

Police Department (for reasons described above) and because the station had entered into a

marketing arrangement with Public Engines. See id. ABC4 Salt Lake still displays the

SpotCrime widget on its website, although ReportSee has had nothing to do with that decision.

See id. at ¶ 20.

 
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SpotCrime does not know the identities of all third parties to whom it has provided

information because third parties may log onto and obtain information from SpotCrime.com for

free, much like they can from CrimeReports.com. See id. at ¶ 22. ReportSee considers all of its

crime data to be public data. See id. at ¶ 23. In fact, ReportSee redistribute crime data through

RSS feeds and Twitter without any restrictions. See id.

ReportSee believes that providing the public with full, unfettered access to all crime data

is in the public interest and believes it sets a dangerous precedent that is contrary to the free

expression of ideas and criticism, to give police the ability to modify or even delete data that is

already available to the general public. See id. at ¶ 24. Police are free to issue statements

correcting the data, or to add their commentary or responses to commentary or criticism, should

police determine that it is necessary. See id. As evidenced by the many police departments that

have contacted ReportSee, unsolicited, to request to post data on SpotCrime.com, most law

enforcement agencies believe that public dissemination of crime data in a timely manner is

essential to public safety. See id. ReportSee also believes that it is in the public interest to not

charge a fee to police agencies, many of which are struggling for funds to provide crime data and

mapping services. See id. at ¶ 25.

A “scraper” is an industry term for a computer program that looks for information or data

– and it is one of many automated means of data collection. See id. at ¶ 26. Scrapers and other

automated programs are commonly-used methods of information and data collection. See id.

Scraping is by no means an act that is reserved for internet outlaws or hackers. See id. Thus, any

implication in the Complaint (whether intended or not) that only unscrupulous businesses and

people employ scrapers or other automated data collection means, is inaccurate. See id.
8

 
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For example, Google® launches scrapers, or spiders (another industry term for programs

that automate the search and retrieval of data), that look inside virtually every site on the Internet

and collect data that Google then indexes on its massive database. See id. at ¶ 27. If

SpotCrime.com was inoperable on a certain date (so that a user that typed www.spotcrime.com

into his or her internet browser was unable to open the site), that user may be able to obtain data

from the SpotCrime database on that same date through a Google search because Google

indexes, through an automated means of collecting data, more than 100,000 pages from

SpotCrime. See id. Thus, Google scrapes and stores on its own servers hundreds of thousands of

data points from SpotCrime – and it does it automatically, and posts that data to users who seek

it in a Google search. See id.

In or about early 2008, ReportSee began collecting publicly available and accessible

crime data from CrimeReports.com by automated means – a scraper. See id. at ¶ 28. ReportSee

stopped scraping upon receiving a letter from Public Engines dated June 16, 2008, not because it

agreed that Public Engines’ Terms of Use were valid or that it agreed to abide by them, or that it

believed that the data that had been collected was not public data, but because of the simple

economics that favored avoiding a legal fight and continuing to attempt to obtain crime data

from police departments across the country, whether or not those departments had a contractual

or other relationship with Public Engines. See id. Between June of 2008 and July of 2009,

ReportSee did not scrape or otherwise collect any data from CrimeReports.com. See id. at ¶ 30.

In or about July, 2009, ReportSee again began collecting data from CrimeReports.com by

automated means, though a CrimeReports.com window access point on the San Jose Police

Department. See id. at ¶ 31. ReportSee had made a request to that agency for crime data and
9

 
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was told, as many agencies have told ReportSee, to obtain the requested data from

CrimeReports.com. See id. The San Jose Police Department Website had a window, or portal,

in which a user could access the CrimeReports.com database from the San Jose Police

Department website. See id. The portal on the San Jose Police Department website did not

contain the CrimeReports.com terms of use at are attached to Public Engines’ Complaint in this

lawsuit. See id.

The San Jose Police Department did post its own terms of use with respect to the

CrimeReports portal on the site, but those terms of use did not restrict the collection, use or

publication of crime data accessible and obtained through the portal. See id. at ¶ 33. A copy of

the current San Jose Police Department terms of use are attached to my Declaration at Tab A,

and these terms appear to be consistent with the terms of use that were posted on the San Jose

Police Department during the times that ReportSee scraped data through the agency’s portal. See

id. (referencing attachment at Tab A).

Because the portal on the San Jose Police Department website provided complete access

to the CrimeReports data around the country, ReportSee scraped data for many areas of the

CrimeReports database. See id. at ¶ 34. CrimeReports provided these same portals or access

points to many departments and news outlets without terms of service. See id. ReportSee simply

elected to use San Jose Police Department as our primary access point. See id. ReportSee also

has been instructed by various police agencies that are under contract with Public Engines, that

ReportSee can and should access the agency’s crime data on CrimeReports.com. See id. at ¶ 35.

ReportSee stopped collecting data from CrimeReports in late March 2010, after it

discovered that CrimeReports.com had placed its Terms of Use on the access window on the San
10

 
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Jose Police Department site and at least a week prior to being notified of Public Engines lawsuit.

See id. at ¶ 36. The scraping was stopped to avoid any legal dispute over the issue – albeit

unsuccessfully. See id.

At no time did the crime data collected from Public Engines’ CrimeReports.com database

exceed approximately 2% of all of the total crime data on the ReportSee’s database. See id. at ¶

37. In addition, as of the date of this Declaration, no crime data that was collected from Public

Engines’ CrimeReports database is available to the public or for public view on SpotCrime. See

id. at ¶ 38.

Regarding Public Engines’ claims (both expressly and by implication) that its Publisher

program is uniquely-developed, very expensive software that gives it a unique capability to “de-

identify” crime data, those claims are untrue as Mr. Drane understands them. See id. at ¶ 42.

Because of ReportSee’s success rate in obtaining data directly from police agencies, it also has

developed the technical means to de-identify the data. See id. Also, because most crime data is

recorded in a database and eliminating victim and other personal information from crime data is

a relatively simple process, ReportSee has requested each department to provide similar output

that is being provided to CrimeReports. See id.

It is Mr. Drane’s understanding that most RMS and CAD systems used by police

departments are built on basic database structures. See id. at ¶ 44. Removing the victim data and

specific address information has been accomplished through simple database instructions for

years by many departments that already supply media outlets. See id. Many agencies already

publish de-identified data on their websites through this same process and some provide that data

directly to ReportSee. See id. The figure that Public Engines’ Complaint sites for investment in
11

 
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software that queries police CAD and RMS systems ($3,000,000) is excessively high. See id. at ¶

45. It is not a particularly advanced or difficult process to create software that queries databases

and pull out specific information (“de-identified data” for example). See id. ReportSee creates

software to scrub identifying information from police database reports that are sent to, and it

takes about 4-hours to create that software for each brand of CAD or RMS system. See id.

Finally, ReportSee has not intended to defraud or mislead anyone by any activity, and

disagrees with the proposition that it does not have a lawful right to compete for business with

Public Engines – even if that means requesting basic crime data from Public Engines’ customers,

which are government agencies.

B. Facts regarding Public Engines alleged in the Complaint or adduced during


discovery in this Action.

Pursuant to the Court’s April 27, 2010 approval of the parties’ Stipulated Motion for

Entry of Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order (and subsequent approved amendments thereto),

ReportSee engaged in document discovery and deposed two witnesses whose Declarations are

attached to the Moving Brief, Public Engines’ Chief Executive Officer, Gregory Whisenant, and

Public Engines’ Director of Technical Operations, Steven Meyers. Excerpts from Mr.

Whisenant’s deposition transcript are attached at Exhibit 2 (hereinafter, the “Whisenant Dep.”);

excerpts from Mr. Meyers’ deposition transcript are attached at Exhibit 3 (the “Meyers Dep.”).2

ReportSee also took a corporate deposition of Public Engines pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P.

30(b)(6), for which Mr. Whisenant was designated to testify on all matters except for technical

                                                            
2
      Public Engines designated both deposition transcripts as “Confidential” pursuant to the Protective
Order entered by the Court, but has agreed to remove the Confidential designation from the pages of the
transcripts that are attached at Exhibits 2 and 3. 
12

 
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information, which was the subject of Mr. Meyers’ testimony. The deposition testimony and

documents that Public Engines produced reveal important facts that, for the reasons in this

Opposition Brief, establish that Public Engines is not entitled to a preliminary injunction.

1. Agencies maintain complete editorial control over crime data


published on CrimeReports.com through an “Admin. Tool.”

Public Engines’ Complaint alleges that law enforcement agencies “desire to maintain

control over the information that is released to the public” and that the CrimeReports.com

website provides police with a means to provide “information approved and controlled by the

agencies themselves.” See Complaint ¶¶ 11, 13. The Complaint does not explain how

CrimeReports.com gives law enforcement agencies “control” over crime data or the level of

control that the agencies enjoy. Discovery revealed, however, that through a so-called “Admin.

Tool,” agencies have the unfettered right to manipulate crime data or delete it altogether, even

after the data is published on CrimeReports.com:

Q. Turning to paragraph 13 of the complaint. In that paragraph


there's an allegation about the Public Engines' website being user
friendly whose content is limited to information approved or
controlled by the agencies themselves. The control portion of that
allegation, how is it that the agencies accomplish control?
A. They have complete and unfettered access to the Publisher
which is behind their firewall and Public Engines does not have
any access to the Publisher under any circumstances. And they
also have the ability to log in directly to CrimeReports.com to
make changes or temporarily halt the display of information on the
website.

Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2, at 78:2-17. When questioned further about the Admin. Tool, Mr.

Whisenant explained that it gives agencies, “the ability to log in directly [to] the site to remove,

edit or add information as needed.” Id. at 38:13-15. The Admin. Tool is a selling feature for

13

 
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CrimeReports.com. For example, in one email a Public Engines salesperson explains to a police

lieutenant in Florida that, “[y]ou do have complete control of the data so you will have access to

an admin tool where you can delete or change crimes or stop certain crimes from being

uploaded.” See email correspondence attached at Exhibit 4, at p. PE 000361.

According to Public Engines, there are several reasons why police want to maintain tight

control over data and the right to manipulate or delete it, such as budgeting or political concerns:

I think the very nature of crime data is that it is open to


interpretation in many respects. As most people might know,
there's a lot of argument and debate about crime rates across the
country. It's a subject of budgets. It's a subject of hiring chiefs,
allocating resources, and even to elect people.

Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2, at 74:12-24. Agencies also want to avoid a “perception issue” that

could have “political consequences”:

A. [Discussing agencies’ desire to maintain control]: It's not just


about the data itself, but it's the perception of crime among the
public, so it might not be a public issue per se, but also a
perception issue as well.

Q. What is the perception issue, in your understanding?

A. Well, it would be associated with the public safety issue


itself, but an individual might visit the website and get a false
sense was security or conversely a false sense of danger for
anywhere neighborhood they live in or may be visiting if the data
is not kept up-to-date. And that potentially there would be legal
consequences as well as political consequences for the agency in
that regard.

Id. at 76:20-77:10. The police chiefs usually control the Admin Tool and decide who else will

have access to it. See id. at 79:10-13.

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Finally, Public Engines contends that agencies want to maintain control over crime data

on CrimeReports.com for “public safety” purposes. The reason, according to Mr. Whisenant, has

to do with the two separate agency systems from which Public Engines’ “Publisher” program

collects data – the “CAD” and the “RMS” systems. Emergency calls to 9-1-1 are typically

logged on the CAD and once the police determine that an actual crime may have occurred, the

CAD information is logged in the RMS. If an emergency call logged in the CAD does not

concern a crime, it is not logged in the RMS. See Whisenant Dep., at 31:21-32:13. Agencies

want the ability to delete evidence of reports of from the CAD system if they later determine that

no crime occurred. See id. at 60:12-61:23.

2. Public Engines and its agency customers collaborate in responding to


and denying ReportSee’s requests for crime data.

When data from CrimeReports.com began to appear on SpotCrime.com, Public Engines

received complaints from its agency customers. The agencies allegedly complained that “their

data” should not be displayed on any website that they could not control:

[T]he nature of those complaints was that they [agencies] had seen
their data, which Public Engines was contractually authorized to
produce and display showing up on a third party website that did
not have permission to show that data from the agency, and they
felt that that was a violation and a shortcoming on the part of
Public Engines.

Id. at 59:19-60:1. A representative of the San Jose Police Department, for example, lodged the

following complaint:

[He said that] his understanding was that we had a contractual


agreement whereby we would be provided access to this data for
display on the Public Engines CrimeReports.com website and that
was the only place where it was approved, and it was showing up
on a third party website, and he wasn't happy about it.
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Id. at 102:8-14. The agencies allegedly told Public Engines they were upset about the data being

posted elsewhere because, “they wanted to be able to control” the data. Id. at 60:5-6 (also

testifying that, “I don't think they [the agencies] would be adverse to having the data show up

somewhere will else so long as they had the abilities to go and edit that data and remove it and

change it as they saw fit”). Public Engines stated that, “[w]hen you join and go live, we make a

commitment to present data to the public in a way that the agency can manage and control.

Obviously, if someone scrapes the data from us, it would limit our ability to fulfill our end of the

bargain.” See email from Whisenant to police representative, Exhibit 5, at PE 000096.

Public Engines and its law enforcement agency clients also collaborate in responding to

(and denying) ReportSee’s requests for crime data from the agencies. For example, in emails to

some of its agency clients, Mr. Whisenant summarizes the “key points” that some agencies had

been making to deny ReportSee’s requests for crime data, including that:

- CrimeReports.com provides free, unfettered access to the agency’s


crime data. The agency views this as fulfilling requirements under
open records laws.
- As a vendor to the public, CrimeReports.com is under specific
contractual obligations, including (among others) 1) to keep the
agency’s records up to date; 2) to provide free access to all data;
and 3) to not allow advertising.

See, e.g., March 26, 2009, email from Public Engines Sergeant in Jackson, Tennessee, attached

at Exhibit 6, at PE 000092 (responding to Sergeant’s email that, “the Chief wanted me to contact

ya’ll and see what over departments cited as far as the FOIA and how they kept from providing

[ReportSee] with Data”). 3

                                                            
3
   The notation at the top of the email stating, “Email Sent to All Customers on Thursday, November 12,
2009, is Mr. Whisenant’s notation for purposes of this litigation. Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2., at 134:6-12. 
16

 
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On November 12, 2009, Mr. Whisenant sent an email to all Public Engines agency

customers that contained “discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you

are contacted” by ReportSee. See November 12, 2009, email from Mr. Whisenant, Exhibit 7, at

PE 000022. 4 Mr. Whisenant’s “discussion points” include three sample scripted responses for

agencies to use with ReportSee, two of which are:

- [Sample 2]. Dear _______: Thank you for your request. We


already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is
publicly available for free, so we don’t have any need for
additional outlets at this time.

- [Sample 3] [I]n response to an open records request. Dear


_______: We have reviewed your request and are declining your
request to provide access to a data feed, which is beyond the scope
of public records laws. If you would like to view crime data for
your neighborhood, you may access it for free at
CrimeReports.com.

Id.

The emails produced by Public Engines establish that the agencies took Mr. Whisenant’s

advice and, in many instances, used his scripts verbatim to respond to ReportSee’s requests. See,

e.g., collection of email responses from agencies to Mr. Whisenant’s November 12, 2009, email,

attached at Exhibits 8A-8L. For example, one agency responded “I sent [ReportSee] a response

very similar to #2 below and have not heard back from them since.” Id. at Exh. 8C. Another

response indicated that, “We were contacted by SpotCrime and used your exact points to deny

them access. Thanks for your information!” Id. at Exh. 8H.

Mr. Whisenant also used the points from his November 12, 2009, email to create a

document on CrimeReports.com letterhead to provide to new agency customers who receive


                                                            
4
  See Whisenant Dep., Exh., 2, at 134:5-17. 
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ReportSee requests for crime data. See Document entitled, “Our Data Sharing Policies and Open

Records Requests” at Exhibit 9; see also Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2, at 137:11-17 (explaining that

the document was created so that Public Engines could, “have something we could send

subsequently to new customers as they came onboard”).

Finally, after it filed the present lawsuit, Public Engines emailed all of its agency

customers to inform them of the lawsuit and to provide new scripted responses for the agencies

to use to deny ReportSee’s data requests. See April 14, 2010, email from Mr. Whisenant,

Exhibit 10. 5 The two “[e]xample statements to SpotCrime” that Mr. Whisenant’s email gave the

agencies to use are:

ONE
Thank you for your request. As you know, we are currently
providing this information to the public for free through
CrimeReports.com. We also understand that Public Engines,
which owns CrimeReports.com, has taken legal action against
ReportSee, and we are waiting for an outcome on the case before
considering alternative publishers.

TWO
We appreciate your interest. As you know, we are working with
CrimeReports.com, who simplifies the process of making this data
available to the general public in a way that we can still manage
and control. You are welcome to use the site, as it is open and free
to the public.

Id. (emphasis added). Public Engines received confirmation from agencies that they planned to

use the scripts. See, e.g., April 15, 2010, email from Chief of Police in Cleveland to Public

Engines, Exhibit 11 (confirming that, “I will use one of the responses that you have provided”).

                                                            
5
   Public Engines also issued the same statement in a press release to the media via the news wire. See
Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2, at 140:14-18.
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3. The CrimeReports.com Terms of Use do not prohibit business


entities, such as ReportSee, from accessing crime data; they purport
to prohibit only certain uses of any data obtained.

Paragraph 24 of the Complaint alleges that, “[a]nyone is free to access the information on

CrimeReports.com, provided they comply with the website’s Terms of Use” – and the remainder

of the paragraph explains all the manners in which the Terms of Use (or “TOU”) prohibits

individuals and businesses from using the data that they obtain from the site. See Complaint ¶ 24

(explaining specific prohibited uses and stating that, “[t]he requirements for use of the website

are set forth in the Terms of Use for CrimeReports.com, a copy of which is appended hereto as

Exhibit 2 and incorporated by this reference”) (emphasis added). The TOU also state that “All

information provided by a law enforcement agency is offered and owned by that agency. TOU,

Exh. 3 to Complaint, at ¶ 6.

Public Engines confirmed during its deposition that its TOU do not restrict access, but

instead prohibit business entities from making use of the data that they obtain. See Whisenant

Dep., Exh. 2, at 90:3-25. Paragraph 1 of the TOU provides in relevant part that:

1. PERMITTED USE. Subject to these TOU, Public Engines


hereby grants you the right to access and use the Public
Engines Sites solely for the following purposes: (i) if you are
accessing the Public Engines Sites as an individual, then any
and all use of the Public Engines Sites is for your personal,
non-commercial use only; or (ii) if you are accessing the
Public Engines Sites on behalf of a business entity, then any
and all use of the Public Engines Sites must be for such
business entity's internal business purposes in connection
with the establishment or continuation of a business
relationship with Public Engines.

TOU, Exh. 3 to Complaint, at p. 1 (emphasis added). Mr. Whisenant testified about the meaning

of the above-quoted language:


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Q. Can you explain to me what internal business purposes


means?
A. Where it says internal business purposes in connection with
the establishment or continuation of a business relationship with
Public Engines?
Q. Yes, that's it.
A. That means a contractual agreement, authorization effectively
to use the data.
Q. Contractual agreement with Public Engines?
A. Yes.
Q. So unless a business entity has a contractual relationship with
Public Engines, these terms of use would prohibit use of the site, of
the Public Engines sites?
A. Yes.
Q. What about access? Let's just say a business entity that didn't
have a contractual relationship with Public Engines accessed the
website. Would these terms of use prohibit that access?
A. No.

See Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2, at 90:3-25. 6

4. The only agency that terminated its contract with Public Engines did
so for reasons that are not exclusive to ReportSee.

Of the more than 800 agencies that Public Engines lists as its exclusive customers, the

Complaint alleges that only one terminated its contract as a result of ReportSee’s demands for

equal access to crime data. See Complaint, ¶ 42. ReportSee’s demand for data was not,

however, the sole reason for the termination by the agency, which Public Engines identified as

the Annapolis, Maryland Police Department:


                                                            
6
    After delivering the unambiguous “no” answer, Mr. Whisenant then requested time to review the TOU
to ensure that his answer was accurate. After he was given that time (the deposition was even recessed
while he reviewed the TOU), he went back on the record to confirm that his answer was correct – that is,
the TOU do not prohibit access in the first place; only use of the data obtained as a result of that access.
See id. at 91:1-92:3.

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Q. So getting back to Annapolis. Around October of 2009 is


when Annapolis cancelled its contract?
A. That's correct.
...
Q. Did [the Annapolis police] say that the only reason they
were cancelling the contract was because of a threat or actually
lawsuit by Reportsee?
A. No.
Q. What else, what other reason might have been given?
A. She indicated that they had been considering building their
own tool and that this was the event that pushed them to actually
do it, so it was the deciding factor.

Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2 at 55:6-56:2. Mr. Whisenant’s testimony is inconsistent with his email

from October of 2009, in which he recounts his recent conversation with a representative from

the Annapolis Police Department, saying, “they have already built their site and wanted the

flexibility, but that the SpotCrime thing basically pushed them over the edge.” See October 16,

2009, email from Whisenant to other Public Engines employees, Exhibit 12 (emphasis added).

Mr. Whisenant also tells his staff that, “we’ll shortly have a network-wide legal strategy to roll

out.” See id.

5. ReportSee scraped data from an agency website that posted a portal


to CrimeReports data, and the portal did not contain the TOU.

As Mr. Drane’s Declaration explains, there is a window or portal to the

CrimeReports.com data that exists on the San Jose Police Department (as is common with many

Public Engine agency customer sites), through which in or about July of 2009, ReportSee

collected crime data. See Drane Dec., Exh. 1, at ¶¶ 31-34. At that time – and until the end of

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March, 2010, when ReportSee stopped any collection of data through the San Jose portal – the

CrimeReports TOU were not posted anywhere in connection with the portal:

Q. Now, on the San Jose website, there exists . . . a window that


would permit a search on Crime Reports directly from the San Jose
website; is that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Does that window contain Public Engines’ terms of use?
A. It does.
Q. Has it always?
A. No.
Q. When were the terms of use then added to the San Jose
website?
A. Roughly on March, at the end of March 2010.
Q. How did it come to be that the terms of use got added to that
website?
A. I think it was Ken [Myers, the President of Public Engines]
who pointed out that we didn't have the terms of use on the widget.

Whisenant Dep., 102:25-103:22. Any data that ReportSee collected from CrimeReports.com

through the use of the San Jose Police Department website portal was limited to the data that was

already available to the general public:

Q. Do you know whether when a scraper is used on the


database, that scraper can access the data that's no longer
accessible on the Crime Reports website?
A. It cannot.
Q. So is it fair to say generally that a scraper can get no more
data than . . . an average citizen like you or I can get by logging
into the Crime Reports website?
A. Right, that's pretty much the definition of a scraper[.]

Meyers Dep., Exh. 3, at 41:2-3 (only relevant transcript portions attached).

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Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 24 of 62

6. Public Engines is alleging that the De-Identified Data has been


organized by its proprietary software in a unique way.

In its Complaint, Public Engines alleges that Public Engines provides proprietary

software. Complaint ¶ 16. Public Engines further alleges that this proprietary software processes

law enforcement agency crime data “. . . to organize them, separate them from confidential

information, assign unique categories to the crimes reported as defined by Public Engines, and

replace the exact street address with more general coordinate.” Id. at ¶ 17. Public Engines

describes this processed data as “De-Identified Data” and claims to own the “De-Identified

Data.” Id. at ¶ 18.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

To obtain a preliminary injunction, Public Engines must show, “(1) a substantial

likelihood of success on the merits; (2) irreparable harm to the movant if the injunction is denied;

(3) the threatened injury outweighs the harms that the preliminary injunction may cause the

opposing party; and (4) the injunction, if issued, will not adversely affect the public interest.”

Wilderness Workshop v. United States BLM, 531 F.3d 1220, 1224 (10th Cir. 2008) (citation

omitted). “[B]ecause a preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy, the [movant's] right to

relief must be clear and unequivocal.” Id.; see also Systemic Formulas, Inc. v. Daeyoon Kim,

2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116038 (D. Utah Dec. 14, 2009); APG Enters. v. Money & More, Inc.,

2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95852 (D. Utah Oct. 14, 2009). When a moving party has not prevailed

on the first two factors it is not crucial to address the second two. Seroctin Research & Techs.,

Inc. v. Unigen Pharms., Inc., 541 F. Supp. 2d 1238, 1246-47 (D. Utah 2008) (citation omitted).

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Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 25 of 62

Preliminary injunctions are “never awarded as of right.” Munaf v. Geren, 553 U.S. 674 (2008)

(citation omitted).

Several types of injunctions are disfavored by the Tenth Circuit and thus, require a

stronger showing. Disfavored injunctions include those what would disturb the status quo, those

that are mandatory rather than prohibitory, and those that would afford the movant substantially

all the relief it would recover if it prevailed at the end of a full trial on the merits. O Centro

Espirita Beneficente Uniao Do Vegetal v. Ashcroft, 389 F.3d 973, 975 (10th Cir. 2004); see also

Systemic Formulas, Inc. v. Daeyoon Kim, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116038 (D. Utah Dec. 14,

2009). Obtaining a disfavored type of injunction requires a strong showing on likelihood of

success on the merits and the balance of harms factors. O Centro Espirita, 389 F.3d at 976.

IV. ARGUMENT

A. Public Engines seeks a disfavored type of injunction, which is overbroad.

Public Engines seeks a preliminary injunction that grants it all the relief it seeks in its

complaint except, of course, for damages. Although there are six claims in the Complaint, the

relief sought by the Complaint, aside from damages, is effectively to: (i) stop any current and

prohibit any future collection or use by ReportSee of any data from CrimeReports.com; (ii)

require ReportSee to delete all CrimeReports.com data that it has collected; and to (iii) stop

ReportSee from contacting or communicating with any law enforcement agencies that are Public

Engines customers. The cover Motion seeks injunctive relief that accomplishes all of the above.

The Motion also asks for relief that is facially overbroad. For example, it seeks a

mandatory injunction, “directing ReportSee to contact all third parties to whom it has provided

information misappropriated from Public Engines and directing them to delete misappropriate[d]
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information permanently from their databases[.]” 7 The Court should require Public Engines to

make a “strong showing” of likelihood of success on the merits and the balance of harms factors.

See O Centro Espirita, 389 F.3d at 976.

B. Public Engines Has Not Made a Strong Showing That it is Substantially


Likely to Succeed on the Merits of the Claims in its Complaint.

1. CFAA claim (The First Claim for Relief).

There are five independent reasons why Public Engines does not have a substantial

likelihood of success on the merits of Count I of its Complaint, which alleges a violation of the

CFAA, 18 U.S.C. § 1030. First, Public Engines fails to state a claim for violations of the two

sections of the CFAA that are citied in its Moving Brief. Second, Public Engines should be

estopped from asserting a violation of the CFAA because it encouraged agencies to direct

ReportSee to collect data from CrimeReports. Third, ReportSee’s alleged violations of the TOU

are not actionable under the CFAA because the statute does not prohibit unauthorized “use” of

data obtained from a computer that a defendant had authority to access. Fourth, imposing

liability under a federal criminal statute for breach of contract would render the CFAA

unconstitutionally vague. Fifth, the CFFA claim being asserted by Public Engines is preempted

by the federal Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101, et. seq. (the “Copyright Act”).

                                                            
7
     For example, ReportSee does not have any authority to require third parties to delete any data from
their databases, yet Public Engines seeks an injunction requiring ReportSee to “direct” third parties to
delete data. 
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(i) The two CFAA subsections cited in the Moving Brief are not
supported by any allegation in the Complaint or evidence
submitted to date by Public Engines.

The Moving Brief contends that ReportSee’s conduct violates two subsections of the

CFAA -- 1030(a)(4) and (a)(5)(A). See Moving Brief, pp. 24-25. Section 1030(a)(5)(A)

prohibits a person from “knowingly caus[ing] the transmission of a program, information, code

or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causes damage without authorization,

to a protected computer.” There is no allegation in the Complaint that ReportSee’s alleged

activities – including scraping activities – caused any damage to Public Engines’ computers or

servers. See generally, Complaint. The Moving Brief and its exhibits do not present any

evidence that ReportSee’s scraper caused damage to Public Engines’ computers. Instead, the

Complaint and Moving Brief describe the technical measures that Public Engines employed to

attempt to stop ReportSee’s scraper from collecting data. Thus, without any allegation or

evidence of damage to Public Engines’ computers or server as a proximate result of ReportSee’s

activities, Public Engines cannot succeed on the merits of its claim under Section 1030(a)(5)(A)

of the CFAA.

Section 1030(a)(4) prohibits a person from “knowingly with and with intent to defraud,

access[ing] a protected computer without authorization, or exceeds authorized access, and by

means of such conduct furthers the intended fraud and obtains anything of value [unless the

value is less than $5,000 in any one year period].” There are no allegations in the Complaint

that ReportSee’s activities are fraudulent, nor any allegations of fact that would satisfy the

heightened pleading requirements for fraud required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b). The Moving Brief

does not explain how or why the alleged violation of the TOU, which is the sole basis of its
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CFAA claim, amounts to a fraud. Accordingly, Public Engines has not made a strong showing

that it is substantially likely to succeed on the merits of its claims under the two subsections of

the CFAA that are cited as the basis for its Motion for Preliminary Injunction. 8

(ii) Public Engines should be estopped from asserting a CFAA


violation.

As explained above, Mr. Whisenant instructs law enforcement agency clients respond to

ReportSee’s requests for crime data by directing it to CrimeReports. He provides scripts for the

agencies to read that tell ReportSee, “you may access [the data you request] for free on
9
CrimeReports.com” and “You are welcome to use the site, as it is open and free to the

public.” 10 Public Engines sent the second quoted script after it had filed the present action, when

it knew that ReportSee sought to collect data to publish on SpotCrime.com. The emails attached

to this Opposition Brief establish that the agencies took Public Engines’ advice. See also Drane

Dec., Exh.1 at ¶ 35 (affirming that some agencies under contract with Public Engines referred

ReportSee to CrimeReports.com to obtain the requested data).

Thus, at the same time Public Engines is instructing agencies to direct ReportSee to

obtain data from CrimeReports.com – knowing full well that ReportSee’s purpose for obtaining

                                                            
8
      Public Engines does not argue that ReportSee violated Section 1030(a)(2) of the CFAA, which
prohibits “intentionally access[ing] a computer without authorization or exceed[ing] authorized access,
and thereby obtains -- (C) information from any protected computer.” Thus, even if it attempted to
proceed under that subsection at some later date it cannot do so now because it has not presented
argument to meet its burden of proving a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of that claim.
9
  See November 12, 2009, email from Mr. Whisenant, Exhibit 7 (emphasis added). 
10
  See April 14, 2010, email from Mr. Whisenant, Exhibit 10 (emphasis added). 
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the data is to publish it on SpotCrime.com – it is proceeding with this lawsuit alleging that

ReportSee’s publication of data from CrimeReports.com violates federal law. 11

(iii) The CFAA does not impose liability for unauthorized use of
information obtained from a computer that a defendant had
authority to access.

Recent court decisions that interpret the CFAA deny liability when a defendant’s access

to a computer was authorized but its use of data obtained from the computer was not. Although

this is an issue of first impression in the Tenth Circuit, this Court should apply the same

interpretation to the CFAA because it is consistent with standard articulated by the Supreme

Court for interpreting a statute that has both civil and criminal penalties.

The CFAA “is primarily a criminal statute[.]” LVRC Holdings, LCC v. Brekka, 581 F.3d

1127, 1134 (9th Cir. 2009). For example, a single violation of the CFAA subsections cited in

Public Engines’ Moving Brief -- (a)(4) or (a)(5)(A) -- is punishable by fines and imprisonment

for up to ten years. See id. at § 1030(c)(3)(A) (imposing “a fine under this title or imprisonment

for not more than five years, or both” for violating subsection (a)(4)); see also id. at §

1030(c)(4)(B) (imposing “a fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or

both” if the violation of subsection (a)(5)(A) causes, among other things, loss to the plaintiff in

any one year aggregating at least $5,000 in value).

Under the rule of lenity, any ambiguity in a criminal statute must be interpreted narrowly

and if a narrow interpretation permits it, in favor of the defendant. See Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543

U.S. 1, n.8 (2004) (citing United States v. Thompson/Center Arms Co., 504 U.S. 505, 517-518,
                                                            
11
   This estoppel argument applies equally to all of the other claims that are based upon ReportSee’s use
of data obtained from CrimeReports.com, which is every Count in the Complaint except for the Lanham
Act claim (the Fourth Claim for Relief in the Complaint). 
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119 L. Ed. 2d 308, 112 S. Ct. 2102 (1992) (applying the rule of lenity to a tax statute, in a civil

setting, because the statute had criminal applications and thus had to be interpreted consistently

with its criminal applications)). A criminal statute cannot be interpreted differently in the civil

context than it would in the criminal context. See id. The rule of lenity therefore applies to

interpretations of the CFAA. Brekka, 581 F.3d at 1134.

The CFAA is ambiguous because it does not define “authorization” or “authorized

access” for purposes of determining the propriety of a defendant’s access to a computer. The

CFAA does define “[e]xceeds authorized access” as “to access a computer with authorization

and to use such access to obtain or alter information in the computer that the accesser is not

entitled to so obtain or alter.” Id. at § 1030(e)(6). Because there is no express prohibition in the

CFAA against unauthorized use, and because the statute must be interpreted narrowly, the Ninth

Circuit held that a person that has permission to access a computer cannot be liable under the

statute for misuse or unauthorized use of information obtained from that computer, regardless of

the individual’s intent Brekka, 581 F.3d at 1133-35. In other words, wrongful intent does not

automatically revoke access rights for purposes of the CFAA. See id.

In Brekka, a residential treatment center for adults brought a civil CFAA action against

its former employee, a marketing contractor, who used his login information to access the

center’s computers after his employment was terminated and emailed company documents to

himself. Brekka, 581 F.3d at 1130. The company alleged violations of subsections (a)(2) and

(a)(4) of the CFAA. See id. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the

defendant and the Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that “a person uses a computer “without

authorization” under §§ 1030(a)(2) and (4) when the person has not received permission to use
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the computer for any purpose (such as when a hacker accesses someone's computer without any

permission), or when the employer has rescinded permission to access the computer and the

defendant uses the computer anyway.” Id. at 1135.

The Court rejected the idea that a defendant can lose authorization to use a computer

when it does so with the intent of acting contrary to the computer owner’s interest. See id.

Doing so, it observed, would be to interpret the CFAA broadly even though it is “first and

foremost a criminal statute that must have limited reach and clear parameters under the rule of

lenity and to comply with the void for vagueness doctrine. Id. at 1134 (citation omitted).

Relying on Brekka, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California

recently granted dismissal of a CFAA claim pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) because the

complaint, “merely stated] there were limits on how [the defendant] could use [information

obtained from plaintiff’s computer] by making copies of it or disclosing it to third parties” – but

did not contain specific, plausible factual allegations that would establish the defendant’s lack of

any right to access the plaintiff’s computers for any reason. Aptac, Inc. v. Aptitude Sol’ns, 2010

U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42109, at *13-14 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 29, 2010).

Also relying on Brekka, the United States District Court for the Northern District of

California reconsidered its earlier ruling on a CFAA indictment and reversed itself, holding that

no CFAA violation occurred when co-conspirators employed by an executive search placement

firm accessed and downloaded firm trade secrets, because the defendants had permission to

access the database that contained the trade secrets. United States v. Nosal, 2010 U.S. Dist.

LEXIS 24359 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 6, 2010). The Nosal opinion thoroughly reviews the holding and

effect of Brekka to answer the question, “does an employee act ‘without authorization’ or ‘in
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excess of authorized access’ if he accesses confidential and proprietary business information

from his employer's computer that he has permission to access, but then uses that information in

a manner inconsistent with the employer's interests or in violation of other contractual

obligations, and . . . intended to use the information in that manner at the time of access?” Id. at

*8-9 (internal quotations omitted). The answer, the Court held, is “no.” Id. at *12-13 (quoting

Brekka, 581 F.3d at 1135). The Nosal Court then applied Brekka to determine when the CFAA

imposes liability for “exceeding authorized access.” It held that, “an individual’s intent in

accessing a computer, be it to defraud or otherwise, is irrelevant to determining whether an

individual has permission or is authorized to access the computer” – and therefore an individual

cannot “exceed authorized access” by having a particular state of mind. Id. at *16.

The Court should apply the Ninth Circuit and California line of cases to the present

action because they properly interpret the CFFA in accordance with the rule of lenity, and also

because Public Engines’ TOU provide that, “[t]his Agreement shall be governed in all respects

by the laws of the State of California, USA, without giving effect to its conflict of laws

provisions, or any other provisions that would result in the application of a different body of

law.” See TOU, Exh. 3 to the Complaint, § 13. 12

There cannot be any dispute that the TOU permit access by any business entity, including

ReportSee. The Complaint alleges that, “[a]nyone is free to access the information on

                                                            
12
      The Ninth Circuit and California’s district courts are not alone in their narrow interpretation of the
CFAA. See, e.g., Shamrock Foods v. Gast, 535 F. supp. 2d 1322 (N.D. Ga. 2007); Brett Senior & Assoc.,
P.C. v. Fitzgerald, 2007 U.S. LEXIS 50833 (E.D. Pa. July 13, 2007); Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Speed,
2006 U.S. Lexis 53108 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 1, 2006); and Int’l Ass’n of Machinists and Aerospace Workers v.
Werner-Masuda, 390 F. Supp. 2d 479 (D. Md. 2005) (rejecting CFAA claim because “the gravamen of
the [plaintiff’s] complaint is not so much that Werner-Masuda improperly access the information
contained in [the plaintiff’s computer], but rather what she did with the information”).
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CrimeReports.com” 13 and Public Engines’ deposition testimony (quoted above) confirms that the

TOU do not prohibit a business entity, even ReportSee, from accessing CrimeReports.com. 14

Public Engines affirmatively instructs its customers to direct ReportSee to access data on

CrimeReports.com. Moreover, the Moving Brief does not discuss irreparable harm in terms of

access; it contends that harm will result without an order enjoining, “ReportSee’s unauthorized

use of Public Engines’ data “ and “Reportsee’s publication and commercial sale of data[.]”

Whisenant Dec., pp. 13-14 (emphasis added). Accordingly, ReportSee’s collection of crime

data with an intent to commercialize, publish or sell it falls outside the scope of the CFAA.

(iv) Using the CFAA to criminalize a breach of contract would render


the statute unconstitutional.

Another recent California federal district court case illustrates the fourth reason why

Public Engines does not have a substantial likelihood of succeeding on the merits of its CFAA

claim. In United States v. Drew, 259 F.R.D. 449 (C.D. Cal. 2009), the California court held that

the CFAA would violate the void-for-vagueness doctrine if it were used to criminalize a breach

of a website’s terms of service or use.

Drew concerned a federal prosecutor’s CFAA charge against a defendant for violating the

terms of use of the site, www.myspace.com. The Defendant, Lori Drew, created a fake MySpace

page that criticized 13-year-old Megan Meier, a classmate of Drew’s daughter. See id. at 452.

The federal prosecutor alleged that Drew’s interactions with Meier on the fake MySpace page

led Meier to commit suicide. See id. A federal jury convicted Drew on only one count –

violation of the CFAA – because her actions violated the MySpace website terms of service (to
                                                            
13
  See Complaint ¶ 24.
14
  See Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2 at 90:3-25 (quoted in full, supra, in Section II (p. 17)). 
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which Drew had to click “I agree” before creating the fake MySpace page). See id. at 453. The

California court held that converting the breach of a website’s terms into a CFAA violation

renders the statute unconstitutionally vague, and it vacated the jury’s verdict. Id. at 457.

The court recognized that other federal decisions have held that “a conscious violation of

a website’s terms of service/use will render the access unauthorized and/or cause it to exceed

authorization.” Id. at 460 (citations omitted). It determined, however, that such an application

would run afoul of the “void for vagueness” doctrine, which requires a criminal statute to

“contain ‘relatively clear guidelines as to prohibited conduct’ and provide ‘objective criteria’ to

evaluate whether a crime has been committed.’” Id. at 463-64 (citing Gonzales v. Carhart, 500

U.S. 123, 149, 127 S. Ct. 1610, 167 L. Ed. 2d 480 (2007) (additional citations omitted)).

The court held that imposing criminal liability for violating a website’s terms of service

would not provide sufficient notice of possible violations of the statute, which violates the void-

for-vagueness doctrine. Id. at 464. For example, the Court held that there is no language in the

CFAA that suggests or provides notice that the statute has “criminalized breaches of contract”

that “[n]ormally, … are not the subject of criminal prosecution.” Id. at 464 (citation omitted).

Second, the CFAA “would be unacceptably vague” because it would be “unclear whether any or

all violations of terms of service will render the access unauthorized, or whether only certain

ones will.” Id. Third, allowing “the website owner – in essence – [to be] the party who

ultimately defines the criminal conduct … will lead to further vagueness problems.” Id. at 465.

The court also found that permitting a website owner to define violations of the CFAA

through terms of use would fail to give minimal guidelines to govern law enforcement, which

also runs afoul of the void-for-vagueness doctrine. See id. at 466. The Court recognized that the
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situation “would result in transforming [the CFAA] into an overwhelmingly overbroad

enactment that would convert a multitude of otherwise innocent Internet users into

misdemeanant criminals.” Id. (providing examples in the context of the MySpace terms of

service). Finally, the court rejected the government’s argument that Drew had consciously

violated the MySpace terms of service – holding that “if any conscious breach of a website’s

terms of service is held to be sufficient by itself to constitute intentionally accessing a computer

without authorization or in excess of authorization, the result will be that [the CFAA] becomes a

law that ‘affords too much discretion to the police and too little notice to citizens who wish to

use the [Internet].’” Id. at 467 (quoting  City of Chicago v. Morales, 527 U.S. 41, 64 60, 119 S.

Ct. 1849, 144 L. Ed. 2d 67 (1999)).

The application of Public Engines’ TOU to impose liability under a criminal statute

would, for the reasons explained in Drew, render the CFAA unconstitutional under the void-for-

vagueness doctrine. Public Engines cannot make a strong showing that it substantially likely to

succeed on the merits of a claim that hinges on an unconstitutional application of a criminal

statute.

(v) The CFAA Claim is preempted by the Copyright Act.

The Complaint alleges that Public Engines owns the “De-identified Data” and that this

“De-identified Data” is organized in a unique way using Public Engines proprietary software.

Complaint, ¶¶ 16-18. If these factual allegations are assumed to be true for the sake of the

instant motion, the “De-identified Data” would copyrightable. In Feist Publications, Inc. v.

Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 340, 345 (1991), the Supreme Court held that facts are not

copyrightable, but an original compilation of facts is:


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The sine qua non of copyright is originality. To qualify for


copyright protection, a work must be original to the author.
Original, as the term is used in copyright, means only that the work
was independently created by the author (as opposed to copied
from other works), and that it possesses at least some minimal
degree of creativity. To be sure, the requisite level of creativity is
extremely low; even a slight amount will suffice.

As shown above, the gravamen of Public Engines’ CFAA claim is the use by ReportSee

of the “De-Identified Data.” Congress has specifically preempted all state law claims that are

equivalent to those protected under federal copyright law. “ ‘[A] state-law claim is preempted if

‘(1) the work is within the scope of the 'subject matter of copyright' as specified in 17 U.S.C. §§

102 and 103; and (2) the rights granted under state law are equivalent to any exclusive rights

within the scope of federal copyright as set out in 17 U.S.C. § 106.’” R.W. Beck, Inc. v. E3

Consulting, LLC, 577 F.3d 1133, 1147 (10th Cir. 2009). In other words, taking the factual

allegations as true, which appear to allege that the Publisher organizes the data in a unique way,

rights granted under state law that are equivalent to rights under the Copyright Act are

preempted, even with respect to any uncopyrightable elements of the "De-Identified Data,”

regardless of whether Public Engines registered the copyright for the “De-Identified Data.” Id.

The Supreme Court also applies this principle to claims under the federal Lanham Act.

See Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp, 539 U.S. 23 (2003) (rejecting claim of

“reverse passing off” in violation of Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act). In Dastar, the Supreme

Court held that the Lanham Act only protects the producer of tangible goods that are offered for

sale and not the author of an idea, concept of communication embodied in those goods, because

“. . . to hold otherwise would be akin to finding that § 43(a) created a species of perpetual

copyright, which Congress may not do.” Id. at 37. Since Public Engines’ CFFA claim (as
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alleged in the Complaint) is the equivalent of a copyright claim, it cannot rely upon the CFAA to

create a new species of perpetual copyright. See id.

2. Public Engines does not have a substantial likelihood of success on the


merits of its breach of contract claim (the Second Claim for Relief).

To state a claim for breach of contract there must, of course, be a contract. Public

Engines is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its breach claim because the TOU did not apply to

the scraping activities that are the subject of the present injunction, the Terms of Use cannot

form a contract because they are illusory, the TOU state that Public Engines does not own the

crime data on CrimeReports.com and the Copyright Act preempts this Action.

ReportSee’s automated collection activities were accomplished on the San Jose Police

Department website, which contained a portal that permitted the access of CrimeReports data

directly from the agency’s site. See Drane Dec., Exh. 1, at ¶ 35. In fact, the agency directed

ReportSee to the portal on the San Jose Police Department website when ReportSee made a

request for crime data. See id. at ¶ 31. The agency’s website contained terms of use that placed

no prohibitions on use of the data that could be collected. See id. at ¶ 33 (attaching the San Jose

terms of service). The window on the agency’s site did not contain the Public Engines’ TOU

until the end of March, 2010 – which is the same time that ReportSee discontinued scraping. See

id. at ¶ 36 (affirming that scraping stopped at the end of March, 2010); see Whisenant Dep., Exh.

2, at 102:25 - 103:22 (stating that the TOU were first posted with respect to the San Jose window

“at the end of March”). Thus, the TOU did not apply to the scraping activities that are the

foundation for Public Engines’ present Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

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Even if the TOU had been posted, they could not form a contract because they are

illusory. Under Utah law, a contract is illusory when by its terms one party “could unilaterally

modify the terms at any time.” Dumais v. American Golf Co., 299 F. 3d 1216 (10th Cir. 2002)

(holding that an agreement allowing one party an unfettered right to alter the agreement’s

existence or its scope is illusory and therefore unenforceable) (citations omitted). In Dumais, an

employee signed an arbitration agreement that bound the employee to the terms of the

defendant’s handbook, but in the handbook the employer, “reserve[d] the right to at any time

change, delete, modify, or add to any of the provisions contained in this handbook at its sole

discretion.” That language, the court held, rendered the contract illusory and therefore,

unenforceable as a matter of law. See id.

The CrimeReports TOU contains the following illusory language:

With respect to your access and use of the public Engines Sites,
Public Engines provides its services to you, subject to the
following Terms of Use (“TOU”), which may be updated by
Public Engines from time to time without notice to you, and which
updates become effective when posted. You are responsible for
regularly reviewing these terms and conditions.

TOU, Exh. 3 to Complaint, at ¶ 3 of Recitals on p. 1. The Court should find the CrimeReport’s

TOU illusory and invalid. See Gull Labs., Inc. v. Diagnostic Tech., Inc., 695 F. Supp. 1151,

1154 (D. Utah 1988) (dismissing breach of contract claim that was based upon an illusory

contract because, “[i]t is axiomatic that where consideration is lacking, there can be no contract .

. . [m]oreover, a void contract is no contract at all; it binds no one and is a mere nullity”)

(citations omitted); see also Brekka, 581 F.3d at 465 (recognizing that it would be

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unconstitutional to apply the CFAA when “terms of service may allow the website owner to

unilaterally amend and/or add to the terms with minimal notice to users”).

Public Engines also is not likely to succeed on a breach claim based upon a contract that

proclaims that it does not own the crime data that is the subject of this Action. Paragraph 6 of

the TOU cast doubt on Public Engines’ contentions throughout the Complaint that it owns the

so-called “De-Identified Data,” or at the very least, establish that Public Engines’ TOU are

misleading with respect to information ownership:

6. OWNERSHIP OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY


SUBMITTED CONTENT. All information provided by a law
enforcement agency is offered and owned by that law enforcement
agency. Unless otherwise indicated by the law enforcement
agency, all data will be retained by Public Engines, Inc. and remain
accessible by the general public in accordance with the provisions
of this Agreement.

TOU, Exh. 3 to Complaint.

Finally, Public Engines’ breach of contract claim is nothing more than a repackaged

copyright infringement claim that ReportSee has used the “De-Identified Data.” It is a state law

claim that is equivalent to those protected under federal copyright law. Therefore, accepting as

true the facts alleged in the Complaint for purposes of this motion, Public Engines’ breach claim

is preempted. R.W. Beck, 577 F.3d at 1147. For the sake of avoiding repletion, this same

preemption applies to the Third and Fifth Claims for Relief of the Complaint, which are

discussed below.

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3. Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its Utah Unfair Competition


Action claim (the Third Claim for Relief).

To succeed on its claim under the Utah Unfair Competition Statute, Utah Code Ann. §

13-51-103 (the “UUCA”), Public Engines must prove that ReportSee engaged in “unfair

competition” – which the act defines as, “an intentional business act or practice that . . . (A) is

unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent; and (B) leads to a material diminution in value of intellectual

property; and (ii) is one of the following: (A) cyber-terrorism . . . .” Id. at § 13-5a-102(4)(A).

Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its claim because it does not define, explain or even

suggest what “intellectual property” rights it holds in crime data.

The Complaint contains only two conclusory statements regarding “intellectual

property.” See Complaint ¶ 75 (alleging that, “ReportSee has [launched a scraper onto

CrimeReports.com computers] for the purposes of obtaining CrimeReports.com intellectual

property in the form of data scraped); see also id. at ¶ 76 (alleging that “ReportSee’s conduct has

led to a material diminution in the value of Public Engines’ intellectual property”). The Moving

Brief does not provide any further explanation. See Moving Brief, pp. 26-27.

A conclusory allegation that Public Engines owns “intellectual property” is insufficient as

a matter of law for purposes of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). The allegations that Public Engines owns

“intellectual property” and that ReportSee’s actions “have led to a material diminution in the

value of Public Engines’ intellectual property” are mere recitations of the elements that it must

prove. Those “mere labels and conclusions,” however, are not sufficient to survive a Rule

12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. See, e.g, Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 127 S. Ct.

1955, 1974, 167 L. Ed. 2d 929 (2007) (“Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to

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relief above the speculative level” to survive a motion to dismiss). If the only allegations are

insufficient to survive a motion to dismiss, they cannot be sufficient to establish a substantial

likelihood of success on the merits of a claim for purposes of an injunction.

In any event, the TOU states that “all” of the information provided by the law

enforcement agencies is owned by the agencies, so there are no intellectual property rights that

Public Engines could own with respect to the crime data. TOU, Exh. 3 to Complaint, ¶ 6.

4. Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its Lanham Act claim (the
Fourth Claim for Relief). 15

The Complaint alleges that ReportSee makes the following statements on its

SpotCrime.com website and that the statements are false:

• That ReportSee “obtains the information displayed on the


SpotCrime website from police departments, news reports, and
other third party sources.”
• That “ReportSee has publicly stated that it draws 90% of its
data from local police records and in cities where that
information is not released, ReportSee gathers the crime
reports from local news sources.
• That “ReportSee also claims that its own employees plot the
locations of crime reports on Google maps to permit them to be
displayed.”

See Complaint, ¶¶ 53 & 54. The Complaint then alleges that the statements are false because,

“ReportSee does not draw all of its crime report information from local police or news sources.”

Id. at ¶ 55. The Complaint does not allege that ReportSee makes the statement that “all of its

crime report information [is] from local police or news sources” – and so the allegation of falsity

                                                            
15
    This Opposition Brief addresses Public Engines’ Lanham Act claim to be responsive to the Moving
Brief. The cover Motion to the Moving Brief does not, however, request an injunction to prohibit
ReportSee from making any statements that Public contends to be false. 
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attacks a statement that ReportSee is not alleged to have made. The Moving Brief does not

provide any additional evidence to support Public Engines’ false advertising claims; it merely

repeats the conclusory assertions made in the Complaint.

The Complaint also alleges that ReportSee’s statements are false because it “appropriates

much of this information from CrimeReports.com, its competitor, through the daily scraping of

the CrimeReports.com website.” Id. (emphasis added). Mr. Whisenant, however, cannot hazard

a guess about what the word “much” means:

Q. Now, in that sentence in paragraph 6 of the complaint, you


use the word much to describe much of the information has been
misappropriated directly from Crime Reports. How do you, for
purposes of this allegation, define the word much?
A (Mr. Whisenant). I think we weren't ready to say all. And we
had seen enough from the cities that we looked at and just our own
internal studies to suggest to us that it was much. So we don't have
a number associated with that.
Q. So less than a hundred percent?
A. Correct.
Q. More than 50?
A. I'd be speculating.

Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2, at 65:1-15. Public Engines cannot establish a substantial likelihood on

the merits of a claim that is based upon pure speculation.

Mr. Whisenant also admitted during his Deposition that most of ReportSee’s statements

that the Complaint recites are not false: 

Q. Why is it false for Reportsee to claim that it obtains


information displayed on SpotCrime from news reports and other
third-party sources?

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A. (Mr. Whisenant). I would put that as a -- I would say that it's


not false, each of those – collectively that's as [sic] false statement.
Individually they are not.
Q. So it's not false for Reportsee to claim that they obtained
information from news reports?
A. Correct.
Q. It's not false for Reportsee to claim that they obtained
information from third-party sources?
A. Correct.
...
Q. Is it also Public Engines’ claim that it is false for Reportsee
to claim that it has employees that plot locations of crime reports?
A. Yes.
Q. What is the basis for the allegation that that claim is false?
A. Well, I think it may be true that SpotCrime's employees plot
the locations of Crime Reports on Google maps, but I don't think
that's exclusive to what they do, and we've collected evidence to
support that position.

Id. at 110:24-112:22.

Finally, the facts in the Drane Declaration establish that, even if ReportSee made the

statements alleged by the Complaint, they are true. ReportSee obtains crime data directly from

approximately 212 agencies – either through direct fees, emails or other manners. See Drane

Dec., Exh. 1, at ¶ 9. In fact, at no time did the crime data collected from Public Engines’

CrimeReports.com database exceed approximately 2% of all of the total crime data on the

ReportSee’s database. See id. at ¶ 37. Accordingly, Public Engines has not made a strong

showing that it is substantially likely to succeed on the merits of its false advertising claim.

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5. Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its Hot News


Misappropriation Claim (the Fifth Claim for Relief).

Public Engines’ “hot news misappropriation” claim also consists of mere recitals to the

elements of the claim adopted by the Second Circuit 16 and conclusory assertions that Public

Engines is likely to establish each element. See Moving Brief, pp. 28-29. These bald and

conclusory allegations are insufficient to meet Public Engines’ burden.

Public Engines has not explained, for example, why a third party’s collection and

republication of basic crime data, “threatens Public Engines’ incentive to produce this product or

service” to law enforcement agencies, which is one of the elements of the tort. See Moving

Brief, p. 28-29. In fact, its business model sets it apart from the ordinary “hot news” plaintiff –

where the timeliness of the reporting may be a key to success. The allegations in the Complaint

establish that the key to Public Engines’ success is not based on its ability to deliver “hot news”

– but rather, because it offers police agencies an automated, hassle-free means to gather and to

de-identify crime data, and gives them unfettered control over the data even after it is published.

Also, unlike the traditional “hot news” plaintiff that generates revenue only after the news

or data gathering work has been finished (from advertisers, subscribers, etc.), Public Engines

gets paid up front by the police agencies to create and post the data, for free, to the general

public. A hot news misappropriation claim does not fit within the nature of Public Engines’

business model and, in any event, Public Engines’ recitation of the elements and conclusory

statements that it will succeed on its claim do not establish a substantial likelihood of success.

                                                            
16
   It does not appear that the Tenth Circuit and this Court have adopted or analyzed this tort. 

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6. Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its Interference with


Contract claim (the Sixth Claim for Relief).

Public Engines is not likely to succeed on its tortious interference claim because it has

not disclosed all of the terms of the contract with which it contends ReportSee interfered. Public

Engines attaches, at Exhibit 1 to the Complaint and Exhibit 1 to the Whisenant Dec., only a

portion of its law enforcement agency contract. This portion, called “Terms of Service,”

repeatedly references an “Order Form” that is not attached to the Complaint or the Moving Brief.

For example, the Terms of Service state that the parties are subject to “other business terms” in

the Order Form. See Exh. 1 to Whisenant Dec., at ¶ 1. The Order Form is referenced in a

multitude of other paragraphs in the Terms of Service, including: 2.5, 2.11, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 12.14,

12.15 (stating that “This Agreement and the Order Form(s) together are a binding contract”).

Public Engines cannot meet its burden of proving a substantial likelihood of success in its

tortious interference with contract claim when it has not provided the Court or parties with the

entire contract.

Nevertheless, the arguments that Public Engines presents in support of its claim also are

insufficient. It contends, for example, that ReportSee’s requests for agencies to provide equal

access to crime data is a tortious interference because ReportSee attempts to “persuade [the

agencies] to violate their agreements with Public Engines” by providing the De-Identified Data.

Moving Brief, p. 29. For the reasons explained above, however, the agencies have no method of

intercepting the De-Identified Data so no amount of persuasion by ReportSee would make a

difference.

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The tortious interference claim also is premised on the conclusory assertion that Public

Engines “knowingly misrepresent[s] to the agencies their obligations under public access laws.”

A sweeping generality about the applicability and scope of public access laws in every state in

the nation cannot pass for evidence, nor can it establish a likelihood of success on the merits.

C. The facts establish that Public Engines is a “state actor” attempting to


impose an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech and publication.

Aside from the legal and factual issues that plague each of Public Engines’ claims

individually, the United States Constitution renders its claims fatally infirm. The facts alleged

in the Complaint and obtained during discovery establish that Public Engines’ relationship with

law enforcement agencies is so intertwined that it has become a state actor. As such, it cannot

place any greater restrictions on republication of crime data than the agencies, themselves, could

impose.

The First Amendment provides that, “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the

freedom of speech, or of the press[.]” “It is no longer open to doubt that the liberty of the press,

and of speech, is within the liberty safeguarded by the due process clause of the Fourteenth

Amendment from invasion by state action.” Near v. Minnesota ex rel. Olson, 283 U.S. 697, 707,

51 S. Ct. 625, 75 L. Ed. 1357 (1931). The Supreme Court “has interpreted these guarantees to

afford special protection against orders that prohibit the publication or broadcast of particular

information or commentary – orders that impose a ‘previous’ or ‘prior’ restraint on speech.”

Nebraska Press, et al. v. Stuart, et al., 427 U.S. 539, 556, 49 L. Ed. 2d 683, 96 S. Ct. 2791

(1976). In fact, “‘[a]ny prior restraint on express comes to [the Supreme] Court with a ‘heavy

presumption’ against its constitutional validity” and “prior restraints on speech and publication

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are the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.” Id. at 558-

59 (citations omitted). The damage from a prior restraint “can be particularly great when the

prior restraint falls upon the communication of news and commentary on current events.” Id. at

559.

ReportSee, which operates SpotCrime.com, is undoubtedly a member of the press. See,

e.g., Entm't Software Ass'n v. Blagojevich, 404 F. Supp. 2d 1051, 1056 (N.D. Ill. 2005)

(recognizing that even video are “considered protected expression under the First Amendment)

(citing Am. Amusement Machine Ass'n v. Kendrick, 244 F.3d 572, 579 (7th Cir.. 2001)). For the

reasons below, Public Engines’ prohibitions against use and publication of crime data is an

unconstitutional act by a state actor.

1. Public Engines is a state actor.

Because the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a “State” from making or enforcing a law

that abridges the freedoms of the First Amendment, only a “state action” that violates the First

Amendment is unconstitutional. Near, 283 U.S. at 707. A private party can be deemed a “state

actor” if it, (i) exercises a right or privilege that is “created by the State or by a rule of conduct

imposed by the State or a period for whom the State is responsible”; and (ii) “has acted together

with or has obtained significant aid from state officials, or because his conduct is otherwise

chargeable to the state.” Lugar v. Edmonson Oil co, et al., 457 U.S. 922, 937, 73 L. Ed. 482, 102

S. Ct. 2744 (1982). The “state actor test” is satisfied in this case.

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(i) Public Engines is exercising a right or privilege and rules of conduct


created by persons for whom the State is responsible.

Public Engines’ posting of police-supplied crime data on crimereports.com is an exercise

of a right or privilege created by more than 800 law enforcement agencies, which certainly

qualify as “person[s] for whom the State is responsible.” Id. Public Engines also exercises a

privilege bestowed upon it by law enforcement agencies that are under no affirmative

Constitutional obligation to provide data. See, e.g., Lanphere & Urbaniak, et al. v. Colorado, et

al., 21 F.3d 1508 (10th Cir. 1994) (holding that there is no “overriding constitutional right of

access to government records”). 17 In fact, at least according to the TOU, the law enforcement

agencies continue to own the data that that they give CrimeReports.com the privilege of

displaying. See TOU, Exh. 3 to Complaint, § 6.

(ii) Public Engines acts together with or obtains significant aid from state
officials, or its conduct is otherwise chargeable to the state.

The Second Lugar “state actor” test factor can be analyzed under any one of four tests

that the Supreme Court has articulated. They are the: (i) “public function test;” (ii) “state

compulsion test,” which also is called the “symbiotic relationship test,”; (iii) “nexus test;” and

(iv) “joint action test.” Lugar, 457 U.S. at 939 (listing decisions in which the Court has adopted

each test) (citations omitted); see also, Johnson v. Rodriguez, 293 F.3d 1196 (10th Cir. 2002)

(listing and applying all four tests); Gallagher v. Neil Young Freedom Concert, 49 F.3d 1442

(10th Cir. 1995) (also analyzing and applying the tests). The Tenth Circuit in Gallagher

recognized that “[t]he [Supreme] Court has taken a flexible approach to the state action doctrine,

                                                            
17
   The agencies, of course, may be obligated to produce data under various state public access laws. 

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applying a variety of tests to the facts of each case”. Id. at 1447 (internal quotation marks

omitted). The actions and conduct of Public Engines and law enforcement agencies are

sufficient to satisfy all four tests.

Public function Test

The Public Function Test requires the Court to “determine whether the state has

delegated to a private party ‘a function traditionally exclusively reserved to the States.” Johnson,

293 F.3d at 1203. (citing Gallagher, 49 F.3d at 1447). The Tenth Circuit has called this, “an

arduous standard to satisfy” because “‘[w]hile many functions have been traditional performed

by governments, very few have been ‘exclusively reserved to the State.’” Id. (quoting Flagg

Brothers, Inc. v. Brooks, 436 U.S. 149, 158, 56 L. Ed. 2d 185, 98 S. Ct. 1729 (1978)). The Tenth

Circuit lists examples such as to, “hold elections, perform necessary municipal functions, or run

a nursing facility” that are “traditionally the exclusive prerogative of the state.” Id.; see also

Gallagher, 49 F.3d at 1457 (listing additional examples, including “operation of a company-

owned town” and “management of a city park”) (citations omitted).

In Gallagher, the Tenth Circuit held that a private entity providing security at a

government-owned facility was not performing a function traditionally performed exclusively for

the states by analogizing the security firm’s duties as those similar to a private investigator who

investigates a crime or a citizen who makes a citizen’s arrest. Id. at 1457. In Johnson, the Tenth

Circuit likewise held that the plaintiff in the case before it had not presented evidence that the

defendant, an adoption center, was the exclusive province of the state (Utah) or the “exclusive

means to adopt children in Utah.” Johnson, 293 F.3d at 1203. Rather, the court observed, “four

and a half pages of adoption agencies are listed in the Salt Lake City yellow Pages.” Id.
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Unlike the function of providing the means to adopt children, investigating a crime or

performing a citizen’s arrest, the collection and imputing of crime report data received from 911

and other police reports is the exclusive prerogative of law enforcement agencies. There is no

other original source of crime report data other than the agencies – which according to the TOU,

own the crime data. The decision to release data that the agencies own is also, therefore, the

exclusive prerogative of those agencies. Public Engines even alleges that it is the “official crime

information portal for the law enforcement agencies.” Complaint ¶ 21; see also ¶ 26

(distinguishing SpotCrime.com as “not an official crime information site”). Law enforcement

agencies even have windows or portals to CrimeReport.com on their own websites. Because the

agencies delegated to Public Engines functions traditional reserved to the state, Public Engines is

a “state actor” under the public function test.

Nexus Test

To establish that a private party is a state actor under the Nexus Test, “a plaintiff must

demonstrate that ‘there is a sufficiently close nexus’ between the government and the challenged

conduct such that the conduct ‘may be fairly treated as that of the State itself.’” Gallagher, 49

F.3d at 1448 (quoting Jackson v. Metro. Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345, 351, 42 L. Ed. 2d 477, 95 S.

Ct. 449 (1974)). This usually requires evidence that the state or arm of the state “‘has exercised

coercive power or has provided such significant encouragement, either overt or covert, that the

choice must in law be deemed to be that of the State.’” Id. (quoting Jackson, 419 U.S. at 351).

In Gallagher, the nexus test was not established because there was no evidence that any state

official participated in the decision by the private security firm to conduct pat-down searches.

Gallagher, 49 F.3d at 1444. The nexus test was not satisfied in Johnson because there was no
49

 
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evidence that Utah had exercised coercive power or significant encouragement over the adoption

center defendant, which made a completely “private decision.” Johnson, 293 F.3d at 1203-04.

The Nexus Test is established in this case by the existence of the Admin Tool to

CrimeReports.com, which gives police the ability to modify or delete published crime report data

at any time, and for any reason (or as Mr. Whisenant testified, “as they see fit”). In this case, the

agencies not only “participate” or exercise “coercive power” over CrimeReports.com, they

actually have the unilateral ability to control the site’s data, even after it is published.

Symbiotic Relationship Test

The symbiotic relationship test requires that the “state must have ‘so far insinuated itself

into a position of interdependence’ with a private party that ‘it must be recognized as a joint

participant in the challenged activity.” Gallagher, 49 F.3d at 1451 (quoting Burton v. Wilmington

Parking Auth., 365 U.S. 715, 725, 6 L. Ed. 2d 45, 81 S. Ct. 856 (1961). After reviewing

decisions by the Supreme Court and various appellate courts that have analyzed and applied the

symbiotic relationship test, the Tenth Circuit observed that,

[t]he applicable decisions clearly establish no bright line rule for


determining whether a symbiotic relationship exists between a
government agency and a private entity. Questions as to how far
the state has insinuated itself into the operations of a particular
private entity and when, if ever, the operations of a private entity
become indispensible to the state are matters of degree.

Id. at 1452 (holding that there was no interdependence between the state and the private security

firm); see also Johnson, 293 F.3d at 1204 (holding that there were no facts alleged in plaintiff’s

complaint that would establish the state of Utah had “insinuated itself into a position of long-

term interdependence with either the adoption center or adoptive parents”) (citations omitted).

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Again, the Admin Tool is sufficient, alone, to establish that “the state has insinuated itself

into the operations of a particular private entity” for purposes of satisfying the symbiotic

relationship test. Public Engines and the agencies also are joint participants in the effort to block

ReportSee from obtaining any crime data. The emails produced by Public Engines establish that

the agencies not only reported the requests, but request and use the scripted responses that Public

Engines provides. This is the quintessential symbiotic relationship.

The Joint Action Test

Under this test, if “state officials and private parties have acted in concert in effecting a

particular deprivation of constitutional rights” then the private party is a state actor. Gallagher,

49 F.3d at 1453 (citing Collins v. Womancare, 878 f.2d 1145, 1154 (9th Cir. 1989) (additional

citation omitted)). The Tenth Circuit, in Johnson, also recognized that, “[m]ost decisions

discussing this concept hold that if there is a substantial degree of cooperative action between

state and private officials, or if there is ‘overt and significant state participation’ in carrying out

the deprivation of the plaintiff’s constitutional rights, state action is present.” 293 F.3d at 1205

(citations omitted). It is not sufficient for purposes of the joint action test for a state official to

have merely acquiesced in the actions of a private party. See Gallagher, 49 F.3d at 1454 (citing

Malak v. Associated Physicians, Inc., 784 F.2d 277, 281-84 (7th Cir. 1986) (additional citation

omitted)). In Gallagher, the Court declined to hold that the private security firm was a state

actor merely because the state remained silent about the type of security that was being provided

at the government-owned facility. See id. at 1455.

Little needs to be repeated with respect to the evidence that establishes that Public

Engines meets the “joint action” test. The agencies complain when “their data” appears on
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SpotCrime and demand that Public Engines stop the publication, which it is attempting to do in

this Action and through technical measures described in the Complaint, and Public Engines

provide scripts for the agencies to read when denying SpotCrime’s requests for equal access to

crime data.

2. Public Engines seeks to impose unconstitutional prior restraints upon


publication.

As a state actor, Public Engines can no more prohibit SpotCrime from using or

publishing publicly-released crime data than law enforcement agencies could if the data was

displayed on their own web pages. See Lugar, 457 U.S. at 937. The First Amendment applies to

corporations. See Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm’n, 558 U.S. ___, 130 S. Ct. 876,

175 L. Ed. 2d 753 (2010) (string citation to line of supporting cases omitted).

The TOU is a means by which Public Engines seeks to impose upon certain speakers

prior restraints on speech. “Speech is an essential mechanism of democracy, for it is the means

to hold officials accountable to the people.” Id. at 103 S. Ct. 898 (citation omitted). It is not

constitutional to place “restrictions distinguishing among different speakers, allowing speech by

some but not others” because “[s]peech restrictions based on the identity of the speaker are all

too often simply a means to control content.” Id. at 899.

Public Engines’ Complaint makes it clear, as do the documents produced in discovery

and Mr. Whisenant’s deposition testimony, that agencies demand complete control over the data

to prevent, among other things, “political consequences” that may result from the publication of

crime data. The CrimeReports Admin Tool that agencies can use to modify or delete crime

information is usually controlled by the police chief, who usually are hired (and fired) by

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politicians. Public Engines states that police chiefs began to complain when they saw data

posted on SpotCrime because that would mean that that the “content [would no longer be]

limited to information approved and controlled by the agencies themselves.” Complaint ¶ 13.

Public Engines also contends that agencies seek to control data for “public safety”

reasons, such as to correct misreported crimes or entries from the CAD system (which logs 9-1-1

calls). The fact is, however, that the general public is permitted to use the crime data without

restriction, and there is no means of notifying them about corrections to entries. In fact,

CrimeReports sends out email alerts about crime to members of the public who sign up for the

alerts on the CrimeReports.com site, but it does not send out “corrective alerts” when the

agencies make corrections. See Whisenant Dep., 62:2-63:15. Thus, even if “public safety” were

a legitimate purpose for restraining republication of crime data, that purpose cannot be served by

CrimeReports.

Regardless of the reason for wanting to correct a crime, however, Public Engines’

conduct and its present attempt to enforce its TOU violates the First Amendment because it seeks

to punish the press for publishing crime data, and to place a prior restriction on publication. See

Florida Star v. B.J.F., 491 U.S. 524, 109 S. Ct. 2603, 105 L. Ed. 2d 443 (1989).

In Florida Star, the Supreme Court held that that the imposition of civil fines upon a

newspaper that published the name of a rape victim was unconstitutional. See id. at 534-36. The

newspaper had obtained the name from a sheriff’s press room, which had mistakenly published

it. See id. The Court held that “punishing the press for its dissemination of information which is

already publicly available is relatively unlikely to advance the interests in the service of which

the State seeks to act [protecting a rape victim’s identity].” Id. at 535. It reasoned that, “where
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the government has made certain information publicly available, it is highly anomalous to

sanction persons other than the source of its release” and that “‘[b]y placing the information in

the public domain . . . the State must be presumed to have concluded that the public interest was

thereby being served.’” Id. (citation omitted). Holding that the newspaper had “lawfully

obtained truthful information about a matter of public significance,” the Court reversed the

imposition of civil fines against the paper for violating a Florida law prohibiting the publication

of a rape victim’s name. Id. at 536-37.

Here, the agencies’ decision to authorize the Public Engines “Publisher” software to

extract daily data from the agencies’ CAD and RMS systems and to publish it on

CrimeReports.com establishes that they “must have presumed that the public interest was

thereby being served.” The Supreme Court in Florida Star observed that instead of punishing

publication, the government should “extend a damages remedy against the government or its

officials where the government’s mishandling of sensitive information leads to its

dissemination.” Id. at 535. Applying that principle to this case, the agencies should insist on a

means to hold Public Engines accountable if the Publisher software published misinformation or

personally-identifying information to CrimeReports.com, rather that attempt to impose a prior

restraint on speech or publication. See id. Or, if the agencies believed the CAD system

information to be unreliable to the point of creating potential “public safety” issues, the agenceis

could stop supplying CAD data to Public Engines.

In addition, Public Engines’ attempt to prevent SpotCrime from publishing crime data

supplied from law enforcement agencies should be viewed with heightened scrutiny because its

purpose is to eliminate speech that is at the core of the First Amendment – commentary and
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criticism. “[P]rior restraints on speech and publication are the most serious and the least

tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights” and the damage from a prior restraint “can be

particularly great when the prior restraint falls upon the communication of news and commentary

on current events”) Nebraska Press, 427 U.S. at 559. Demanding the right to maintain control

of crime data to delete data that could have “political consequences” to elected and appointed

officials, including police chiefs, is particularly repugnant to the First Amendment. In this case,

the police chiefs, themselves, control the access to the crime data ‘delete’ key on the Admin

Tool.

Finally, the fact that Public Engines has concerns that ReportSee is “free riding” on its

database does not justify is imposition of a prior restraint on publication. A decision by the

Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concerning a government-controlled database of

legislative information is on point. See Legi-Tech, Inc. v. Keiper, 766 F.2d 728 (2d Cir. 1985).

In Legi-Tech, a legislative commission of the State of New York offered a public “Legislative

Retrieval Service” known as the “LRS” – which was a computerized database that contained the

full text of legislation pending before the New York Legislature and summaries of other

information. See id. at 731. The LRS was available to all members of the general public who

subscribed to the service (for a small fee). See id. The Plaintiff, Legi-Tech, was a private

corporation that operated its own computerized information retrieval service that contained

information about New York and California legislation. See id.

The state refused to permit Legi-Tech to subscribe to the LRS and then passed a law that

prohibited subscriptions by any entity “which offers for sale the services of an electronic

information retrieval systems which contains data relating to the proceedings of the legislature.”
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Id. LegiTech sued, arguing that restricting its access or use of the LRS information that was

available to members of the general public was unconstitutionally discriminatory and in violation

of its right of publication under the press clause of the First Amendment. See id. The state

argued that it was only trying to restrict competitors from “free riding” and from retransmitting

the data at lower prices, which it argued would put the LRS out of business. See id. The state

also argued that, because it had no obligation to publish the legislative data in the first place it

could set restrictions on who could subscribe to, use and republish the LRS information. See id.

The Second Circuit held that the state’s actions were unconstitutionally discriminatory.

The court observed that, “[t]he evils inherent in allowing government to create a monopoly over

the dissemination of public information in any form seem too obvious to require extended

discussion. Government may add its own voice to the debate over public issues . . . but it may

not attempt to control or reduce competition from other speakers.” Id. at 733 (citations omitted).

It also explained that, “[w]hen the state creates an organ of the press, as here, it may not grant the

state special access to governmental proceedings and information and then deny to the private

press the right to republish such information. Such actions are an exercise of censorship that

allows the government to control the form and content of the information reaching the public.”

Id.

CrimeReports.com, which claims to be the “official” crime reporting site for more than

800 law enforcement agencies, is effectively an organ of the press created by the agencies. The

collaborative effort between police agencies and Public Engines to deny any other member of the

press, including SpotCrime.com, the right to republish crime data that is available to the rest of

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the general public is unconstitutional for the same reasons explained in Legi-Tech. 18 Agencies

can decline to publish crime data in the first place but once they disclose data to the public they

cannot assert authoritarian control over the data, outlaw and punish “republication” of the data,

or contract a private entity to do those things for them.

D. Public Engines is not likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an


injunction.

Public Engines contends that it will suffer irreparable harm without an order placing a

prior restraint against SpotCrime from contacting law enforcement agencies that are under

contract with Public Engines. The Court should not entertain this overbroad request.

The Moving Brief also contends that without the requested injunction, “[o]ne or more law

enforcement agencies is likely to be persuaded by ReportSee’s harassment to terminate their

agreements with Public Engines[.]” Moving Brief, p. 18. So far, however, Public Engines has

only cited to one agency that terminated as a result of its interactions with Public Engines –

Annapolis, Maryland. But Annapolis informed Public Engines that it had “already built” its

own crime publishing site by the time it terminated its contract. One termination out of more

than 800 customers that happened six months ago, for at least one reason that was completely

unrelated to SpotCrime – does not establish the likelihood of irreparable harm.

Also, Public Engines can be compensated by damages for any wrongful termination

caused by ReportSee. The law enforcement contract terms (at least the incomplete portion

attached at Exhibit 1 to the Complaint), are terminable for convenience for any reason by the

agencies and, upon such termination, there is a set fee that the agencies must pay – and the
                                                            
18
      The Second Circuit also rejected the argument that, “because [the government] can constitutionally
refuse to provide LRS at all, it may discriminate in offering LRS[.]” Id. 
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Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 59 of 62

agencies have no obligation to renew at the end of each one-year term, or pay any damages for

non-renewal. See Terms of Service, Exh. 1 to Complaint, at §§ 7.1 and 7.2(a).

Public Engines also contends that it may be forced to sue its own agency customers to

enforce its TOU prohibitions against the customers’ disclosure of De-Identified Data. See

Moving Brief, p. 18. That fear lacks merit because, again, “[t]he agencies that license the

Publisher and associated services from Public Engines do not have the right or technical ability

to access the De-Identified Data that is sent by the Publisher to Public Engines servers in Utah.”

Complaint, ¶ 18.

Public Engines also argues that SpotCrime’s scraping and its demands for equal access

“threatens both the value of Public Engines’ technology and the good will it has earned with

hundreds of law enforcement agencies.” Id. at p. 21. Importantly, the data at issue in this case

is what Public Engines publishes for free to the general public – after it is paid by the law

enforcement agencies. It strains common sense to argue that millions of people are entitled to

use the crime data on CrimeReports.com free of charge, but that ReportSee’s same use of the

data devalues the Public Engines’ technology to the point that it “threatens ultimately to destroy”

the company. Id.     Moreover, during the most recent period in which ReportSee was collecting

data from CrimeReports.com, Public Engines’ business was booming:  

Q. But you had 500 agencies in the fall of '09?


A. Uh-huh (affirmative).
Q. And you now have -- well, I think in Exhibit 15 is close to
850?
A. Yeah.
Q. So say in the course of six to seven, eight months, is it fair to
say you signed up more than 300?
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Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 60 of 62

A. Ballpark, yeah.
...
Q. So from the date of [Public Engines’] inception through the
fall of '09 . . . [Public Engines singed up] about 500 [customers]?
A. Ballpark I'd say that's about right.
Q. And now in the last six or seven months, you've gained
another 300 something?
A. Correct.

Whisenant Dep., Exh. 2, at 138:10-139:7. Public Engines’ customer boom during the same

period that ReportSee was obtaining data from CrimeReports.com calls into doubt the allegation

that scraping and unauthorized use of crime data threatens to destroy the company.

E. The Balance of Harms factor weighs against issuing an injunction.

Again, because Public Engines requests a disfavored type of injunction, it must make a

strong showing on likelihood of success on the merits and the balance of harms factors.

O Centro Espirita, 389 F.3d at 976. The harm to ReportSee’s reputation if an injunction is

issued (which essentially grants all of the requested relief that Public Engines seeks) would be

enormous. See Drane Dec., Exh. 1, ¶ 39.

If the requested injunction is issued in which ReportSee is found substantially likely to be

liable for violating the law in connection with its business activities, police departments and

other government officials may not continue trusting SpotCrime with their data. See id. It also is

possible that a law enforcement agency, knowing of a federal injunction against SpotCrime.com

(regardless of the breadth or scope of the injunction), would consider ReportSee’s requests for

information, much less trust ReportSee with crime data. See id.

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Also ReportSee’s media partners with whom it has contractual relationships may

discontinue doing business with ReportSee if an injunction suggested that CrimeReports is or

was engaging in the unlawful collection of crime data to which the media partners link on their

websites. See id. at ¶ 40. If anything, ReportSee’s media partners might be concerned about

legal liability to Public Engines. See id. In addition, it is possible that negative publicity fanned

by a press release from Public Engines regarding an injunction may cause SpotCrime’s

advertisers to pull their endorsement and advertisements, much as advertisers often pull

advertising when connected with a controversial topic or celebrity. See id.

An injunction also could have serious implications to SpotCrime’s ability to secure

financing to operate its business – particularly in today’s economic climate. See id. at ¶ 41.

Thus, if there is a party whose entire livelihood is threatened in this case it is ReportSee’s, by the

negative publicity and potential devastating damage that an injunction could cause to its

relationships with police departments, its media partners and advertisers, and to its financial

health. See id.

F. It is in the public interest to deny the injunction.

It is not in the public interest to permit law enforcement agencies or any of its actors –

including Public Engines – to exert a monopoly over the publication, comment, criticism and

other use of crime data, particularly in the name of avoiding “political consequences.” It also is

not in the public interest for law enforcement agencies (or its “official” website operator), who

have a “keen interest” in making crime data available to the public, to place prior restraints on

republication of crime data otherwise available to the general public for free. The restraint on

republication, especially as Public Engines is enforcing it in this action, has broad implications.
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For example, if NBC Nightly News decided to produce a special report on a rash of

crimes in downtown Salt Lake City and needed a large amount of “de-identified” basic crime

data regarding the area, according to Public Engines, the Salt Lake City Police Department

would be prohibited from providing it. The only source for that data would be

CrimeReports.com. Applying the same theories that support the claims in the Complaint, NBC

would be prohibited from using or republishing any of the data that it could obtain from

CrimeReports.com. Doing so would, according to the Complaint, violate a federal fraud statute

that also carries criminal penalties, breach the TOU and constitute “hot news misappropriation”

and other wrongs.

It is difficult to conceive of a situation that is more contrary to the public interest than a

federal order that endorses the practices in which Public Engines engages. Given the serious

constitutional implications of Public Engines’ actions, the Court should decline to decide on such

short notice that SpotCrime is likely to have violated a federal criminal statute or any other law.

V. CONCLUSION

The Court should deny Public Engines’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

Respectfully submitted,

_________________________
Joshua A. Glikin
Walter E. Diercks
Jeffrey J. Hunt
David C. Reymann
Attorneys for Defendant ReportSee, Inc.

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EXHIBIT
1
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 15

Jeffrey J. Hunt (5855) Joshua A. Glikin (pro hac vice)


David C. Reymann (8495) BOWIE & JENSEN, LLC
PARR BROWN GEE & LOVELESS 29 West Susquehanna Avenue
185 South State Street, Suite 800 Suite 600
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Towson, Maryland 21204
Telephone: (801) 532-7840 Telephone: (410) 583-2400
Facsimile: (801) 532-7750 Facsimile: (410) 583-2437
Email: jhunt@parrbrown.com Email: glikin@bowie-jensen.com
dreymann@parrbrown.com

Walter E. Diercks (pro hac vice)


RUBIN, WINSTON, DIERCKS, HARRIS, &
COOK, LLP
1201 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20036
Email: wdiercks@rwdhc.com

Attorneys for Defendant ReportSee, Inc.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT


DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION

PUBLIC ENGINES, INC., a Delaware DECLARATION OF MARK COLIN


corporation, DRANE.

Plaintiff,
Case No.2: 10-cv-317
vs.
Judge Tena Campbell
REPORTSEE, INC., a Delaware corporation,

Defendant.

I, Mark Colin Drane, hereby declare under penalty of perjury as follows:

1. I am a resident of Baltimore, Maryland and I am over 18 years old.

2. I am competent in every respect to make this declaration, and I make it upon

personal knowledge.

3. I founded ReportSee, Inc. and am the company's sole investor and stockholder.
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 15

4. In or about 2007, I had the idea to improve the method by which crime

information is delivered to the public, and so in late 2007 I started with a test site called

CrimeBaltimore.com.

5. I founded ReportSee Inc. ("ReportSee") as a Delaware Corporation in February of

2008 for the purpose of collecting news and user reported data and geo-locating that data on a

website using Google Maps type interface.

6. ReportSee's initial approach was to map news reported crimes for

Baltimore. Subsequently, ReportSee began collecting data from the Baltimore police department

mapping system and re-representing the data on a Google map on CrimeBaltimore.com.

7. About a month after forming ReportSee - in or about March of 2008 -- the

SpotCrime brand was created to use this approach of combining news and police data on a

national level. In about March of 2008, SpotCrime.com began providing daily crime alerts to

subscribers through SMS and email.

8. SpotCrime now covers more than 300 areas, which I define to be a city or

county. Approximately 98% of SpotCrime's data comes directly from police reports in the form

of emails from police, police websites, police mapping vendors and direct delivery from police

agencies to SpotCrime's servers.

9. There are approximately 212 police departments around the nation that either

supply ReportSee directly with crime data or from which ReportSee obtains crime data from

public feeds. Examples of Police Departments providing data directly to our servers include

Phoneix, Portland (WA), Montgomery County (MD), Raleigh, Freemont (CA), and Harrisburg

(PA).

2
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 4 of 15

10. ReportSee uses multiple criteria for requesting data from police agencies. How

an agency is selected depends on the size of the population that the agency serves, the agency's

proximity to a SpotCrime media partner, and evidence of the agency's ability to provide data. If

the data is automatically published on the agency's site, and if the data is easily automated, then

ReportSee creates an automation script to get the data. Example cities that provide fully public

feeds in this manner include Dallas, Washington D.C., Orlando, Tampa, Milwaukee, and San

Francisco.

11. Agencies without direct data feeds have many different methods as to how they

make data public. Output can vary from .pdf reports, written blotters and in some cases faxed

reports. Additional sources include email alerts and email press releases.

12. In situations where the police department is reluctant to provide public crime data,

ReportSee relies on open access or public information act request laws of the various states to

request access to the crime data. In most cases, ReportSee's efforts our successful - meaning

that the Police Agency either provides data directly to ReportSee or instead elects to publish

crime data in a fully open format for everyone (including SpotCrime) to access. Example cities

that have done this include, Madison (WI), St. Petersburg (FL), Omaha (NE), Detroit (MI), San

Francisco, Annapolis (MD), Tacoma (WA), Cary (NC), and Round Rock (TX).

13. ReportSee has been the least successful in areas where CrimeReports has a

contract with the police department. Examples include Salt Lake (UT), Monterey County (CA),

Palm Springs (CA), Boston (MA), Reno (NV) and Palm Beach County (FL).

14. Most major metro area police agencies in the United States provide accessible

data to SpotCrime. There are only three major cities in the nation that do not provide any type of

fully public crime feed: New York, Seattle and Salt Lake City.

3
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 5 of 15

15. Both New York and Seattle have indicated intent to create open data feeds similar

to San Francisco and Washington DC, but Salt Lake City has given no indication of its future

plans.

16. In addition to making requests to police departments for crime data, SpotCrime

also receives unsolicited requests from police departments seeking to place their data on

SpotCrime, at a rate of about one unsolicited request per month.

17. ReportSee does not charge the departments a fee to report crime data on

SpotCrime.com, nor does it charge the public or require the public to subscribe to any service

(although they are able to elect to receive email alerts from SpotCrime).

18. Instead, ReportSee earns income from entering into contracts with media outlets

and by providing a crime mapping widget for those media outlets' websites. To date, ReportSee

has contracted with more than 100 media outlets whose owners include New York Times, Cox,

Tribune, Hearst, CBS, Fisher Communications, Newport Television and Belo.

19. Of all the media relationships ReportSee has had over the last few years, it has

terminated only one, which was with ABC4 in Salt Lake City. ReportSee requested the

termination on April 27, 2009, because it was not able to obtain data from the Salt Lake City

Police Department (for reasons described above) and because the station had entered into a

marketing arrangement with Public Engines.

20. ABC4 Salt Lake still displays the SpotCrime widget on its website, although

ReportSee has had nothing to do with that decision.

21. Even in areas where SpotCrime is the sole mapping provider for agencies, it does

not charge any fee for the service. Examples include Harrisburg (PA), West Haven (CT),

4
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 6 of 15

Leland (NC), Lakeland (FL), and Cibolo (TX). ReportSee does not have contracts with these

agencies and requires no exclusivity with them.

22. SpotCrime does not know the identities of all third parties to whom it has

provided information because third parties may log onto and obtain information from

SpotCrime.com for free, much like they can from CrimeReports.com.

23. ReportSee considers all of its crime data to be public data. In fact, ReportSee

redistribute crime data through RSS feeds and Twitter without any restrictions.

24. ReportSee believes that providing the public with full, unfettered access to all

crime data is in the public interest and believes it sets a dangerous precedent that is contrary to

the free expression of ideas and criticism, to give police the ability to modify or even delete data

that is already available to the general public. Police are free to issue statements correcting the

data, or to add their commentary or responses to commentary or criticism, should police

determine that it is necessary. As evidenced by the many police departments that have contacted

ReportSee, unsolicited, to request to post data on SpotCrime.com, most law enforcement

agencies believe that public dissemination of crime data in a timely manner is essential to public

safety.

25. ReportSee also believes that it is in the public interest to not charge a fee to police

agencies, many of which are struggling for funds to provide crime data and mapping services.

26. A "scraper" is an industry term for a computer program that looks for information

or data - and it is one of many automated means of data collection. Scrapers and other

automated programs are commonly-used methods of information and data collection. Scraping

is by no means an act that is reserved for internet outlaws or hackers. Thus, any implication in

5
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 7 of 15

the Complaint (whether intended or not) that only unscrupulous businesses and people employ

scrapers or other automated data collection means, is inaccurate.

27. For example, Google® launches scrapers, or spiders (another industry term for

programs that automate the search and retrieval of data), that look inside virtually every site on

the Internet and collect data that Google then indexes on its massive database. If SpotCrime.com

was inoperable on a certain date (so that a user that typed www.spotcrime.cominto his or her

internet browser was unable to open the site), that user may be able to obtain data from the

SpotCrime database on that same date through a Google search because Google indexes, through

an automated means of collecting data, more than 100,000 pages from SpotCrime. Thus, Google

scrapes and stores on its own servers hundreds of thousands of data points from SpotCrime - and

it does it automatically, and posts that data to users who seek it in a Google search.

28. In or about early 2008, ReportSee began collecting publicly available and

accessible crime data from CrimeReports.com by automated means - a scraper.

29. ReportSee stopped scraping upon receiving a letter from Public Engines dated

June 16, 2008, not because it agreed that Public Engines' Terms of Use were valid or that it

agreed to abide by them, or that it believed that the data that had been collected was not public

data, but because of the simple economics that favored avoiding a legal fight and continuing to

attempt to obtain crime data from police departments across the country, whether or not those

departments had a contractual or other relationship with Public Engines.

30. Between June of 2008 and July of 2009, ReportSee did not scrape or otherwise

collect any data from CrimeReports.com.

31. In or about July, 2009, ReportSee again began collecting data from

CrimeReports.com by automated means, though a CrimeReports.com window access point on

6
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 8 of 15

the San Jose Police Department. ReportSee had made a request to that agency for crime data and

was told, as many agencies have told ReportSee, to obtain the requested data from

CrimeReports.com. The San Jose Police Department Website had a window, or portal, in which

a user could access the CrimeReports.com database from the San Jose Police Department

website.

32. The portal on the San Jose Police Department website did not contain the

CrimeReports.com terms of use at are attached to Public Engines' Complaint in this lawsuit.

33. The San Jose Police Department did post its own terms of use with respect to the

CrimeReports portal on the site, but those terms of use did not restrict the collection, use or

publication of crime data accessible and obtained through the portal. A copy of the current San

Jose Police Department terms of use are attached to my Declaration at Tab A, and these terms

appear to be consistent with the terms of use that were posted on the San Jose Police Department

during the times that ReportSee scraped data through the agency's portal.

34. Because the portal on the San Jose Police Department website provided complete

access to the CrimeReports data around the country, ReportSee scraped data for many areas of

the CrimeReports database. CrimeReports provided these same portals or access points to many

departments and news outlets without terms of service. ReportSee simply elected to use San

Jose Police Department as our primary access point.

35. ReportSee has been instructed by various police agencies that are under contract

with Public Engines, that ReportSee can and should access the agency's crime data on

CrimeReports.com.

36. ReportSee stopped collecting data in late March 2010, after it discovered that

CrimeReports.com had placed its Terms of Use on the access window on the San Jose Police

7
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 9 of 15

Department site and at least a week prior to being notified of Public Engines lawsuit. The

scraping was stopped to avoid any legal dispute over the issue - albeit unsuccessfully.

37. At no time did the crime data collected from Public Engines' CrimeReports.com

database exceed approximately 2% of all of the total crime data on the ReportSee' s database.

38. In addition, as of the date of this Declaration, no crime data that was collected

from Public Engines' CrimeReports database is available to the public or for public view on

SpotCrime.

39. If the preliminary injunction that Public Engines requests is entered against

ReportSee, the damage to my company could be enormous. I have personally seen the press

release that Public Engines released when it sued ReportSee and believe that, if an injunction is

issued in which ReportSee is found substantially likely to be liable for violating the law in

connection with its business activities, police departments and other government officials may

not continue trusting SpotCrime with their data. It also is possible that a law enforcement

agency, knowing of a federal injunction against SpotCrime.com (regardless of the breadth or

scope of the injunction), would consider ReportSee's requests for information, much less trust

ReportSee with crime data.

40. I am also concerned that ReportSee's media partners with whom it has contractual

relationships may discontinue doing business if they believed that CrimeReports was engaging in

the unlawful collection of crime data, and that the media partners were linking to or using that

data. If anything, ReportSee's media partners might be concerned about legal liability to Public

Engines. In addition, it is possible that negative publicity fanned by a press release from Public

Engines regarding an injunction may cause the advertisers that support SpotCrime and advertise

8
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 10 of 15

on its site to pull their endorsement and advertisements, much as advertisers often pull

advertising when connected with a controversial topic or celebrity.

41. If there is a party whose entire livelihood is threatened in this case - it is

ReportSee's, by the negative publicity and potential devastating damage that an injunction could

cause to its relationships with police departments, its media partners and advertisers, and to its

financial health. That finding also could have serious implications to SpotCrime's ability to

secure financing to operate its business - particularly in today's economic climate.

42. Regarding Public Engines' claims (both expressly and by implication) that its

Publisher program is uniquely-developed, very expensive software that gives it a unique

capability to "de-identify" crime data, those claims are untrue as I understand them.

43. Because of ReportSee's success rate in obtaining data directly from police

agencies, it also has developed the technical means to de-identify the data. Also, because most

crime data is recorded in a database and eliminating victim and other personal information from

crime data is a relatively simple process, we have requested each department to provide similar

output that is being provided to CrimeReports.

44. It is my understanding that most RMS and CAD systems used by police

departments are built on basic database structures. Removing the victim data and specific

address information has been accomplished through simple database instructions for years by

many departments that already supply media outlets. Many agencies already publish de-

identified data on their websites through this same process and some provide that data directly to

ReportSee.

45. The figure that Public Engines' Complaint sites for investment in software that

queries police CAD and RMS systems ($3,000,000) is excessively high. It is not a particularly

9
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 11 of 15

advanced or difficult process to create soli \vare that queries databases and pull nul speei lie

information ("'dc-identified data" for example). ReportSee creates sofhvare to scrub idcnLil)ing

information from police database reports that arc sent to. and it takes about 4-hours Lo creale that

software for each brand of CAl) or RtvlS system.

4(i. ReportSee has not intended to defraud or mislead anyone by an) activit). and I

disagree with the proposition that ReportSee does not have a lawful right to compete for business

with Publ ic Engincs - even if Ihat means request ing basic crime data from Publ ic I':ngi nes'

customers. which an: government agencies.

I hereby affirm under penalty of pel:jury that the roregoing information is truthful.

Date: \1<1\' I·t 2010

10
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 12 of 15

TAB
A
CrimeReports.com FAQs Page 1 ot3
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 13 of 15

Crime Stats. Reports Community Volunteer


_ _ ~~~_~~_ _ ~ ~.J.l.!cord~_ ... ~ ~!r_,:~t~_.. _,_~fJ.ortu_n2.!~2-_.

Crime Stats & Maps CrimeReports.com FAQs


CrimeReports.com r----=-------------
View Calls For Service Maps In Your Neighborhood
Official Crime Statistics
Public CADmine FAQs
What is CrimeReports.com? CrimeReports.com is an online mapping and analysis service provided by Public
Engines, Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. CrimeReports.com combines the value of police data
with the ease-of-use of Google-based mapping and an analytics module so that members of the public can
view police data in a high-impact map or summary descriptive format. Members of the public may also sign up
to receive free email alerts based on user-defined parameters (e.g., geography, crime types, frequency, etc.).

What type of San Jose Police Department (SJPD) data is used in CrimeReports.com? The
CrimeReports.com service utilizes calls-for-service (CFS) data from the SJPD CAD system. CAD stands for
Computer Aided Dispatch. CAD is a highly specialized application that allows for the coordinated
communication, assignment and tracking of Police Department resources in response to citizen and police
generated calls-fol-service.

What specific types of data from CAD are used in CrimeReports.com? Calls-for-service data is utilized
for CrimeReports.com, including the following data fields: entry date, entry time, event number, event
location, final event type, and final event disposition.

Is there a description for the CAD data fields included in CrimeReports.com? Yes:

• Event Number: Electronically generated by the Police Department's CAD system, this number
\ ,
._==~._~~-
. catalogues an event reported to the Police Department. The Event number consists of 9 characters (9
numeric). In the following example event number, 070731041, 07= year, 073= Julian Date (73rd day
of the year), 1041= event number

• Entry Date & Time: This is the date and time that the event was entered into the Police Department's
CAD system. In the following example, 2007-03-14 19:34:20, the event was entered on March 14,
2007 at7:34:20 PM (note: the time is expressed in 24-hour format).

• Event Location: This is the 100th block address and intersection information. CrimeReports.com
translates address data Into block level data. This means that if an incident occurs at 123 Main Street,
it will show up as 100 Block Main Street in the CrimeReports.com application. Some location fields will
be populated with "address could not be mapped" if the data was not geo-processed accurately.

The following table proVides several examples to demonstrate the block translation process:

Street Number Block Translation


0-99 o Block
100 - 199 100 Block
1000 - 1099 1000 Block
12000 - 12099 12000 Block

• Final Call Type: The final event type is designated with one of the following final event type codes:

Click Here to Expand and Collapse Panel -- Code Descriptions for Final Call Types

• Final Call Disposition: The final event status is designated with one of the following final call
dlspositio ns:

Final Disposition Final Disposition Status


Code
A Arrest made, on-view
B Arrest by warrant
C Criminal citation
D Traffic citation issued, hazardous violation
E Traffic CItation Issued, non-hazardous

~{J--
http://www.s jpd.org/CrimeStats/CrimeReportsFAQ.html 4/14/2010 6
CrimeReports.com FAQs Page 2 of3
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 14 of 15

F Field interview (Fl) filed


G Gone on arrival/unable to locate
H Courtesy service/Citizen or agency assist
M Stranded motorist assist
N No report requIred; dIspatch record only
o Report, other than a pnmary report, is filed
P Prior case, follow~up actIvity only
R Primary report filed
T Turned over to (TOT) other agency
U Unfounded event
ADV Advised event
CAN Cancelled event
DUP Duplicate event
DUPNCAN Duplicate and cancelled event

How can I use the data from CrimeReports.com in support of community safety goals? Data from
CrimeReports.com can be reviewed and used to improve community safety. CrimeReports.com data is
appropriate to consider and discuss as part of coordinated crime prevention initiatives. Members of the
community are encouraged to continue partnering and probiem-solving with the SJPD while using
CrimeReports.com data toward shared police-community goals. For related Strong Neighborhood Initiative
(SNI) information, piease click here.

Is every CAD event type included in Crime Reports. com? Not every CAD event type is induded in
CrimeReports.com. Reports submitted online (TRAC), faxed or mailed are not included in CrimeReports.com.

Why was CAD chosen as the data source for CrimeReports.com? While most agencies furnish data to
the public for only those select incidents in which a report was created or an arrest was made,
CrimeReports.com offers a broader view of police-community contacts based on calls-for-service, including
less serious quality of life call data. It is important to note that there may be multiple calls for a single incident
in the CAD system (as compared to official crime statistics whereby each count represents one incident; please
see crime statistics section below). Also, please keep in mind that CAD calls-for-service do not always equate
to a criminal incident resulting in a report or arrest.

How often is data updated in CrimeReports.com? CrimeReports.com data is updated automatically once
per day and contains the most recent thirty days of data online.

If I find an event and have additional information to provide to the police, what do I do?
Information provided within CrimeReports.com is intended for the expressed purpose of educating the public
on police activity in the City of San Jose. Beyond that intended outcome, the Police Department is hoping to
enhance our partnerships with the community and is asking the public to provide the Department with any
information that would assist the SJPD to resoive crimes. Follow-up information should be directed to the
Police by either calling 408-947-STOP(7867) or by the Internet at !ill..o./(www.cnm~s.s)sv.comi
Information of an emergency nature should be passed through the Department's 9-1-1 emergency or 3-1-1
non-emergency notification systems.

Under no circumstances should any member of the public take any action on their own behalf as it relates to
the information provided on this website, other than notifying the San Jose Police Department with information
they wish to share.

Who can I contact if I have trouble using the CrimeReports.com website? Click on the link below for
assistance in utilizing CrimeReports.com:

What are the minimum Browser requirements to use CrimeReports.com?


The CrimeReports.com system takes advantage of advanced features that are only availabie in more recent
versions of web browsers. To ensure an optimal experience while using the site, you may need to update your
web browser. All of the listed browsers can be downloaded for free:

Windows Users
The CrlmeReports.com system supports the following web browsers:

• Firefox 0.9 or newer (Firefox is recommended for best performance)


• Mozilla 1.4 or newer
• Internet Explorer 5.5 or newer

Macintosh Users
The CrimeReports.com system supports the follOWing web browsers:

• Firefox 0.9 or newer (Firefox is recommended for best performance)


• Mozilla 1.4 or newer
• Internet Explorer 5.5 or newer

Linux Users
The CrimeReports.com system supports the following web browsers:

• Firefox 0.9 or newer (Firefox is recommended for best performance)


• Mozilla 1.4 or newer

http://www.sjpd.org/CrimeStats/CrimeReportsFAQ.html 4/14/2010
CrimeReports.com FAQs Page 3 of3
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-2 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 15 of 15

In addition, Java script and Cookies must be enabled to use the site. These features are usually
enabled by default.
Are there any issues I should keep in mind when checking CrimeReports.com data?
CrimeReports.com utilizes Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) calls for service data. CAD event type data is NOT
the same as reported crime data. For official crime statistics, please refer to the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting
(UCR) program and related data for San Jose by clicking the crime data page. There may be more than one
call for service for any given event within these reports (e.g., several observers may call 911 after witnessing
a motor vehicle accident, disturbance or serious criminal incident). Some call types (e.g., murder, kidnapping,
robbery) may include "courtesy call" information from other law enforcement agencies (e.g., a call detailing
information pertaining to a homicide suspect from another jurisdiction may be received locally and added to
the "murder" call type). Finally, CAD calls-for-service do not always equate to a criminal incident resulting in a
report or arrest, with many calls relating to non-criminal or quality of life issues.

I called San Jose PO to report a crime or request assistance for an issue not occurring at my
location, but the icon on the map reflects the location from which my call was placed (my
residence) and not the location of where I reported the crime to have occurred. Why doesn't the
map reflect the location of where the event actually occurred?

The CrimeReports.com application receives event location information from the Department's Computer Aided
Dispatch (CAD) system. Data from the CAD system is meant to reflect service demands based on citizen
generated calls-for-service and officer initiated activity; it reflects where the calls-for-service originated from
primarily because that's where poi ice resources respond to and make contact with residents to learn more
about the crime or quality of life issue. Based on CAD data, the event location will reflect the address of the
reporting party, which is in the vast majority of events, also the actual event location. All event location
information is geo-processed to the lOOth block or to the nearest intersection. If you view a map that depicts
information incorrectly, please do not hesitate to contact the department.

Does CrimeReports.com have a FAQ site? Yes. FAQ and other related information (e.g., company,
partners, legal) can be found near the bottom of the CrimeReports.com site at h~/lwww.'(:l!mereQ9.tlgQL!!L

Does CrimeReports.com have a DISCLAIMER? Yes. Disclaimer:


The information displayed on this website is susceptible to some degree of error due to the collection, entry,
and geo-processing of the data. No warranty or guarantee is made nor implied regarding the content,
geographic accuracy, timeliness, completeness, sequence, or accuracy of any of the information provided
herein. The reader should not rely on the data provided herein for any reason. The information is provided
strictly as a courtesy to the public.

To view Calls For Service Maps in your area, select the button below.

Top of P~ge

San Jose Police Department, 201 W. MiSSIon Street, San Jose, CA 95110 I General Information 408-277-8900 I Con (act Us

I Airport I Assaults I Auto Theft I .!llir9.!illY I Family Violence I Fraud I Gangs I Homicide I Narcotics I Permits I Robbery I Sexual Assaults I Traffic I
;~Pl~~~t :S~"!~~;d Scm Jose Police Department. SJPD Home Contact Us City of San Jose Terms of Use F.I\Qs I

http://www.s jpd.org/CrimeStats/CrimeReportsFAQ.html 4/14/2010


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 34

EXHIBIT
2
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION

-000-

PUBLIC ENGINES, INC., Deposition of:


a Delaware
Corporation, GREGORY SCOTT WHISENANT

Plaintiff, Case No. 2:10cv00317

vs. Judge: Tena Campbell

REPORTSEE, INC., a
Delaware Corporation,

Defendant.

-000-

May 4, 2010
10:35 a.m.

PARR, BROWN, GEE & LOVELESS


Attorneys at Law
185 South State Street,
Suite 800
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Susan Hellberg-Young
Registered Professional Reporter
Certified Shorthand Reporter
Notary Public in and for the State of Utah

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 34

PAGE 31
FILED UNDER SEAL
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 4 of 34

PAGE 32
FILED UNDER SEAL
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 5 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
38

1 A. If they want to show a beat or other

2 type of subgeography of their jurisdiction, they

3 can show an outline of that area on our map on

4 CrimeReports.com.

5 They can provide shape files to us.

6 They can say, here's the blank neighborhood, and

7 they can show the outline of that neighborhood.

8 So they have some ability to administer that

9 functionality.

10 They have the ability, as Mr. Meyers

11 said, to go in and edit individual records, which

12 is a fail safe, even though we can generally

13 correct for those using Publisher, they have the

14 ability to log In directly the site to remove,

15 edit or add information as needed.

16 So if they see something on the

17 websites that maybe names the is wrong hundred

18 block, they say it's not the 100 block, it's the

19 500 block?

20 A. Yeah. It's an efficiency thing. They

21 could probably go correct their raw database, and

22 that would eventually get corrected on its own.

23 But they're very sensitive to having the wrong

24 data up on the web, so we give them the ability to

25 go in and log in directly and change something if

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 6 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
50

1 a program. So the only thing we give to the

2 agency is the program itself, not the raw code

3 that we used to build the Publisher. All they can

4 do is configure it, install it, uninstall it.

5 So what did you mean complete

6 unfettered access?

7 A. If it's installed on a machine, and by

8 virtue of having access to the machine and the

9 publisher residing there, they can anything they

10 want within the context of what the Publisher will

11 allow.

12 We have no ability to install it,

13 configure it, uninstall it ourselves. We always

14 have to do it with the agency. The agency has

15 access to the Publisher itself.

16 Does the Publisher permit the agencies

17 to access the de-identified data?

18 A. Not that I'm aware of.

19 So if the agencies wanted to see the

20 de-identified data, where would be the first point

21 that they could see where it is?

22 A. I told you about the button in the

23 administrative interface. We refer to that

24 when it's not shown to the public, we refer to

25 that as the sandbox. So it's a place where they

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 7 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
55

1 the website. If a law enforcement agency goes to

2 sign up for our service, they collect the terms of

3 service. What's contained there is effectively

4 the same information that's contained on the order

5 form.

6 So getting back to Annapolis. Around

7 October of 2009 is when Annapolis cancelled its

8 contract?

9 A. That's correct.

10 Do you recall the name of the

11 individual at Annapolis who notified Public

12 Engines of that cancellation?

13 A. I don't. I spoke with her, and I

14 could produce that certainly, but I don't remember

15 her name. It was a woman. I think her first name

16 was Beth.

17 Did this person say that the only

18 reason they were cancelling the contract was

19 because of a threat or actually lawsuit by

20 Reportsee?

21 A. No.

22 What else, what other reason might

23 have been given?

24 A. She indicated that they had been

25 considering building their own tool and that this

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 8 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
56

1 was the event that pushed them to actually do it,

2 so it was the deciding factor.

3 Do you know whether Annapolis has

4 built their own tool?

5 A. I don't.

6 You haven't checked in to see?

7 A. I have not.

8 So can you give me your best

9 recollection of your conversation with Mr. Drain

10 on that October date?

11 A. Yes. I sent him an e-mail and asked

12 if he could call me. And I think I called and

13 left a message, and he called me back. And I

14 said, hey, I'm just trying to figure out what's

15 going on here.

16 I wanted to call you up businessman to

17 businessman and just figure out what's going on.

18 We have had this complaint and we have had an

19 agency cancel, and we have seen a pattern now

20 that's -- we have had multiple agencies contacting

21 us and telling us that they're unhappy with the

22 way that they have been treated by Spot Crime.

23 And it's putting our company in peril, and it's

24 putting you in legal jeopardy, and we are

25 demanding that it stops.

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 9 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
59

1 this would be multiple e-mail messages culminating

2 in a threatening tone, at least from their

3 perspective, letter from Spot Crime's legal

4 representation requesting data under an open

5 records request and suggesting to the law

6 enforcement agency that they had a legal

7 obligation to produce this data in the format

8 requested by Spot Crime and there was a separate

9 issue.

10 First of the all, the question was now

11 we need to run through this process of determining

12 whether we have this obligation, and secondly do

13 we really want to be trying to manage different

14 types of data, different streams that are out

15 there. We wanted to have the ability to exert

16 some control and measure of control over what's

17 out there in the public. They saw it as a public

18 safety issue.

19 And the second one was the nature of

20 those complaints was that they had seen their

21 data, which Public Engines was contractually

22 authorized to produce and display showing up on a

23 third party website that did not have permission

24 to show that data from the agency, and they felt

25 that that was a violation and a shortcoming on the

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 10 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
60

1 part of Public Engines.

2 Did they ever say why it is that they

3 didn't want data displayed anywhere but on Public

4 Engines' site?

5 A. They never really said that. They

6 said they wanted to be able to control it. So I

7 don't think they would be adverse to having the

8 data show up somewhere will else so long as they

9 had the abilities to go and edit that data and

10 remove it and change it as they saw fit. They saw

11 it as a public safety issue.

12 Did they ever explain to you how it

13 was a public safety issue for them not to have the

14 type of editorial control or what have you over

15 the information?

16 A. Yeah. I had one agency, I believe it

17 was the Salt Lake City Police Department give me

18 an example which was when someone calls 911, for

19 example, they may receive a collection of calls to

20 their CAD, to 911, talking about a suspicious

21 person on the street and upload that data, and

22 they may have 11 calls all identifying the same

23 suspicious person would show up as 11 suspicious

24 person incidences.

25 When an officer is deployed or several

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 11 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
61

1 days later they might correct that and say it

2 turned out there was someone looking for his

3 wallet on the street and it wasn't a suspicious

4 person and they want to change that to be a

5 nonevent.

6 Well, if that initial cluster of

7 events has left their control and is now published

8 on third party websites they don't have the

9 ability to correct that, and it would give a

10 misperception in the eyes of the public that could

11 be to the benefit of the public or to -- whatever

12 the opposite of that is to the detriment of the

13 public.

14 Now when they make that, let's just

15 use your example, if they were to go in and turn

16 those 11 incidents or a report to a guy who is

17 looking for his wallet, any normal, ordinary

18 consumer who would have just logged on and seen

19 the 11 incidents, would they know about that

20 change? Is anybody alerted to that?

21 A. If they went back the next day after

22 it had been corrected, they would see a change.

23 And on a third party site, they would persist.

24 Now, the Crime Reports website has a

25 sign-up for e-mail alert updates, does it not?

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 12 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
62

1 A. It does, yes.

2 In your example, would somebody that

3 signed up for an e-mail alert for say, just for

4 the 11 incidents happened in downtown Salt Lake,

5 would they have received an alert about that

6 incident, the 11 reported 911 calls on a suspicion

7 guy standing at the corner of

8 A. Wherever? It depends on the alert

9 settings, but they could have potentially gotten

10 that.

11 So there's settings, somebody could

12 say, I only want certain types of alerts?

13 A. That's right.

14 Somebody that signed up for a certain

15 type of alert could have gotten that?

16 A. That's correct.

17 So now does the alert function then

18 also create corrective alerts to go along with

19 your examples when the police change it from 11 to

20 one?

21 A. It would give the corrective data, but

22 it wouldn't say cancel out the other 11 before

23 them. It wouldn't by omission, but it wouldn't

24 say these 11 have changed to a nonevent.

25 So the same person would receive the

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 13 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
63

1 11 event reports would then receive an e-mail

2 saying report of the one guy looking for his

3 wallet yesterday at 4:00?

4 A. In theory, yes.

5 And then it would be up to them to

6 connect the dots and say, oh, those 11 incidents

7 must have been this poor guy looking for his

8 wallet?

9 A. Potentially, yes, that's right. Well,

10 what they would more likely do is click on the one

11 guy who lost his wallet and the map would show up

12 without the 11 incidents and they would be able to

13 infer from that information that the other 11

14 incidents for whatever reason had been cancelled

15 out.

16 Are there any other public safety

17 issues that your attention has been drawn to by

18 police when it comes to --

19 A. No.

20 Let me finish. When it comes to

21 posting that information on a third party website?

22 A. Not that my knowledge.

23 Turning to Exhibit 4, we got

24 sidetracked, we are going to go to the beginning

25 of the complaint, to the very first page. And now

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 14 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
65

1 Now, in that sentence in paragraph 6

2 of the complaint, you use the word much to

3 describe much of the information has been

4 misappropriated directly from Crime Reports. How

5 do you, for purposes of this allegation, define

6 the word much?

7 A. I think we weren't ready to say all.

8 And we had seen enough from the cities that we

9 looked at and just our own internal studies to

10 suggest to us that it was much. So we don't have

11 a number associated with that.

12 So less than a hundred percent?

13 A. Correct.

14 More than 50?

15 A. I'd be speculating.

16 What type of -- I think you had

17 mentioned the word, maybe investigation?

18 Can I read the

19 So what type of analysis have you done

20 to hazard a guess about the amount of information

21 on Spot Crime that, as your complaint says,

22 misappropriated from Crime Reports?

23 A. I have not been the one personally

24 involved in that. So Steve Meyers has been, a

25 couple of other individuals. So I'd look to them

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 15 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
74

1 things available to the public?

2 A. I think a lot of agencies have

3 indicated that it's really a lack of resources

4 that limits them from having a comprehensive

5 dialogue and engagement with the general public,

6 but they feel like a better informed public helps

7 them.

8 And then it goes on in paragraph 11,

9 second clause of the first sentence, balanced by

10 their desire to maintain control of the

11 information.

12 We have discussed the public safety

13 issue. Is there any other basis for this

14 allegation about why a police department would

15 have a desire to maintain control?

16 A. Yes.

17 What is that?

18 A. I think the very nature of crime data

19 is that it is open to interpretation in many

20 respects. As most people might know, there's a

21 lot of argument and debate about crime rates

22 across the country. It's a subject of budgets.

23 It's a subject of hiring, chiefs, allocating

24 resources, and even to elect people.

25 It's a big issue, and I think one of

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 16 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
76

1 A. Uh-huh (affirmative).

2 Is that your understanding of what

3 will Spot Crime does?

4 A. It is.

5 So the police concern is that that

6 mixing of information might skew the crime report

7 statistics for their area?

8 IL No. I think the real issue is that

9 both the collection of the 11 incidents plus the

10 other incident would add up to 12 on the Spot

11 Crime website, whereas on CrimeReports.com over

12 the long term or even in the short term would add

13 up to one incident and that that variance would

14 cause a problem for them.

15 So that variance and the public safety

16 issue are two of the reasons that you've given me

17 for law enforcement agencies' desire to maintain

18 control over the information in the public. Any

19 other reason?

20 A. I guess I would expand the public

21 safety question. It's not just about the data

22 itself, but it's the perception of crime among the

23 public, so i t might not be a public issue per se,

24 but also a perception issue as well.

25 What is the perception issue, in your

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 17 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
77

1 understanding?

2 A. Well, it would be associated with the

3 public safety issue itself, but an individual

4 might visit the website and get a false sense was

5 security or conversely a false sense of danger for

6 anywhere neighborhood they live in or may be

7 visiting if the data is not kept up-to-date. And

8 that potentially there would be legal consequences

9 as well as political consequences for the agency

10 in that regard.

11 So on the consequences, as you said

12 just a few minutes ago, the reporting of crime can

13 of course impact not only budgets and hiring, but

14 budgets and allocating resources, that goes to the

15 perception issue that you're discussing, those

16 concerns?

17 A. Yes.

18 Is it fair to say that, at least to

19 your knowledge, if a high number of crimes appears

20 in a particular area there might be some political

21 heat for that?

22 A. I think it would depend on the

23 circumstances. I think an agency's imperative is

24 that what's shown to the public is an accurate

25 representation. It may be high, and i t may be

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 18 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
78

1 low, but they would like it to reflect reality.

2 Turning to paragraph 13 of the

3 complaint. In that paragraph there's an

4 allegation about the Public Engines' website being

5 user friendly whose content is limited to

6 information approved or controlled by the agencies

7 themselves.

8 The control portion of that

9 allegation, how is it that the agencies accomplish

10 control?

11 A. They have complete and unfettered

12 access to the Publisher which is behind their

13 firewall and Public Engines does not have any

14 access to the Publisher under any circumstances.

15 And they also have the ability to log in directly

16 to CrimeReports.com to make changes or temporarily

17 halt the display of information on the website.

18 Who at the law enforcement agency is

19 given the rights, the credentials, passport or

20 whatever to make those changes to the website

21 data?

22 A. It would depend on the agency.

23 Is it common or have you heard of an

24 incident where everybody at the agency has that

25 level of access?

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 19 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
79

1 A. No.

2 What's the most common group of

3 individuals who have that type of access?

4 A. Again, it would depend on the agency,

5 but generally speaking it could be someone from

6 the chief to a commander to an IT person to an

7 analyst are generally the profiles of the people

8 that we deal with. It's whoever is designated by

9 the chief presumably.

10 But usually the chief of that

11 particular agency or precinct makes that

12 determination?

13 A. To my knowledge, yes. And the larger

14 agencies the chief may not have any visibility

15 into that, but that's probably less common.

16 Continuing on page 5, paragraph 15,

17 the allegation about in the last three years

18 Public Engines having invested more than

19 $3 million, how did you arrive at that figure?

20 A. Through our books.

21 What books?

22 A. Our financials.

23 What in those financials led you to

24 arrive at the $3 million figure?

25 A. Well, we allocate all of our costs

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 20 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
90

1 subsection two I's, so II?

2 A. Uh-huh (affirmative)

3 Can you explain to me what internal

4 business purposes means?

5 A. Where it says internal business

6 purposes in connection with the establishment or

7 continuation of a business relationship with

8 Public Engines?

9 Yes, that's it.

10 A. That means a contractual agreement,

11 authorization effectively to use the data.

12 Contractual agreement with Public

13 Engines?

14 A. Yes.

15 So unless a business entity has a

16 contractual relationship with Public Engines,

17 these terms of use would prohibit use of the site,

18 of the Public Engines sites?

19 A. Yes.

20 What about access? Let's just say a

21 business entity that didn't have a contractual

22 relationship with Public Engines accessed the

23 website. Would these terms of use prohibit that

24 access?

25 A. No.

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 21 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
91

1 So it's only after access that then

2 there's a kicking in of the prohibitions against

3 use, as we described?

4 A. I'm not sure I understand.

5 Well, business entity accesses the

6 website, which is permitted?

7 A. Right.

8 And then after that access, it's

9 subject to the use restrictions listed in section

10 I?

11 A. That are sounds correct. I'd have to

12 study it or understand exactly. I'm not even sure

13 the context of where you're going. But it sounds

14 right to me.

15 Do you want to read it and make sure

16 you're comfortable with that?

17 A. Yes.

18 Please, do that, and actually we could

19 take a short break while you do that.

20 (A recess was taken.)

21 (By Mr. Glikin) Have you had an

22 opportunity to read through the section I?

23 A. Yes.

24 So is my description of the

25 restriction to not include access in the first

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 22 of 34

PAGE 92
FILED UNDER SEAL
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 23 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
101

1 is it?

2 A. No.

3 So is it in violation of whatever

4 intellectual property rights you are claiming this

5 case for a scraper to scrape sex offender data off

6 of the Public Engines site?

7 A. I would still be to my

8 understanding, I would have to think it through,

9 but to my understanding, it would still be a

10 violation of our terms of use, but it would not be

11 a part of the de-identified data that we are

12 claiming rights to.

13 Turn to page 34, please. Paragraph 34

14 talks about a complaint from a customer. Which

15 customer complained?

16 A. The San Jose Police Department.

17 Who, i f you c an r e call, i s you r

18 contact at that police department?

19 A. Steven DiNoto, S-T-E-V-E-N, capital

20 D-1 capital N-O-T-O.

21 Do you know Mr. DiNoto's title or

22 rank?

23 A. He's a civilian, and I believe his

24 title is chief administrative officer.

25 How did you receive Mr. DiNoto's

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 24 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
102

1 complaint?

2 A. In a telephone call.

3 When was that?

4 A. It would have been in the spring of

5 2008.

6 What exactly was the concern that

7 Mr. DiNoto expressed?

8 A. That his understanding was that we had

9 a contractual agreement whereby we would be

10 provided access to this data for display on the

11 Public Engines CrimeReports.com website and that

12 was the only place where it was approved, and it

13 was showing up on a third party website, and he

14 wasn't happy about it.

15 What was your response to him?

16 A. I'll look into it.

17 After that spring of 2008 complaint,

18 has anybody, Mr. DiNoto or anybody from San Jose

19 called to complain again?

20 A. Yes.

21 When?

22 A. San Jose has several times. I don't

23 know, even broadly, what those dates would be, but

24 a couple of times a year basically.

25 Now, on the San Jose website, there

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 25 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
103

1 exists, I think it's Mr. Meyers testified a window

2 that would permit a search on Crime Reports

3 directly from the San Jose website; is that

4 correct?

5 A. That's correct.

6 Does that window contain Public

7 Engines terms of use?

8 A. It does.

9 Has it always?

10 A. No.

11 When were the terms of use then added

12 to the San Jose website?

13 A. Roughly on March, at the end of

14 March 2010.

15 How did it come to be that the terms

16 of use got added to that website?

17 A. I think it was Ken who pointed out

18 that we didn't have the terms of use on the

19 widget. That is the widget. And even though our

20 contract with the agency covered it, that that was

21 protected information, just for the avoidance of

22 doubt, we decided to include it on the widget.

23 Now, does the San Jose website also

24 contain its own terms of use?

25 l\ . It does.

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 26 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
110

1 How do you define opportunity cost?

2 A. What he could have been doing if he

3 hadn't been working on that.

4 How do you turn that opportunity into

5 a monetary amount?

6 A. I don't know. I would have to think

7 about that.

8 Have you involved your outside

9 accountants at all in these calculations?

10 A. No. The most logical would be to just

11 allocate his time. We would have to look at

12 whether something he could have done would have

13 given an amplified number to any of those. But my

14 guess would be a simple mathematics calculus.

15 Turning to paragraph 53 on page 14.

16 Actually let's turn to paragraph 55, which is

17 still on page 14. In paragraph 55 when it

18 references these statements, is it referencing

19 paragraphs 53 and 54?

20 A. Yes.

21 It's saying in 55 that these

22 statements and others are false, correct?

23 A. Yes.

24 Why is it false for Reportsee to claim

25 that it obtains information displayed on Spot

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 27 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
111

1 Crime from news reports and other third-party

2 sources?

3 A. I would put that as a I would say

4 that it's not false, each of those collectively

5 that's as false statement. Individually they are

6 not.

7 So it's not false for Reportsee to

8 claim that they obtained information from news

9 reports?

10 A. Correct.

11 It's not false for Reportsee to claim

12 that they obtained information from third-party

13 sources?

14 A. Correct.

15 Is it false for Reportsee to claim

16 that they obtained information from police

17 departments?

18 A. I guess that depends on how you define

19 obtain.

20 Well, it's in your complaint.

21 A. Right. Actually, Reportsee claims

22 that it obtains the information. So it's a claim

23 of Reportsee.

24 Well, but the allegation here, if I

25 understand, it is false for Reportsee to claim

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 28 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
112

1 that it obtains information on its website from

2 police departments. Do you believe that

3 allegation to be correct?

4 A. That it is false that Reportsee claims

5 to be obtaining the information from police

6 departments?

7 Let me try and rephrase it without a

8 double negative? Is it your allegation that

9 Reportsee's claim about obtaining information from

10 police departments is a false claim?

11 A. It is.

12 Is it also Public Engines claim that

13 it is false for Reportsee to claim that it has

14 employees that plot locations of crime reports?

15 A. Yes.

16 What is the basis for the allegation

17 that that claim is false?

18 A. Well, I think it may be true that Spot

19 Crime's employees plot the locations of Crime

20 Reports on Google maps, but I don't think that's

21 exclusive to what they do, and we've collected

22 evidence to support that position.

23 What evidence have you collected?

24 A. I would have to ask Steve Meyers

25 specifically about what he did, but when we

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 29 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
125

1 \). The language that is underneath the

2 series of asterisks?

3 A. Uh-huh (affirmative)

4 Did you draft that?

5 A. I did.

6 Did anybody help you draft it?

7 A. No.

8 So I understand the context here, who

9 is Leslee?

10 A. Leslee Hallenback is a sergeant with

11 the Jackson, Tennessee Police Department.

12 So how is it that Leslee's e-mail

13 which I assume is below that says, Okay, they

14 won't leave well enough alone?

15 A. Yes.

16 How did that come into your inbox?

17 A. Either through Erin or Ryan.

18 Is what you're doing, drafting a

19 response for them to then copy and send?

20 A. Yes.

21 Do you know whether they sent this

22 response?

23 A. I don't know. I suspect they did.

24 In the response that you provided, you

25 say, we've only talked to a handful of agencies

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 30 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
134

1 All under development?

2 A. Right.

3 (Deposition Exhibit 20 is marked for

4 identification.)

5 (By Mr. Glikin) You've now been

6 handed Exhibit 20. At the very top where it says

7 e-mail sent to all customers?

8 A. Yes.

9 Is that your notation?

10 A. That's my notation for you.

11 For this litigation?

12 A. Yes.

13 And all customers, would that be all

14 the police departments listed on Exhibit 15?

15 A. All those from Exhibit 15 that had

16 signed up before November 12th of 2009, the date

17 that e-mail was sent.

18 Have you produced all of the responses

19 received for that e-mail?

20 A. I have.

21 And those responses they come directly

22 to your inbox?

23 A. They do.

24 Did you draft the language used in

25 Exhibit 20?

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 31 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
137

1 identification.)

2 (By Mr. Glikin) So you've just been

3 handed Exhibit 22?

4 A. Yes.

5 Can you just give me a context, what

6 is this document. I don't see a date on it or any

7 kind of send or recipient or anything like that?

8 A. So the e-mail from Exhibit 20 we sent

9 to customers as a one time event.

10 Right.

11 A. We wanted to also have something we

12 could send subsequently to new customers as they

13 came onboard. So I prepared this document, as I

14 recall, that people could send out to a company in

15 e-mail that anyone might receive with respect to

16 Spot Crime or Reportsee or any other third party

17 requesting the data.

18 Do you know if this document has

19 actually been sent out?

20 A. I have no idea.

21 Who would be authorized to send this

22 out?

23 A. Anyone on the sales team, anyone

24 that's customer facing, anyone on the sales team

25 or marketing. But I don't think it makes any

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 32 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
138

1 mention of Spot Crime or Reportsee, as I recall,

2 but I could be wrong.

3 So the 500 agencies, bullet point, the

4 second bullet point is a proxy for a date so we

5 had 500 agencies roughly in the fall. So I assume

6 this is sort of end of September issue, end of

7 communication or maybe actually, maybe, well,

8 this is November 12th, it may have been after

9 that. I don't know for sure.

10 But you had 500 agencies in the fall

11 of '09?

12 A. Uh-huh (affirmative).

13 And you now have well, I think in

14 Exhibit 15 is close to 850?

15 A. Yeah.

16 So say in the course of six to seven,

17 eight months, is it fair to say you signed up more

18 than 300?

19 A. Ballpark, yeah.

20 Has it been an unusually active time

21 for signing up new law enforcement customers?

22 A. The company is better resourced. So

23 we have grown our sales team primarily is the

24 factor.

25 So from the date of its inception

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 33 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
139

1 through the fall of '09 obviously understanding

2 that some people drop off. Some agencies drop off

3 and don't come on, about 500?

4 A. Ballpark I'd say that's about right.

5 And now in the last six or

6 seven months, you've gained another 300 something?

7 A. Correct.

8 (Deposition Exhibit 23 is marked for

9 identification.)

10 (By Mr. Glikin) So you now have in

11 front of you what's marked Exhibit 23. The e-mail

12 dated April 14, 2010, from you to Mr. Prettyman?

13 A. Yes.

14 Did you draft this e-mail?

15 A. I did.

16 And how many recipients were there to

17 this e-mail?

18 A. I don't know, but I would imagine

19 somewhere in the range of 750 or so.

20 So were those recipients primarily the

21 law enforcement agencies that were customers?

22 A. Yes.

23 Why not all?

24 A. I think that probably is all.

25 So likely everybody on Exhibit 15 who

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-3 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 34 of 34
CONFIDENTIAL
140

1 was a customer at the time April 14th --

2 A. Yeah, I it could have been double

3 that if we had two contacts in the law enforcement

4 agency. I suspect that every customer that we had

5 at the time received this e-mail. I could get an

6 exact figure for you if you would like.

7 I would. Thank you. On the bottom of

8 the e-mail where it says, under example statements

9 to Spot Crime, that's your language as well?

10 A. It is.

11 Did you send this e-mail to any media

12 outlets?

13 A. No.

14 Did you send any press release to any

15 media outlets to the litigation?

16 A. Yes. We put a press release on the

17 wire, PR news wire or business wire, and beyond

18 that I don't think we sent it to anyone.

19 (Deposition Exhibit 24 is marked for

20 identification.)

21 (By Mr. Glikin) So we have just

22 handed you Exhibit 24. Is this the agreement

23 between Public Engines and Soruka?

24 A. It is.

25 Did you participate in the negotiation

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-4 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 3

EXHIBIT
3
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-4 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 3
CONFIDENTIAL

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION

-000-

PUBLIC ENGINES, INC., Deposition of:


a Delaware
Corporation, STEVEN OREN MEYERS

Plaintiff, Case No. 2:10cv00317

vs. Judge: Tena Campbell

REPORTSEE, INC., a
Delaware Corporation,

Defendant.

-000-

May 4, 2010
9:00 a.m.

PARR, BROWN, GEE & LOVELESS


Attorneys at Law
185 South State Street,
Suite 800
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Susan Hellberg-Young
Registered Professional Reporter
Certified Shorthand Reporter
Notary Public in and for the State of Utah

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, C3R, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-4 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 3

41

1 that.

2 Q. Do you know whether when a

3 scraper is used on the database, that scraper

4 can access the data that's no longer

5 accessible on the Crime Reports website?

6 A. It can not.

7 Q. SO is it fair to say generally

8 that a scraper can get no more data than the

9 data that an average citizen like you or me

10 can get by logging into the Crime Reports

11 website?

12 A. Right, that's pretty much the

13 definition of a scraper, so . . .

14 Q. Have you ever had conversations

15 with Greg Whisenant about the scraping or

16 other activities of Reportsee?

17 A. I believe he was involved in at

18 leas~ some of the conversations. So yes.

19 Q. Do you recall the substance of

20 any conversations you may have had with him?

21 A. No.

22 (Deposition Exhibit 2 is marked

23 for identification.)

24 Q. (By Mr. Glikin) I've just handed

25 you what's been marked as Deposition

SUSAN HELLBERG-YOUNG, CSR, RPR


Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-5 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 5

EXHIBIT
4
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-5 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 5

From: Peter Allen <peterallen@first organization.com>


Sent: Thursday, September 10,200911:45 AM
To: 'Lt. Curt Mays' <cmays@desotosheriff.org>
Subject: RE: crimereports.com info

Lt. Mays,

We provide you a free widget to embed the map in to your website. Here is an example of how we did it with Fort Myers
P.D.: http:Uwww.fmpolice.com/Crime/CrimeMapReports/tabid/156/Default.aspx

To get it started there is a signup page on our website, our terms of service are located at the bottom of the signup
page. That is our contract. Here is the link of the signup page: http:Ucrimereports.com/lea/register

After signing up our client services rep will give you a call to set up integration. It is a very quick process and we should
have you set up in a couple hours. Feel free to call me with any questions.

Sincerely, Peter

Peter Allen
Regional Sales Director
801.828.2725 Office
480.268.1560 Cell
www.CrimeReports.com

From: Lt. Curt Mays [mailto:cmays@desotosheriff.org]


Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 10:09 AM
To: Peter Allen
Subject: RE: crimereports.com info

Peter,

Please forward me any contracts or other needed documents for us to proceed. A PO


has been assigned (#CP091009cm amount $1, 188.00J for billing. Let's start the project..

One more question, I believe I noted as affirmative in earlier information. Can the map
be embedded in our webpage?

.te. ~A.~
"DeSlJtq. ~ S~'6 fJl/«e
2()9'&~Se
~. "7~ 34266
(9'63)993-47()()

Please Note:
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a

PE 000359
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-5 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 5
public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.

From: Peter Allen [mailto:Peter.Allen@crimereports.com]


Sent: WednesdaYr September 09 r 2009 4:11 PM
To: Lt. Curt Mays
Subject: RE: crimereports.com info

There would be no charge to reconfigure the system. Any maintenance we do is free. We can have you up and running
at any time. October 1 would be great. It literally takes just a couple hours to get you setup. We can bill you annually as
well. We offer you a free 30 day trial of our service and we can get that started any time you want.

Peter Allen
Regional Sales Director
801.828.2725 Office
480.268.1560 Cell
www.CrimeReports.com

From: Lt. Curt Mays [mailto:cmays@desotosheriff.org]


Sent: WednesdaYr September 09 r 2009 1:54 PM
To: Peter Allen
Subject: RE: crimereports.com info

Peter,

One additional question if I may. If we would decide to go with the software, is there a charge
if wechange our current CAD RMS vendor thus needing to reconfigure the system? Is there
an additional charge for initial setup? Additionally if I were to commit, can we be billed
annually and up and running say by October 1.

LT Curt A. Mays
CID/MIS/SRO/Admin
DeSoto County Sheriff's Office
208 E. Cypress St Arcadia, FL 34266
(863)993-4700 ext 242
Fax: (863)993-4712
alt email: maysca@flcin.net
http://www.desotosheriff.com

From: Peter Allen [mailto:Peter.Allen@crimereports.com]


Sent: WednesdaYr September 09 r 2009 3:43 PM
To: Lt. Curt Mays
Subject: RE: crimereports.com info

Lt. Mays,

PE 000360
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-5 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 4 of 5
We have a small piece of software that will sit on either someone's computer that has an ODBC connection to the server
or the server, which ever you prefer. That piece of software has a query that calls to the server each night, at the time
you specify, to pull down certain pieces of information that you want to display on our website. This is usually crime
type, date, time, identifier, and anything else you wish. Our integration engineer will help you decide on those pieces of
information during integration. It pulls that information down to our CrimeReports publisher and then the publisher
pushes the information to our website, so we don't keep any direct connections to your server, we keep it very secure
that way. The publisher does this each night and it is automated so once we have done the integration you don't need
to do anything else. We will watch your data and if, for some reason, it hasn't uploaded in a few days we will contact
you to get the data feed back up and running. It is usually as simple as the computer was turned off or the password for
the computer changed. We can get it fixed quickly for you. You do have complete control of the data so you will have
access to an admin tool where you can delete or change crimes or stop certain crimes from being uploaded. We can
also do this for you, you can just give us a call.

I am here at anytime to answer any questions you may have.

Sincerely, Peter

Peter Allen
Regional Sales Director
801.828.2725 Office
480.268.1560 Cell
www.CrimeReports.com

/:;:;:;:; .:;:;:::;:::::::

.• Crime Wt*J.p©fts.

From: Lt. Curt Mays [mailto:cmays@desotosheriff.org]


Sent: Wednesday, September 09,20091:34 PM
To: Peter Allen
Subject: RE: crimereports.com info

Mr. Allen,

I took time to review the product today. I do like the interlace and note it's similarity
crimemapping.com
I do like to look and feel of the product, however I did not catch the data for the maps
(automated or manual entry) is acquired?

L T Curt A. Mays
CIDIMISISROIAdmin
DeSoto County Sheriff's Office
208 E Cypress St Arcadia, FL 34266
(863)993-4700 ext 242
Fax: (863)993-4712
alt email: maysca@flcin.net
http://www.desotosheriff.com

From: Peter Allen [mailto:Peter.Allen@crimereports.com]

PE 000361
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-5 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 5 of 5
Sent: Wednesday, August 26,20093:32 PM
To: Lt. Curt Mays
Subject:: crimereports.com info

Lt. Mays,

Thank you for your time on the phone today Lt. Mays. I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with me. Here is
some information about our services. We allow you to tryout our service for free for 30 days with no strings attached.
We can have you up and running in a day.

Here is the 5 minute demo of the CrimeReports.com service: http://crimereports.com/lea/crscreencast (make sure your
volume is turned up)

Here is how Fort Myers PD integrates our service into their website:
http:Uwww.fmpolice.com/Crime/CrimeMapReports/tabid/156/Default.aspx

CivicUS is an advisory board for state and local leaders that sends out weekly alerts on hot issues. Their Public Safety and
Homeland Security alert for this week outlined the move towards web-based crime mapping and compared
CrimeReports.com and CrimeMapping.com. Check it out:
- http://civicus.com/uploads/327/2009-8-24 WSA-FINAL-pshs-BrLrlgi!1JL!be Public To Public Safety- Web-
Based Crime Mapping Tools.pdf

Here is a recent Wall Street Journal article that was written about us:
http:Uonline.wsi.com/articie/SB124398235596978969.htmlitmod%3Dtodays us nonsub pj%26articieTabs%3Darticie

Here is a link of a bunch of news stories about us:l}ttp:Llc:[imE:!repQrts.cQrT1lR[~_S~

CrimeReports provides a free Thirty (30) day trial of our service.


The Free Trial is designed to allow your agency to set-up delivery of data, modify settings and review the service with the
various decision makers within your agency. There are no start up costs whatsoever for our service. And we can have
you up and running in a day. If you choose to keep your account after the free 3D-day trial has expired, the monthly fees
are:

CrimeReports.com: $99 a month

Please let me know if there is anything else I can send. Call me for anything at anytime!

Sincerely, Peter

PE 000362
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-6 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 3

EXHIBIT
5
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-6 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 3
From: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Sent: Friday, April 16,2010 12:59 PM
To: Birdsong, Rhonda J <rbirdsong@ku.edu>
Cc: Chris Memmott <Chris.Memmott@crime,reports.com>
Subject: Re: Questions For You on Spotcrime.com Info

Hi Rhonda - Nice to speak with you briefly. You are welcome to send a letter to me at the following address.

Greg Whisenant
Public Engines, Inc.
11781 Lone Peak Parkway, Suite 200
Draper, UT 84020

I've also pasted the email that I sent to another agency below, which I don't think he would mind me sharing. You can
see his inquiry as well as my response. If there are any other questions, please call anytime.

Thanks,
Greg

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Tom - thanks for the note and kind words.

Your data has not been taken by SpotCrime.com, as they have temporarily stopped pulling data from us. You can verify
this by visiting their website (Windsor is not even listed). Perhaps more importantly, to our knowledge, SpotCrime has
never focused on scraping data from smaller agencies at all, sol think the possibility of you being directly affected by
this is very remote, even if we hadn't filed the lawsuit.

Having said that, we aren't taken any chances. When you join and go live, we make a commitment to present data to the
public in a way that the agency can manage and control. Obviously, if someone scrapes the data from us, it would limit
our ability to fulfill our end of the bargain. We are eager to get the court to issue an injunction to resolve this issue.

I really appreciate your candid questions and openness. My intent with this email is to be a straight shooter with you
about what's happening as well, and we'll keep you up to date along the way. Please let me know if you want to discuss,
or just call me anytime directly at 801-828-2710 or on my mobile at 801-560-3337.

Thanks,
Greg

On 4/15/10 11:06 AM, "h~p()re@townofwindsorct.com" <Iepore@townofwindsorct.com> wrote:

Greg,

The Windsor Police Department is not yet a customer of Crimereports.com but we are in the 30 day trial
period reviewing your product. We have been very impressed with what Crimereports.com can bring to us
and equally impressed with you'r representative Dan Tolley.

This was the first time that I am hearing of an issue as you have described and am very concerned over the
possibility that our data is being used elsewhere. Has Windsor Police Department data been "taken" by
SpotCrime.com?

I would appreciate any details that you can provide concerning the Windsor data before I can recommend to
my superiors that we should move forward with your product.

PE 000096
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-6 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 3

Thank you for your time,

Tom LePore

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On 4/16/10 12:50 PM, "Birdsong} Rhonda J" <rbirdsong@ku.eclu> wrote:

Are you available for a phone call, as I have a few questions for you ...

AAond"a]. 'Birdsong

Public Services Administrator

KU Pu bllc Safety Office

1501 Crestline Dr., Ste. 120

Lawrence, KS 66045

(P) 785.864.5900

(F) 785.864.5211

(E) rbirdsong@ku.edu

Greg Whisenant
CEO
crimereports.com
0801.828.2710
m 801.560.3337

PE 000097
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-7 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 2

EXHIBIT
6
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-7 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 2

From: Greg Whisenant <f,'Teg@crimereports.com>


Sent: Thursday, March 26,20095: 11 PM
To: Ryan Lufkin <RLufkin@publicengines.com>; Erin McKay <erin@crimereports.com>
Subject: RE: Spotcrime

Here's my draft. I can either send it to her or you can, either way works for me.

Greg

*****************
Leslee, we've only talked with a handful of agencies about this issue, but all of them have made the same key points. They are
basically:

- CrimeReports.com is simply a vendor to the police department to make crime information available to the public. The
agency is under no legal obligation to make the data public as a continuous feed but chooses to do so.
- CrimeReports.com provides free, unfettered access to the agency's crime data. The agency views this as fulfilling
requirements under open records laws.
- As a vendor to the public, CrimeReports.com is under specific contractual obligations, including (among others) 1) to
keep the agency's records up to date; 2) to provide free access to all data; and 3) to not allow advertising.
- If SpotCrime would like to become the vendor to the agency, we would gladly review your proposal.

I hope this helps. I will also reach out to the SLC Police Department and San Jose Police Departments to see if I can get copies of
their responses.

Greg

OK, they won't leave well enough alone. They have now e-mailed the mayor saying that he is getting no cooperation out of his
Police Department and that they are the premier public crime mapping service in the country etc...... Anyway the Chief wanted
me to contact ya'lI and see what other departments cited as far as the FOIA and how they kept from providing them with Data.
We are doing our own legal research as well but he wanted me to see what your legal department was drafting and what you
guys have experienced.

Thanks
Leslee

Sergeant Leslee Hallenback


Jackson, Tennessee Police Department
Crime Intelligence Analysis and Mapping
234 Institute Street
Jackson, TN 38301
Ihallenback.@cityofjackson.net
731-425-8650 office
1-877-987-8400 ext. 8650 toll free
731-425-8242 fax

http://www.cityofjackson.net!

PE 000092
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-8 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 3

EXHIBIT
7
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-8 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 3

Email Sent to All Customers on Thnr."I<1'v 2009

From: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports .com]


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 9:02 AM
To: Jeff Myers
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Chief Myer,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting
access to crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a
few mistaken assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these
mispereeptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if
you are contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records
administrator and legal counsel:

Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor
relationship and not in response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public
records laws that require agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a
periodic, forward-looking basis.

Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is


no public "data feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-
identifies and securely delivers data from your CAD/RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and
includes our ongoing service commitments to you.

CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our


customer, and we only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site
and often displays data collected from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and
criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have
determined they have no merit. I have included some sample responses others have used on the
following page that you might find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you
would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
CrimeReports

PE 000022
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-8 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 3

Sample 1
Dear - - - -

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help
our citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service
with which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do
not have need of any further such services at this time.
Sincerely,

Sample 2
Dear - - - - -

Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimcReports for that service, and it is
publicly available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.
Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)


Dear _

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed,
which is beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your
neighborhood, you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.
Sincerely,

PE 000023
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 43

EXHIBIT
8
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 43

EXHIBIT
8A
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 43

From: Mark Marino <mark.marino@ci.gilbert.az.us>


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 10:11 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Greg:

Thank you for the information. I will respond appropriately to any such request.

Sgt. Mark Marino


Gilbert Police Department
Office of Public Affairs
75 E. Civic Center Dr.
Gilbert, AZ 85296
(480)635-7181

The good you do today may be quickly forgotten,


but the Impact of what you do will never disappear.

From: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 10:02
To: Mark Marino
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Sgt. Marino,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require agencies to
deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking basis.

Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public "data
feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and securely delivers
data from your CAD/RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing service commitments to
you.

CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data collected
from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and criticism on the data.

PE 000206
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 4 of 43

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
CrimeReports

Sample 1

Dear - - - -

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our citizens, not
in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with which we have a vendor
relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have need of any further such services
at this time.
Sincerely,

Sample 2
Dear - - - - -
Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly available
for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.
Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)


Dear - - - - , - -
We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which is beyond
the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood, you may access it
for free at CrimeReports.com.
Sincerely,

You are subscribed as <mark.marino@cLgilbert.az.us>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.
Click here or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the SUbject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this
message in error.
This message was sent from Crime Reports 2015 South 1100 East Salt Lake City, UT 84106. Click here to report email abuse.

PE 000207
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 5 of 43

EXHIBIT
8B
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 6 of 43
From: chief@clevespolice.us
Sent: Thursday, November 12,2009 10:16 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information fromCrimeReports

Sounds good to me ...thanks for the "heads up!"

Bill Renner

From: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:02 PM
To: chief@c1evespolice.us
Subject: Important legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Chief Renner,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

4& Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require
agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking
basis.

• Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public
IIdata feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and
securely delivers data from your CAD/RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing
service commitments to you.

• CrimeReports. com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data
collected from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you'would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

PE 000193
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 7 of 43
Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
Crime Reports

Sample 1

Dear - - - -

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our
citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with
which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have
need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2
Dear _

Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly
available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)

Dear - - - -

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which is
beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood,
you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.
Sincerely,

You are subscribed as <chief@clevespolice.us>. Click ~N to manage your email SUbscription preferences.
Click here or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this
message in error.
This message was sent from Crime Reports 2015 South 1100 East Satt Lake City, UT 84106. Click here to report email abuse.

PE 000194
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 8 of 43

EXHIBIT
8C
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 9 of 43

From: mclassey@coab.us
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 200910:19 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Cc: tl ay son@coab. us; dcam eron@coab.us; krandi ch@coab.us
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Mr. Whisenant,

Thank you for your email and the information. I received 2 emaHs from SpotCrime asking if we would
share our crime data. It was not posed as an open records request so I did not treat it as such. I sent
them a response very similar to #2 below and have not heard back from them since.

Michael D. Classey
Chief of Police
Atlantic Beach Police Department
850 Seminole Road
Atlantic Beach, FI. 32233
904 247-5859 office
904 247-5899 fax

From: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent: ihursday, November 12, 2009 12:02 PM
To: Classey, Michael
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Chief Classey,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

• Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require
agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking
basis.

• Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public
"data feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and
securely delivers data from your CAD/RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing
service commitments to you.

PE 000183
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 10 of 43

• CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data
collected from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
CrimeReports

Sample 1

Dear - - - -

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our
citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with
which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have
need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2
Dear - - - - -
Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly
available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.
Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)


Dear - - - -
We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which is
beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood,
you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.
Sincerely,

You are subscribed as "mclassey@coab.us>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.

PE 000184
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 11 of 43
Click here or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the sUbject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
This message was sent from Crime Reports 2015 South 1100 East Satt Lake City, UT 84106. Click here to report email abuse.

PE 000185
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 12 of 43

EXHIBIT
8D
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 13 of 43

From: DDepies@cabq.gov
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 200910:22 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Greg,
Thanks for the information. I will respond to SpotCrime should they contact The Albuquerque Police Dcpartment.

Dave

Dave Depies
Commander
Albuquerque Police Department
505.768.2435

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto: Greg@crimereports.com]
Sent: Thu 11112/20091002 AM
To: Depies, David
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Commander Depies,

Recently, a company ca]]ed SpotCllme has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to crime data you currently
publish via CrimeRepolis.com. SpotCrimc is operating undcr a few mistaken assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them
to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are contacted. You may also want
to share this information with your open records administrator and legal counsel:

Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in response to a public
records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting
entity on a periodic, forward -looking basis.

Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public "data feed" as SpotCrime
appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and securely delivers data from your CADIRMS system to
CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing service commitments to you.

CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customcr, and we only show data approvcd by
your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data collected from non-official sources, as we]] as providing
commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they have no merit. I have
included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might find useful. As always, please call me on my
direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

PE 000180
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 14 of 43

Thank you for working with CrimeRep0l1s.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant

Chief Executive Officer

CrimeReports

Sample I

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our citizens, not in connection with
any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable
to us for the results. We do not have need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We already contract with CI1meRep0l1s for that service, and it is publicly available for free, so we don't
have any need for additional outlets at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)

Dear _

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which is beyond the scope of public
records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood, you may access it for free at CrimeRep0l1s.com.

Sincerely,

<!:illJ2:ffnsvirtualurl.comfappfcrmfmarketingfcampaignlistener.nl?
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are subscribed as <ddepies@cabq.gov> Click here <http://nsvirtuillurl.comfappfcrmfmarketingfcampaignlistener.nl?
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PE 000182
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 16 of 43

EXHIBIT
8E
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 17 of 43

From: RMcCarty@urbandale.org
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 200910:25 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Subject: Re: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Thanks Greg - I dispersed you email as recommended.

Ross

Sent using my BlackBerry


Service Built on Integrity
Chief Ross McCarty
Urbandale Police Department

-----Original Message m
--

From: Greg@crimereports.com <Greg@crimereports.com>


To: Ross McCarty <RMcCarty@urbandale.org>
Sent: Thu Nov 12 II :02: 172009
Subject: Important Legal InfOlwation from CrimeReports

Dear Chief McCarty,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to crime data you cunently
publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotC11me is operating under a few mistaken assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to
clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are contacted. You may also want to
share this infonnation with your open records administrator and legal counsel:

Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped erime data through a vendor relationship and not in response to a public
records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require ageneies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting
entity on a periodic, forward -looking basis.

Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public "data feed" as SpotCrime
appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and securely delivers data from your CADIRMS system to
CrimeReports.eom, and includes our ongoing service commitments to you.

CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we only show data approved by
your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data collectcd from non-official sources, as wcll as providing
commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have detennined they have no merit. I have
included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might find useful. As always, please call me on my
direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

PE 000170
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 18 of 43

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant

Chief Executive Officer

CrimeReports

Sample I

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeRcports to publish data to help our citizens, not in connection with any
public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us
for the results. We do not have need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly available for free, so we don't
have any need for additional outlets at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)

Dcar _

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which is beyond the scope of public
records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood, you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

<http://nsvirtualurl.com/app/crm/marketing/campaignlistener.nl?
=lstI==tem&c=IOI6033& r=2481&=h=327bc62b473422211679& od=aHROcHM6Ly9mb3Jtcy5ulXRzdWIOlS5jb20*> You
are subscribed as <nllccarty@urbandale.org>. Click here <hltp:/[!l§yiJ.1tltl!nrlcom[I:\PI2!crm/mlolrketinglCalIlPai&mlistenern)'1
Ist[= su&c=10 16033& 1'=2481 & h=f2a5db9c20a153 72933d~ oi=m& od=aHROcHM6Ly9mb3Jtcy 5ulXRzdWlOlS5jb20*>
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PE 000171
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 19 of 43

or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
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PE 000172
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 20 of 43

EXHIBIT
8F
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 21 of 43

From: akim@albemarle.org
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 200910:55 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Cc: HOPWOODT@albemarle.org
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

I couldn't agree more with how you've stated things, Greg.

Annie

Annie Kim, Senior Assistant County Attorney 1401 Mcintire Road, Charlottesville, VA 229021 Voice (434) 972-
4067, Fax (434) 972-4068
This email is for your use only and may contain confidential information

From: John Parrent


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:46 PM
To: 'Greg@crimereports.com'
Cc: Todd Hopwood; Annie Kim
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Greg,
Thanks for the email.

Captain]ohn Parrent
Support Services Bureau
Albemarle County Police Department
1600 5th Street, Suite D
Charlottesville. VA 22902

Office (434) 296-5848


Fax (434) 293-0457
Email parrentj@albemarle.org

From: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:02 PM
To: John Parrent
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Captain Parrent,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

PE 000152
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 22 of 43

• Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require
agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking
basis.

• Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public
"data feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and
securely delivers data from your CAD!RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing
service commitments to you.

• CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data
collected from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
Crime Reports

Sample 1

Dear - - - -

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our
citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with
which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have
need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2
Dear - - - - -
Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly

PE 000153
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 23 of 43

available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.
Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)


Dear - - - - -

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which is
beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood,
you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.
Sincerely,

You are subscribed as <parrentj@albemarle.org>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.
Click here or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
This message was sent from CrimeReports 2015 South 1100 tast Satt Lake City, UT 84106. Click here to report email abuse.

PE 000154
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 24 of 43

EXHIBIT
8G
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 25 of 43

From: KDine@FrederickMDPolice.org
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 10: 59 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Cc: SHaller@FrederickMDPolice.org
Subject: Re: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Thanks Greg. They keep contacting us. Thanks for this info.
Kim C. Dine, Chief of Police, Frederick MD Police Department

from: Greg@crimereports.com
To: Dine, Kim
Sent: Thu Nov 12 12:02:15 2009
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Chief Dine,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

• Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require
agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking
basis.

• Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public
"data feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and
securely delivers data from your CAD/RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing
service commitments to you.

• CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data
collected from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

PE 000146
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 26 of 43

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
CrimeReports

Sample 1

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our
citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with
which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have
need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly
available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)

Dear _

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which
is beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood,
you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

You are subscribed as <kdine@fredco-md.net>. Click here to manage your email SUbscription preferences.
Click lJg.@or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
This message was sent from CrimeReports 2015 South 1100 East Salt Lake City, UT 84106. Click here to report email abuse.

PE 000147
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 27 of 43

EXHIBIT
8H
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 28 of 43

From: DMu lIend@washco-md.net


Sent: Thursday, November 12,2009 11:09 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Greg,

We were contacted by SpotCrime and used your exact points to deny them access. Thanks for your
information!

Sheriff Doug Mullendore


500 Western Maryland Parkway
Hagerstown, Maryland 21740
240-313-2101
dmullend@washco-md.net

From: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:02 PM
To: Mullendore, Doug
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Sheriff Mullendore,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

It Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require
agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking
basis.

It Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public
"data feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and
securely delivers data from your CAD/RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing
service commitments to you.

It CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data
collected from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

PE 000142
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 29 of 43

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
CrimeReports

Sample 1

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our
citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with
which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have
need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample Z
Dear _

Thank you for your request. We already contract with Crime Reports for that service, and it is publicly
available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)


Dear _

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which
is beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood,
you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

You are subscribed as <dmullendore@washco·md.net>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.
Click 11<:l[~ or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
This message was sent from CrimeReports 2015 South 1100 East Salt Lake City, UT 84106. Click l1~rEl to report email abuse.

PE 000143
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 30 of 43

EXHIBIT
81
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 31 of 43

From: JGrebmeier@ci.greenfield.ca.us
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 12:44 PM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Cc: krolle@redshift.com; FCeja@cLgreenfield.ca.us;
FPerez@cLgreenfield.ca.us; MRice@ci.greenfield.ca.us;
PGuzman@ci.greenfield.ca.us; YSerrano@ci.greenfield.ca.us
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Greg: Thank you. I am forwarding this to my staff and our RMS vendor.
Hope that all is well with you. We are VERY happy with CrimeReports.com
Take care,
Joe Grebmeier, Chief of Police

Greenfield Police Department

fl.'11$t16T!:l
/,;r\';:'Nj),L,

from: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 200909:02
To: Joseph Grebmeier
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Chief Grebmeier,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

• Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require
agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking
basis.

PE 000203
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 32 of 43

4& Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public
"data feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and
securely delivers data from your CAD/RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing
service commitments to you.

4& CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data
collected from non-official sources, as well as proViding commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
Crime Reports

Sample 1

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our
citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with
which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have
need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2.

Dear _

Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly
available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at thiS time.

Sincerely,

Sample :3 (in response to an open records request)

Dear _

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which

PE 000204
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 33 of 43

is beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood,
you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

You are subscribed as <jgrebmeier@cLgreenfield.ca.us>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.
Click ~ or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
This message was sent from Crime Reports 2015 South 1100 East Salt Lake City, UT 84106. Click ~ to report email abuse.

PE 000205
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 34 of 43

EXHIBIT
8J
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 35 of 43

From: hassa@ci.sherwood.or.us
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 1:47 PM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Cc: chiamuleraj@ci.sherwood.or.us; reedj@ci.sherwood.or.us
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

I have received two e-mail requestsrecentIYfromSpotCrime.com.As ofyet, J have not


responded. J will do so using one ofthe below suggested responses.

Thank you,

~JIu.u.
Administrative Assistant III
Sherwood Police Department
Direct: 503-925-7131
Main: 503-625-5523
Fax: 503-625-9553
Am.

from: Jeff Groth


Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 8:32 AM
To: 'Greg@crimereports.com'
Cc: Julie Chiamulera; Angela Hass; James Reed
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Greg,
We have not been contacted by SpotCrime as far as I know. If we are contacted, we will be declining their requests.
Thanks for the heads up-Jeff

leff(jrotli
Chief of Police
City of Sherwood Police
(~()3).6?5~~5?3 .....
from: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 9:02 AM
To: Jeff Groth
Subject: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Chief Groth,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

PE 000177
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 36 of 43

.. Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require
agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking
basis.

.. Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public
/ldata feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and
securely delivers data from your CAD!RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing
service commitments to you.

.. CrimeReports. com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data
collected from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
Crime Reports

Sample 1

Dear - - - -

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our
citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with
which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have
need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2
Dear - - - - -
Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly

PE 000178
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 37 of 43

available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.
Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)


Dear - - - -

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which is
beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood,
you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.
Sincerely,

You are subscribed as <grothj@ci.sherwood.or.us>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.
Click here or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
This message was sent from Crime Reports 2015 South 1100 East Satt Lake City, UT 84106. Click here to report email abuse.

This email may contain confidential information or privileged material and is intended for use solely by the
above referenced recipient. Any review, copying, printing, disclosure, distribution, or other use by any other
person or entity is strictly prohibited and may be illegal. If you are not the named recipient, or believe you have
received this email in error, please immediately notify th~ City of Sherwood at (503) 625~5522 and delete the
copy you received.

PE 000179
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 38 of 43

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Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 39 of 43

From: jtroiano@highspringspd.com
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 7:51 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Subject: RE: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Sounds good to me. If and when they call back, I will use your information and will discuss with them.

Chief Troiano

from: Greg@crimereports.com [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:02 PM
To: jtroiano@highspringspd.com
Subject:: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports

Dear Chief Troiano,

Recently, a company called SpotCrime has contacted several of our partner agencies requesting access to
crime data you currently publish via CrimeReports.com. SpotCrime is operating under a few mistaken
assumptions, and we have recently reached out to them to clear up these misperceptions.

In the interim, below are some discussion points you may want to consider in your response if you are
contacted. You may also want to share this information with your open records administrator and legal
counsel:

liP Your agency voluntarily provides official, mapped crime data through a vendor relationship and not in
response to a public records request. We are not aware of any public records laws that require
agencies to deliver machine-readable data to any requesting entity on a periodic, forward -looking
basis.

liP Your crime data is delivered through CrimeReports.com's application suite, so there is no public
"data feed" as SpotCrime appears to believe. Our proprietary software extracts, de-identifies and
securely delivers data from your CAD!RMS system to CrimeReports.com, and includes our ongoing
service commitments to you.

liP CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency. We are accountable to you, as our customer, and we
only show data approved by your agency. SpotCrime is an ad-based Web site and often displays data
collected from non-official sources, as well as providing commentary and criticism on the data.

While these requests may seem intimidating, our partner agencies who evaluate them have determined they
have no merit. I have included two sample responses others have used on the following page that you might
find useful. As always, please call me on my direct line if you would like to discuss at 801-828-2710.

PE 000122
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 40 of 43

Thank you for working with CrimeReports.com.

Sincerely,

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
CrimeReports

Sample 1

Dear - - - -

Thank you for your request. We voluntarily contract with CrimeReports to publish data to help our
citizens, not in connection with any public records laws. In doing so we prefer to use a service with
which we have a vendor relationship so they remain accountable to us for the results. We do not have
need of any further such services at this time.

Sincerely,

Sample 2
Dear - - - - -
Thank you for your request. We already contract with CrimeReports for that service, and it is publicly
available for free, so we don't have any need for additional outlets at this time.
Sincerely,

Sample 3 (in response to an open records request)


Dear - - - -

We have reviewed your request and are declining your request to provide access to a data feed, which is
beyond the scope of public records law. If you would like to view crime data for your neighborhood,
you may access it for free at CrimeReports.com.
Sincerely,

You are subscribed as <jtroiano@highspringspd.com>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.
Click here or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
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PE 000123
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 41 of 43

EXHIBIT
8L
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 42 of 43

From: Erin McKay <erin@crimereports.com>


Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 8:42 AM
To: Ken Meyers <ken@crimereports.com>; Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Cc: Ryan Lufkin <RLufkin@publicengines.com>
Subject: FW: Richland Hills Crime Incident Data

See Chief Childress' response below to SpotCrime.

Erin McKay
Client Services
801.828.2713 Office
801.557.2690 Cell
www.CrimeReports.com

from: Barbara Childress [mailto:bchildress@richlandhills.com]


Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 20095:21 PM
To: Erin McKay
Subject: FW: Richland Hills Crime Incident Data

Here is my correspondence with Spot Crime and the letter.

from: Barbara Childress [mailto:bchildress@richlandhills.com]


Sent: Wednesday, November 04,20093:03 PM
To: 'Jennifer Bala'
Subject: RE: Richland Hills Crime Incident Data

Jennifer,

As you may know, CrimeReports.com has developed software to pull crime data from our agency's databases,
so there is no existing "data feed". They are our contract vendor and their solution meets the requirements of
our agency, including compatibility with our records systems, the cleaning and parsing of data, managing the
delivery through a secure channel, and ensuring that the data stays up to date. They deliver our crime data
through their application suite and the software used is proprietary. Also, they are ad free and make no'
comments about the posted data. We are quite satisfied with their service to this point, therefore, we are not in
need of your service at this time.

Thank you for your interest.

Q3ar6ara J. CfiiUress
cfiiej ofq>oua
CJ?icfifantf:Hi{rs q>oBa <Department
817.299.1880

':No degree of {nowfedge attaina6fe 6y man is a6fe to pface fiim a6crve tfie needfor assistance. II

PE 000031
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-9 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 43 of 43

from: Jennifer Bala [mailto:jennifer.bala@spotcrime.com]


Sent: Wednesday, November 04,20099:40 AM
To: Barbara Childress
Subject: Re: Richland Hills Crime Incident Data

Chief Childress,

Thank you for your response. May I ask why you are unable to share data with us? All we are asking for
is equal and fair access to the data you are already sharing with other entities.

Sincerely,
Jennifer
SpotCrime
http://www.spotcrime.com/

On Wed, Nov 4,2009 at 9:52 AM, Barbara Childress <pchildress@ricll1anQhill~.cQm> wrote:

Sorry, no.

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 4, 2009, at 7: 18 AM, "Jennifer Bala" <jennifer.bala@spotcrime.com> wrote:

Chief Childress,

Thank you for your response. I noticed there is a link to CrimeReports on your web site. Would
we be able to access the data file being provided to CrimeReports?

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bala
SpotCrime
http://wvvw.spotcrime.com/

On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 3:30 PM, Barbara Childress <bchildress@richlandhills.com> wrote:


We post a weekly crime report on our web site that you can access.

From: Jennifer Bala [mailto:jennifer.bala@spotcrime.com]


Sent: Friday, October 30, 2009 I: 14 PM
To: Barbara Childress
Subject: Crime Incident Data Request

Hello Chief Childress,

I'm following up on the email I sent a few weeks ago. I work for SpotClime.com. We would like to access your
city's crime incident data to post on our web site. What is the best way to get access to this infolmation?

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bala
SpotCrime
ht1.pjLw'W¥L~]2Q1QIim~cQQm!

PE 000032
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-10 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 2

EXHIBIT
9
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-10 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 2

Our Data Sharing Policies and Open Records Requests

Since our inception, CrimeReports.com has worked directly with law enforcement agencies like yours to
help them affordably share data with the public in a way that they manage and control. To that end, our
service requires no hardware or in-house hosting systems and minimal ongoing maintenance. In
addition, CrimeReports has created the proprietary tools to integrate with your CAD or RMS system
while ensuring that your agency maintains control of what is published.

The popularity of CrimeReports.com has spawned reaction from several Web sites that are asking law
enforcement agencies to also share their raw crime data with them. They sometimes use aggressive
tactics, inaccurately citing non-existent or non-applicable open records laws, and making requests that
include no accountability for the data.

Although your agency will want to make its own determination with respect to these requests, please
keep in mind the following points:

• Publishing crime data through CrimeReports.com is a voluntary choice made by the law
enforcement agency to help the public they serve, not strictly as a vehicle to comply with open
records laws. Agencies are typically already in compliance with applicable open records laws via
existing request processes. If publishing the data were required, your participation in
CrimeReports. com would fulfill this obligation anyway. Crimereports.com provides free,
unfettered access to that data far beyond open records laws.

• CrimeReports.com is the preferred vendor for more than 500 agencies throughout the US and
Canada. The data on CrimeReports.com is published directly by participating law enforcement
agencies and is never scraped from media websites or other inaccurate and un-trusted sources,
ensuring consistency with your records. Data published by a vendor whose interests are not
aligned with yours could result in data inaccuracies and potentially compromise public safety.

• Your agency is not responsible for supporting business models for third parties that want to
create ad-supported Web sites. In contrast, CrimeReports.com is a vendor to your agency, and
is contractually bound to obligations that ensure accuracy, privacy, and timeliness. And as a
contracted vendor to you, we do not sell or display advertising.

• You choose your vendors. Just as you are not obligated to purchase equipment from every
manufacturer, nor are you under any obligation to provide data sharing to every third party that
attempts to provide crime mapping services.

Several agencies have been contacted by third parties shortly after launching with CrimeReports.com.
While your agency will want to formulate its own response, we're confident that agencies are either
meeting or exceeding the requirements of data sharing by participating in CrimeReports.com. If you
would like to discuss this matter directly with us, please contact us anytime.

Thank you for joining the CrimeReports.com family!

PE 000054
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-11 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 2

EXHIBIT
10
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-11 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 2
From: James.Prettyman@ceu.edu
Sent: Thursday, April 15,20108:05 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Subject: RE: Update: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports.com

When SpotCrime contacted me they were informed that I was already working with Crime Reports and I did not have to
give them any information. They never contacted me again. Thanks!!

From: Greg Whisenant [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 3:01 PM
To: James Prettyman
Subject: Update: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports.com

Some time ago, I sent an email to you with some information and guidance about data requests from a
company called SpotCrime.com. I wanted to provide an update to you and ask that you please share this
with your legal department as well.

Last Friday, we filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in Utah against ReportSee, which owns SpotCrime.com.
The suit alleges that SpotCrime.com has been willfully and repeatedly misappropriating data from
CrimeReports.com and misrepresenting law enforcement agencies' obligations under open records laws.
After meeting with resistance from the company to refrain, we are now asking the court to issue an
injunction to prevent these alleged activities from continuing.

Please review the press release for the full statement. I am also including some example draft statements
that you might like to review in formulating a response to SpotCrime.com while the suit is pending. If you
would like additional details, please call me at (801) 828-2710. Either way, we will keep you apprised as
the case progresses.

We appreciate the opportunity to work with you.

Res pectfu lIy ,

Greg

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
Public Engines, Inc.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Example statements to SpotCrime
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ONE
Thank you for your request. As you know, we are currently providing this information to the public for free
through CrimeReports.com. We also understand that Public Engines, which owns CrimeReports.com, has
taken legal action against ReportSee, and we are waiting for an outcome on the case before considering
alternative publishers.

TWO
We appreciate your interest. As you know, we are working with CrimeReports.com, who simplifies the
process of making this data available to the general public in a way that we can still manage and control.
You are welcome to use the site, as it is open and free to the public.

You are subscribed as <james.pretlyman@ceu.edu>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.
Click here or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
This message was sent from Crime Reports 11781 South Lone Peak Parkway Suite 200 Draper UT 84020. Click here to report email abuse.

PE 000111
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-12 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 3

EXHIBIT
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Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-12 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 3
From: chief@c1evespolice.us
Sent: Thursday, April 15,20105:32 AM
To: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>
Subject: RE: Update: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports.com

So far, I have not been contacted by them. In the event that occurs, I will use one of the responses that you have
provided.

Thanks in advance,

Bill Renner

From: Greg Whisenant [mailto:Greg@crimereports.com]


Sent:: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 4:01 PM
To: chief@c1evespolice.us
Subject: Update: Important Legal Information from CrimeReports.com

Dear Chief Renner:

Some time ago, I sent an email to you with some information and guidance about data requests from a
company called SpotCrime.com. I wanted to provide an update to you and ask that you please share this
with your legal department as well.

Last Friday, we filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in Utah against ReportSee, which owns SpotCrime.com.
The suit alleges that SpotCrime.com has been Willfully and repeatedly misappropriating data from
CrimeReports.com and misrepresenting law enforcement agencies' obligations under open records laws.
After meeting with resistance from the company to refrain, we are now asking the court to issue an
injunction to prevent these alleged activities from continuing.

Please review the press release for the full statement. I am also including some example draft statements
that you might like to review in formulating a response to SpotCrime.com while the suit is pending. If you
would like additional details, please call me at (801) 828-2710. Either way, we will keep you apprised as
the case progresses.

We appreciate the opportunity to work with you.

Respectfu Ily,

Greg

Greg Whisenant
Chief Executive Officer
Public Engines, Inc.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Example statements to SpotCrime
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ONE
Thank you for your request. As you know, we are currently providing this information to the public for free
through CrimeReports.com. We also understand that Public Engines, which owns CrimeReports.com, has
taken legal action against ReportSee, and we are waiting for an outcome on the case before considering
alternative publishers.

TWO
We appreciate your interest. As you know, we are working with CrimeReports.com, who simplifies the

PE 000098
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-12 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 3
process of making this data available to the general public in a way that we can still manage and control.
You are welcome to use the site, as it is open and free to the public.

You are subscribed as <chief@clevespolice.us>. Click here to manage your email subscription preferences.
Click here or reply to this email with 'unsubscribe' in the sUbject to unsubscribe from this list or if you feel you have received this message in error.
This message was sent from Crime Reports 11781 South Lone Peak Parkway Suite 200 Draper UT 84020. Click here to report email abuse.

PE 000099
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-13 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 1 of 3

EXHIBIT
12
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-13 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 2 of 3

From: Greg Whisenant <greg@crimereports.com>


Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 11 :34 AM
To: Erin McKay <erin@crimereports.com>
Cc: Tanner Stobbe <Tanner.Stobbe@crimereports.com>; Ken Meyers
<ken@crimereports.com>
Subject: Re: please call Annapolis, MD - SpotCrime

I spoke with Beth. She said they have already built their site and wanted the flexibility, but that the SpotCrime thing
basically pushed them over the edge. We left it with a couple possible action items:

1- They may turn the feed back on, but not for at least a couple of weeks. They are hiring a new crime analyst and Beth
wants to wait until she is on board. She joins on November 2.
2 -I offered to let us defend their law suit if SpotCrime sues them. She said she would also consider that, but that the
city attorney is leaving after the election in a couple of weeks so it probably wouldn't help to reach out. She suggested
that we look at that when they get a new city attorney.
3 - She was also at least marginally interested in the "new products". She didn't know about CommandCentral, and I
told her a little about the direction of NC. She would like to go through demos once the crime analyst joins.

Bottom line is:


- Tanner please engage with her again - maybe a week after Nov 2 - so the crime analyst has some time to get
acclimated. I think we can still win them back eventually.
-I will explore our legal options and keep the dialog open with both of you and we'll shortly have a network-wide legal
strategy to roll out.

Thanks,
Greg

On 10/16/098:50 AM, "Erin McKay" <erin@crimereports.com> wrote:

Beth Hart, Criminal Justice Coordinator


410-263-7979
bahart@annapolis.gov

From Tom, when he called to get their data updated:


Cancelled. I asked why the wanted to discontinue service and Beth Hart told me that they are using their
own crime mapping system that they developed. When I asked what they didn't like about our system
(why they quit) She said that they get more control over their data by using their own system, and more
importantly Spotcrime is suing them because they didn't give them the same data feed they give to us.

Will you call her and see if there is anything we can do? I'm not sure if she'is using SpotCrime as a reason
to build their own service or not. Let me know the outcome. Also, do we need to send something out to
all our customers to let them know they may be contacted by SpotCrime? We do have a paper that Ryan
wrote a while back, but I've only sent that out if someone calls asking about it, should I be sending it out
every time someone goes live?

Thanks,
e

Erin McKay
Client Services

PE 000089
Case 2:10-cv-00317-TC-SA Document 32-13 Filed 05/14/2010 Page 3 of 3
801.828.2713 Office
801.557.2690 Cell
www.CrimeReports.com

Greg Whisenant
CEO
crimereports.com
0801.828.2710
m 801.560.3337

PE 000090

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