Bodog Founder, Calvin Ayre, announced on his blog this weekend that he had hired a private investigator to dig into the history of 1st Technology principal, Scott Lewis. Lewis, he blames, for snatching up the coveted Bodog domain name in what is essentially a complicated “patent” matter.
Ayre claims that Lewis “terminated as an employee of a tech startup firm sometime around 2001 for what appears to have been a conflict of interests that violated his duties with the firm he represented (…in layman’s terms this would be called trying to steal)”.
“Once again this all goes to show that Lewis was not “inventing technology” prior to his accepting a job as the front man for a patent troll form of organized crime, as he is now trying to convince the world…talk about perverse…to have the agressor pretending to be the victim.”
Lewis, who has become incensed with Ayre’s rantings on his blog, has warned that he will be subpoenaing so-called “super affiliates” of Bodog. These are websites that receive a percentage of revenue from the Bodog gaming. Many of these affiliate websites are based out of the United States and some have expressed apprehension in having their personal details made public in the Courts. Ignoring a subpoena could lead to jail time. Already, some of the more prominent Bodog advertisers have received subpoenas. Gambling911.com was not one of them.
Lewis has offered one means of getting out of the subpoena process, tied in with a reward no less.
“We would like to offer a reward to those supplying us voluntarily, before having to resort to a subpoena, with legally obtained documents, emails, bank account numbers, etc. that involve Bodog Entertainment Group S.A. in relation to online gaming activities or who have valid claims against Bodog Entertainment Group S.A.”
The reward in question is a sum total of $20,000, according to Lewis, though it was unclear whether the amount in question would be split or available on a first come, first serve basis. Ayre has yet to counter with his own offer to advertising venues, though it is widely believed they profit substantially from Bodog’s higher than average industry conversion rates.
Bodog’s founder has insisted that the “wrong company” was served by 1st Technology.
Ayre routinely refers to Lewis as a “patent troll”, which is defined as “a person or company that enforces its patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic.” Lewis insists that his patents were a result of several years of hard work.
“Patent troll Scott W. Lewis of 1st Technologies will have better luck trying to squeeze blood from a stone once he learns that the Costa Rican company he initially sued for patent infringement has now been forced to change their name and to stop using the Bodog trademarked name,” Ayre states, vehemently. “The bottom line, Scott? You are not in court with Bodog, dude. So get that through your thick f****** head. Oh… and that company you sued? They never ever ran any websites so there’s no way they could have violated a web patent.) But what’s a technicality like that to a guy who is basically a stuffy, college educated back alley mugger…”
Ayre has warned that he will make public other “past employment details” related to Lewis as he has “been in constant touch with his (former) employer:. Gambling911.com suspects that none of these will include Scott Lewis being named “Employee of the Month”.
Lewis has advised that he would be open to “renegotiations” with Calvin Ayre and Bodog, but otherwise, he plans on forging full speed ahead with actions against Bodog “associating” enterprises.
“Mind you, we are negotiating licenses with several other honorable gaming companies as we speak, so 1st Tech’s doing just fine,” Scott Lewis stated.
