Everybody knows that among the great online finance news brouhahas, Patrick Byrne’s (and henchman Judd Bagley’s) with Gary Weiss ranks very close to the top, if not at the actual top (though it’s doubtful they’re in the #1 slot—it’s pretty tough to beat Warren Buffett and John Carney at a game they practically invented. As well as Mohammad Yunus and John Carney. And Patti-cakes Dunn and John Carney. And—you know what? This is one of those best-left-un-traveled roads). But bless their young hearts for trying. In fact, just today, Weiss writes:
Overstock.com stalker-in-residence Judd Bagley and his out-of-control boss Patrick Byrne [have] dug themselves deeper into the cyberstalking scandal that they have created for themselves and their shareholders.[Over the weekend,] Bagley boasted about spying on Internet critics…and Byrne yanked closely the umbilical chord that binds him with Bagley's stalking-and-lying site, antisocialmedia.net. Here Bagley pretty much confesses to have sent a spyware-infected private message to Internet sleuth "ScipioAfricanus." Nice work, Judd!
It is now increasingly obvious that the planting of invisible spyware codes in message board posts, which I described a few days ago, was carried out by Bagley. Blabbermouth that he is, Byrne did a nice job of confirming that Bagley's job is to run antisocialmedia: “Does Judd Bagley primarily work from Overstock.com facilities? STRANGE GUY, KEEPS HIS OWN HOURS, COMES IN SOME NIGHTS, STAYS AWAY FOR DAYS.”
In his Jan. 14 IV post, Byrne went out of his way to say that he has never even heard of Provo Labs! I'm convinced. Aren't you? Provo Labs has absolutely, positively nothing to do with Bagley's corporate-blessed critic-stalking, even though one of the spyware-infected message board postings linked directly to a Provo Labs blog.
Clearly, mud has been slung. But the best part of this mêlée to date has to be Bagley’s attempt to “blackmail” Weiss with “dirt” on his wife.
Last but not least, Bagley posted a message on my blog (not published, of course, but preserved for posterity), reciting lies that he was imminently posting about my wife and then saying: "I again invite you to open a dialog that will allow us to settle our differences. This is getting pretty silly, I trust you'll agree. Judd."In other words, "shut the f--- up, Weiss, or we'll post more lies about you and we won't stop at you. We'll go after your family."
And you thought it was going to be a slow news day.
Overstock CEO & VP Expound on the Joys of Cyberstalking [gary-weiss.com]
Posted by Judd Bagley , Jan 16, 2007 3:21PM
I'm not going to ever argue with someone's perception, but I'll let you judge the extent to which the communication in question resembled a "threat."
It was my fifth attempt to let Gary have a chance to review and comment on the claims included in what is a shocking set of facts, which you can read for yourself here: http://antisocialmedia.net/?p=60
As for the "threat," here it is verbatim:
------------------------------------
Jan 13, 2007 3:53 PM EST
Gary,
Please comment on the following, for publication shortly on antisocialmedia.net:
Please comment:
"When securing her own permanence in this country, Mrs. Weiss, an Indian national, requested then-UNCA President Tony Jenkins write a letter to the State Department verifying her employment as UN correspondent for the Pioneer of India newspaper, which Jenkins did."
"In this document ( http://antisocialmedia.net/wordpress/wp-... ) it is revealed that Mrs. Weiss had no connection to the Pioneer of India whatsoever, and that the three years she spent acting like a reporter at the UN were a sham."
Please respond to these questions:
How could you justify attacking another on her visa status when your own wife's residence had been founded at least in part on a possibly illegal misrepresentation?
What role did you have in the creation of the allegedly forged letters used to secure your wife's media accreditation?
Do you still deny being the writer of the Mediacrity blog?
Once again, Gary, I extend the offer to open a dialog and settle our differences. This is getting silly.
--------------------------------------
So apparently Gary Weiss thinks that any effort to be fair and let him review and comment on the substance of some admittedly serious allegations before publication is the same thing as a threat against his family.
Well if he sees it that way, I can't argue. But I can make the point that he's just made a solid effort to manipulate the admins of this blog and its readers.
If you want to know the rest of the truth, please visit http://www.antisocialmedia.net
Thanks!
Posted by nick , Jan 16, 2007 3:35PM
While I am from Utah, I don't know Judd, and it sure seems like he really fucked this whole thing up, and the antisocialmedia thing seems to have been a bad idea in the first place for overstock to get involved with.
It would be great to hear his side of the story though. Weiss isn't a god.
Posted by Judd Bagley , Jan 16, 2007 4:11PM
Nick,
My side of the story is easy:
I spent months researching Gary Weiss, amassing enough evidence of outright deception and conflict to get a herd of normal people fired ten times.
Along the way I got hired by Overstock to do a specific job I'm probably the most qualified person in our beloved Beehive State to do.
Instead of throwing all that research away, I decide, on my own, to present it in a blog, keeping overstock.com out of it.
A couple of months later, a reporter screws up and reveals me as a long-time source of information on Gary Weiss. One Google search later, (even) Gary is able to connect the dots.
You think this has been bad for Overstock.com? That's fine. All I know is that I've never seen Gary and his band of sycophants in a state of greater disarray. Gary's blog is now about me, leaving Bob O'Brien and Patrick Byrne to skip along undistracted. Hell, I'll take one or two for the team, and keep on feeding them the same rope they'll soon find themselves even more profoundly tangled up in.
Posted by Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon) , Jan 16, 2007 4:33PM
Judd:
Would you and Pat engage me in a public debate in front of a pulbic audience over the issues of Overstock.com in a public forum?
Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon)
Posted by Judd Bagley , Jan 16, 2007 4:44PM
Sam,
I'll gladly discuss either the substance of antisocialmedia.net (speaking for myself only), or the essence and theory behind the project I'm heading up for Overstock.com, but I won't be the one to publicly speak about the state or direction of the company itself.
Email me if either of the first two interest you (or if you just want to go to lunch and chat...you sound like an interesting fellow).
Posted by fredo , Jan 16, 2007 5:58PM
Amazing to see Bagley dance around obvious and disgusting blackmail.
"It's getting silly." No, it's getting criminal..
"Let's settle our differences." This after you've attacked the guys wife. This from a stalker to his victim. Bagley, the only way to settle differences with a piece of dung like you is to put you behind bars. Get used to the idea.
Posted by Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon) , Jan 16, 2007 6:03PM
Judd:
If you are against naked short sellers and illegal manipulation of the markets I am with you too.
However, many people are genuinely concerned about Overstock's ability to ever achieve profitability.
There are others that question some of your tactics in handling dissent. No one in this world is sinless (no insult intended) including you, Gary, or anyone else reading this post. My sins are much greater than every here.
However, there are accusations that you guys may have crossed the line. Even if you guys did not cross the line, your public image is being negatively affected by your actions.
I speak from the experience of my own ruthless actions. If I am a little bit emotional about it, maybe it is because people do not seem to learn from history.
I was an arrogant criminal that smeared my critics at every possibility if necessary. However, I did not have the internet in my time. I did it with whispers and phone calls.
My point is Judd, you may think that I wish you and Pat ill, but I really do not. My hope is that you consider your actions very carefully and reflect on them and judge whether they are in the best interests of Overstock.com.
Hopefully, my comments would scare some sense into you guys from the perspective of what I see as a situation spinning out of control.
America is the greatest country ever conceived and comebacks are possible. We are the most forgiving nation on this planet.
Overstock.com led by Pat Byrne can turn this situation around, if this side-show stops. Everyone makes mistakes (just never make mistakes of my caliber). You cannot become successful without making mistakes. You become successful by learning from them.
Please be careful not to make mistakes that you cannot recover from like mine. Even big mistakes that are less than criminal mistakes are errors that you do not want to make.
Please carefully consider my advice on this matter and think about it carefully.
Thank you for responding to my post and I will get back to you soon. I am traveling over the next several days.
Respectfully,
Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon)
Posted by Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon) , Jan 16, 2007 6:11PM
Judd:
If you are against naked short sellers and illegal manipulation of the markets I am with you too.
However, many people are genuinely concerned about Overstock's ability to ever achieve profitability.
There are others that question some of your tactics in handling dissent. No one in this world is sinless (no insult intended) including you, Gary, or anyone else reading this post. My sins are much greater than every here.
However, there are accusations that you guys may have crossed the line. Even if you guys did not cross the line, your public image is being negatively affected by your actions.
I speak from the experience of my own ruthless actions. If I am a little bit emotional about it, maybe it is because people do not seem to learn from history.
I was an arrogant criminal that smeared my critics at every possibility if necessary. However, I did not have the internet in my time. I did it with whispers and phone calls.
My point is Judd, you may think that I wish you and Pat ill, but I really do not. My hope is that you consider your actions very carefully and reflect on them and judge whether they are in the best interests of Overstock.com.
Hopefully, my comments would scare some sense into you guys from the perspective of what I see as a situation spinning out of control.
America is the greatest country ever conceived and comebacks are possible. We are the most forgiving nation on this planet.
Overstock.com led by Pat Byrne can turn this situation around, if this side-show stops. Everyone makes mistakes (just never make mistakes of my caliber). You cannot become successful without making mistakes. You become successful by learning from them.
Please be careful not to make mistakes that you cannot recover from like mine. Even big mistakes that are less than criminal mistakes are errors that you do not want to make.
Please carefully consider my advice on this matter and think about it carefully.
Thank you for responding to my post and I will get back to you soon. I am traveling over the next several days.
Respectfully,
Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon)
Posted by fredo , Jan 16, 2007 6:29PM
Sam, you are trying to be nice, but as I am sure you know, Judd Bagley has already made mistakes that are going to be extremely damaging for Overstock.
Bagley and Byrne are under the mistaken impression that they are involved in some kind of political campaign, or maybe some kind of religious struggle like the Scientologists against the world, where all critics are "fair game."
What they forget is that they are officers of a public company. It is not a level playing field. The applicable rules are not the First Amendment but the Securities Acts and Regulation FD.
Stalking your opponents' families and threatening them and planting spyware to track them are devastating things that no reputable company would countenance. Yet they are celebrated by this one insane CEO and his stalker henchman.
Bagley can spin but he cannot get the toothpaste back in the tube.
Posted by Scipio , Jan 16, 2007 9:54PM
Heck, this one was mild compared to the one in early December at InvestorVillage.com. The following comment came shorty before another poster was able to get a "preview" of the ASM article and posted some of the salacious details.
"But the fact remains: his bad behavior needs to stop, and at some point, fire must be fought with fire...So, prior to the publication of Part Two on 12/20, we again ask Gary Weiss to engage us in a meaningful dialog. Please contact me at: antisocialmedia@gmail.com"
http://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=3532&mn=2885&pt=msg&mid=1058466
My take on it at the time? Extortion.
Posted by Scipio , Jan 16, 2007 10:03PM
Oh yeah, recall this was back when Bagley was posting annonymously as AntiSocialMedia and Byrne didn't "technically know" who was behind ASM.
Posted by fredo , Jan 19, 2007 1:11PM
There has been a pattern of psychotic, paranoid threats and menacing anonymous emails from Bagley toward a number of people.
Here's one, recorded at
http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/Stocks_%28A_to_Z%29/Stocks_O/threadview?m=tm&bn=24012&tid=120137&mid=120137&tof=1&frt=1
This one is from a confirmed email address for Bagley. "Wordbomb" is the handle he used when vandalizing Wikipedia.
Note the threatening nature of this email and the threat "I'm removing you." This is precisely along the lines of the threats he has directed at Weiss, which he is now spinning as a "request for comment" just as his corporate smear campaign is now being called "citizen journalism."
From: Becky Beckett
Date: Aug 28, 2006 2:44 AM
Subject: we need to talk.
To: Sarah
Slim,
As I'm sure you know by now, we've been doing some homework. And not
too long ago, we "cracked the code" you might say, on you and your
activities on WP. At this point, we have what I think is a complete
picture, including your various sockpuppets (several, including Jon513
and Szero, both of which were mentioned publicly yesterday I believe),
anonymous IPs (in London, Edinburgh, NYC, etc), proxies (many). You
get the idea. And you've done everything you've banned others for
doing. We have the diffs.
We also have long past wikidumps, which have been available for
download in their original form, complete with many since
"oversighted" pages nicely intact (talk about an oversight!).
All in all, Slim, it's very unlikely that you'll make it through this
one. Right now, our plan is to present these data in a rather high
profile venue where you can't silence us, so please just accept that
there's not much you can do, and Jimbo will find himself under a bit
of pressure to make changes, especially with what's afoot.
That said, I hope you understand that I don't have anything against
you per se. I have things I want, and you stand in the way, so I now
I'm removing you. At the same time, there's no reason we can't
co-exist under specific circumstances.
And that's what I want to discuss with you.
If I don't hear back, I'll assume you'd rather take your chances on
what's coming.
WordBomb