by Structured Settlement Watchdog
In a lawsuit filed in Maryland Federal Court November 28, 2011 Woodbridge Structured Funding LLC opened up a second front in a war against Sovereign Funding led by certain members of the secondary market which could , if successful, provide an ancillary benefit to members of the primary market.
In the complaint for the civil action styled Woodbridge Structured Funding , LLC v Sovereign Funding d/b/s We Buy Payments, and David Springer, United States District Court, Maryland 1:11-cv-03421-MJG., Woodbridge accuses competitor Sovereign Funding and its CEO David Springer of:
"registering Internet domains which have been used to redirect consumers to Sovereign Funding. Woodbridge alleges that "in particular,and upon information and belief. with the assistance of a outside search engine optimization vendor has used a fraudulent and deceptive search engine optimization ("SEO") technique, under which Sovereign Funding, either directly or working with various vendors under its control and direction, have created landing sites and search results which misdirect customers when a search is made using the term "Woodbridge" both alone or in combination with other words."
On October 5, 2011 attorneys for Woodbridge sent a cease and desist letter to David Springer (page 24 of 27 of Woodbridge pleadings Download Woodbridge Structure Funding LLC Complaint v Sovereign Funding) that any searches, that include the word "Woodbridge" to any websites owned or operated by Springer had to be completed no later than the close of business on October 7, 2011.
The very same day, October 7, 2011, many of the sites were redirected to our website (See Fly Trap Search Results: It's War Apparently!) where I discovered them on what proved to be a very tense Friday night in Phoenix, and where they remained for about 2 weeks, until they were redirected yet again, this time to Wikipedia and subsequently, to a blank error page.
Some victims affected by the SEO strategy include primary market structured annuity issuers MetLife and Pacific Life. The search results for several other members of the primary and secondary market also appear have been choked off or affected by the alleged SEO operation during the relevant times. The search results for some are affected even today, pages and pages deep.
As previously posted, many of the rogue landing sites were registered anonymously through Go Daddy's Domains By Proxy service, a well intentioned concept to help domain owners avoid email spam (similar services are offered by other registrars), that has instead, in my opinion, fomented the growth of sites in which individuals or entities can snipe, libel, and/or pilfer copyrighted material in reckless abandon, without retribution unless the affected person or entity is willing to go to considerable legal expense.
On December 20, 2011 the Circuit Court denied JG Wentworth's Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Emergency Request for Expedited Discovery.
Post Script:
The lawsuit against David Springer, a resident of Mt Airy Maryland, went to trial in August 2014, which notably featured a video exhibit of Springer being promoted as a lawyer despite not being a lawyer Springer, acting as his own lawyer, "weeping" when cross examining a witness
Springer went through 2 other high priced law firms. In his March 2015 decision and April 2015 Memorandum of Law and Findings of Fact, Maryland Federal Judge Marvin Garbis ruled against David Springer and cited his questionable business practices running a purported company. Among Springer's deceptive business practices was using multiple aliases which endorsed each other on social media.
Background
Victims of Sovereign Funding Dodgy Marketing Program? September 10, 2011
Who Owns WeBuyPayments.Net? July 25, 2011
Stay tuned.
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