Friday, Feb 26, 2010    Text size: 

But the whereabouts of Taylor have become elusive for RedTube attorneys, who believe he or his employees are responsible for sending a threatening email to the Menlo Park, Calif., law office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton, which represents RedTube on civil litigation matters.

RedTube attorneys, in a motion to a federal judge, said they don't know where to find him because his home or business addresses can't be found.

The only information they have on him is that he uses the email addresses chadtaylor@gmail.com and piracystop@gmail.com and purportedly is a manager at a company called 1120 LLC.

RedTube attorneys have been trying to find a link between the threat and the redirection of traffic in July.

"[T]he threats appear to relate specifically to this litigation and hence there is reason to believe that the person or persons who are responsible for the threats were also involved in that attack," an earlier motion said.

RedTube attorneys said Taylor made a phone call to the firm claiming "he was apologetic over the situation" and that a threatening email to the firm that included an anti-piracy diatribe was "sent by interns who were being overzealous in the issuance of Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices."

Taylor was instructed by the attorneys to later provide an email list of the interns, but when he called back he said that it was he, not the interns, who was the original sender of the threat.

Taylor, in another call to RedTube attorneys, said that he contacted industry attorney Michael Fattorosi and that he would decline a face-to-face meeting with RedTube attorneys.

Fattorosi told XBIZ that he indeed represents Taylor and claims that RedTube attorneys are conducting a "fishing expedition" by trying to subpoena him.

"My client is willing to be deposed," Fattorosi said. "He had no involvement in the redirection of RedTube traffic, so this will be a fruitless deposition."

RedTube attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg today to grant immediate discovery upon Internet service providers for two IP addresses and Taylor or Fattorosi, if Taylor can't be found.

RedTube parent company Bright Imperial Ltd. of Hong Kong is seeking $6 million in damages against unknown defendants over the redirection of traffic. The company has named 20 John Does in its complaint filed at U.S. District Court in San Jose.

RedTube said it lost “millions of visits” by its customers by the hackers’ efforts, as well as lost value to advertising rates that are dependent upon its traffic.