In late December, I wrote the following:
Greg Muth, General Manager of AAWS/GSO told me in a personal one-on-one meeting in his NY office on Nov. 13th that he thought the two of us could open a dialogue and resolve this between the two of us, without the lawyers, and I agreed. (The transcript of that meeting will soon be available online here.) At his request, I then submitted--in writing--various possible options to resolve this issue. On December 19th, I received this email from him:
I sent a reply email asking him to email me their counterproposal and I would review and consider it. Never got a response. I did, however, get a letter from AAWS's lawyers the next day, telling me that they were instructing WIPO/ICANN to reinstate their domain disputes against my company. I have never heard another word from Muth on this. Apparently, his "warm regards" didn't extend to putting their counterproposal in writing, as I had had to do in submitting my original domain-sharing proposals to them.
It's worthwhile to remember that AAWS's high-priced lawyers' fees are being paid from YOUR intergroup's contributions to AAWS--in other words, YOUR hard-earned contributions to your local groups are being used to pay AAWS attorneys to sue, and in some cases to bankrupt, AA members! How does THIS kind of harassment-through-litigation help fulfill our mission to "to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers"?!?). If you also object to the use of your contributed dollars being used for this kind of disservice to AA and its members, tell Greg Muth, the AAWS General Manager. I know I have! So, for the benefit of AQC, the company that owns RECOVERY.ORG, we have had to retain the service of a Patent and Trademark Attorney to represent our interests in this matter. Attorneys costs are steep for us, too, but this is a matter of principle, so we cannot just "roll over and play dead" like AAWS would like us to.
I have gotten a few ill-conceived (and badly spelled) letters from folks claiming that I'm only trying to make a profit. If that were the case, I would not have lost over $14,000 last year alone--money that comes out of my pocket from my dayjob salary, not from yours or AAWS's--providing all the free-resources websites we do, including those associated with RECOVERY.ORG. So, get your facts straight before you start calling the kettle black! I don't suffer fools gladly, nor should I have to.
I can now tell you that I have made offers to AAWS to resolve all of their complaints--though I'm sure they'll continue to harass me till the day I die--and they have accepted both offers for the three domains, providing enough money to pay AQC's legal fees, though barely.
As of the end of February, if not earlier, GSO.ORG, AAWS.ORG and BIGBOOKS.ORG will be owned by AAWS, Inc., a for-profit New York corporation. A scan of the settlement letter and AAWS's check for BIGBOOKS.ORG can be seen by clicking here. The BIGBOOKS was dismantled two weeks ago and the domain transfer documents FedEx'd to AAWS's lawyer. I have honored my word.
As soon as I have the check in hand from AAWS, Inc. for the other two domains--as of today, 4 Feb 2001, Greg Muth and AAWS, Inc. are in default on our signed agreement as to the delivery of the payment for that agreement; it still has not been received by me or by my attorney--the documentary materials currently the GSO.ORG domain will be removed from service as well. The domain leaseholder informs me that documentary materials found there have already been moved to another domain for public viewing. The fight will go on! Since AAWS.ORG was never activated, there's nothing to deactivate or to move.
While I am glad to have this behind us, I doubt that AAWS, Inc.--and its executives who are more interested in saving their jobs than in spreading the good news to those still suffering (you should see their plush offices in NY!) will let it stay there. They keep harassing me and trying to nitpick me to death. They have engaged in no collegial or professional behavior in these cases and I don't expect them to become reputable now.
I would have GIVEN them the domains free of charge, if they had only just ASKED me for them. Their Tom Jasper phoned me once, left a voicemail asking me to call him, then wouldn't take my calls when I did. It was your "trusted servants" disrespect and lack of honor that forced this process. They don't bother to talk or to ask; they just like to waste your money filing suit and supporting more lawyers! What a waste of time and resources!!
Thanks for your ongoing prayers and moral support--I know they helped!
Bill C.
Webmaster, www.recovery.org