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From: Weazel News Vice City
To: Argonath Federal Court - Vice City
Case: Klaus vs. Weazel News
SECTOR I: RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF
Greetings,
I'm Jack Williams, CEO of Weazel News.
To start with, Weazel News is a news agency which represents the voice of the public.
I believe that the News and the Media are present to inform the public and to criticize/support. Lack of transparency and lack of perspective would mean that the Government's decisions will lack the prerequisite beliefs and statistics from the citizens, and may not be as beneficial toward the citizens as possible, which can also apply to critical services in the city such as the Vice City Police Department and the Vice City FBI.
To continue, news agencies may not always be 100% accurate with their releases as they are based on private inquiries, investigations and data analysis. These are almost definitely not going to be as accurate as a government body such as the FBI.
I believe that Mr. Klaus is attempting to extort excessive money from Weazel News.
My basis supporting my belief are some of the statements made by the Plaintiff(s).
I would like to begin by explaining how defamation of character can be as harmful as a physical injury and that my client is a victim of a targeted attack towards him and his family
There is no proof that Mr. Klaus and his family were specifically targeted for attack by Weazel News. Our journalist wrote about events initiated by Mr. Klaus (the Squalo auction). Targeting attacks towards people and their families, and writing about them are two completely different things.
Multiple false and slanderous statements are made against my client
Upon further inspection of the article published, it's evident that multiple statements were made, however only conveyed one point. There are no additional allegations against Mr. Klaus hinted or forwarded.
"Big reveal! FBI Director scam!"
"The Director, Klaus, probably was not satisfied with these reasonable offers".
"calling Klaus out on playing a dirty trick to artificially raise the price"
"our FBI Director has been doing us dirty"
We accept that the above statements/headlines were a form of "clickbait" and were unnecessary. We, however, deny any form of defamation in the following statements:
Statement 2 : "The Director, Klaus, probably was not satisfied with these reasonable offers".
This can't possibly be defaming, and definitely can't affect mental health.
Statement 3 ( FULL ) : " this tickled the potential buyers and other people's curiousity, as they asked who is the bidder, to which Klaus claimed he asked to remain anonymous; yet many people were very suspicious, calling Klaus out on playing a dirty trick to artificially raise the price for his boat."
Here, in this section of the article, the views were stated by the public and it was Mr. Klaus's lack of information regarding the buyer that sparked the suspicion. People wasted their time only for the price to rise overnight to almost 2.5x the value of the last offer. This growth was suspicious in the eyes of several citizens of Vice City and we merely wrote from their points of view, which therefore isn't considered fact and can't be considered misleading.
Again, this statement is NOT Defamation and it is just related to the suspicion raised by the Citizens of Vice City.
The suspicion is clearly evident in the Advertisement Topic http://www.argonathrpg.eu/index.php?topic=126866.0 (http://www.argonathrpg.eu/index.php?topic=126866.0). We can see many citizens inquiring about the anonymous buyer.
Shouldn't this have impacted him during the auction itself if it were to have any mental impact at all?
STATEMENT 4: "our FBI Director, a man in such a high profile public position in Law Enforcement, who among his other duties, is supposed to make sure the police is not corrupt, would lie to everyone for personal gain. Shame!"
This statement challenges the integrity of a Law Enforcement Officer which is natural and should BE done to keep Law Enforcement Agencies in CHECK. We do not see any specifically targeted defamation here.
Weazel News has committed an act of Libel, written defamation
The article should not be considered Defamation since it not only calls out a respected FBI Agent, it also sends a message to the entirety of Law Enforcement in Vice City not to LIE to the Civilians.
Mr. Klaus' behavior was suspicious, which led to the suspicion of the citizens to have lied to the public. Hence, we simply pushed forward the voice of the citizens and wrote from their perspective, and therefore the article isn't considered verified fact but raises awareness on the suspicion of the citizens.
a media agency that is meant to follow strict guidelines to avoid such cases as this
The Constitution of the State of Vice City DOES NOT have any Ordinances or Acts regarding the Media or their publications.
If one were to be created:
Act VII
No individual may be judged for a crime that occurred before the adaptation of a law by that law
Therefore, on that basis, Weazel News cannot be convicted for any of its publications since ANY law specifying 'Guidelines about Writing News Articles' or Related do not exist to this date or the date of the original article publishing.
my client used the exact words:
"Selling a Squalo cheap. An exotic cigarette boat capable of incredible speeds. Contact me(Klaus) if interested."
In no way does my client advertise the sale of his Sqaulo as an auction. My client does not give a picture or description of the Sqaulo, but includes a magazine cutout of a similar model, the iconic 38-foot Wellcraft Scarab KV which was prominently featured on the television show Miami Vice. My client was within his right to accept anonymous bids, as there is no law against this, unless a public auction within the City Hall is held.
Mr. Klaus used these exact words and we agree. However, he did attach an image of a boat similar to the Squalo found by a civilian.
(https://i.imgur.com/VV23u2e.png)
We can see the Similarity of this boat found to:
(https://i.imgur.com/JZBJy0S.jpg)
Mr. Klaus' post was AN ADVERTISEMENT by context. Citizens believe that they will receive the product shown in the picture.
Mr. Klaus does NOT MENTION that the Boat in the Picture is not what he is selling. And LOGICALLY, in an ADVERTISEMENT, the picture one posts is OF THE PRODUCT BEING SOLD, not something else.
Also, Mr. Klaus stated the following on the same topic:
(https://i.imgur.com/RHDfDxE.jpg)
Judging by the context of his words in this particular post, it's evident that Mr. Klaus DID consider this an AUCTION. He Explicitly states that 'Both the bidders have been outbid'. This sentence MAKES it clear to the average citizen that this was considered an auction to that point.
Also, if we see replies to the post, we can clearly see that citizens DID consider the post as an auction. Mr. Klaus didn't bother to even deny it despite how clear it was that people considered the post an auction.
Also your honor, Mr. Klaus did NOT mention the vehicle ID in his advertisement. We hence judged the Vehicle by looks since it was the only thing provided by Mr. Klaus. We do not believe we are at Wrong here and Mr. Klaus's lack of provided Information and false advertising led to this.
Hence, the question is, why won't it raise suspicion? Things are not adding up logically.
Also, Your Honor, a citizen of Vice City captured Mr. Klaus during the past week in Vice City. He was on FBI duty as Director and was in possession of his weapon. If Mr. Klaus was suffering from any sort of mental stress, Washington HQ should not only have placed him on administrative leave, but Mr. Klaus being on duty potentially put himself and others in danger.
However, it is evident in the presented that Mr. Klaus was not acting abnormal and to the eye was fit enough to BE ON DUTY. We question his claims regarding mental stress as no PROOF is presented and even is seen working at normal capacity which should not be possible IF he was as hurt as he claimed.
(https://i.imgur.com/tAPX91x.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/K6cWfak.jpg)
We believe that the demands made by Mr. Klaus are even more ridiculous.
$2,000 compensation for emergency flights to Washington DC as a result of the published Article.
Since Mr. Klaus is the FBI Director, his expenses should have been covered by the Government as he did go to Washington on official business. He holds a major position in Vice City and the Government provides coverage for these sort of expenses.
However, we researched on prices of flight tickets from Vice City to Washington DC and found them comparably cheaper to what Mr. Klaus is demanding unless of course, he booked a first-class ticket with all possible luxuries, which shouldn't be possible as these sort of expenses should be covered by the Federal Government anyway.
(https://i.imgur.com/RllcGDc.jpg)
(Since Vice City is based on Miami)
Mr. Klaus prosecuted me fairly swiftly. The handouts of this article started at 1:34pm.
(https://i.imgur.com/HZJs5Ru.jpg)
Mr. Klaus sued me at 2:02am. It was approximately 11 HOURS from the handout.
(https://i.imgur.com/AydLDPj.jpg)
Mr. Klaus states that he flew to Washington DC upon being summoned. However if we see, the fastest 1 way Flight to Washington from VCAP takes 2 Hours and 30 Minutes MINIMUM. In addition, we should carve out one extra hour or at least Half an Hour for Mr. Klaus to reach VCAP from his FBI Office and then Boarding the Flight as well.
Hence 3 Hours of Mr. Klaus were gone just to reach Washington.
Now from the 8 hours left (majority being daytime) , we would assume that Mr. Klaus Contacted his Attorney ON CALL. We grant him the benefit of the doubt regarding not coming back to Vice City sooner.
The Attorney would take at least some hour's before being able to file a well written court case. And since the Court Case was filed during the Night, it would be perfectly Logical to think that Mr. Klaus talked to his Attorney during the Daytime.
Hence, we DO NOT see any Sleep Deprivation issues since people are not Supposed to sleep during Daytime. Maybe Mr. Klaus has Air Sickness and couldn't travel well in his Flights?
->$10,000 compensation for anxiety (sleep disturbances).
->$25,000 compensation for emotional distress to himself and his family.
Again, since Mr. Klaus's Family name was not Mentioned and he is too keen at bringing it forward with a heavy monetary demand. And also, these 2 requests are basically the same since Anxiety is a form of Emotional Distress.
Mr. Klaus is rephrasing his word's just like we rephrased 'Statement's' in order to get more Money.
->$50,000 compensation for lost income as a result of the published Article.
We would like to Know how Mr. Klaus lost 50,000$ in 11 Hours? It sure is a possibility but doesn't add up unless he went on a Gambling Spree which again shouldn't be a possibility since Mr. Klaus claimed to be emotionally distressed.
Also since Mr. Klaus works in the Government, his paycheck's are not that Huge on a Per Day basis.
Mr Klaus fails to provide any Logical Reasoning which is practically possible.
->$50,000 compensation for medical/mental health treatment due to the slanderous communications.
This demand my honor is extremely ridiculous, it is well known that Most Expensive Counseling Sessions generally cost upto 250$ PER HOUR. Medications cost even less.
Hence, Mr. Klaus is claiming that he underwent approximately 200 Counseling Sessions for Alleged Defamation? And that too in 8 hours he spent in Washington? And that too following the Investigation the Federal Bureau conducted on him which would've taken time?
The article was only about trickery in a 'boat sale', not about ending his career by exposing unfound corruption which was never the article's motive.
Plus as FBI Director, Mr. Klaus is the face of FBI and possibly faces backlash for Various actions taken by the FBI. He should not be a person to be affected by a mere accusation.
We strongly believe as of now that Mr. Klaus is trying to gather money with this court case. He has NOT even shown any 'Reciepts' , 'Prescriptions' and EVEN THE DOCTOR DECLARING HIM IN DISTRESS.
And 1 WHOLE WEEK since Mr. Klaus sued our Client, he has NOT shown any form of evidence regarding his Mental Health from any Doctor.It is something he should've presented to the court along with his 'Demands' and yet he does not show that even after 1 week.
We hereby DENY to compensate him due to lack of Medical Proof from a certified agency.
Also since Mr. Klaus works in the Government, the EMS should have handled the Matter and AT LEAST submitted a report regarding his 'Mental Health' which again is absent.
->The reporter, to be fired and banned from publishing further news.
We have stated it on our official website that the Article was Commissioned. The reporter is NOT part of Weazel News and it should be pretty easy to understand this.
We will Guarantee that we shall not take any further News Articles from the specific Reporter in the future. However we can not guarantee the same for other Media Outlets.
->The Article (Exhibit A) to be removed immediately and destroyed.
Your Honor, this Article sends a strong message for any other Law Enforcement Officer to not PLAY with the Citizens like they are nothing. Plus it is also a warning that the Media will and Can expose any possible corruptions within the Law Enforcement(We again DO NOT claim Mr. Klaus being corrupt as of now).
This article hence more or less guarantees a Healthy Functioning Government.
However, we shall censor Mr. Klaus's name and also censor any mentions of FBI.
->A public apology directed to my client Klaus, printed on the front page of their next paper.
We accept this demand of Mr. Klaus and it shall be done on the next publication.
Your Honor, I would also like to mention that Weazel News does not have a budget as big as what Mr. Klaus asks as Monetary Compensation. We were functioning due to a (contract)lease with the Roy Corporation which has ended due to this Court Case by Mr. Klaus and hence we had a major blow on our Budget and we lost our Printer's aswell. We absolutely CAN NOT pay 150,000$ since we lack that much funds.
Mr. Klaus is making absolutely ridiculous demands and somehow they end up being near the total to what he "sold" his boat for. What a coincidence.
Due to Lack of Funds, we shall instead provide Mr. Klaus with 5 Advertisement Voucher's in Weazel Publications worth $10,000 each should we be declared guilty by the Federal Court.
We thank you for your time.
Signed,
(https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190807/62dd8e068d6fcc4efa0b025fdafdf2c5.png)
Weazel CEO
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