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Welcome to the GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum forums. You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. |
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| Discuss what's fucking going on, and which programs are best and worst. One-time "program" announcements from "established" webmasters are allowed. |
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#1 |
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Confirmed User
Industry Role:
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: SeATtle
Posts: 6,033
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From http://www.technologymarketing.com/m...ent_id=1899661
Ryan initially targeted three markets: Internet radio, online adult entertainment and on-demand hotel movies. All three of these markets share a similar characteristic?the lack of a dominant player who might be tempted to fight Acacia's claims. By selecting fragmented markets rather than going after big players like MSN or AOL, Acacia hoped to avoid getting embroiled in a debilitating legal battle. "My approach is to get some deals done and get some goodwill," says Rob Berman, Acacia's senior vp of business development. "I don't want to end up in the bowels of legal hell." |
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#2 |
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Confirmed User
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Continued..
Going after the adult firms was a spectacular miscalculation, according to Greg Piccionelli, an Internet attorney with Los Angeles-based Brull, Piccionelli, Sarno & Vradenburgh, who often represents adult entertainment firms on first amendment issues. "Many of these Internet firms have ties to the larger adult entertainment business, which generates as much as $40 billion each year, more than the entire professional sports industry," he explains. The larger adult firms banded into a coalition and refused to pay. Acacia then initiated patent infringement litigation in the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California against 39 adult entertainment companies. |
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#3 |
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Confirmed User
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Continued:
The coalition responded by retaining the services of Fish & Richardson, which handles more patent litigation than any other U.S. law firm. "Our clients feel very strongly that they do not infringe these patents and that these patents are completely invalid, based upon preliminary reviews of the prosecution history of the patent, the technology of the clients, and the prior art that was not disclosed at the patent office," says attorney Juanita Brooks. The case is now making its way slowly through the courts, squelching Ryan's hope for some easy cash and a quick PR victory. So much for marketing momentum. |
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#4 |
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Confirmed User
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Continued:
For Ryan the situation is clearly frustrating. "These companies will end up spending more on litigation than if they just paid the fees," he fumes. Attorney Dorman is equally dismissive of the adult entertainment firms. "These companies are so used to people challenging their business on first amendment grounds that they constantly feel victimized," he says. "They're not sophisticated enough to realize that this patent action is just standard procedure in mainstream businesses." |
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#5 |
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Confirmed User
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Join Date: Dec 2002
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and finally..
The question now is whether Acacia can afford to fight a drawn-out battle. The company has some $40 million in cash, but its burn rate (without the extra expense of litigation) is around $4 million to $5 million a year. Patent lawsuits can cost anywhere from $1 million to $3 million to litigate, and if every industry proves as scrappy as the adult entertainment folks, Acacia could find its war chest shrinking before it can make good on its claims. Indeed, there's no sign that the on-demand hotel movie companies, for example, intend to comply with Acacia's demands. (Both LodgeNet and On Command declined to comment for this story.) Meanwhile, Acacia's Media Technology group has almost no income. While Acacia noted in its most recent quarterly report that it had entered into 18 license agreements for its streaming media technology, that amount wasn't enough to stem a $1.5 million quarterly loss. It's a poor performance for a company that's already in trouble. License revenues for the v-chip fell from around $10 million a quarter in 2001 to a measly $43,000 a quarter in 2002. To make matters worse, the licensing deals that Acacia has struck for its streaming media patent are apparently too small to produce much revenue. One of the eight adult entertainment deals that Acacia is touting won the company only a one-time $500 payment, according to Farrell Timlake, president of adult site Homegrownvideo.com. But the real indicator that Acacia's strategy is stalled is the company's moribund stock (Nasdaq: ACTG), which has been hovering at under $1.50 a share, cumulatively less than Acacia's cash on hand. The strategy isn't flying with investors. |
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#6 |
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Confirmed User
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I forgot to add who wrote this article:
Geoffrey James (www.geoffreyjames.com) is a frequent TM contributor and the author of numerous books. I was actually fairly encouraged by what I read. Granted the article is like 3 months old..so don't zap me if all of this has been posted before. Just thought it would be good material for folks who didn't know any of this before now. Any input? |
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#7 |
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Entrepreneur
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 31,429
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These monkeys in Newport Beach are going to get buried in their own hype and bullshit at the rate they're going.
They thought they could shank the adult industry and get away with it. ![]()
__________________
from the leaders in the field at iWebmasters.com TO LOWER YOUR COSTS AND INCREASE YOUR PRODUCTION! *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** |
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#8 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 155
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Wow..Thanks for posting that...very encouraging.
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#9 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Portugal
Posts: 7,678
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Nice reading, but why so many posts?
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Go Fuck Yourself! ICQ 101411627
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#10 |
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Too lazy to set a custom title
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,240
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Right now the worst scenario for Acacia is happening. Webmasters aren't settling, their case against Holio got thrown out of court, and it looks more and more likely that they will have to take court action against every single patent infringer just to get their money.
The one single thing Acacia does NOT want to do is take legal action against all these thousands of webmasters just to get their money. Acacia knows they won't make any money that way because legal action costs big money (even if they win). For Acacia, legal action = bad I predict in January that Acacia might take legal action against 10 medium size adult companies in an attempt to scare the rest of the industry into paying again, but they really really don't want to have to do that.
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I post on GFY so that when people ask me what I do, I can tell them that I work with the mentally retarded. |
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#11 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,384
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its definitely bad for acacia. Their stock plumeted even after hyping the signings of hustler, vivid.
Now the confidence in that stock is shaky at best. And acacia still has to fight their battle against impai, and probably a handful of other legal cases against them will emerge. And very small amounts of revenue coming in. Its a no win situation, why the fuckers even attempted this stupid scheme is beyond me. |
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#12 | |
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Confirmed User
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Quote:
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#13 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Free Speech Land
Posts: 9,484
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Quote:
For each stupid lawsuit they file, they could actually lose money even if they win. |
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#14 | |
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OU812
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: California
Posts: 12,651
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Quote:
__________________
Epic CashEpic Cash works for me Solar Cash Paysite Plugin Gallery of the day freesites,POTD,Gallery generator with free hosting |
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#15 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 146
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coming soon - bermangetsbanged.com featuring streaming videos
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#16 | |
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HAL 9000
Industry Role:
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 34,515
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Quote:
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#17 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Free Speech Land
Posts: 9,484
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Quote:
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#18 | |
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HAL 9000
Industry Role:
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 34,515
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Quote:
DO NOT SETTLE. |
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#19 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Lutz, FL
Posts: 1,022
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I don't see why Acacia doesn't just plain quit while they are ahead and go after some other group. Going after colleges is another bad move by them. I'm starting to wonder how much brains the guys at Acacia actually have.
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Clips4Sale.com |
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#20 | |
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Quote:
If you read the threads on Acacia here (yeah..there are a zillion of them), there truly are a lot of scared webmasters. And this is what Acacia is betting on. The psychology of fear taking deep root which will induce settlement. AND YES...seek LEGAL advice. Don't want to get my butt burned because I forgot to say I'm not a legal scholar..this is just my opinion. Fucking politically correct folks! ![]() |
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#21 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 190
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Acacia wants $1500 up front from webmasters netting $1 to $50,000 in revenue from promoting or selling streaming video content. THEY'LL SPEND WELL IN EXCESS OF $1500 ON EACH LAWSUIT PURSUING EACH WEBMASTER IN THAT CATEGORY WHO DOESN'T SIGN THEIR LICENSE AGREEMENT.
WAR OF ATTRITION. |
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#22 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Sunny Queensland - perfect one day and better the next.
Posts: 2,106
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Quote:
Perhaps bermangetsbuttbanged.com might be a more appropriate choice.
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Left intentionally blank ... just like my brain |
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#23 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Ohio, USA
Posts: 1,035
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Quote:
I think that's what I made last year ![]() |
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#24 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: in yoOoo kitchen
Posts: 6,984
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Quote:
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#25 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Free Speech Land
Posts: 9,484
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Quote:
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#26 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: el lay, ca usa
Posts: 2,540
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that was a very interesting read. thanks!
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#27 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Posts: 1,737
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Fuck those fucking fuckers.
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![]() Porn Wealth Everything the newbie adult webmaster needs to know. Buy it, or sell it through our 50% affiliate program! |
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#28 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 518
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Quote:
Flow |
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#29 | |
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Confirmed User
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: SeATtle
Posts: 6,033
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Quote:
2)You make it sound like it's SO SIMPLE to sue someone. Besides the "just cause", don't forget how friggin expensive suits & court time is! Do they really want to spend 2 mil to get $5000.00 out of someone's total estate??? NO!! But posts like yours is exactly what they do hope for. Try and scare the fucking shit out of someone by throwing around "counter-sue you for up to three times the cost of their court case." Give me a break!! P.S. A counter-suit is when someone ELSE has sued the party that is counter suing! |
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#30 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 518
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Quote:
And I quote from the US Code..... "Remedies for ingringement of an issued patent include injunctions, damages, and attorney's fees" 35 U.S.C 281-287 "In the event of willful ingringement of a patent, a court may award treble damaegs (i.e. increase the damages up to three times the amount found or accessed)" 35 U.S.C. 284 To answer your other questions.... 1) When you are sued and you lose, the court can cease all of your assets (i.e. cars, boats, houses, etc) to cover your debt) they can also put you on a monthly payment plan so that you will eventually pay for it, even if it takes you 30 years to do so. 2) They more than likely don't want to spend millions to get their patent paid for as has been pointed out before. They are very much so counting on fear to settle the majority of their cases. Now for the huge BUT.... we cannot continue to assume that they won't. How many webmasters would settle with ASAP them if they took somebody to court who literally owned them a couple of thousands of dollars and used them as an example.? Not saying it is going to happen, but think about it. When people make statements like "Acacia wants $1500 up front from webmasters netting $1 to $50,000 in revenue from promoting or selling streaming video content. THEY'LL SPEND WELL IN EXCESS OF $1500 ON EACH LAWSUIT PURSUING EACH WEBMASTER IN THAT CATEGORY WHO DOESN'T SIGN THEIR LICENSE AGREEMENT. WAR OF ATTRITION." They are greatly misinforming other webmasters and could very likely get themselves and many others in a lot of trouble. Somebody has to research this stuff and keep people in check. Flow |
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#31 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Canby, OR
Posts: 7,453
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Quote:
jDoG
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NSCash now powering ReelProfits.com ALSO FEATURING: NSCash.com :: SoloDollars.com :: ReelProfits.com :: BiminiBucks.com :: VOD PROGRAMS COMING SOON: Greedy Bucks :: Vengeance Cash NOW OFFERING OVER 60 SITES CONTACT :: JAMES SMITH :: CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER :: ICQ (711385133) |
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#32 | |
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Confirmed User
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Join Date: Dec 2002
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Quote:
Those that have assets to lose HAVE attornies and will use them if necessary. The bottom line is that Acacia is NOT some giant octopus that can literally afford to take 100's of adult webmasters to court let alone afford to COLLECT from 100's of webmasters. Even there own people are admitting that they didn't expect to run into such strong opposition as they have. Stay informed, when in doubt do consult an attorney. I and others have said that from day one. But also don't go to bed at night thinking there is some huge boogey man named Acacia that is about to kick you out of your apt and make you sleep on the street because you use video streaming on the internet. |
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#33 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 190
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I could write the check for treble damages.
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#34 |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 190
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Obtaining a judgment against a party is one thing ... collecting the judgment is whole different ballgame.
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#35 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 518
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#36 | |
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Free Speech Land
Posts: 9,484
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Quote:
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#37 |
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Confirmed User
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: SeATtle
Posts: 6,033
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After tonight, if there's truly any justice in the world, the ONLY person that Acacia will successfully sue and collect from would be GAG On more commonly known as Grogan!
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