MARK HEILBRON'S PUBLIC APOLOGY TO REZA GANJAVI

"A PUBLIC APOLOGY TO REZA GANJAVI

I’m a poster who mistreated, abused, harassed, unjustly criticized & wholly unfairly conducted myself toward Reza in a great many of my postings. I made postings about Reza which were malicious, hurtful, harmful & included at times – outright falsehoods.

I was thoughtless, reckless & conducted myself in a wholly unwarranted manner in many / almost all conceivable ways towards Reza……I conducted myself in ways that would not in any way be expected nor tolerated in a normal, civil, rational setting between adults interacting & communicating within the proper guidelines that society dictates, demands, and expects….I personally fell far short of standards & morals and displayed a lack of consideration with regard to Reza – his rights, his person, his integrity, his credibility, his sensibilities – in all imaginable ways…..

I did so also with the mistaken reasoning of having my own protected anonymity on the internet…..that is no excuse for the conduct…..it should not have occurred either way in the first place – neither anonymously nor with identity known.

On multiple occasions, Reza made exact, explicit, clear requests to have any & all of my postings that were offensive, harassing, malicious, untruthful or unwarranted to simply end. I ignored his requests for a long time. Harm & damage & hurt in a multitude of ways for Reza ensued. After I ignored his many warnings over a long period, he rightfully was left with no choice but to take legal action against me.

Given a unique set of circumstances here, he did indeed uncover my true identity. This came as a shock, an embarrassment, and an enlightening moment for me. My behavior / conduct toward Reza had consequences. I had acted in a severely wrong, vulgar, malicious, and unacceptable manner. I was faced with a powerful and large lawsuit which could severely impact my future.

I am both happy & relieved to state that the lawsuit has now been settled between Reza and myself. Reza agreed to dismiss me from his civil lawsuit based on my admissions to him that my conduct was 100% wrong, that I have learned from my mistakes, that I will be a better person and importantly that I have a message for anybody who thinks about violating another person’s rights in cyberspace: Don’t Do It. Respect others’ rights, don’t harass people, don’t lie about people, and don’t abuse your anonymity – you can and will get caught.

With compassion & with no obligation to do so at an early stage in the process – Reza has graciously agreed to dismiss me from the case based on my acceptance of certain terms & conditions. My sincere intention is to never recreate this situation through any thoughtless behavior ever again. Not with Reza. Not with anybody. It is not what is expected. It is not what should be accepted. This episode was a wakeup call for me in a way that should not have been needed. Fortunately I have been given the chance to move past this & learn. Reza has provided the opportunity to do so. I am grateful to him for that, beyond what mere words can express. The situations I created for him were abhorrent & nearly unforgivable. Reza found a way to extend forgiveness in a way that I will forever remain grateful.

Based on what I have learned about Reza, I believe he is an admirable man in a great many ways. He has a vast number of successes, accomplishments, achievements & more on his side of the ledger. He is a man of integrity, credibility, good reputation, and compassion.

I attacked & did damage to all of that. It was wrong in every conceivable way. Saying that I’m sorry tells only part of the story. Learning from my mistakes & not ever having a repeat is only part of the story. Taking steps to make amends & compensate Reza for my injustices / wrongdoing is also part of the story. All of these parts have come together. Reza, in his compassion & his ability to extend forgiveness has allowed me to make amends in ways which were all proper and rightful obligations on my part.

Again, my entire posting history in a negative, mean-spirited, untruthful, harassing fashion, toward /regarding /about Reza and others was wrong & I am expressing sincere regrets & apologies. It is not ever to be repeated by myself toward Reza, nor toward any others. It was not proper. It is not expected. It is not acceptable.

I made mistakes. I have learned a lesson here. Reza was the wise instructor / teacher. I was in the wrong. Reza did not deserve my long abusive treatment for any reason, at any time. I have no excuses to offer. I have sincere regrets & sincere wishes for nobody else to do what I have done & mistreat another fellow human being in a repeat manner which I exhibited toward Reza.

I believe that Reza finds my remorse & sadness over what I have done to be genuine. Again, his own conduct throughout this whole process has been gracious & rooted primarily in his desire / belief to correct the injustices done to him in a manner resulting in the admissions of wrongdoing & vows to never repeat. It is simply inclusive of the standards / guidelines / principles with which he conducts and comports himself. He rightfully & correctly expects the same from all others.

Moving the settlement process forward I “enjoyed” our telephone conversations. Reza was civil, gracious & compassionate in all ways..... all of his emails were also the same......much appreciated in ways I don’t know how to fully express....

I can only offer my apologies & through my future conduct, actions & behavior pursue a more correct existence in line with what our society expects, demands & requires. It is a troubled enough world without stupid behavior occurring. My stupid, thoughtless, harmful & troubled behavior created a situation that had no place, no rhyme nor reason for ever occurring. Reza deserved much different & much better. For myself, I bow out now with sincere regrets for all misbehavior & sincere, heartfelt apologies for the same.

Finally, I would also like to end with an apology of an even more personal nature. I was mostly untruthful & deceptive with areas of my own personal life & situation. In many postings, I included embellishments / enhancements / untruths about the life that I actually personally have. There is no excuse. Circumstances in my own life are, to say the least, not the greatest. I created an image of what I would like them to be rather than what they are. It was personal. It was fiction. No harm from that childish, immature display of false light was intended nor do I believe any occurred. It was however deceptive, not proper, not expected & not correct. I entertained myself with the portrayal. It was a wrong choice for me to have made. It was not necessary in any way imaginable. I only want to also apologize for those deceptions and leave you folks in peace.

If this posting generates any comments or discussion, I won’t be reading nor will I be participating. I really do wish all well, but for myself - I am putting IV behind me & in my past now. I will be deleting my account & not looking back.

-- whiteknight3 [Mark Heilbron of Ohio] "

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UPDATE, 6 MONTHS LATER...

Well the guy broke his settlement agreement and ended up being sorry again. The settlement agreement took care of it -- he agreed to a break in the liquidated damages I asked for as a quick closure and the case is again closed. My other choice was to sue him for breach of contract and all the stalking he had done before, and also ask for an injunction against him. But he agreed to settle it quickly and he's out of my hair now. This should be a lesson for anybody who wants to abuse the internet to stalk and harass others -- internet is NOT Wild West -- you violate others' rights, you will get caught and prosecuted as I have caught some stalkers and brought them to justice. I am working on a book on the subject.

CASE HISTORY

REZA GANJAVI VS. MARK HEILBRON ET AL.

PLAINTIFF REZA GANJAVI FILED A COMPLAINT IN US FEDERAL COURT AGAINST ANONYMOUS CYBER STALKERS.

SEVERAL WERE IDENTIFIED THROUGH SUBPOENAS AND OTHER WAYS.

THE DEFENDANTS SETTLED THE CASE BEFORE TRIAL.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE KEY FILINGS.

• Complaint, REZA GANJAVI, Plaintiff, v. Mark Heilbron, DOES 2 through 10 Defendants.

• First Amended Complaint, REZA GANJAVI, Plaintiff, v. Mark Heilbron, DOES 2 through 10 Defendants.

• Appendix for form cv-09 (dismissal form)

Details in upcoming book

CYBER LAW -- CATCHING AND PROSECUTING CYBER STALKERS

This is a long story and I will write a book about it. I had a case a few years ago when a bunch of cyber stalkers -- who turned out to be guitarists -- ganged up on me because they were jealous of the success of my CD's, prejudice, and other wicket motives -- thinking they won't get caught because they are hiding behind a username... Anyway, those days cyberlaw wasn't so strong so it took me a lot of effort to find them and bring them to justice (they all settled before trial but I got all that I wanted) -- and I had no choice because the material they fraudulently published was highly damaging.

Last year similar thing happened and I gave the stalker warnings for a year -- but finally had no choice but to sue. This time around laws have improved a lot so it was much easier. The main stalker, Mark Heilbron of Ohio immediately settled the case. I also reached agreements with others and got a bunch of apologies and more importantly, removal of lies they published. It was a major win for civility in cyber space because these cases send a strong message to potential abusers that you can not hide behind a computer screen.

I prosecuted this case on my own without a lawyer in the Federal Court.

REPEAT CYBER STALKER GOT CAUGHT

I caught Mark Heilbron "Whiteknight3" with violation of the terms of his settlement agreement last week. I could have sued him for breach of contract as well as for all his violations for which I had to sue him for (last time I gave him plenty of warning before resorting to legal action which was absolutely my last resort).

Anyway, I decided to let him off the hook without suing him once he agreed to cooperate and agree with my proposal for a quick closure. And he's promised it won't happen again. I hope so...

Details in upcoming book

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Update: 5 June 2021 Google indexed this page and sent me a message. So I remembered Mark Heilbron and found out he passed away last year. To be sure it's him, did some more googling:

His obituary: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/wilmette-il/mark-heilbron-9369340 (this page includes his picture that I had never seen before) https://d5nffgciuchtn.cloudfront.net/as/assets-mem-com/cmi/0/4/3/9/9369340/20200922_174256260_0_orig.jpg/-/mark-heilbron-wilmette-il-photos1.jpg?maxheight=650

Funny most of the stalkers who anonymously attacked me (and were caught later) were bald - maybe they were envious I have hair aside from other evil sentiments like racism and being dead jealous of the success of my CDs and so on. As some wise people have said jealousy (rooted in comparison) is a big motive behind hatred and such dark psychological problems.

To further verify it's him. Did a background check. Found names of his relatives and one of them (I think his sister) has the same address that I had on file for him ( Beachwood, OH 44122) -- since the legal case, it seems he moved 20 minutes away. When I busted him he said he lives with his mother.

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Emails to a friend on 5 June 2021

I don't know if you remember that cyber stalker Whiteknight3 - he died last year (just found out)... I busted him and he violated the agreement and I busted him again (by grace of God). He paid fine twice. Now I know what he looked like https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/wilmette-il/mark-heilbron-9369340

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Exactly. I forgave him already. It cost him about $<> between the two offenses. He saved a lot of money by settling and he signed everything I wrote. I wrote the settlement agreement and since he had no lawyer and didn't want to pay for one, he just agreed with everything I put in the agreement, and was happy I let him off the hook of an otherwise serious legal liability that could have made him go bankrupt.

He was a big bad bully on IV who said a lot of racist things to me while hiding behind his nickname. Till I "knocked on his door" with a Federal Court Summons... :-) (which I tried to avoid but he bragged about his armies of lawyers (he had none)) ...

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exactly. here's his public apology: https://www.rezamusic.com/various/cyber-stalkers-apology-to-reza-ganjavi

Google sent me notice it indexed it today - that's how I remembered and while testing it came across his obituary.

God bless him.

CYBER STALKER X PUBLIC APOLOGY TO REZA GANJAVI

"I wish to take this opportunity to offer an apology to Reza Ganjavi for statements I have posted in the past that have crossed over the line. Some of these statements were made in an attempt at humor without regard to what impact it would have on Reza. Some were in response to postings that at the time I thought were done by Reza, and I now find out that someone had used Reza's name and email to make those postings fraudulently. For any statements that Reza took offense or exception to I apologize. Reza and I have settled the matter, and will not comment on it presently beyond this statement."

CASE: REZA GANJAVI vs. TODD TIPTON, JEREMY C. SMITH, CINDY SMITH, WILLIAM JENNINGS, DOUGLAS CARLSON, DELOITTE CONSULTING LLC, DELOITTE & TOUCHE USA LLP, et al.

DEFENDANT X issued this public apology after we settled the case. The settlement included but not limited to a monetary payment and retraction of the offensive and problematic posts. I am posting this here just as a lesson to whom it may concern that cyber offense does not pay, that there are laws that govern conduct whether on the internet or not and the internet can not be used as a shield to protect one from the consequences of violating other peoples' rights.

CYBER STALKER Y PUBLIC APOLOGY TO REZA GANJAVI

"I wish to take this opportunity to offer an apology to everyone whom I humiliated, insulted, and offended by statements I have posted in the past under the pseudonyms "Troy II", "Troy Donaghue II", that contained vulgar language and crossed the line of decency. In particular I apologize to Reza Ganjavi for numerous incidents of verbal abuse to which I subjected him through posts I responded directly to him or to his faked screen name which was masqueraded by someone else. I made those implied or direct statements without regard to their offensive nature and their consequences.

Recently Reza Ganjavi unfolded the identity behind my screen name through his technical know-how and determination. I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar but what followed was a very profound experience.

Think about the damages he could have done to someone who had hurt him, but he chose not to do. Reza had all the capability to make me feel miserable, but instead he chose NOT to take revenge and dealt with me as a kind human to another. For that I'm forever grateful. He had the control to turn an adversary situation into a friendly one, and that generated an incredible amount of goodwill. He won me over, many times over, if not as a friend then as a fan, with his strength, determination, and grace.

His willingness to forgive and to work out the conflict was the most important factor that changed my whole attitude about him. It's the positive aspects of him that changed the whole thing. I knew he was upset and angry, but somehow he showed his heart through instead of taking revenge. That is one of the characters, you have to hear me out on this, that is rare and most valuable. I wish that all freaking politicians have that character so we can extinguish all the wars in the world!

This saga which I truly regret has now become one of my invaluable, well-learned lessons in humanity. I built a virtual world with those nasty posts and was drawn to an illusion that I have all the power in the world. However, the biggest lesson for me through this is probably not about right and wrong - we learned all that in grade school, but it's about the ability to forgive. I have gone through tough times in my life, and the most unforgettable thing to me is the goodwill and generosity extended to me from helping hands. Reza was a helping hand, and I will not forget that.

Just two weeks ago I would never have thought in a million years Reza and I could have a conversation about this subject. Today, I listen to his music, and I have a strong conviction that his music should be heard by more music lovers. Things changed, don't they? Again, for any statements that Reza or others took offense or exception to I sincerely apologize. Presently, Reza and I will not comment further on this subject. "

CASE: REZA GANJAVI vs. TODD TIPTON, JEREMY C. SMITH, CINDY SMITH, WILLIAM JENNINGS, DOUGLAS CARLSON, DELOITTE CONSULTING LLC, DELOITTE & TOUCHE USA LLP, et al.

CYBER STALKER 2 was real smart. Once caught he immediately surrendered and we settled the case before he was formally named as a defendant in the case. Settlement included but was not limited to a monetary payment and retraction of the offensive messages. He made the above public apology and stopped using the screen-name from which he posted offensive material (my response below was also posted together with his statement).

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NOTE From Reza Ganjavi: I found <name snipped> to be a sincere good person who had made some mistakes like we all do as human. His good character became evident through his childlike surrender and feeling of remorse when he was caught. I appreciate the fact that he worked diligently to make the wrongs right by retracting the offensive messages and cooperating on the other aspects of a formal peaceful settlement. I truly believe he has changed for the better and I am happy to have him as a new friend.

I think a big lesson in this for all internet users is that anonymity which in most civilized countries is a cherishable right should not be abused and that the internet should not be used as a façade behind which to conduct vulgar activity. We are moving to a day and age where the internet plays a bigger and bigger role in our lives and the world and it is of utmost importance that civility, law and order, should be the dominant norm in the cyber-world just as they are in the real-world. Thank you <name snipped> for your cooperation. Reza.

"I know you took great care not to drag me in by mistake, and I appreciate that." Cyber Stalker 2