Canadian Diamond Traders wants to silence me?
I received a phone call the other day from someone claiming to be from Canadian Diamond Traders. He said that he had sent me an e-mail demanding that I remove some objectionable content about CDT from my website. I had not received that e-mail. I gave the man another e-mail address to send his letter to, and I haven’t received it to that e-mail address either.
It’s possible that my junk mail (spam) filter blocked it, but that’s beside the point. Why would Canadian Diamond Traders want to silence a blogger? All I said in an entry I posted over a year ago was, “Is Canadian Diamond Traders a scam? I suspect so. Consider what the FBI says about pyramid schemes…” and I went on to cite an FBI article warning of common fraud schemes. I am sure that nothing I wrote or cited could be considered libelous. The only thing I can think of that they might object to is that I allowed a man named David Thornton to post a long comment after my blog post, and in it he says some very damning things about CDT. Even in what he said, however, there are links to reputable sources warning consumers of fraud schemes whose claims and procedures resemble those of CDT; in fact, a couple of them name CDT outright. (See Diamond Pyramid Scheme Warning article on the Western Australia government’s Department of Consumer and Employment Protection website and the Mail Scams article on the Parliament of New South Wales (Australia) website. Also see this warning against Pyramid Schemes from the Maryland Attorney General’s website.)
In the interest of presenting opposing views, I also allowed a woman named Mary to respond to David and tell him he was wrong. She didn’t make any persuasive arguments, though. The Google searches I’ve conducted have revealed nothing but a lot of people saying CDT is a great way to make money and a lot of people saying CDT is a scam. Almost all those in favor of CDT are CDT resellers themselves, and almost all those against are irate consumers. That, in itself, says something. But with all due respect, it has been nearly impossible to find any facts from reputable sources. A search of the NPR website brought up only one article, and it had nothing to do with exploring whether or not CDT is a scam.
It is my right as a blogger to present information for the public good. There were other vociferous people who wanted to argue the issue back and forth by posting more comments after my original blog post, but my blog is not a place for that. The arguments are already out there on the Internet. I stand by my statement that I have said nothing libelous. If Canadian Diamond Traders wishes me to remove anything from my blog, let them send me a letter, and we’ll take it from there. Until then, I believe I have every right to question their business practices and encourage people to research more and decide for themselves. I would love to see some reputable news agencies pick up the story, but until then, this humble blogger will have to do.
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Good for you to expose it! It’s a scam without question.
Lois
October 2nd, 2007 at 4:23 pm
you, too? lol
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Thank you, Lois. Mishkazena, I looked at your blog just now and see your blog post and comments. Did someone from CDT try to silence you, too?
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Yup. They also tried to silence other writers (hearing), too.
October 4th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
To Daniel Greene:
You were contacted by us on October 1, 2007 by phone, during which communication you provided us with a secondary email address. The email was sent to that email address within minutes after the phone call; the reason, however, as to why you have not received it, eludes us. The email was as follows:
September 28, 2007
Canadian Diamond Traders Inc.
5145 Steeles Ave W
Suite D802
Toronto Ontario M9L 1R5
Canada
It has come to our attention on a number of occasions that your website or forum contains false information in regards to Canadian Diamond Traders Inc.
(Link:http://danielgreene.com/2006/08/31/is-canadian-diamond-traders-a-scam/ )
We are requesting that you collaborate with us in order to correct any statements which are misleading the public.
Please take this as a reasonable request to ensure consumers are able to get true information in order for them to make an informed decision with regards to purchasing our diamonds or carrying on other business with us.
If you refuse to work with us in this respect we will seek other remedies.
Thank you for your understanding and compliance, we look forward to working with you and will expect a response within five business days of receiving this letter.
Sincerely,
CDT Legal Department
October 4th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Dear CDT Legal Department,
I’m glad to see this letter appearing as a comment on my blog. I assure you that this is the first I’ve seen of it, since I never received an e-mail from you.
I would be happy to collaborate within reason, as I would never wish to be guilty of libel. However, all I have done in my writings is to raise questions and provide links to informative articles on government web sites. I cannot imagine that you have reason to ask me to remove any of that. Please tell me exactly which of my statements are misleading to the public.
Cordially,
Daniel Greene
October 5th, 2007 at 10:39 am
To Daniel Greene:
The letter does not outright state that it was you who made any misleading comments, but rather that your website and/or forum contains misleading information - be it from replies to your entries, quotes from, or links to other websites that contain such information.
We request that you remove those comments/replies/links as they are slandering our good name and reputation.
In the link provided in the above email, your post suggests that CDT is a scam by providing a definition of a pyramid scheme – which we are not - therefore, leading anybody who reads your post to be misled. At your request, we can help clarify why we are a legitimate and ethical company. Also, the replies given to your post by David Thornton are very defaming on their own and should also be removed.
Once again, we do appreciate your cooperation.
Sincerely,
CDT Legal Department
October 5th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Dear CDT Legal Department,
I have never claimed to know the true nature of CDT, as I have found it incredibly difficult to ascertain. But I do have my suspicions, and I want the public to beware of business operations that may be harmful to them. It is up to my readers to read what is out there and decide for themselves. CDT has innumerable websites to promote itself, so I feel no compulsion to aid it in its efforts to disseminate its message.
However, I am willing to remove the comments from David Thornton and Mary from my post from August 2006. Would that be satisfactory?
Daniel Greene
October 5th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Daniel,
I would advise you to consult with an attorney over this. Any company that has a decent legal department knows emailing or leaving comments on blogs doesn’t do anything. A letter has more standing in court than those two methods.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Deaf Pundit, You’re right. I won’t remove anything until I receive a legitimate letter from them by post. If they want to defend any of the statements on this blog, I am willing to give them equal space to do so. I won’t play games, and I don’t want drama, but I will not give up the right to free speech.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:41 am
I received another call from Canadian Diamond Traders. Now they want me to remove my post, “Is Canadian Diamond Traders a Scam?” I will not delete that blog post; in fact, I’m re-approving the long comments by David Thornton and the short defense by Mary. I offered Canadian Diamond Traders “equal time” to refute the statements they find objectionable with credible evidence to the contrary. But I put them on notice that I do not want them to call me on the phone anymore, and that I will consider further calls to be harassment. If they want to communicate with me, they will need to do so with legitimate legal correspondence.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Hey, I found a link for you, Daniel! Hope that’ll help you and other people who are current or potential victims of CDT, Club Freedom, Revolving Travel and other MLM pyramid scams!
http://www.matrixwatch.com/modules.php?name=Content&file=viewarticle&id=10
April 11th, 2008 at 9:53 am
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