Carnal Reason

Sometimes people threaten to sue bloggers in an effort to make sure something does not become known. Frequently that backfires (look up Streisand effect), as other bloggers put up bunches of links so that google takes note. Here is a case in point, courtesy of Bob Krumm who writes:

Katherine Coble and her husband are having problems with a company called J. L. Kirk & Associates, or Kirk Associates, or JL Kirk, or JLK, or JLK-A, or sometimes just “Kirk“. Whether it’s J. L. Kirk & Associates, or Kirk Associates, or JL Kirk, or JLK, or JLK-A, or sometimes just “Kirk“, whatever you want to call it, it’s just bad form (not to mention, unwise) to sue a popular internet writer over a report about their company that isn’t libelous.

You’re only going to draw more attention to a report that certainly sounds like a scam, a fraud, a rip-off, or a con. Because the next time that someone googles J. L. Kirk & Associates, or Kirk Associates, or JL Kirk, or JLK, or JLK-A, or sometimes just “Kirk“, they can’t help but be directed to Katherine Coble’s commentary about how she and her husband felt like they were almost caught in a scam, a fraud, a rip-off, or a con.

Not that I’m implying that J. L. Kirk & Associates, or Kirk Associates, or JL Kirk, or JLK, or JLK-A, or sometimes just “Kirk” are a scam, a fraud, a rip-off, or a con, I’m simply saying that their reported behavior certainly raises some red flags about J. L. Kirk & Associates, or Kirk Associates, or JL Kirk, or JLK, or JLK-A, or sometimes just “Kirk” and their reported activities because they are similar to those of other companies who are scams, frauds, rip-offs, or cons.

BTW, never, under any circumstances*, ever pay a headhunter or a job placement firm to find you a job.

Also, Just in case Katherine Coble’s post about J. L. Kirk & Associates, or Kirk Associates, or JL Kirk, or JLK, or JLK-A, or sometimes just “Kirk” should ever disappear from the web, just remember that Google is forever.

(*Okay, not “any circumstances” but those circumstances apply to so few people that you know if you’re at a level and in a field where you need an agent.)

OTHERS, including:
Instapundit
Bill Hobbs
Say Uncle

NiT

MORE:
The Zero Boss Kirked: v, tr. - “to have your reputation ruined for trying to stifle a blogger’s free speech.”
QandO: How to ruin your business in one easy step
Better Business Bureau
Rex Hammock offers sage advice.

The Urban Dictionary: kirk: “To go crazy, to flip out, to wig out.”
Lynnster
Home Ec 101

Oh, heck. I’m going to bed. Newscoma’s got all the links.

Posted on April 12th, 2007 by pwyll
Filed under: blogging