Friday, August 14, 2009
Rhett goes to Linden jail
Sunday, August 9, 2009
ARRESTED!!!
Breaking news: SurfWatch business correspondent and investigative reporter, Rhett McMahn, incarcerated for,
"Violation of the Second Life Terms of Service or Community Standards. The violation in question occurred on August 8, 2009, in the region of Surf Love.
Violation: Disturbing the Peace: Repetitive Content, Spamming Repeatedly and/or persistently transmitting undesired content, whether by IM, chat, notecard, object or texture drop, or email to another Resident is unacceptable.
Action: As a result of this violation, your Second Life account is being temporarily suspended for a period of 1 days. It will return to active status on Sunday, Aug 09, 2009."
When asked for a statement from his LL holding cell, McMahn states, "Look... Bel (Beloved Avril) and I were having a conversation in IM. She was crazy saying I had wrote something about her. I ain't never said a word about Beloved Avril to ANYONE! Next thing ya know the cops are busting my ass out of my hammock and I'm face planted in the rock! I don't know what the hell she was thinking? I never spammed her sim? I haven't been there since June!"
MDSTreasurer Sixpence, an officer for MadDawg Sports and Entertainment, a company owned by McMahn, commented in a brief statement. "Mr. McMahn is only speaking to friends, employees, and family. At this time, an appeal has been filed by support ticket. Mr. McMahn is innocent of what he is accused. Mr. McMahn has agreed that any interviews will be conducted by his editor-in-chief from SurfWatch, Tauri Tigerpaw. Any other inquiries of Mr. McMahn will have to wait until after the SLSA opening competition. Let us not forget folks, Mr. McMahn is a Professional Surfer. Tricks like this could cost him dearly, and ::MD:: does not take that lightly!"
When asked if she wished to make a statement whether she was involved with these charges being filed against McMahn because of the Surf Love region as the violation occurrence, Avril stated, "Suspended? Really? Wow...no...no comment. I have no idea why he would have been suspended. Wasn't me." She agrees they had a disagreement but that she didn't A.R. him over it.
Avril and McMahn's disagreement allegedly stemmed over the SW Resurrection post (editors note: see Resurrection blog, August 7, 2009, in SW), altho there was no mention of Avril having any ties made to Austin in that post other than her own public comments linking them. Avril denies being Dharma Austin and knowing or ever meeting Austin, altho both Austin and Avril share the same business partner. Austin "died" on March 3, 2009. Beloved Avril appeared in SL November 22, 2008. Witnesses recall Avril was identified as a founder of MUST (Metaverse United Surfers Tour), altho that affiliation has since been changed. She is involved in retailing various items to the SL surf community, and she is involved in various surfing organizations in addition to being a founder of the Kathy Griffin fan club group. Avril stated in a public posting to Kathy Griffin's website on Wednesday, August 05, 2009 5:33 pm, "I may be 50 years old but I adore Kathy. Im her biggest fan. I play the virtual reality game "Second Life" and I've formed a fan club but no one will join. It's called "Join the D LIST KISS NO a$$" - you see there are avatar "surfers" in this game yah I mean they surf on a board on fake water and compete! anyway it is soooooooo elitist and they all act like A Listers so I am the "rebel" and no one likes me. I am nice I promise! I just don't Kiss a$$ so I'm always saying I'd rather be on the D List than on the A List with you Assholes! They hate me!..." Yours truly, Beloved Avril". She was also a founder of Brass Ovaries, a women's group which no longer exists in SL, but which was coincidentally also the name of a women's group founded by Dharma Austin.
Longhard Rhode, founder of Saints of Hell Motorcycle club and sim, and SL live singer, will be holding a concert tonight, Sunday, August 9, at Southern Oasis at 9 PM SLT (106, 161, 23) and donating all of the proceeds to the Free Rhett McMahn legal fund.
SurfWatch is an SL surf world reporting blog and has no intention, involvement or interest in RL information. However, falsely accusing SurfWatch members in order to have them suspended from investigating SL events only serves to involve SurfWatch further. Was the attempt by Clare Abbey, one of Austin's alts, to purchase SurfWatch also an attempt to silence SurfWatch? SurfWatch will keep readers informed.
Maria Brophy Interview
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Brophy's Choose Aloha over other Options in Texture Dispute
by Rhett McMahn, Business Columnist and Investigative Reporter
Stemming from a series of postings in SurfWatch about a possible texture infringement of famous surfer and artist, Drew Brophy, a post was made by a person claiming to be Maria "Spunk" Brophy, wife and CEO of Son of the Sea, Incorporated, the marketing and licensing agency for all of Mr. Brophy's enterprises. On behalf of SurfWatch, I contacted Ms. Brophy (MB) first on Monday, July 20, 2009, with a pre-interview by phone. She could not at that time go into details of the situation but did confirm she had posted with her real name to the SurfWatch blog and that talks and negotiations were still underway. She promised SurfWatch a full exclusive interview. SurfWatch has given Ms. Brophy review and approval over the contents of this interview to assure accuracy. Today, myself and Maria Brophy sat down to complete our discussion on this topic of interest to the SL surfing community. Continue to watch SurfWatch for future updates to related topics.
SW: SurfWatch would like to confirm that Maria Brophy made the comment posting of July 6, 2009. What prompted you to comment on the SW comment postings at that time?
MB explained that more than one person from SL was contacting her about the board design question. They sent her the SW blog link. She was shocked by the anger and emotion of the bloggers. She could not believe how passionate they were, but felt that the discussions had gotten away from what she was concerned about, and that is the protection of her husband's intellectual property. She just wanted to state facts, set the record straight. She made a specific point that she didn't try to ever conceal her real identity.
SW: Was there any limited use agreement of Brophy textures made several years ago?
MB recalled that in 2006, SSi partner, Sebastian Saramago (SS) contacted them (the Brophy's) via e-mail. She didn't really understand what SS was talking about and, in her words, "kind of didn't think about it much." When asked if she ever responded, she recalls talking to him (SS) by phone but states she never explicitly gave permission to use Drew Brophy artwork. When asked to clarify whether she specifically denied the use of Brophy art, her reply was, "You know, I never said no, but never said yes." It bothered her a lot. MB says she had sleepless nights over making the right decision that would be best for everyone. And tho she had people urging her to come down hard on SSi, her gut instinct was telling her that the best thing to do was to work it out with them instead. She has a lot of respect for Sebastian and how he willingly cleaned the slate, so to speak. "SS took responsibility for his actions, made things right, and because of that integrity, Drew and I decided that he would be the right partner to bring quality surfboard to SL. I've spent hours with him on the phone. He is a very nice man." When asked if Drew Brophy was actively involved, MB explained, "I don't lay problems on Brophy until I've come to a decision on what I think we should do. Usually he agrees with what I come up with."
The board licensing and design issues in SL continued to bother her and options were brought to her by people in-world and by Drew fans. Some people were outraged. She had an option of a battle with lawyers under the Linden's DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), against SSi and SS. She is strong in her belief that SS is a good guy and didn't mean to do wrong by her personally or Drew. MB decided it would be better for everybody to move on and figure out how to bring Brophy to SL in the correct manner so everyone can enjoy it. "And he paid his licensing. We back-charged the agreement for the last three years as to be fair and reasonable. He agreed." They made an agreement as to financial terms and had an amicable discussion. "I'm a very direct person and was direct with him. He responded to that and apologized, and we worked it out. He wired money to our account. He did everything he said he was going to do. I appreciate that. We (have) decided to let SS license Drew's art to SSi so that he can make it available on his surfboards. We're working out the details right now."
SW: Can you share with us the current status of any additional arrangements being made to allow the use of Drew Brophy designs in SL?
MB laughed and explained that they will make a presence in SL, including Brophy's other merchandise like posters, prints, gift certificates, etc. They will cross market from SL to their online and RL functions, as well.
SW: Does the Brophy organization have a representative currently in SL they will be working exclusively through who will be representing them?
MB states that they have not. They do not at this time. Slowly and carefully, with planning, they will begin by representing themselves.
SW: Does Sebastian Saramago have a licensing exclusive?
MB was clear that SS and SSi is the first. She won't do a license for another person if it negatively impacts an existing license. "Everything we do, I weigh the pros and cons. Boards, artwork, etc. will be available." She and Drew will be a presence in SL.
SW: What are your thoughts about your experience with SL and SL surfing at this time?
MB laughed again, exclaiming openly that SL makes her nervous. She does seem excited about SL. She can see the potential, and she even understands what makes our community tick. "I surfed! I can't remember where it was." Figured it out pretty much on her own, with minor help by a friendly surfer who didn't even realize he was helping the famous "Spunk" Brophy! "I can walk into a RL party and not know anyone and by the time I leave, I know half the people. In SL, I'm real shy."
SW: What does the future hold? What does Drew think of it all?
MB states, "Drew's brother told him about SL about four years ago, and that he (Brophy) really should do something with it. It didn't register at the time, but he remembers his brother's conversation, and he thinks he wants to have a presence in it. Not sure how that will go - we can't even get him to answer his cell phone half the time." Drew might do some seminars in world via telecom, etc., and when she is comfortable with making sure her hair is not stuck to her back and her surfboard will rez, MB assures SW that the entire surfing world will get the opportunity to know Maria "Spunk" Brophy, and maybe with a little prodding, the man, the legend, the artist, the really laid back non-computer guy, Drew Brophy himself.
SW: Maria, thank you for your time today and for working with SW to get the truth to our community. SW would like to give you the opportunity to have the last word for our growing and learning community. Is there any final thought you would like to leave the SW readers with?
MB states, "We want to leave people with the feeling of aloha which is being friendly, welcoming people to sharing waves, making a contribution to the surf community. People do that in different ways, the waves, scripts, whatever - making a contribution. Drew contributes by doing what he does best, creating happy, colorful art. And hopefully (by) resolving this situation, maybe we can leave a message to people that you can resolve something amicably. It doesn't have to be a big battle. I really feel that about how we ended this chapter, knowing that I didn't go to battle with a human being that might have made a little mistake. Now we are working together to do something great for the surfing community. I hope that other people get that and understand cause I think there's some people that might be disappointed. I feel good about it, that it's resolved."
