So why aren't they behind bars?

Bartholomew said:

I mean, why isn't what PA does illegal? They lie outright, they most CERTAINLY engage in false advertising, and they don't provide ther service they claim.

What haven't authorities stomped all over them?

I ask the same question of poetry.com

Click to expand...

Good question. Do their activities warrant investigation by the FTC? Seems like the Better Business Bureau doesn't wield a big enough stick.

Are there any practical means of fighting back?

Are there any attorneys in the audience willing to say a few words?

Victoria gives a very good explanation of the difficulties in bringing scammers to justice on her and Ann's blog.

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2006/12/victoria-strauss-why-scammers-are-hard.html

The BBB is useless for literary fraud. This has been proved many times over, and not just in the case of PA.

The BBB considers a matter resolved if the business replies at all -- even if it's a tone letter.

The interaction between a publisher and an author is considered a business-to-business relationship, not a business-to-customer relationship, so lots of the legal safeguards that consumers expect don't apply (even though with PA the authors are the consumers). And it's hard to get law enforcement interested when the individual losses are small.

White collar crime in general is hard to prosecute.

PA is relying on authors getting disheartened and going away rather than embarking on a long, expensive, and potentially risky lawsuit.

But ... balance that with the fact that every time that I'm aware of in which an author has brought PA to arbitration, PA has lost. And arbitration doesn't cost as much as you might think.

I think the only way to effectively take PA to court would be to go through a hearing to determine the contract was fraudulent or unenforcable. If the contract is ruled fraudulent or unenforceable THEN the clause whichprohibits taking them to civil court would be null and void.

Having the contract ruled fraudulent would also provide the local district attorney with reason to prosecute for fraud.

Getting that result would be waaaaay expensive.

Regards,
Scott