Bodog, 1st Technology battle continues

After witnessing Bodog's ability to rapidly react to losing control of its domains, 1st Technology has issued a press release with a number of inaccuracies regarding the case and Ayre's actual legal involvement. Often contradicting the same points initially and legally argued by 1st Technology, the press release exposed a noticeable degree of desperation.

It should be emphasized that Ayre has no connection to the company named in the lawsuit, Bodog Entertainment Group SA, a former supplier of data entry and other services including domain management, leading to Bodog.com's domains becoming involved in this inaccurately filed case. That company no longer holds rights for usage of the Bodog name. Currently undergoing a name change in light of this withdrawal, the now dormant and asset bare company was formally shut down as of September 2006, months prior to when 1st Technology claims to have properly served the legal notice.

Furthermore, the fact that Ayre does not reside in the U.S. and thus would not be subject to any bench warrants, increasingly establishes the press release as an attempt to deface Ayre.

Adding to the drama, it has been confirmed that 1st Technology frontman Scott Lewis has personally emailed Ayre via his blog (www.calvinayrelife.com) with an informal request to have the "Patent Troll" moniker withdrawn from any future references.

Not to be outdone, Calvin Ayre has humorously taken the lawsuit soap opera one step further by issuing a mixed martial arts challenge to Scott Lewis. In a posting on his blog, Ayre offers to put $1 million in trust with a lawyer as a monetary reward to Lewis if he is able defeat Ayre in the ring. Contrarily, if Lewis is defeated, Ayre has stated that 1st Technology would have to return control of the hijacked domains as these are the only interests he has in the lawsuit, previously noting that Bodog is not involved with the lawsuit against an unassociated and inactive company.

"Bodog is an entertainment and media based company. This is our playing field. The 1st Technology patent trolls will have a hard time applying any pressure on Bodog and myself. If 1st Technology's interests lie in leveraging media coverage to accomplish this, what better way to get some exposure than to stage the battle inside the ring of one of most popular spectator sports on the planet?" said Bodog Founder Calvin Ayre.

Whether or not the physical duel will commence remains to be seen, but the reaction 1st Technology's Scott Lewis provides to the challenge itself is sure to be entertaining.