Cryptocurrency news site Coin Rivet has missed the deadline to reach a satisfactory settlement with entrepreneur Calvin Ayre for publishing libelous articles about improper relationships with young females.
On April 11, Coin Rivet failed to respond to a deadline issued by Ayre’s attorneys vis-à-vis the site’s reckless publishing of blatantly false information regarding Ayre’s connection to five Cuban women who appeared in social media content that Ayre posted in March.
Coin Rivet has acknowledged that the articles weren’t supported by facts and has withdrawn both the articles and the site’s social media references to same. In a letter to Ayre’s attorneys on April 10, Coin Rivet editorial director Darren Parkin promised that the site wouldn’t republish the articles or publish any new articles containing similarly unfounded allegations.
However, while Parkin said Coin Rivet was prepared to issue a public apology to Ayre and to make an agreed statement in court attesting to the irresponsibility of its actions, the site – apparently based on bad advice from its legal reps at Sheridans – has so far balked at Ayre’s demand for financial damages. As a result, Ayre has instructed his attorneys to proceed with his claim against Coin Rivet.
The sum that Ayre sought from Coin Rivet was a tiny fraction of the legal costs he’s incurred in his pursuit of justice. It was also a fraction of the legal fees that Coin Rivet will now be forced to spend to defend its actions in court.
Furthermore, when – not if – these damages are paid, Ayre intends to give the money to the five Cuban women whose reputations were so shamelessly dragged through the mud via the site’s irresponsible reporting.
COLLATERAL DAMAGE
The fate of the five women in the photos and videos that Ayre posted in March has gone unreported by Coin Rivet and the other blogs and social media accounts that so gleefully recirculated the libelous claims. But their coverage resulted in all five women being hauled into Cuban police stations to be questioned on suspicion of prostitution.
Prostitution is a serious charge in a police state such as Cuba, and, it must be noted, a charge for which there was zero evidence, apart from the libelous media articles and social media mentions.
Cuban authorities evidently feel that this episode painted their country as a destination for sex tourism. As a result, these women – four of the five pictured above with Ayre’s personal assistant Candy, a personal friend of the women – will likely end up carrying black marks on their official government files for the rest of their lives, despite having committed no crime.
It bears reminding that, as sites like Coin Rivet whipped public outrage to a fever pitch, these women issued public pleas to stop dragging them through the muck. It also bears reminding that sites like Coin Rivet ignored these pleas.
MALICIOUS AGENDA DENIED
One of the more shameful articles published by Coin Rivet was written by Helen Bennicke, who claimed that she “and a colleague at Coin Rivet both contacted” police and child protection charities regarding Ayre’s social media posts. Bennicke self-righteously claimed that “to do nothing would feel immoral.”
In his April 10 letter to Ayre’s attorneys, Parkin claims that Bennicke told him that she “did not, in fact, make any reports to the police or child protection charities.” So not only was Bennicke willing to recklessly publish unsubstantiated information, she lied to exaggerate her role as a social guardian. Coin Rivet has since shed its ties to Bennicke.
Coin Rivet has denied that its motivation behind publishing the articles was part of a “malicious agenda” against Ayre. Parkin said Bennicke has assured him that she wasn’t offered any payment or inducement by any third party to publish her article, although, as noted above, Bennicke’s relationship to truth-telling is somewhat suspect.
Ayre has publicly suggested that the recent public attacks on him were indeed motivated by a desire to diminish his public image and, by extension, his public support for Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV). The fact that most of the social media attacks were echoed by supporters of rival cryptocurrency technologies would seem to lend some credibility to Ayre’s suspicions.
Ayre also views the timing of the attacks suspicious, coming as they did in advance of the next CoinGeek Conference in Toronto on May 29-30. The Conference promises to allow individuals greater insights into BSV’s capacity for massive on-chain scaling, a necessary prerequisite for becoming a truly global financial platform.
Since rival cryptos can’t hope to approach this level of scaling, their only defense is to ensure as few people as possible learn about BSV’s benefits. Don’t let these naysayers win. Join Ayre at the CoinGeek conference and weigh the evidence for yourself.
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