ORANGE COUNTY, California (7 Feb 2002) -- The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), the world's largest diver training organization, has sued Eddie Rhodes after months of unsuccessful attempts to get Rhodes to remove erroneous information from his Diverlink web site regarding PADI training standards. PADI's attorney today told CDNN that PADI has filed the lawsuit in the Orange County (California) Superior Court to force Rhodes to remove the disputed material from the Diverlink web site. According to CDNN's source at PADI, the PADI lawsuit "accuses Eddie Rhodes of Miami Beach, Florida and Diverlink of defamation and unfair competition based on libel, and seeks an injunction asking the court to force the removal of erroneous material on its page entitled 'Comparison of Agency Requirements for Open Water Training'." Rhodes, who proudly boasts in Diverlink, "Our allegiance is to the truth" has been caught lying before in this type of deliberate disinformation campaign aimed at harassing dive industry leaders including PADI, PADI Travel Network, Divers Alert Network, Sport Diver Magazine, Wakatobi Resort, Cyber Diver, CDNN, ScubaPoll and ScubaLinx. iPlanet, the world's largest scuba publishing company, has also taken action to file suit for damages against Rhodes and his Diverlink web site. "Eddie Rhodes is an obnoxious liar and spammer who represents the worst of the web," said CDNN editor-in-chief Stanford Suzuki. "We commend PADI for putting the Eddies of the world on notice that crude hate-mongering web sites are a lawsuit waiting to happen," Suzuki added. "Whatever the outcome, PADI's lawsuit will expose the fraudalent conduct of Rhodes and those who endorse his petty scams," Suzuki said. "For the vast majority of divers throughout the global scuba diving community who are genuinely committed to diver safety and marine conservation, that's good news indeed." © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK | | Did Eddie Rhodes deliberately lie about PADI to promote the Diverlink dot com scam? Have your say at ScubaPoll.com :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: CDNN Scuba Industry News Dot Com or Dot Con: The Eddie Rhodes Diverlink Scam RODALE'S SCUBA DIVING Diverlink is a SPAMMER @ www.scubadiving.com/talk/read.php?f=1&i=4 64090&t=464075 Diverlink is worthless unless you like PADI-bashing and lies @ www.scubadiving.com/talk/read.php?f=1&i=4 26805&t=426191 SCUBA FORUM Eddie Rhodes hates PADI but he SPAMs PADI dive centers Diverlink is the worst spammer in the diving industry Eddie Rhodes is a SPAMMER |
