THE SMEAR CAMPAIGN

Ribbon Loudspeakers by Newform Research.

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Since December of 2000 and possibly before, there has been an anti-Newform smear campaign underway on the internet to damage Newform, defame its products and call into question the integrity of the company and its owner/designer. The attacks have been made in the form of unceasing and vitriolic commentary any time Newform or its speakers are mentioned. It has also taken the form of attack posts under false names. This smear campaign has been well thought out, extensive and malicious. One of the key facts to keep in mind is this: The perpetrator was posting false attack reviews under different names months before he ever heard Newform Research Loudspeakers.

The Aim of the Attacks:

We believe the attacks on Newform have been aimed at:

Reducing the volume of discussion of Newform products on the web;

Diminishing the credibility of the company, its designer and its products;

Eliminating discussion of Newform on audioasylum.com by instigating flame wars;

Dramatically reducing Newform's rating on audioreview.com;

Increasing the apparent number of listings and decrease the listed resale value of Newform speakers on audiogon.com; and

Reducing the resale value of Newform products in the Orion Blue Book.

The Means of the Attack:

We have information, which reveals that some libelous postings are false and appear to be written by the same person under various aliases. The magnitude of the smear campaign is as follows:

230+ attack posts

25+ false reviews

at least 2 stolen identities

16+ false identities

many different dialup locations, IP addresses and servers.

Obviously, a great deal of time and planning has gone into executing the smear campaign.

Confessions

The main perpetrator has been identified and has reluctantly taken responsibility for a huge number of malicious posts as listed in the CONFESSIONS section. Despite acknowledging that his statements had no basis in fact and that he has done material damage to Newform. He claims that he posted false reviews under false names to balance what he thought were overly enthusiastic reviews on Newform speakers. He then claims that he bought a pair of Newform speakers because he thought they would solve some of his audio problems. Few would regard this as a credible tale.

In fact, the events surrounding this individual's purchase of a pair of loudspeakers was so convoluted that John Meyer (Newform's owner/designer) began to keep notes on the individual. This is the first time in his life John Meyer has kept notes on anyone. There were warnings from several Newform customers about the intent of the perpetrator and these were borne out as everything the perpetrator did seemed to be aimed at inflicting damage.

The individual made numerous unique complaints about the performance of the loudspeakers and had nothing good to say about any aspect of their performance. His comments were inconsistent and conflicting.

For return, the perpetrator packed the Ribbons in a never seen before fashion and shipping damage was the inevitable result. The perpetrator put the speakers up for sale on audiogon.com at the extremely low and degrading price of $1200 even though he was getting a full refund from Newform as he had shipped them back.

Although we did not realize it at the time, this "purchase" was just one part of the exceptional series of events of the larger smear campaign. Only in November 2001, after weeks of intensive investigation did it become absolutely clear that the "problem customer" was, in fact, the perpetrator of the majority of the attacks both before and after he ordered or ever heard Newform loudspeakers.

Despite statements to the contrary, the perpetrator was not naive. He has, in fact, worked in the audio industry and has in-depth knowledge of both the audio business and web server programming.

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Email: ribbons@newformresearch.com Tel: 705.835.9000