On Dec 12, 2005, at 3:23 PM, Michael Dean Goodman wrote: >>> Reply from Mike Scozzari to magazine publisher >>> 12/7/05 >>> >>> Natural Awakenings Magazine >>> Palm Beach Edition >>> Editor and Publisher >>> >>> Dear Leah, >>> >>> Thank you for forwarding me the letter sent to you by Mr. Goldtein. >>> The letter is an unfortunate and clumsy attempt to intimidate and >>> embarrass you and your magazine. There is in fact no substance to >>> the absurd allegations made by Mr. Goldtein. I am a fully trained >>> and qualified and bona fide teacher of Transcendental Meditation and >>> have been operating as such for the last 33 years. I have thousands >>> of my students and clients in the South Florida area. I am well >>> known >>> to TM teachers in South Florida and to fellow TM teachers both >>> Nation- >>> ally and abroad. My advertisements have been placed in the Palm >>> beach >>> media since 1990. >>> >>> You may forward this letter to Mr Goldstein'. Kindly tell him >>> that his >>> assertions that I am in infringement of the service marks in >>> question >>> does not necessarily make it so. If Mr Goldstein feels that there >>> has >>> been some infringement, his remedy surely lies in bringing the >>> matter >>> before a court of law -- not in "complaining" to you. If such an >>> action >>> were brought by him I along with many other TM teachers with whom >>> I am >>> in contact would be strenuously and vigorously contesting his >>> allega- >>> tions in a class action suit. As a self styled copyright >>> attorney Mr. >>> Goldstein ought to know that copyright matters are often complex and >>> can only be decided by a court oflaw after carefully hearing both >>> sides. >>> >>> Mr Goldstein should be told that a magazine such as yourself cannot >>> be expected to get involved in complaints of this nature and that >>> you >>> have no intention of getting involved simply on the basis of his >>> alle- >>> gations. They are at best his point of view on the matter. If and >>> when >>> the matter has been decided by a court of law in his client's favor >>> then and only then should he approach your magazine in the manner >>> that >>> he has. Until then, you can take no action on his unsubstantiated >>> allegations. That is the end of the matter so far as your >>> magazine is >>> concerned. >>> >>> Indeed, this is the only position you can fairly take in the >>> circum- >>> stances. Were you to take action on Mr Goldstein's allegations you >>> would be doing a great injustice to legitimate clients like >>> myself who >>> have been doing business with you for a considerable period of time. >>> I am looking forward to my advertisement being placed in your >>> magazine >>> and my continuing association with you. >>> >>> I close with Season's Greetings to you and the staff of Natural Awa- >>> kenings Magazine, > >>> Sincerely, >>> Mike Scozzari >>> >>> cc/legal council > > > Dear Fairfield Lifers, > > There's a lot of misinformation being bandied about in the discussion > of this situation here on FFLife. > I live a mile from this teacher, Mike Scozzari, in Boca Raton Florida. > I've met him and talked with him. > I'm on his e-mail list for announcements about his TM activities. > I see his ads in the local new age magazine that I pick up when I shop > at Whole Foods. > I've also met the local recertified TM teachers and heard them discuss > their interactions with Mike since they arrived here. > Without making any judgments about either side, here are the facts > and impressions I've gathered locally: > > People tell me that Mike Scozzari was one of the founding TM teachers > decades ago in the southeast Florida area (Miami). He did his teacher > training course in 1972, and did a lot of TM teaching here in the > "good > old days". Apparently he became a Governor (took the TM-Sidhis > program) > somewhere along the line. When Maharishi's focus changed away from > ini- > tiations, and the local center(s) here closed up, Mike continued to > try > and teach TM and had trouble adjusting to all the new stuff. When the > price of TM increased in the 90s, he balked, and set his own pricing. > > When I first moved here a couple of years ago from Fairfield, I saw > his > TM ad. So I went to his advertised location for the introductory > lecture, > to introduce myself to him, to check him out, and to see what kind > of local > meditating community there might be. He told me that he'd been > renting > this conference room in a local Kinko's on Federal Hwy. in Boca Raton > every week for quite a while. He'd advertise an intro lecture, and > show > up - but he admitted to me that hardly anyone had ever attended. The > night I came to meet him, it was just he and I, and we talked and got > to know each other for over an hour. > > He told me that he's married, and he's a traveling sporting goods > sales- > man by day. He said that he had some interest from a couple of > companies > to do an in-house TM presentation, and maybe a course, for them. I > men- > tioned that I'd helped design the old TM business program (AFSCI), and > taught it in Chicago in some big companies, and I'd be happy to be > of ser- > vice (even go with him to give the presentations without any > compensation). > He politely thanked me (but never called to pursue my help), and he > seemed > wary of letting anyone into his private TM "operation". My > intuition tells > me that those business leads never really panned out; I've never > heard any > more about them. Whether they were real, or wishful thinking, or > exaggera- > tion - I don't know. He also told me that he put out an e-mail TM > news- > letter, and had TM events at his apartment (group flying on the 1st > and > 3rd Sunday evening of each month). During the next two years I got > only > a couple of e-mail announcements - nothing like a regular > newsletter. I > met a few other local TMers, and discovered that the group program > atten- > dance averaged about 6 people, including Mike and his wife, Maria. > > Basically, he seems like a guy stuck in the past, holding on to his > old > glory days when he ran an old-time TM Center, and living a bit of a > self- > delusion. He's still going through the motions of how we did > things in > the 70s or 80s when we taught TM courses (old-style newspaper ads, > intro > lectures) - but he seems to have lost connection with today's TM > Movement, > and isn't really producing much real TM activity or TM teaching. > For ex- > ample, his claim in his reply letter that "I have thousands of my > students > and clients in the South Florida area" seems way out of touch with > reality. > He may have taught many people (even thousands?) decades ago, but > today he > gets almost no one at intro lectures; he gets 4 people at group > program; > he has never advertised an advanced lecture, residence course, > seasonal > celebration, etc. in the two years that I've been here... Even > before the > recent recertification program, when Movement people came here over > the > years to offer ayurvedic consultations or other Movement programs, > Mike > was not in contact with them, wasn't involved, didn't coordinate or > pro- > mote their visits. > > Obviously he's been on his own, and with very little real TM > activity, for > years. His claim in his letter that "If such an action [Movement > lawsuit > for injunctive relief preventing him from using the TM service > marks, etc.] > were brought by him [the Movement lawyer], I along with many other > TM teach- > ers with whom I am in contact would be strenuously and vigorously > contest- > ing his allegations in a class-action suit" - seems far-fetched. > From my > contacts with him, Mike seems to be a loner; he could hardly get 4 > other > people to flying sessions (and most weren't teachers) - where are > all these > other teachers coming from who are going to sign on to an expensive > legal > battle? I believe he's deluding himself. > > And where are his "thousands of students"? He gets 4 to his rare > events. > Even the new recertified couples in Palm Beach County (Dr. Stuart > and Joan > Rothenberg), and Broward County/Ft. Lauderdale (Richard and Debbie > Thomp- > son), have hardly been able to round up 100 e-mail addresses of > TMers in > the area, and they get maybe 25 people to group program on special > occa- > sions. > > On the plus side, in the six months that they've been here, the > recertified > teachers have set up group program three nights a week, have done > celebra- > tions, video conferences, offered advanced lectures, a refresher > course, > medical intros in multiple cities, regular intro lectures, have > instructed > some people (a small number I'd guess, but more than previously > under Mike's > program), had some fun social events/potlucks, and sent out printed > and e- > mailed newsletters (something every week or two). So I'd have to > say that > in terms of simple activity level and services offered, the area > "belongs" > to them. > > Speaking of the recertified couples - they've privately told me > that they > approached Mike a number of times to invite him to participate with > them, > to cooperate, to help them locate old TMers. They invited him to > their > events. He rejected all overtures. Then they quietly talked to > him and > asked him to stop "teaching", stop advertising TM. Again, he refused. > Since the new teachers have been giving regular intro talks - some > with > good attendance (e.g. the special series on TM & recent health > research) - > they explained to Mike that his ads and website could cause confusion > (different pricing, different out-of-date descriptive language, > different > phone/e-mail/location...). I've been told that people higher up the > "chain of command" in the Movement have been requesting Mike to > stop for > months. He's ignored them too. > > So the letter from a Movement attorney to the local new-age > magazine was > NOT a surprise to Mike - he would have to be in massive denial not > to see > it coming. It was the logical next step of escalation in a drama that > has been going on for a long time - perhaps years. > > Myself, as a businessman who's had to learn the laws about > copyright, ser- > vice marks, trade secrets, etc. - I'd tell Mike that his resistance is > quixotic - if they choose to legally press the issue he'll lose. > There > comes a point where he has to be proud of his past TM > accomplishments, but > let go, flow with the reality of today, and move on. He seems > pretty stuck. > > If he tried to argue that he had some kind of contractual > arrangement allow- > ing him the use of the TM name/logo/etc., and the Movement was > arbitrarily > reneging, he'd first have to show that he himself had not > materially violat- > ed the contract. His lack of offering the full range of TM support > programs, > his decision to negate the official fee structure, and his lack of > contact > with the Movement administrative structure, would likely undermine > that > claim. > > And even if he could make some contractual claim, he'd have a hard > time > showing that the Movement's withdrawal of their permission is > causing him > any material harm - such as harming his livelihood, costing him > money, etc. > (a) It's not depriving him of any significant income (since he > admits that > he teaches very part-time, and initiates so rarely), > (b) It's not leaving him hanging with any significant financial > obligations > (he has no lease on any center, no recent investment in teaching > supplies > or equipment, and holds his few TM events in his own apartment). > > The holder of a trademark/service mark/etc. can arbitrarily > withdraw per- > mission to use these (as long as their doing so doesn't violate any > con- > tract/agreement, nor cause any financial or other damage). His > original > agreement that he signed on becoming a TM teacher, and possibly at > sub- > sequent courses, would hardly support his cause, being so strongly > weight- > ed in favor of the Movement. > > Again, from my business background, his belief that the magazine > (Natural > Awakenings) should and will continue to accept his ads until a > court de- > cides the issue seems naive and delusional. If I was advertising > Apple > computers, using their Apple logo, in a local newspaper - and if > Apple's > legal department wrote the paper to say I didn't have permission to > use > their name and logo - does he really think that the paper would > remain "neu- > tral" and continue accepting my ads? Of course not - they'd want > to avoid > a trademark-infringement lawsuit by Apple, and they'd demand I get > a letter > of approval from Apple's legal department before they'd run my ads > again. > In fact, this very thing has been going on with Apple - and even > big guys > like e-Bay have bowed to Apple's demands about how their name and > trademarks > can be used, and have pulled certain ads off their system. Mike > needs a > reality check. > > In my opinion, what he teaches, how much he charges for it, who he > hangs out > with in doing so - these are all his business. These things are > between him, > his conscience, the cosmic karma computer, and Maharishi. Each of > us has to > face that decision on a very private, personal level. > > What isn't his business is what he calls what he teaches (name, > logo, pic- > tures, etc.). There are laws about that. We all know that there > are teach- > ers out there who've broken away from the Movement and teach as > they please; > few get hassled by the Movement to this extent. Mike made a choice > to make > a very strong public statement about his teaching activities - > through his > ads and website - to maintain a fantasy of being an old-time TM > Center. Com- > mon sense says that if he'd do what he's been doing - but just stop > the pub- > lic ads - he'd probably not be noticed and not have any legal > trouble. But > then he'd have to let go of his fantasy that south Florida > "belongs" to him, > that he's still an active TM teacher, and that his phantom TM intro > lectures > (and the ads that point to them) are a worthwhile investment of his > time and > money. It's his choice. But his ego got stuck, time has left him > behind, > and he's just reaping what he's sowed. > > I hope this gives FFLife readers some perspective on the local > situation > here in south Florida. It's caused much more heat on the FFLife > list than > it has here locally! Locally, other than his ads, Mike's TM > activities > are so limited that they have very little effect and get no attention. > The few times that my schedule has allowed me to go to a TM event > hosted > by the new teachers, I've never heard Mike mentioned. > > Namaste, > > Michael > > PARA - THE CENTER FOR REALIZATION > and THE RELATIONSHIP INSTITUTE > Michael Dean Goodman Ph.D., D.D., Director > Boca Raton (Palm Beach County) FL * 561-350-3930 * [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Counseling * Tantra Workshops * Relationship Tune-ups * Satsang > Clients and programs throughout the United States, Europe, and India
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