Too Much Media, developers of the NATS back-end affiliate-tracking software, have filed suit against Naked Rhino Media, which sued them last week for defamation of character and breach of contract.
The Too Much suit directly accuses NR Media, owners of XclusiveCash, of fraud, an allegation centering on a discrepancy between the amount of re-bills reported in NATS and the amount reported by payment processor CCBill during the same time period. The filing states that Too Much is “bringing this action to restrain apparent fraud by NR Media and ascertain the extent of that fraud.”
Too Much has asked the court to require NR Media to produce sales and payment records to affiliates from Aug. 1, 2004 (when the company began using NATS) to the present, including re-bills. The company also is seeking to terminate NR Media’s NATS license and restrict any further use.
Too Much Media partner John Albright, who brought the re-bill discrepancy to light on message board GFY on Aug. 10, submitted the following statement to AVN Online on behalf of Too Much Media:
“Too Much Media has brought a lawsuit in the Federal Court against NR Media. The purpose of the suit is to protect the integrity of the NATS program and to ensure it will not be misused. As stated in our posting of August 10, 2006, a discrepancy was noted between the number of rebills reported to the NATS system from those reported by CCBill. When efforts were made to rectify the situation with executives of NR Media, Too Much Media was met with full resistance, profanity and an abruptly terminated telephone call.
“In our August 10th posting Too Much Media offered to reinstate NR Media’s NATS license, should it correct its figures. That correction did not occur and Too Much Media has brought suit, in part, to determine the extent of the discrepancy in NR Media’s reporting. We have been informed that NR Media has simultaneously brought suit against Too Much Media, claiming it was defamed by Too Much Media. Too Much Media will defend that suit vigorously as there was nothing untrue in the August 10th posting.
“Too Much Media’s sole intention from the start has been to preserve the integrity of its NATS software, as well as the confidence of the industry in the NATS product and in Too Much Media.”
Too Much has marketed NATS as having a no-shave feature, meaning that affiliates should not be able to alter re-bill data as the company is alleging NR Media did. NATS has had several noted integration issues with various payment processors in the past, causing statistical differences between the processor and the NATS software, a point repeatedly noted in NR Media’s lawsuit.
Attorney Joel Kreizman, who represents Too Much Media, says his client’s lawsuit, which was in the process of being filed when NR Media filed its suit, would have been filed regardless of the counterclaim.
“It’s just coincidental they happened at the same time,” he says.
NR Media directed a request for comment to the company’s attorney Rob Apgood, who was unavailable at the time of this posting.
