The story behind this site

We were alerted that this domain name was available by someone unknown to us via an email. Mr. Samblis previously held the rights to his namesake domain address, and we couldn't believe he would let it lapse. Given that we own and maintain a series of sites we thought it would be a good idea to purchase the domain address and use it to drive traffic to our other sites. So we did. We initially constructed what we thought was a flattering graphical slideshow featuring Mr. Samblis and other pictures that could be found around the web, and on Google Images.

Not too long after doing such we were contacted by Mr. Samblis and he ordered us to take down the site, stating that the pictures we were displaying were not public domain pictures and that they were his copyrighted pictures. You can follow the chain of emails

exchanged. Also as the emails illustrate, there later became a time in which Mr. Samblis authorized the pictures to be used, then shortly thereafter ordered them removed again. After all the nastiness from Mr. Samblis... the site is now the way you see it. It's a shame Mr. Samblis exhibited such arrogance and let his ego overcome his common sense. This was a very complimentary site before Mr. Samblis initiated the series of events that deteriorated the situation into what you see today, i.e. the nasty emails, public disrespect, site takedown notice complaints, and finally 2 lawsuits for the domain name.  All of which were unsuccessful I might add. 

Also, you will notice within the chain of emails that there was a time in which a deal was struck that would have returned the domain name to Mr. Samblis. But once again Mr. Samblis created a situation in which he caused the deal to be cancelled. He all but had the domain back when he went on a public message board and called us "dirtbag" and "squatter". Not the way to consummate a deal that was all but complete.

You may wonder why the emails are organized like they are (plain text). The reason is, Mr. Samblis would delete certain passages from the emails as he responded to them individually. It was necessary to reconstruct the series of events by capturing several chains of emails. However, just notice the dates in which the emails were written and you will be able to follow the conversation (or read the "easy read" compilation).  The original emails are still in our posession as backup.

Also, although its not been widely published, there is another string of emails where, in spite of Mr. Samblis's childish actions, he was given the opportunity to reconstruct the deal, however it required him to publically apologize to us on the same public message board he attacked us on. We are still waiting for the apology. He has however since made a monetary offer that was larger than the amount agreed to before his attack on us... however we turned that down because the apology was not published.

Is the CEO a Liar ???

Is the CEO of IC Places, Inc. (formally IC Punch Media, Inc.) Mr. Steven Samblis a liar.  Well… many say yes.  Many point to his previous press releases where he promotes new relationships, affiliations, or initiatives that the company is involved with, and say because many, (and some say ALL), of these initiatives have not come to fruition (“true” as they say), that this is evidence of his lying.

Well, we disagree.  Many businesses initiate new ideas, try new things, enter into new relationships and affiliations.  Many times these new initiatives turn out to be not what they initially thought they would be, and in some cases outright fail.  That’s just business.  Some things work… others don’t.  So… simply because Mr. Samblis has tried new things to improve the company, and most if not all have not proved successful, and many have outright failed… does not mean he lied about them, or is a liar.

However… what these poor and failed initiatives make him is… probably the worst businessman (and/or CEO) of all time.  The club of businessmen and/or CEO’s that have spent tens of millions of dollars on trying new things, only to have their stock currently trade at extremely sub-penny status – AFTER 3 REVERSE SPLITS… is an extremely small club.  A club some say Mr. Steven Samblis should not only be a member of, but be the leader of.

What folks should be looking at to draw a conclusion that Mr. Samblis is likely a liar is hard evidence.  Evidence that can be documented and indisputable against the common standard of proof.  Lets look at some one at a time.

SEC filings:

1) CEO Employment contract:  Mr. Samblis files multiple 10-Q/K reports that state… “The company does not have employment contracts with its majority shareholder, who is the executive officer.“.  This is a quote from the August 12, 2011 Quarterly report filing here.

Then…the public filing dated 11/14/2012 states the following: “On November 18, 2005 the Company entered into an employment agreement with Steven Samblis to be our Chief Executive Officer.”. The passage goes on to list the compensation which includes the provision of majority control being maintained.

2) Lawsuits against the company:  The most recent filing, the 10K (see here), as well as the previous filing, the 10Q (seen here) there is NO mention (or can be said, “disclosure”) that there is in fact a legal proceeding against the company.  See it here.  In fact, the filings state..  “We are not engaged in any litigation, and we are unaware of any claims or complaints that could result in future litigation.” (emphasis added)

Then… it becomes known that there was in fact litigation that had occurred during these 2 filing periods.  See details here.

3) President of company being asked to resign:    In the 10-Q report (here), it is clearly stated that the president’s resignation was “requested“.  (see details here)

Then… just recently the resignation letter of the president became available.  See it here.  Clearly, this was a voluntary resignation on the part of the president, which is, in direct opposition to Mr. Samblis’s SEC filing statements, as well as multiple message board posts.  In fact, of late, Mr. Samblis is still maintaining that he requested the resignation.  Additionally, notice the date of resignation discrepancy between Mr. Samblis’s statements and filings, and the actual resignation letter.

Keep in mind that the above statements/declarations are from the formal SEC 10-Q reports, filed, signed, and attested to by the CEO of the company, Mr. Steven Samblis.

Other incidents:

1) Reverse split:  This one doesn’t even need any document references here.  As everyone knows, there were a vast number of posts over multiple message boards where Mr. Samblis stated he would not do a reverse split of the stock.  In several instances he used the word “never” in reference to the possibility of a reverse split.  This was likely the topic that Mr. Samblis most addressed in his message board posts, and steadfastly disputed anyone that would even hint at him doing another reverse split.

Then… as everyone knows, on March 27, 2013 he does a reverse split.

2) Statements regarding our websites:  In a message board post dated 4/28/2014 on Investors Hub, (see it here) Mr. Samblis states (see below premise), via his HollywoodFastLane alias, that “Issacs attempted to sell the sites (right after registering them) to IC Places for a hugely inflated price.”

Then… Friends posted the actual email exchanges between Mr. Samblis and Larry, which clearly demonstrate Mr. Samblis was not being truthful.  (See them here

.)  As can be clearly seen, a) Larry did not contact Samblis to sell the sites… Mr. Samblis made the initial contact and requested a purchase… several times, before Larry agreed.  And b) referring to the “hugely inflated price” as Mr. Samblis states… an agreed upon price of $1500.00 was struck.  However, due to Mr. Samblis’s message board posting where he blatantly disrespected Larry… Larry cancelled the deal.  Then Mr. Samblis later (October 27, 2013 email) offers over three times that amount, voluntarily, to purchase the sites, but that offer was refused (see the next email).  Clearly Mr. Samblis has misrepresented the actual events surrounding the purchase of our sites.

Now, as most of you know, we could go on and on giving example after example of instances of where Mr. Samblis was, shall we say, reckless with the truth.  Although some instances would be open for dispute, we think there are no better examples of questionable actions, that many would call lying, then the instances involving the SEC reporting.  These SEC reporting discrepancies are clear, documented, and clearly a misrepresentation of the facts.  Many would say a blatant disregard and disrespect for the authority of the SEC.

Well folks… you have the facts, you are free to decide for yourself if Mr. Samblis is a liar.  It seems obvious Mr. Samblis has recently taken to the message boards, using what many believe to be multiple aliases to promote the company, and therein a presumed purchase of the company stock shares (some call this stock manipulation).  Many believe it is Mr. Samblis, stating through multiple aliases, that it is not him really posting using these multiple aliases.    One such account, HollywoodFastLane, was apparently shut down recently by Investors Hub as being in violation of their Terms of Service, and many believe a fraudulent use of such account.  Many say this is Mr. Samblis’s attempt at circumventing being held accountable for his statements and actions by claiming he was not actually the poster.  The poster made multiple statements using the HollywoodFastLane account stating that he was “hired” by the company to maintain social media content.  If this is actually Mr. Samblis making these posts, it is but another example of what many call lying.  Maybe some day his use of such tactics may be able to be discovered and documented also.

Samblis emails are "privileged"

Yes, that's right folks...

(This is dated information, and added here as historical information)

Mr. Steven Samblis is threatening legal action if we don't remove his emails from our sites. See the email thread HERE.

This is troubling news, but not for the reasons you may think. 

Its disheartening that the CEO of a publically traded company does not know that once the "intended" recipient receives an email... it is theirs to do as they please with it. Its also disheartening to think that the CEO of this publically traded company would waste the investors hard earned money on frivolous legal action. He does not deny those are his emails, and he does not deny that have been represented accurately. Mr. Samblis is apparently so arrogant as to believe anything and everything he writes is so important that it most certainly is protected by law, and "privileged"

Anyone with a rudimentary capability to read the statute he adds to his emails can see that the statute applies to Wiretap Act. For those curious about the details, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521 is the federal Wiretap Act. It prohibits the real-time interception of the contents of any communications sent over any communications network without the permission of one of the parties. In 1986, the law was amended by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to apply to “electronic communications,” which basically means all computer communications. Under the 1986 Act, it is a crime to intercept any electronic message between its send and delivery points absent an exception to the statute. Importantly, the Wiretap Act only applies when the communications are in transit. As was stated to Mr. Samblis in the reply… Larry was the intended recipient, therefore there was no “interception” involved. The “if you are not the intended recipient…” part does not apply here because Larry WAS the intended recipient.

As can be seen by the previous email chain, Mr. Samblis is also threatening legal action over the ownership of the domain name “stevensamblis.com” and .net (which he subsequently lost). Here again, this is troubling because this would be another frivolous legal action (and a waste of investor funds) because he is upset that someone has acquired the rights to his namesake domain address. Also seen in the email threads, Mr. Samblis, in his oh-so-professional demeanor, has reverted to name calling. He calls Larry a “cyber squatter” and a “dirt bag” (see Site History). As most understand the cyber squatter term, it applies to individuals or entities that buy the rights to domain addresses for the sole purpose of selling them later at a substantial profit. We use the site to drive viewers to our other sites, not as an investment vehicle. As can also be seen in the email threads, we had no intention of selling the domain name, and in the end, flat out refused to sell it. This does not meet the cyber squatting criteria. However, as many know, speculating on domain names is not unlike any other risky investment, and it is extremely common place. Just do a search on some common domain names such as viewtv.com. You will see that it is taken… but for sale. It is owned by CSC Corporate Domains, Inc, and is likely for sale in the tens of thousands of dollars. Most anything tv related is either taken (and being used) or taken and for sale. In fact, we have recently been approached about buying pnch.com. The asking price... $10,000.00 If this practice were illegal, the courts would be clogged up with tens of thousands of lawsuits over domain names.

Now we move to how Mr. Samblis came to no longer own his namesake domain name. As is stated in one of the emails, he once owned the domain address… and let it lapse (see excerpt from attempted takeover suit) . This begs the question… why? Was it a financial thing? If that’s the case that he couldn’t afford the 20-bucks to renew, then this PNCH thing is in BIG trouble. Could it be he simply forgot? No way, as a domain name owner you are reminded numerous times (to the point of annoyance) of the impending renewal request, months in advance. Then, after it lapses, most domain name providers give you a grace period to renew. So… what’s left? Incompetence maybe? Arrogance maybe… thinking no one would dare to buy the address? Who knows… but the one thing is clear… it was Samblis’s fault, and no one else’s.

Here is the most troubling aspect of all of this. If Mr. Samblis pursues his threats of legal action, with it being obvious he stands zero chance of being successful (now proven)… what other like minded decisions is he making as CEO of the IC Punch Media, Inc. company? This is the same CEO that let his namesake domain address lapse. This is a troubling thought for most investors of his company.

Additionally, we would welcome a lawsuit over this website ownership issue. This would allow us to subpoena ALL the records of the company in support for our defense. Documents that would likely never see the light of day lacking court ordered production of such. This would allow the public airing of such information for all investors to see. Mr. Samblis would then have an opportunity to be questioned regarding his actions related to the operation of the company, movement of funds, and his decisions with regard to the public shares of the company, if not in court, then by the investing public. Perhaps the SEC and the IRS would be interested in these documents as an inducement to begin a more in-depth investigation into the ongoing operation of this public company, and perhaps its historical operations as well.

Mr. Samblis just makes bad decisions... frequently.