The World Salsa Fraud - Buyer Beware
Isaac
Altman responds!
Dear
Readers,
Here
is Isaac Altman's response, including all typographical
and grammatical errors. I have not edited his letter.
My comments are below. Descriptions of the legal Acts Mr. Altman mentions
are below that.
Jacira
I
am sure this won't make your message board, but it will
be public record. Whether you like it or not, Laura and
I are the 2000 IDO World Salsa Champions. We did not
defend that title for reasons I have stated in several
sites. It doesn't bother us one iota that we lose contests.
We have lost many. For the last 5 years we have competed
in more than many of your people on your message board
combined. It doesn't hurt our ego to lose. It does not
hurt our reputation as teachers as our students know
that we are always trying to improve and learn just like
they do. It doesn't bother us that your message board
has people who do not like us. I can't make everyone
happy. What does bother us is your accusations of Fraud
and a Pyramid Scheme. Those statements are libelous and
deserve legal representation as we plan on doing. The
World Salsa Federation has the right to certify teachers
and judges. The WSF is a private corporation and can
do whatever it wants to as long as it is within the law.
You may not like our syllabus, you may not like how we
certify teachers, you may not like what we charge, but
that is not a Pyramid Scheme nor Fraud. Those who want
to certify do, and those who don't are not required to
by any law that I know of. I also believe that this attempt
to discredit the WSF is an organized ploy to try to eliminate
fair competition of Organizations in this country. I
also believe that it is in violation of Federal Trade
Commissions Anti Trust Act, The Sherman Act and the Clayton
Act. I will asking the FTC to do an investigation of
these laws and of any organizations on your message board
who may have conspired with you. I hope you told your
readers on 2 separate occasions, one being within the
last 45 days or so, I had contacted you to advertise
on your site my event and you had no objection other
that to receive your payment for advertising. Your a
businesswoman, I appreciate that.
Isaac Altman
CEO
of the World Salsa Federation
8080
sw 81 Drive
Miami,
Fl. 33143
Phone:
305 271-0606
Jacira
Responds:
First
of all, if you wanted your message posted on the message
board, you should have done so, but since you obviously
don't know how to do that, you sent it to me in an e-mail.
You
say that you did not defend your 2001 IDO World Salsa
Champions title for reasons you have stated elsewhere.
My suspicion is that you didn't defend it because then
you could claim you are "undefeated".
You
say,
What
does bother us is your accusations of Fraud and
a Pyramid Scheme.
yet
there is NOWHERE in my editorial that I accuse you of
a Pyramid Scheme. That was mentioned in one of the reader
responses and is the personal opinion of that person
who wrote it. Fraud is defined as follows on www.dictionary.com:
1.
A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure
unfair or unlawful gain.
2.
A piece of trickery; a trick.
a.
One that defrauds; a cheat.
b. One who assumes a false pose; an impostor.
When
you promise prize money of "up to $10,000"
(as is stated on your website), and the actual prize
money is $300, At the very lowest human
level, that is a form of trickery, even if you have a
disclaimer in itsy-bitsy,
teensy-weensy letters in your contract.
When
you tell people verbally that there are 15 or 16 Rueda
groups who will be competing in the Team Division, then
in actuality when it comes time for the competition,
the only other competitors are a group of instructors
from Latin Beat Dance Studios who threw something together
20 minutes before the performance... then you have again
practiced deception in a deliberate fashion.
I don't want to bore the SalsaPower readers like
you do by posting your verbatim response on message boards
all over the internet without even changing the text
(Mr. Altman has pasted the same letter as above in at
least 3 or 4 message boards around the internet).
As
for your statement that the WSF has the right to certify
teachers and judges... well, technically, yes, under
the law, you can do whatever you want to within the laws
of the State of Florida where your little corporation
is incorporated. But MORALLY, who are you to set yourself
up as judge and jury of the entire salsa world??? You
are no Eddie Torres, and in spite of your silly
little joke of telling everyone at your opening party
that you are Albert Torres, I feel obliged to
inform you that you are NOT Albert Torres, much
to your dismay, I'm sure. Albert knows how to
pull off a well organized event.
All we
are trying to do is inform the public that you are not the great salsa
authority you pretend to be, and that certainly you do not have the
respect of the Salsa community at large. That point has been driven
home by the fact that in the first year since
publishing my editorial and inviting reader responses, I have not received
a SINGLE letter in your defense (except your own), yet I've received
dozens of letters supporting exposing you.
Where
are all of your supporters? Don't you have anyone who
is willing to stick their neck out and support you publicly?
Frankly, that has been surprising. I would have thought
there would be at least a few people who would send something
in your defense, but that has not happened.
As
for you advertising on my site, you never expressed any
interest in doing so. You asked me to announce it for
free, which I would not do. I sent you one of our advertising
rate sheets, but you did not respond. I suppose you needed
that money to put the judges in the $39 a night hotel.
But after this fiasco, I guarantee you that I will never
advertise an event with which you are affiliated, not
for all the money in the world.
What
is most interesting is that your event was not well publicized
locally. Very few salseros here knew about it, other
than those who saw your huge banners stretching across
the dance floor of the Palladium or who were forced to
listen to your foul mouth when you interrupted their
evening of dancing to announce your event on the microphone
either there or at the Gold Coast Ballroom. These were
people who paid money to go to a place to dance,
not to listen to you tell jokes in bad taste littered
with foul language. That has also been mentioned by several
readers, both in the responses and on our message board.
Frankly,
Mr. Altman, this is the end of the line of the free,
albeit negative advertising we are going to give you.
Take your bravado and bragging elsewhere.
Jacira
But
no! Mr. Altman couldn't resist one last response!
Give
him enough rope ...and he will hang himself!
11/09/02
Subject: Just the Facts
Up
to $10,000 in cash and prizes was distributed among all
divisions in both U.S. and World Categories not solely
to the Team competition according to the rules that have
been posted since August 2002. Never was it said or implied
that the team competition was getting up to $10,000 in
cash and prizes. When you hear Richard Prior or Eddie
Murphy (not that my humor can match them nor do I cuss
enough) do you get upset with their cussing? I was in
a nightclub that is over 21, and this was my brand of
humor when running the contest. Maybe it was in bad taste
for some, others laughed allot. Go figure. Offering a
$39 hotel may have been a bad choice, but you know how
some attendees are looking to save money. Look for many
of the judges to be judging our next event in February.
Go figure. They are just gluttons for punishment and
humiliation. I am actually going to ask them to pay me
to judge. I am the King of Salsa, they should bow down
before the Salsero Mas Caliente.
Isaac
Altman
8080 sw 81 Drive
Miami, Fl. 33143
Phone: 305 271-0606
No
comment! That letter speaks for itself!
For
clarification's sake, allow me to post a brief description
and synopsis of the legal acts that Mr. Altman refers
to above. For Mr. Altman's benefit, there is no such
thing as the Federal Trade Commissions Anti Trust
Act.
The
Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, the The Clayton
Anti-Trust Act of 1914, and the Federal Trade
Commission Act are described below.
The
Sherman Act that he refers to is really
called the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 and
here is the wording of that act, although frankly, I'm
at a loss as to what on earth "conspiracy, in restraint
of trade or commerce among the several States, or with
foreign nations..." has to do with Mr. Altman's
business practices or my editorial (???):
The
Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
SECTION
1 Every contract, combination in the form of trust
or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade
or commerce among the several States, or with foreign
nations, is declared to be illegal. Every person
who shall make any contract or engage in any combination
or conspiracy hereby declared to be illegal shall
be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction
thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding
ten million dollars if a corporation, or, if any
other person, three hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or
by both said punishments, in the discretion of the
court.
SECTION
2 Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt
to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other
person or persons, to monopolize any part of the
trade or commerce among the several States, or with
foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony,
and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by
fine not exceeding ten million dollars if a corporation,
or, if any other person, three hundred and fifty
thousand dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding
three years, or by both said punishments, in the
discretion of the court.
The
Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914:
The
Clayton Anti-Trust Act, passed in 1914
alongside the Federal Trade Commission Act, rounded
out the edges of anti-trust law to specify behaviors
that are not protected under the law. In particular,
Clayton prohibits action that may "substantially
lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly
in any line of commerce" (Shenefield 19). This
reveals an extremely important characteristic of
our anti-trust law: We enforce anti-trust provisions
not only when they have effectively permitted or
created a monopoly, but ever when they my "tend
to create" a monopolistic atmosphere. (http://www.gongol.com/research/antitrust.html)
Since
nobody is creating a monopoly here, except perhaps Mr.
Altman with his World Salsa Federation, I am at a loss
to explain why he mentions this act, either.
The
official website of the Federal Trade Commission Act
is here: http://www.fda.gov/opacom/laws/ftca.htm
.
What
this has to do with Mr. Altman, the WSF or SalsaPower
... your guess is as good as mine!
Send
us your response!
Henry
Herrera's Statement
All editorials
and letters to the editor on SalsaPower.com are personal
opinions of those people who write them and do not necessarily
reflect the position of SalsaPower.com,
Inc.
This page
last updated on:
31-Dec-2007
