Stand Against Proctorio’s SLAPP – Update #6

Cover page of Application Response to Proctorio's application for court orders in the BC Supreme Court. A registry stamp of April 27th, 2021 is on the document, which reads: "IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BETWEEN: PROCTORIO, INCORPORATED (PLAINTIFF) AND IAN LINKLETTER (DEFENDANT)"

Proctorio is trying to expand their lawsuit against me and I urgently need your help. Proctorio is trying to bankrupt me before my anti-SLAPP application can be heard. My legal bills have already exceeded $100K! Please consider donating once more to my legal defence fund.

I apologize for not updating you sooner, but it wasn’t until today that I knew for sure what my near future holds. April 2021 has been one of the most stressful months of my life. This past month has been full of uncertainty due to a barrage of demands and filings from Proctorio. I am so relieved that in the past week over $10,000 has been donated to this campaign. Thank you so much.

This campaign began on October 16th, 2020. On this day, I filed an application to have Proctorio’s strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) dismissed under BC’s Protection of Public Participation Act (PPPA). This is the first time the PPPA has been tested against a copyright SLAPP.

The PPPA says an application is to be heard “as soon as practicable”. It took over 6 months, but the hearing was finally scheduled to be heard this Thursday, April 29th, and Friday, April 30th.

Was.

The full hearing has been delayed. Here’s what happened, and what happens next.

On March 18th, 2021, Proctorio cross-examined me for four hours on my application to dismiss their SLAPP. Evidently, Proctorio didn’t like the answers they got, so now they want to invade my privacy and find ways to expand the lawsuit.

In a flurry of last-minute filings, Proctorio has applied for a court order allowing them to interrogate me for one more hour, about two things:

  • My private communications with people who are not party to the SLAPP
  • The internal policies of my employer, which is not a party to the SLAPP

This is wrong, and expressly forbidden by the PPPA. I wouldn’t consent to a violation of my rights, so now they are using costly delays to punish me.

Proctorio also wants to be able to submit more affidavits, even though their deadline for submitting evidence was months ago.

PLEASE read our application response to Proctorio’s attempt to expand their SLAPP: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qVyw9Nu5Lt5sLwMNDqgBzEBmkRCNOW4L/view?usp=sharing

My COMPLETE defence will always be available at https://defence.linkletter.org

Don’t miss the “Affidavits” folder with all the supporting evidence.

This Thursday, April 29th, enough is enough. We will use our scheduled court time to stop Proctorio’s SLAPP crap. And we will seek the court’s assistance to reschedule the PPPA hearing “as soon as practicable” (July, hopefully) for more time than before. One of the reasons we will need more time is because Proctorio’s lawyers argue the PPPA doesn’t apply against copyright SLAPPs. Lawyers for the Attorney General of British Columbia will appear to defend the law against Proctorio’s constitutional challenge.

Again, all the defence documents are available at https://defence.linkletter.org. Today’s filing is what will be heard on Thursday.

Due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, Thursday’s hearing will be held by videoconference using Microsoft Teams. The hearing is open to the public, but you need to contact the Superior Court Judiciary’s Communications Officer, the Honourable Bruce Cohen, by email at SCJCommunicationsOfficer@BCCourts.ca. Be sure to quote my case: Proctorio Incorporated v. Ian Linkletter, file S208730, Vancouver Registry. Numbers may be limited. More information about public access to court proceedings during COVID-19 can be found here: https://www.bccourts.ca/supreme_court/documents/COVID-19_Notice_No.43_%20Notice_to_Media_and_the_Public_Regarding_Access_to_Court_Proceedings.pdf.

I encourage you to attend and bear witness to what Proctorio is trying to do. Please be respectful of the rules of the court. Recording is prohibited.

I have more thanks than I can say for the over 800 of you who have donated to my legal defence and gotten me to this point. There is a ways to go yet and I urgently need more help. Every donation strengthens my defence. If we win and Proctorio pays full legal indemnity costs, the entire proceeds from this campaign will be donated to the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA).

Thank you also to my defence team at Arvay Finlay LLP. Catherine Boies Parker, Q.C., Mark Underhill, and John Trueman have my complete confidence. We will finish what Joe started.

STAND AGAINST PROCTORIO’S SLAPP!

Sincerely,

Ian Linkletter