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DONGXIAO YUE File [ID
111 Deerwood Road
ten “TOT DEC 15 “ATO 50
San Ramon, CA 94583 . ser
Telephone: (510) 396-0012 LERK OF THe SUPERIOR COURT
Facsimile: (510) 291-2237 Biv oF CoNTRAGEETA.C
E-Mail: ydx@netbula.com ht AD vaa
Pro Per D. WAG. NER
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR THE COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA
DONGXIAO YUE, CASE NO. C1%= "02449
Plaintiff,
VERIFIED COMPLAINT FOR BREACH
v. OF CONTRACT, TORTIOUS BREACH OF
IMPLIED COVENANT OF GOOD.FAITH
AND FAIR DEALING, AND UNFAIR
CHUN-HUI MIAO, BIAN-WANG.COM COMPETITION
AND DOES 1-5
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Defendants.
PER LOCAL RULE 5 THIS
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COMPLAINT
Plaintiff Dongxiao Yue ("Plaintiff" or "Dr. Yue") complains and alleges against
Chun-Hui Miao ("Miao"), an individual residing in South Carolina, bian-wang.com ("BIAN"), a
website business operated by Miao and DOES 1-5 (collectively "Defendants") as follows:
1. This is an action for damages, specific performance and injunctive relief based on
breach of contract, tortious breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unfair
competition by Defendants.
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COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH DEMAND FOR JURY TRIALNY NY NY YY VY KY YN BH
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FACTS
2. Plaintiff is an individual residing in the Contra Costa County.
3. Plaintiff holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in the field of theoretical
physics (degree awarded in 1995).
4. In June 2012, Plaintiff established a Chinese language online community website
called Zhen Zhu Bay (meaning: Pearl Bay) (""ZZB") at the web address zhenzhubay.com. The
ZZB servers are co-located in California. Many ZZB's users are local California residents and
many of them know Plaintiff personally.
5. Defendant Miao is an associate professor in the Department of Economics of the
University of South Carolina. According to his online profile, Miao attained a Bachelor’s degree
in 1994, a Master’s degree in 1997, another Master’s degree in 1999, and eventually a Ph.D. from
Princeton University in 2006. In January 2017, Miao created the website BBAN-WANG.COM
(here after “BIAN”). In May 2013, Miao registered as a user on ZZB using the ID of BIAN-
WANG (Chinese: 452 PJ). Miao knew that Plaintiff resides in California.
6. The true names of defendants DOES 1 through 5, inclusive, are unknown to
Plaintiff, who therefore sues said defendants by such fictitious names. On information and belief,
each of the defendants designated herein as a DOE acted in concert and/or conspired with the
named Defendants and is legally responsible in some manner for the events and happenings herein
referred to and caused injuries and damages proximately thereby to plaintiff, as herein alleged.
Plaintiff will amend this Complaint to show their names, capacities and their unlawful actions
when the same have been ascertained.
ih On October 2, 2013, Miao published the “website rules” for the BIAN website.
Rule No.2 states: “Blog articles shall not be censored, filtered or blocked, but any blog article that
contains a Netizen’s user ID in its subject shall be immediately deleted once being reported (same
applies to comments).” Rule No.3 states that the site will “deprive a user who posts filthy
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COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL—
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language the right to post microblogs for 1 day for the first offense, 7 days for the second offense, -
and permanently for repeated violations.”
8. In March 2014, Plaintiff registered as user on BIAN-WANG.COM using Plaintiffs
true name and participated in the discussions on it.
9. Sometime in 2015, Plaintiff reported certain insulting posts and comments under
Rule No.2 to Miao and requested Miao to delete those postings from BIAN. Miao deleted the
offending posts and thanked Plaintiff for making the report.
10. On May 23, 2014, Miao sent Plaintiff an email, providing a link to an article that he
wrote, in which he discussed certain disputes he had with Muye Liu, the owner of a competing
website YEYECLUB.COM. Plaintiff responded by stating that Plaintiff declines to be entangled
in such disputes.
11. ‘In June 2015, Plaintiff filed a defamation lawsuit against Wenbin Yang and several
DOE defendants in the Superior Court of California for the County of Alameda. Yang and the
DOEs conduct their defamation campaign against Plaintiff on many websites, including BIAN-
WANG.COM, with filthy and indecent language.
12. Instead of upholding the rules of his own website, and stop the attacks against
Plaintiff, Miao and his associate under the ID “lawandorder”, allegedly a lawyer from New York,
actively participated in the attacks and encouraged the attacks against Plaintiff. The verbal attacks
against Plaintiff were prominently displayed on the front page of BIAN.
13. Plaintiff was greatly disturbed by these attacks, and attempted to dissuade Miao
from participating in the attacks, stating Miao’s indecent language was unbecoming for a person at
his education level. Miao and the DOES reacted with more attacks on Plaintiff.
14. Still, Plaintiff tried to avoid a conflict with Miao and sought Miao’s cooperation.
Plaintiff announced that he would not pursue Miao for his actions prior to September 19, 2015. On
September 20, 2015, Plaintiff sent an email to Miao, stating in part:
Dear Chun-hui,
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COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH DEMAND FOR JURY TRIALThe Superior Court of California has issued a subpoena for the records (email and -
TP addresses) of several users who posted libelous statements against me on bian- _|
wang.com .
1am writing to see if you are willing to accept service of the subpoena by email. In |"
the meantime, I request that you make a backup of all user and user posting
records.
In addition, as you have seen, many of the posts are clearly defamatory and
indecent. You have previously deleted messages posted by Tianxiang Gongzhu,
and possibly others. This shows that you have editorial control of the site's content.
Your responses to those messages demonstrated a clear intent to encourage and
abet such libelous postings. Although I have waived the claims against you for your
conduct prior to September 19, the waiver does not include claims after that date.
Your past postings can also be used as evidence of your intent.
15. In the same email, Plaintiff requested Miao to delete certain defamatory and
insulting messages against another person under aforementioned Rule No. 2.
16. | Miao responded to Plaintiff's email on the same day, stating that he deleted the
reported posts, and thanked Plaintiff for making the report. Regarding the subpoena, Miao wrote
that “Bi'An will accept service of the subpoena by email without prejudice.”
17. The next day, September 21, 2015, Plaintiff emailed the California subpoena to
Miao.
18. | Unbeknownst to Plaintiff at the time, defendant Miao posted the subpoena on his
website on November 3, 2015, but failed to respond to Plaintiff.
19. After several email exchanges, Miao responded on November 16, 2015, stating that
“The subpoena you sent is invalid because it is issued by a California Court, but I am not a
resident of CA.” On information and belief, the user “lawandorder” advised Miao not to obey the
California subpoena.
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20. The defamatory blog postings against Plaintiff continued on BIAN-WANG.COM
in 2016, and Miao actively participated in and encouraged such activities by posting comments
echoing the indecent language under those blogs.
21. On June 13, 2016, Plaintiff commenced the action against Trigmax Solutions, LLC,
et al. in the Superior Court of California for the County of Contra Costa (the “Court”), alleging
unfair competition and defamation. The case number is C16-01118.
22, On October 14, 2016, the Court issued a subpoena to CHUN-HUI MIAO for the
information of several users who posted libel against Plaintiff on Miao’s website.
23. On October 25, 2016, Plaintiffs process server served the subpoena reissued by the
court of Common Pleas of Richland County, South Carolina, on Miao at his office. Still, Miao
refused to comply with the subpoena and ignored Plaintiff's subsequent request for a telephone
conference about the subpoena.
24. On December 15, 2016, Plaintiff posted a notice to Miao on bian-wang.com,
requesting Miao to delete all posts that contain Plaintiff's name in the subject or comments, in
accordance of the aforementioned Rule No. 2.
25. Miao refused to delete the posts. Instead, Miao launched a round of verbal insults
on Plaintiff. Plaintiff informed Miao that the BIAN’s rule is a contract between the Miao and
Plaintiff, and that Miao should perform under that contract as an honorable man. Plaintiff
repeatedly requested Miao perform his duty under the contract and delete the offending posts.
26. Miao did not deny the contract. After Plaintiff pointed out that he must perform the
contract, Miao changed the rule, by adding a clause titled “Statute of limitations”, stating one must
report under Rule No.2 within a year.
COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL27. As of the time of this Complaint, the posts attacking Plaintiff are still on bian-
wang.com, and many of them are still prominently displayed on the front page of that website.
JURISDICTION
28. This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants in this action and venue is
proper because, as alleged above (a) Defendants intentionally engaged in substantial
communications with the forum, amounting to sufficient minimum contacts - including, but not
limited to, entering a contract with Plaintiff and breaching the contract, publishing alleged libelous
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messages, into this county, via the Internet and otherwise; and (b) Defendants knew that Plaintiff
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was located in this judicial district, directed their actions at Plaintiff in this judicial district,
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intended to cause harm in this judicial district and caused harm.in this County by their unlawful
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acts, and a substantial part of the acts giving rise to the asserted claims had effects in this county.
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CLAIMS FOR RELIEF
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
BREACH OF CONTRACT
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29. Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates herein by reference the allegations of
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paragraphs 1 through 28, inclusive, of this Complaint.
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30. The Rules Miao established for his BLAN website constituted a written contract
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between Miao, BIAN-WANG.com and the users of the website.
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31. By registering on Miao’s BIAN website, Plaintiff agreed to participate on the
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website and make contributions to Miao’s website under the Rules, with the understanding that
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Miao would abide by his promises made in the Rules and protect the dignity and reputation of the
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users of the website in accordance of the Rules.
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|| COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT
32. Plaintiff and Miao both assented to the agreement, evidenced by Plaintiff's request -
for deletion made in 2015 under Rule No.2, and Miao’s prompt performance under the rule.
33. However, when Plaintiff requested Miao to delete the posts which attacked Plaintiff
under Rule No.2, Miao refused to comply. Instead, Miao purportedly modified the rule to add a so
called “statute of limitations” provision after Plaintiff made repeated request for deletion.
34. Miao’s refusal to perform under the agreement constitutes a breach of contract.
35. By Miao’s breach of the contract, Miao has continuously published the defamatory
and insulting posts against Plaintiff and his family on the BIAN website, many featured
prominently on its front page, for many months, causing substantial harm to Plaintiff's reputation
and inflicting emotional stress on the Plaintiff.
36. Miao breached the contract and kept the offending postings with the full
understanding that Plaintiff will suffer harm from the defamatory and insulting posts.
37. Asaresult Miao’s breach, Plaintiff has to spend substantial resources to protect his
rights, including the initiation of this lawsuit.
38. Plaintiff thus seeks contract damages from Miao.
39. Furthermore, Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law and therefore seeks specific
performance, in the form of a court order that compels Miao to delete the offending posts.
SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION
TORTIOUS BREACH OF IMPLIED COVENANT OF GOOD FAITH AND
FAIR DEALING
40. Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates herein by reference the allegations of
paragraphs 1 through 39, inclusive, of this Complaint.
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41. Plaintiff and Miao entered a valid contract under which Plaintiff would participate
on Miao’s website and Miao would delete posts that contain Plaintiff's name in the subject or
comments upon Plaintiff's request.
42. Plaintiff trusted Miao and performed under the contract, and requested Miao to
delete the offending posts.
43. Instead of performing his duty under the contract, Miao unfairly and unilaterally
altered the terms of the agreement by adding a so called 1 year of “statute of limitations” for
making the deletion request, after Plaintiff had already made repeated requests of performance
under the contract.
44, With the full knowledge that the defamatory and insulting posting on BIAN
website cause substantial injury to Plaintiff, Miao acted unfairly and in bad faith, by unilaterally
and silently adding the so-called “statute of limitations” to Rule No.2. Miao’s action in bad faith is
tantamount to fraud.
45, By Miao’s actions in bad faith, he intentionally perpetuated the libel and insults
against Plaintiff on the BIAN website, including Miao’s own verbal attacks on Plaintiff.
46. As aresult of Defendants' bad faith acts, Plaintiff suffered and is suffering from
harm to his reputation, was subjected to ridicule by many people as a result, and suffered from
emotional distress caused by the vicious attacks published on Miao’s website. Moreover, Plaintiff
is forced to spend considerable time, effort and monies to in an effort to repair the damages caused
by Defendants’ unlawful acts.
47. Defendants acted with malice and oppression and intentionally caused harm to
Plaintiff. Plaintiff is therefore also entitled to exemplary damages in an amount appropriate to
punish and make an example of Defendants to the community,
THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION
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COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH DEMAND FOR JURY TRIALuo ean Dun FF WN
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STATUTORY UNFAIR COMPETITION
(Cal, Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.)
48. Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates herein by reference the allegations.of
paragraphs 1 through 47, inclusive, of this Complaint.
49. By the vicious and immoral attacks by Miao against Plaintiff on BIAN, Defendants’
unfairly diminished ZZB's reputation and credibility in comparison with Defendant's websites and
created disincentive for others to join or stay in ZZB.. By his tortious breach of covenant of good
faith and fair dealing, Defendants intentionally injured and.is-continuing to injure Plaintiff by
| publishing the libelous and insulting posts, which Defendants had a duty to delete.
50. Defendants' conduct as alleged in this Complaint involving publishing defamation,
| fanning scandalous verbal attacks, aiding and abetting defamation of Plaintiff, bad faith breach of
a contract, to the benefit.of Defendants and Defendants! business, and-to-the great detriment of
Plaintiff, constitutes unlawful, unfair, unscrupulous, immoral, deceptive, and/or fraudulent
‘business acts or practices.in violation of California Business & Professions Code § 17200 et seq.
that has a substantial effect on commerce, resulting in Defendants" unjust enrichment. Defendants
willfully intended to cause injury to Plaintiff through their unlawful, unfair, and/or fraudulent
business practices as described herein.
5k. The actions of Defendants.as described in this Complaint had the effect of gaining
for Defendants substantial benefits.and advantages from Plaintiff through unlawful, unfair,
unscrupulous, immoral, deceptive, and/or fraudulent business acts or practices in violation of
|| California Business & Professions Code: § 17200 et seq.
52. Defendants are continuing to engage in one or more acts of unlawful, unfair, and/or
fraudulent business acts or practices involving the conduct alleged in this Complaint (and related
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COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH DEMANDFOR JURY TRIAL-_
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|| conduct) to Plaintiff's substantial economic detriment, for Defendants' own business advantage, all
with the knowledge, aid, encouragement, and support of each other.
53. Asa direct and proximate result of Defendants’ unlawful, unfair, and/or fraudulent
business acts or practices as described herein, Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer
financial losses for which it is entitled to restitution pursuant to California Business & Professions
Code § 17203.
54. Furthermore, Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law to compel Defendants to
cease their wrongful acts, and therefore seeks injunctive relief. Plaintiff is entitled, pursuant to
California Business & Professions Code §§ 17203 and 17535, to injunctive relief in the form of a
temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, and/or a permanent injunction restraining
Defendants, their officers, agents and employees, and all persons acting in.concert with them,
from engaging in any further such acts of unfair competition.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment to be entered against Defendants as follows:
1. That Defendants, and each of them, be held liable for breach of contract, as alleged
herein;
2. That Defendants, and each of them, be held liable for tortious breach of implied
covenant of good faith and fair dealing, as alleged herein;
3: That Defendants acted with malice, oppression and/or fraud;
4. That Defendants be ordered to delete the offending posts that contain Plaintiff's
5. That Plaintiff be awarded damages according to proof;
6. That Plaintiff be awarded exemplary and/or punitive damages;
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COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH DEMAND FOR JURY TRIALwR YR YN NHK DYE 7
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Ts That Defendants, and each of them, be held liable for unfair competition in -.
violation of California Business & Professions Code § 17200 et seq., as alleged herein;
8. That Plaintiff be awarded restitution in connection with Defendants' acts of unfair ~
competition;
9. That Defendants enjoined from engaging from further unfair competition;
10. That Defendants and their agents, attorneys, and representatives, and all other
persons in active concert or in participation with them, be preliminarily, and thereafter
permanently, enjoined and restrained from publishing the libelous statements alleged herein;
11. That Plaintiff recover his costs of this suit;
12. That Plaintiff recover reasonable attorneys' fees pursuant to any applicable laws.
and/or rules;
13. That Plaintiff be granted such further relief as this Court deems just and proper.
|Dated: December 15, 2017
By:
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| COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT . WITH. DEMAND FOR JURY TRIALCoCo ent Dun F&F Ww
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DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Plaintiff Dongxiao Yue demands a jury trial in this action.
Dated: December 15, 2017
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COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT
WITH DEMAND FOR JURY TRIALVERIFICATION
I, Dongxiao Yue, am the Plaintiff in the above-entitled action. I have read the foregoing first
amended complaint and know the contents thereof. The same is true of my own knowledge, except |-
as to those matters which are therein alleged on information and belief, and as to those matters, I
believe it to be true.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct and that this declaration
was executed at San Ramon, California.
| Dated: December 15, 2017
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COMPLAINT FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT WITH DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL