They sold life subscriptions to "Go World" magazine, without authorization from Go World and without ever forwarding any of the proceeds to Go World. They just stole the money.
I assume that Hartland Snyder has something to do with this web site, as he has been involved in numerous criminal activities of this nature in the past, although he must have had help, as Hartland Snyder is computer illiterate.
I wish to advise everyone to be careful in dealing with these people. They do not pay their debts. The Hartland Snyder group sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of go books. None of the authors of those books have ever been paid a dime. I am owed $5,000 by those people. I have been to court hearings six times on this case. Each time I have won. Yet, I have never been paid. They also owe several hundred thousand dollars to printers and other vendors who have never been paid. They have also never filed US Income tax returns.
They sold life subscriptions to "Go World" magazine, without authorization from Go World and without ever forwarding any of the proceeds to Go World. They just stole the money.
On their web site, they show advertisements for every book ever published by Ishi Press (Japan) over the last 30 years, including even "The 1971 Honinbo Tournament (G7)" by Kaoro Iwamoto, 9 dan, which did not sell well and was never reprinted after 1971. Ishi Press (California) has never had the right to publish or reprint any of those books. In addition, almost all of those books have been out of print for years.
In 1995, Ishi Press was forced to cease publishing and reprinting go books because Hartland Snyder was stealing and pirating them, claiming the rights to those books, yet refusing to pay the authors anything. Since then, all of the authors of those books have transferred publication rights to other publishers. Because of this, even Ishi Press (Japan) no longer has the right to publish those books, and Ishi Press (California), which was simply a North American distribution agent for Ishi Press (Japan), never had the right to publish those books at all.
I suspect that they do not have the books. Knowing them, they just plan to steal the people's money and run.
If they do have the books, they are pirated editions. For example, they are advertising two books written by Richard Bozulich. I am sure that Mr. Bozulich has never given them his permission to reprint his works. There are also books by John Power, Jim Davies and Cho Chikun listed. I am in contact with John Power and Jim Davies and with the brother of Cho Chikun and they have not given Hartland Snyder or any of his associates permission to publish or reprint their books. Power, Davies and Cho Chikun have also not been paid anything for the books sold by the Hartland Snyder group in the past.
They also include an ad for Shogi For Beginners (S1) by John Fairbairn. This book went out of print several years ago because of the pirating problem. Although I am not in contact with Mr. Fairbairn, I am well aware of the fact that Mr. Fairbairn prefers to be paid for his work and does not take kindly to having his work stolen from him.
The only book which they have not listed is my book, "Chinese Chess for Beginners". This is no doubt because I have sued them and won several court decisions over their failure to pay me royalties on my book. Ironically, that is the only book which Ishi Press (California) ever published, except for a mahjong book, and the author of the mahjong book has written me to inform me that he has never been paid his royalties either.
The mahjong book, which mahjong players say is the worst book ever written on mahjong, was published entirely by Ishi Press (California). Ishi Press (Japan) never had anything to do with that book. I was asked to write that book, but I refused on the ground that I am a weak mahjong player. They went out and found somebody who is even weaker than me at mahjong to write the book. He is entitled to be paid his royalties.
They have not paid Mark Boon of Amsterdam the royalties he is owed for the sales of his computer go program.
The only reason all the authors did not file suit is that almost all of them live in Japan and they were unable to bear the time and expense to fly repeatedly to America to pursue court cases. I went to court near San Jose, California over a dozen times on this case, won each time, and still have not been paid.
We are talking about federal and international crimes of pirating books. This is a serious matter. Jail time is involved.
I am not going to provide the address of this fraudulent web site so as not to encourage others to patronize it. It is an AOL members web site.
Sam Sloan
The following are legitimate sources for books and equipment on the game of go: