In a blatant attempt to silence the public dissemination of the truthful information on our homepage, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (Columbia, MD, USA) retained the law firm of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn (Washington, DC, USA) who apparently threatened at least two different Internet servers. Incredibly, Shimadzu's attorney asserted that our website allegedly: 1) infringed on Shimadzu's trademark, 2) competed unfairly with Shimadzu, and 3) that our actions could constitute one or more forms of computer fraud. Lawyers representing our interests agrued that Shimadzu's complaints were invalid and that the critical information on our homepage did not constitute copyright infringement. As a matter of principle, legal action was taken to protect our right to publish this valuable consumer information. If Shimadzu had their way, prospective customers would never see this factual body of evidence!

We have conveyed to all parties (including Shimadzu) our willingness to make corrections (if necessary) and issue apologies (if appropriate) for any apparent errors. However, we absolutely refuse to be bullied by Shimadzu or their legal counsel to remove this useful information from the Internet altogether. We firmly believe that the factual truth needs to be posted in a conspicuous place on the Internet considering the public availability of most of this information already under the Freedom of Information Act.

Shimadzu's actions are unacceptable and disingenuous! If they resort to these kinds of strongarm tactics, then how do you think that your customer questions or concerns will be received and/or addressed should you have a problem with their products or services. We'd like to hear about your customer bonding problems with Shimadzu!