Sigma Data Systems, Inc.

(While we're on the subject of Tucson, remember this?)

For those of you following the online harassment saga against me, I wish to address an issue repeatedly brought up by the harassers, specifically the alleged involvement of Sigma Data Systems, Inc. of Tucson, Arizona, in the harassment operation.  While I continue to take the position, based on overwhelming evidence, that my former employer, Cycorp of Austin, Texas is involved in the harassment, this statement puts before you various information concerning Sigma Data Systems, Inc. (SDSI).  Rather than draw any conclusions myself, I invite readers to draw their own conclusions.

The harassment program targeting me has also targeted, with obsession, Arabs and Muslims.  Additionally, they attack anyone critical of Israel as a "Jew hater."  The harassment has included death threats, the release of personal information, libel, defamation and online racist hate crimes including threats against my Latina wife and daughter.

First Instances of Online Harassment

From 1995 through 1998, I used the Internet free of any significant online harassment.  The first instance of online harassment that I experienced was during my employment at SDSI in 1998.  I received unsolicited emails asking me "if I had heard of identity theft."  The messages came from an individual using the name "the devil himself."  These emails were sent to the same email address I had used to send my original resume to SDSI.  I draw no inference.

Some Background on the Environment at SDSI

While I worked at SDSI, I soon discovered that the office was dominated by individuals with rightwing views.  I overheard on more than one instance conversations at the small office where Muslims and Arabs were derided, labeled as terrorists and where Islam was described in a hateful light.  Participating in these conversation were the president of the corporation, the secretary who handled personnel issues and several other workers.  This was within an office of approximately 9 individuals.  Of those 9 individuals, one was an ex-police officer, another was the husband of a current police officer and a third was the daughter of a police chief.  The aforementioned secretary has also stated to me, along with her husband, that anyone critical of Israel is a "Jew hater."  Her husband stated to me that he donates funds to the Jewish Defense League (JDL), an organization designated by the FBI as terrorist.

SDSI provides software to government agencies.  One of their primary products is used by police departments across the country to screen police officers and conduct background investigation on police officers.  The company maintains good relations with police departments across the United States.

I found my job at SDSI very disappointing.  No less than three times, after making significant progress, Jack Feldhaus, president of SDSI, changed development platforms.  After developing a significant portion of the system in Java, he decided to dump Java and switch to Visual Basic.  After working on Visual Basic for a significant amount of time, he decided to dump Visual Basic and switch to Delphi.  It is unusally (if not unhead of) to change development platforms three times on a small software project.  Each time he did, we had to start over again.  In time, I learned that this had happened before.  His previous programmer also experienced such radical upheaval in development at the orders of Jack Feldhaus.  Eventually, the previous programmer quit or was fired.  Jack Feldhaus had nothing but contempt for him and continued his open animosity toward him during the nearly two years I worked at SDSI, all after this previous programmer had left.

Conflict With Jack Feldhaus

Originally, I worked enthusiastically for Jack Feldhaus, but as the futility of the working relationship set in, I became less productive.  During the WTO protests in Seattle, I spent some time monitoring those events from office and Jack learned that I was an anarchist.  He was disturbed that I supporter the actions of the anarchist demonstrators in Seattle.  Shortly thereafter, Jack Feldhaus walked into my office and went into a diatribe.  It was nearly two years after I had started working for him.  He claimed that I had cost him about $250,000.00 by taking so long to complete the project (a project he forced us to restart THREE times).  He then said something that I had never heard anyone say before.  He questioned whether I had finished my degree in Computer Science.  No one had ever questioned that before.  I have always been considered an excellent programmer.  I completed my degree in Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston in 1985.  This question floored me.  It gave me the impression that he was "nuts."  He then went on accusing me of playing rather than working.  He stated that I had moved around a lot because I am "incompetent."  While I have moved around a lot, it has nothing to do with my level of competence.  He stated, "this does not have to ruin your career, you could finish the project and then find another job."  I looked at this man (a man I had now lost all respect for) and said, "you do not have the ability to 'ruin' my career."  I told him that my productivity had declined as of late because the futility of working for him had made me depressed and that when workers feel depressed they tend to be less productive.  With that, I left for home.

Over the next few days I spiraled down into a state of deep depression and began, for the first and only time in my life, to suffer from anxiety attacks.  I went to my doctor who had been treating me for depression and explained to her how depressed I felt and how I could not find the motivation to go on.   I described the anxiety attacks to her.  She prescribed anti-anxiety medication and pulled the medication out of her supply cabinet and handed it to me.  Since I paid her in cash at every visit and since she and I had agreed from the start that I would pay her in cash and that no insurance company would be informed of my depression, the only two people, up to that point, who knew that I had been given anti-anxiety medication were my doctor and myself.  My doctor recommended that I not go to work for two weeks and that I take the time as vacation.

I was concerned that my coworker, Michael Carroll (of Oro Valley, AZ), would be stuck with a lot of work.  I was also interested in using him as a reference.  I sent him an email explaining to him why I could not come to the office for a couple of weeks.  I intimated with him that "I was having a nervous breakdown" over the situation and that my doctor had prescribed anti-anxiety medication.

I had vacation time coming to me.  I sent a message to Jack Feldhaus telling him that I could not return to work for two weeks under orders from my doctor and that I would take the time as vacation.  He shot back with an harassing email.  I replied that I would still take the two weeks of vacation and that he could consider my reply my two weeks notice for termination of my job as well.  Jack Feldhaus replied with an email stating that HE HAD ACCEPTED my resignation.

After the two weeks passed, I returned to SDSI to take my possessions out of my office and handed to Jack Feldhaus a note from my doctor.  That was the last time I saw the creep.

A Very Short Review of the Online Harassment While At Cycorp

This document will not go over, in detail, the harassment at Cycorp.  It will detail only that which appears to be connected to what happened at SDSI.

While working for Cycorp I was using my computer at home posting political information on an online forum owned by MSNBC when an individual asked if I were Stephen DeVoy (I was using a fake name).  Shortly thereafter, an individual identifying himself as a cop stated that he would hunt me down and slit my throat.  Shortly after that, another post appeared.  It was signed by "the devil himself" and asked whether I had heard of identity theft.

In time, the harasser recruited an individual at Cycorp to assist in the harassment.  The harassment escalated.  The recruited individual stated that he worked for Cycorp and that he had been recruited to harass me by the original harasser.

Information Released by the Harassers Pertaining to Sigma Data Systems

The harassers have made the following claims on their website (KOBEHQ) and on bogusly annotated copies of my resume that they have posted online.

(1) That I had a nervous breakdown while working in Tucson, Arizona.

(2) That I had taken anti-anxiety medication while working in Tucson.

(3) That I resigned without notice for SDSI.

(4) KOBEHQ, the original harassers, claimed to have "fucked up my life" twice.  Cycorp was the second time.

(5) All of the annotations on the bogus release of my resume by the harassers are completely incorrect with two exceptions: the comments under Sigma Data Systems, Inc. reflect what I believe Jack Feldhaus believes and the comments under Cycorp reflect what I believe Cycorp believes (though they are still inaccurate).

(6) KOBE SBM released a statement on NYC IndyMedia (of which I have a copy) claiming that ex-employers were behind the harassment.  Note the use of the plural.

An Attempt to Exonerate Sigma Data Systems

As a thought experiment, let us suppose the SDSI has nothing to do with the harassment.  As I have already stated, Cycorp is involved in the harassment.  It would seem to follow, then, that when Cycorp telephoned my previous employers in a bid to hire me, they telephoned SDSI and SDSI provided them with the above information.  This seems plausible, but Jack Feldhaus, president of SDSI, has stated to me in an email that no one ever contacted SDSI with regard to hiring me and that if they did SDSI would provide only a start date and an end date and nothing more.  Yet, the information did come from SDSI, for it could ONLY have come from SDSI.

Conclusion

You figure it out.