By AnonyMaker
It seems that perhaps Keith Raniere’s claim to own 10 percent of First Principles, Inc., the corporation that owns the Nxivm “technology” [teachings], can’t be dismissed out of hand as spurious.
A search turns up references to NXIVM claiming to license the “Rational Inquiry Method” from Raniere, for which he appears to hold the patent, [or patent pending] though having assigned it to First Principles:
https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1320843A1/en
https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2002021481A1/
There would presumably then exist some formal assignment document.
Could the judge order the forfeiture of any of such intellectual property [IP] rights that Raniere might hold, as part of his sentence?
Regardless, so long as the IP rights are tied up in legal wrangling or government seizure, no one dares to use the materials, at least in the US and not publicly.
NXIVM’s reputation for scorched-earth legal tactics will have helped ensure that.
And that leaves the remnants of the group unable to do anything more than try to hold on to a dwindling number of diehards, without any programs to offer and no vehicle for recruiting. Even an attempt to create an offshoot or derivative of NXIVM would risk legal trouble down the line, depending on how the IP ownership issue shakes out.
As for destroying the tech [i.e. by the government, if it is successful at seizing First Principles], there’s no easy way for the government to assess that the “technology” is inherently dangerous or illegal, rather than the problem laying with the way it was applied or even just with the organization that happened to be using it.
Drugs and weapons of mass destruction are clear cut cases because they are incontrovertibly illegal to possess.
The government is tasked with recovering money for the taxpayers when it can.
I’ve even seen them turn around and resell forged art and antiques seized in fraud cases; it’s very hard for officials to make a determination that they can go ahead and destroy something that isn’t necessarily illegal to possess, particularly since such judgment calls are subject to public scrutiny and to being second-guessed and criticized.
Also, it occurs to me that the conspiracy-theory-minded NXIVM loyalists who already believe that Raniere is being railroaded would see the destruction of the “tech” as further proof that the government was out to get them. And come to think of it, they would probably make up things to believe such as that their valuable “tech” was not really being destroyed, just secretly being kept for use by the government in something like MKUltra part II.
I don’t know that the materials themselves are necessarily harmful, outside an environment run by people who also know how to manipulate with NLP and hypnosis, or run an MLM type pyramid scheme – and those key people, including the somewhat charismatic leaders who members followed, are going to be cooling their heels in prison for a while.
***
Who Will Buy Nxivm?
Who might be the Nxivm technology – if First Principles goes up for sale?
Other students who felt they were helped by the tech might also try to buy First Principles from the government. I think it is likely that the government will try to sell First Principles and highly likely that there will be multiple potential buyers.
I think the government is aware of this.
Depending on who buys it, the name may be changed. Maybe the new owners will go back to using Executive Success Programs.
But it is also possible that the new owner will keep the Nxivm name.
Which raises a fascinating question – was there really any good in Nxivm? Was it just the people who misused it that made it a force for evil?
Was there anything in the tech that made people steal, rape and coerce others? Was there anything in the tech that made someone want to brand women and enslave them? Or was this just the madness of the creator of the tech?.
Did the founder and creator of the tech – Keith Alan Raniere – actually create something wonderful despite being inordinately evil?
Of course, no matter what name is used, if the Nxivm tech was taught again, under another name, it would soon leak out that this is Raniere’s creation. He is tied to Nxivm tech no matter what name is used.
I think Raniere realizes there will be buyers for First Principles Corp. and he likely wants to ensure he gets his 10 percent. Perhaps he is even arranging with the Bronfmans or the Boones to buy it.
Could he run it from prison?
None of this, however, is the government’s concern.
If they can sell it to a Bronfman or a Boone, and bring in a million or more, I think they have to do it. There might even be a bidding war.
Viva Executive Success!
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
[…] Government Can’t Just Destroy Nxivm Tech – They Have to Sell It if They Seize It –… […]
Re NXIVM Tech
Perhaps Catherine Oxenberg would like to get some pay back for her daughter and purchase the NXIVM tech.
If Catherine purchased the tech that would me she could sue anyone who used the NXIVM course material.
She would on the intellectual property the copyrights and the royalties.
She could then sue anyone who used the material without her express permission.
I think that would be a great form of revenge…..
R U retarded?
Firstly, it can take years to sue people and get a judgement. Suing multiple people would be even longer.
Then, even if you win, collecting a real judgement big enough to cover all the litigation fees (and to leave a profit left over) is just not possible much of the time. So, such a strategy means bleeding money.
Oxenberg has done nicely for herself and she’s a great actress, however, she is probably not a person with so much wealth that she can throw away tens of millions — as well as years of her life in litigation — just to sue NXIVM people for fun.
Grow a brain, dickhead.
You and Heidi both say some of the dumbest things sometimes.
I’m still wondering what wifey sees in you. It looks to me like she got the worse end of the bargain.
*i.e., most defendants won’t have the assets to pay up even if you collect a big judgement, Mr. dickhead. 🙂
Just owning the IP rights, and having a lawyer send out the occasional cease-and-desist letter, can be enough. It may also be possible to get an injunction or cease-and-desist order against infringing parties fairly easily, and without going so far as filing suit for damages.
As I pointed out, it’s likely that we currently don’t see anyone trying to use the NXIVM materials, in part because they’re afraid of being sued.
I think NiceGuy does provide a plausible scenario of one of the people who might want to buy the “tech” to bury it, as I wrote about. Oxenberg can’t compete with the Bronfmans or any of the rich Mexican followers if they’re still interested when the rights finally go up for sale, but at least bidders like her might push up the cost for whatever remaining loyalists and, thus, the recovery for the taxpayers.
Bangkok,
You have no idea what you are commenting on.
Stick to writing reviews on Romanian Pawg porn websites.
You are such a little dipshit.
Hi Frank. I watched the E True Story on NXIVM and noticed that not only did you not appear, but your name wasn’t even mentioned. Did they interview you or ask you to appear? I know you despise Hollywood and its virtual signalling liberal actors and actresses, so am wondering if you refused to participate in that production and that is why you were ignored. But Oxenberg praised the New York Times. Why no acknowledgement for you?
Will you be in the HBO documentary series? Do you get paid when you appear on shows like that Lifetime interview? Do some of these shows not use you because you charge too much?
I don’t despise Hollywood or virtue signalling liberal actors. Despise is not the right word. I may not approve of some of it – but I do believe in freedom of speech and expression. As for the E True Story, I was not asked to participate and I did not see it. I imagine it was not very good – or very true – if no mention of my role was made. But it is not important to me one way or the other. I don’t charge for interviews for documentaries – and that is standard. Catherine might have praised me on her interview – but it may have been cut. They film a lot more then they use. I was filmed several times for the HBO series and I am told I will be appearing in it.
Catherine did praise me in the Lifetime documentary – rather fulsomely.
Thanks for your questions.
It seems to me that if the Salzmans try to revive NXIVM or some component of it a public campaign could be waged emphasizing their long career of criminal behavior.
If people knew about Nancy’s conviction for hacking into Rick Ross’ computer and her admission of it in court people would not want to take a class associated with her.
People would not be impressed knowing that for years Nancy tolerated being called the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler by her business partner Keith Adolf Raniere.
Likewise with Lauren Pimp Salzman people would not be impressed knowing that for two years she held a woman captive locked up in a room for refusing sex with Lauren’s Lord and Master Keith Adolf Raniere.
Nor would people be impressed that Lauren Salzman was the top assistant to Allison Eva Braun Mack in branding women like cattle and running a sex slave women.\
Shine the light of truth on these Goblins and drive them back into the Darkness!
Who cares who might end up owning rehashed nexium teachings. They won’t be destroyed either, or banned, anymore than ‘Mein Kampf’ or
‘The Anarchist’s Cookbook’.
Reminds Me of the O.J. Simpson book “If I did It”… which the Goldmans were able to get ownership of the rights to the book, Change their judgment against him, …..then they were forced to sell the book to get value on his judgment to pay them.
Kim Goldman has a great podcast right now, I made it through half of it before getting so irritated with the memories of that whole drama. I had to stop listening for my own mental health. I feel similarly when reading about KR (and David Miscavaige).
From the Washington Post, subheading The Volokh Conspiracy, “A new twist on asset forfeiture” might be old ( May 22, 2015) but was still informative. It is about how a motorcycle gang fought the law over “immaterial” property, but a motorcycle gang can be analyzed as being just another kind of cult. It looks like everything is in how well you can spin it, so far as how easy or hard it can be to manhandle or to impound intellectual properties.
In my observation there is not one scrap of originality extant within any of Raniere’s or Nancy Salzman’s so-called bodies of work. There is only a (minor) linguistic tweaking of the usual hackneyed rigamarole to be found as dogma, within most branches of cult hype. It is all inculcation; it is all invasive. Anyone who has studied the output of L. Ron Hubbard will note enough similarities in Raniere’s theories and pronouncements to amount to plagiaristic and only slightly “retweaked,” vampiric regurgitation.
All of the authors and leaders and enslaved proponents of cult-life pretend that following the cultish dogma is sure to become an experience of liberation of some kind. But only if you are found worthy someday by whoever is in charge. In fact cult-life is an experience of succumbing to allowing one’s human rights to be stripped away, expensive layer by expensive layer. You pay for your own imprisonment!
By Raniere’s actions and by his convictions in court, this perv will be remembered, probably in casebooks. His words were a deceptive, untruthful mishmash, designed to uphold his little erections. It was bait. That is all.
Chockful of the misaligned intentionality of his projections. He used his distorted unoriginality to smoothe over his disguised abusiveness and his poorly-hidden pedophilia. He was only trying to be friendly and appealing, huh ? So of course people similar to him in motivations will try to buy the entire program.
Sara Bronfman Igtet or “ItGet” can hail them on for being so dedicatedly humanitarian in her unnecessarily flowery language, still hunkered down, abroad in her leased hideaway. Hopefully France will investigate all of Sara’s “contributions” to children asap, and pourquoi, how come not yesterday or last year? Hint to France: reputedly Sara responds well to pillowtalk, probably post-coital, so give your man on the job some pharmaceutical stimulants, Justin Case.
Catherine Oxenbourg has written a gem of a Nxivm-themed book, though. Raniere’s word salad sucks, but Oxenbourg gives sticks of dynamite, straight into the heart of the reader. It was something that probably she never dreamed that she’d be called upon to do. Captive: A Mother’s Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult, cowritten by Nastasha Stoynoff, is the sole Nxivm-based book I’ve read so far. Catherine Oxenbourg is a tigress very worth reading. For me, Natalie’s tome belongs right alongside Raniere’s tomb, at a site called NeverEverLand.
One more thing, what with so many intermingling subjects, there was a very good article Sunday in the Boston Globe, “Epstein accused says she was assaulted at estate owned by Victoria’s Secret Billionaire.” 10/5/19 by Sarah Ellison and Jonathan O’Connell. Lots of backstory on Mr. Wexner and his wife is revealed here and how they live(d ) under armed guard. The Globe offers a thorough synopsis of interviews which Marie Farmer, now 50, gave to the Washington Post after she had given her affidavit to support the case of Virginia Giuffre.
Maria Farmer tells the story of the 1996 summer when Epstein and Maxwell stashed her on Wexner’s New Albany, Ohio property for 2 months and sexually assaulted her together on their final visit to Ohio. She got up from that assault, ran and locked herself in a room and immediately started making phone calls for help, even to 911. However, Mr. Wexner more or less owns New Albany, Ohio. Maria’s father came and rescued her.
Wexner and wife have claimed to have no acquaintance with Maria Farmer and also claim that someone impersonating Mrs. Wexner had to have been “talking to her on the phone” while she was in New Albany under armed guard and not allowed to go outdoors unless she called Mes. Wexner asked permission. Maxwell’s lawyer did not respond when asked to comment about Maria Farmer’s sequestration or sexual assault.
It looks like Leslie Wexner could’ve been Epstein’s first big whale to get ensnared via blackmail to me. Alan Dershowitz has reportedly been applying pressure to Wexner recently to help Dersh out with $$$ to fund the prosecution of Epstein’s and Dershowitz’s accusers, for perjury and whatnot. Both of these guys are in their eighties. It’s very unlikely that Dershowitz is broke, but he has been said to be a cheapster who hates paying, even if it’s just coins for a vending machine.
Frank, how come are you not covering why the DOJ NDNY and or NY State isn’t doing anything about the crimes NXIVM, the Salzman’s, Raniere, the Bronfman’s and other committed in Albany that was not covered in the EDNY charges?
Is the fight over? Are you giving up on putting pressure on the authorities from finishing their jobs?
Is this criminal enterprise really not going to get away with the rest of their crimes?
Is Clare Bronfman only going to spend a maximum of 27 months in prison?
Is Raniere not going to face the charges that were moved to the NDNY that the EDNY decided to move there because of his whining about where the crimes happened?
I refuse to refer to the NXIVM teachings/philosophy as “technology” or “tech,” which was used 22 times in this story. Scientology uses the same term for the BS that a failed fiction author called his BS, which Raniere obviously copied.
The government has no right to own others’ ideas, no matter how disgusting those ideas are.
Since the patent application was summarily rejected by USPTO, there is no asset to sell. The so called technology was found to not be of value, unique or have any use.
It had appeared to me from the links I provided that a patent had been granted, though I see now that seems to be limited to Japan. If you know the patent system, can you please explain those entries better for us?
Looking a bit further, here’s what I found for the US application, which I found in a system different from the main patent database:
PCT/US00/40818 RATIONAL INQUIRY METHOD
Transaction History
Date Transaction Description
08-23-2011 Mail-Petition Decision – Denied
08-22-2011 Petition Decision – Denied
07-28-2011 Petition Entered
07-12-2011 Mail-Petition Decision – Dismissed
07-12-2011 Petition Decision – Dismissed
05-02-2011 Petition Entered
11-12-2001 Case Docketed or Redocketed to Examiner in GAU
03-21-2001 Mail International Search Report
03-21-2001 International Search Report Ready to be Mailed
02-08-2001 PCTC
02-05-2001 PCT – Chapter 1 P210 / P237 (Full count)
01-29-2001 PM85
12-20-2000 Case Docketed to Examiner in GAU
11-30-2000 PCTA
11-20-2000 Priority Document Ordered
11-20-2000 Notification of Receipt of Search Copy
11-20-2000 Record Copy Mailed
11-20-2000 Notification of Receipt of Search Copy
09-05-2000 Receipt Date
https://portal.uspto.gov/pair/PublicPair
The denial of the patent undoubtedly reduced the value of the asset but it didn’t change the fact that there is an asset.
I originally sketched the first part of this out as a comment, so I’m going to add a few further thoughts.
I expect the IP to be bought by some remaining loyalist. The question then would be, will they cooperate in buying it – or defer to Clare Bronfman purchasing it – or will the remaining factions be fighting among themselves at that point, and competing for it? I can’t imagine that there would be any outside buyers, except someone who thought there would be some money to be made in selling videos and materials to former members.
There’s a famous example of what can happen at auctions, from the art and antiques world, involving a celebrity known for being difficult to deal with, including being cheap and screwing people on deals. When they were selling off a collection, there was a particular piece that everyone thought should have been donated to the foundation that ran the artist’s home, to be displayed where it originally belonged, but the collector had refused a very reasonable deal offered by the foundation and its backers. So when the piece came up for bid, everyone put down their paddles, and let the foundation’s buyer take it for the starting bid price without any competition.
But there’s no guarantee which if any of the major players, including the Bronfmans, will still have any interest in NXIVM’s IP once it goes up for sale. Based in part on what I’ve seen in other groups, most people will eventually move onto other things, and the most entrepreneurial will try to create something that is enough their own that they don’t have to answer to, or pay licensing fees to, any new owner of the IP, especially the longer things drag on in limbo. It’s also possible that a disaffected former member with enough money could buy it just to bury it, or just someone with money but so hapless that they will effectively kill it off.
The other interesting asset question, is whether Raniere really has a financial interest in Bronfman’s island, which would be worth millions.
Plus if Clare Bronfman is no longer paying his legal bills, he will owe a lot to lawyers out of whatever assets he might have.
I think that the judge should rule that any assets Raniere didn’t list on his initial financial disclosure, should be forfeited as part of his RICO sentence, but I don’t know if that is within the normal sentencing purview.
My educated guesstimate. .
The Bronfmans and the Boones put up the money to buy the bogus NXIVM tech.
But they will use a straw person as the buyer or Front Person so that they are not identified with NXIVM.
Nicki Clyne, you are that straw person.
Nicki Clyne, you are the new Vanguard.
The Vanguard is dead.
Long Live the Vanguard!
It’s indeed quite possible that a front could be used to purchase the IP rights, including a foreign shell corporation that would be virtually impossible to penetrate. We’d only know when there started to be clear signs that someone had licensed the material and was using it again.
Someone clever could, for instance, develop a new initial intensive that wasn’t obviously similar and, in particular, didn’t use any Raniere videos, and only after that return to the old program. But once someone starts doing something like that, they’re on the road to not needing the old NXIVM IP at all, except perhaps for the right to use something that would be similar to the “rational inquiry” method, and not risk being sued.
And once anyone started using the old materials, and the Raniere videos in particular, it would only be a matter of time before they were outed as trying to revive NXIVM – with its toxic reputation as a sex cult. That will push any effort further in the direction of developing, or becoming, something new.
Any new effort would also be lacking the key ingredient of a charismatic leader or guru, that is part of what makes high control groups or cults succeed, when they’re really all just working variations of the same basic techniques.
Yes and no. A group, such as the Boones, could use their experience with the tech to create a new company, using what raniere/salzman had created as a foundation. Change some names, change some elements and you have a new program, and a new company. They do not need any Raniere videos, because there were very few. One of the Boones already has had a human potential company, there is no reason for him not to start it up again. He was contractually obligated not to compete with NXIVM, but since that no longer exists he may have free reign to start one again, in Mexico. Everyone assumes NXIVM was involved with sex, but that was more Jness/DOS, the ESP component was strictly geared towards business and life success, and it was good and successful, until DOS. That is what the media does not want you to see or believe.
You claim that the ESP component of NXIVM was ‘good and successful’ before the DOS scandal broke?
Let’s examine the facts. 🙂
To be ‘successful’ a company needs to be able to stand on its OWN TWO FEET without needing a constant infusion of capital from outside sources — such as ultra wealthy benefactors who are pleased to throw away millions of their PERSONAL fortune on behalf of ESP/NXIVM.
ESP was never 100% independent from its rich NXIVM benefactors.
Nor was ESP 100% independent from its teams of law firms that required a constant infusion of capital just to pay those huge expenses.
ESP did not clear enough revenue to pay those expenses from its normal business operations of selling classes.
Just because a few ‘NXIVM centers’ could pay their local rent bills does NOT mean that ESP (as a whole) was standing on its own two feet —- since ‘local centers’ are not responsible for covering lawsuit fees and other corporate headquarter costs, personnel costs, etc.
What else?
Local NXIVM/ESP ‘centers’ were allegedly not reporting and paying all of their taxes on every dollar of income that students paid.
ESP/NXIVM was allegedly using much of this ‘money/cash’ to create phony scholarships (and other scams) to avoid paying taxes — which is NOT the definition of a successful company that can stand on its own two feet.
What else?
When Keith illegally used Pam Cafritz’ credit cards to pay for various expenses (after she was dead), do you honestly think that ESP paid off those credit cards from normal business operations?
Nope.
According to Frank’s reporting, those credit cards were paid off by stealing the money from Pam Cafritz’ $8 million bank account (after she was dead) which contained her PERSONAL inheritance from her own rich parents.
Does that sound like a successful enterprise that was standing on its own two feet?
BTW: It’s perfectly normal for successful firms to get a ‘temporary loan’ from the bank which they must pay back. However, ESP/NXIVM was not doing that. They weren’t paying back anything, just bleeding more and more money over time.
As for the NXIVM centers in Mexico owned by the Boones, I seriously doubt that they are currently raking in dollars and overflowing with money.
Just because they haven’t ‘closed’ yet (and can pay their local rent bills) doesn’t mean they are making millions.
Their current students may remain for a while — but there’s too much negative publicity to gain LOTS of new students, even in Mexico.
If anybody here wishes to prove me wrong, then show us their current income and expenses along with their Mexican tax returns. Let’s see real documents, not just worthless speculation.
Now kindly eat shit.
I bid you a nice day. 🙂
Interesting perspective, thanks for that.
But doesn’t that all lead down the path I was suggesting, where anything new starts to become less and less NXIVM, if at all? Particularly if one of the Boones had a previous human potential program, it was probably based on many of the same sorts of principles. Typically what is most unique about these programs are their control techniques, and other pathological elements – like the sexual and sex roles aspects in NXIVM’s case.
The media reported on the sensational aspects, because that was what was unique about the group.
Jack Levy is the other name that comes to mind, as someone who sounds as if they might have the ability and charisma to do something on their own.