@number6

Article on amiga-news

https://amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2024-10-00118-EN.html

@OlafS25

Yes. I posted the links to Amiganews on the prior page.
Late last evening there was a server outage which has been restored and currently being analyzed.

#6

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@number6

yes thanks I overlooked it. I only saw the link to linkedin

it seems that Ben H. gets out of the game finally, despite his tricks

questions is what will happen in future

The income Hyperion generates can only be license fees from selling amigaos 3.2 licenses. But this is disputed also between Cloanto and Hyperion or precise Ben H.. But if Ben H. is out of the game there might be a chance to come to a agreement finally.

@#6
I changed "Monard Law" to "Artes Law" in my last post. Yes, Ben lost his job because of conflict of interest shenanigans performed through Artes.

OlafS25 Quote:

yes thanks I overlooked it. I only saw the link to linkedin it seems that Ben H. gets out of the game finally, despite his tricks questions is what will happen in future The income Hyperion generates can only be license fees from selling amigaos 3.2 licenses. But this is disputed also between Cloanto and Hyperion or precise Ben H.. But if Ben H. is out of the game there might be a chance to come to a agreement finally.

It is risky for Trevor to try to buy the Hyperion Entertainment stock but it looks like that is what he is trying to do. He could be one lawsuit loss from owing Cloanto hundreds of thousands of US dollars in 68k AmigaOS profits which have likely already been spent and/or losing the right to use AmigaOS 4 and the AmigaOS name. THEA500 Mini shows how many 68k Amiga units can be sold without AmigaOS but the loss of sales could be significant. A significant loss of sales for PPC AmigaNOne hardware would make the rare hardware rarer for Trevor's collection. Winning!

Cloanto/Amiga Corporation primarily needs at least shared use of "AmigaOS". I don't think Michele would have a problem with A-Eon using AmigaOS 4, the "AmigaOS" name, "AmigaOne" or the Boing Ball logo as that was pretty much the deal he offered Ben. Trevor can continue to make rare PPC AmigaNOnes for his collection and Amiga Corporation can do something with the 68k Amiga. It would be even better if the 68k AmigaOS could continue to be updated with AmigaOS 4 and API compatibility improved between them. Even Trevor likely realizes by now that rare hardware equates to minimal software development. I don't know how long anyone else would be interested in PPC AmigaNOne hardware if the 68k Amiga was mass produced again as performance could be competitive with PPC hardware at a fraction of the price. Hardware lives and dies based on large value changes.

Last edited by matthey on 29-Oct-2024 at 10:39 PM.

@matthey

Quote:

@#6 I changed "Monard Law" to "Artes Law" in my last post. Yes, Ben lost his job because of conflict of interest shenanigans performed through Artes.

Thanks, but there were also allegations of Hyperion doing business out of Monard Law as well, so you could have just added the new bit instead of changing it. heh.

#6

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#6 Quote:

Thanks, but there were also allegations of Hyperion doing business out of Monard Law as well, so you could have just added the new bit instead of changing it. heh.

I recalled conflicts of interest at Monard Law which is why I put it. Did Ben lose his job at Monard Law as a result of his conflicts of interest though?

@matthey

Quote:

Did Ben lose his job at Monard Law as a result of his conflicts of interest though?

All I can do is illustrate what I felt at the time.

This is a discussion I had with an individual very focused on facts.
I suggest beginning at post #15

I realize (because I checked) that some links are dead. So I'll just post here the link that prompted that allegation:
should be viewable even by non-x members

I'll let you conclude what you wish from the discussion and any info in the still live links.
In case it is not mentioned in the linked MZ thread I'll also remind you that a member of Monard Law in fact submitted documention supporting Ben in the early court cases.

Added: the unfinished business on the 2 EUIPO trademark registrations by Ben where representative remains Monard Law: Entry also illustrates the Amiga Forever trademark surrender by Nele.
Source

#6

Last edited by number6 on 30-Oct-2024 at 05:17 PM.

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#6 Quote:

I'll let you conclude what you wish from the discussion and any info in the still live links. In case it is not mentioned in the linked MZ thread I'll also remind you that a member of Monard Law in fact submitted documention supporting Ben in the early court cases.

It looks like Ben lost his job at both Monard Law and Artes Law due to Amiga related shenanigans, conflicts of interest and lying. That e-mail is especially damning.

https://x.com/amigadocuments/status/1139772932752732160 Quote:

Hi there! I had an e-mail exchange with some Monard Law lawyers about the Associate Partner Ben Hermans. I gave them the Robert Trevor Dickinson audio recordings, the conflicting statements in court cases and interviews exposing Ben Hermans lies about having relinquished his Hyperion roles in July 2003 (he had told them about giving up his position in the old VOF company, but forgot to tell them about being a new director in the new CBVA...), and the new recent allegations of using Monard Law for fraudulent actions to benefit Hyperion. So now they fired him!! Looks like it all happened this week (his name was still there on June 10, but had disappeared by June 15:

Ben registering for Amiga related EUIPO trademarks through Monard Law is a conflict of interest but may be part of the process of Monard Law being the representative for Hyperion Entertainment. That is a grey area that may depend on a code of ethics. It is most likely frowned on but may not be enough alone to get him fired. The criminal activity and lying on the other hand are good reasons to be fired. Amiga Documents may not be the most reliable source of info but there are other sources of info that can be used for verification. The repercussions for Ben have been severe despite not being convicted of his criminal offenses and serving jail time yet he arrogantly continues to cause chaos in Amiga Neverland and push his luck. Hopefully, he should be out of the picture soon.

@matthey

My question would be about the "firing" in the case of Monard.

Here's why. A colleague at Monard stands up for him in court documents plus...

It is common to appoint a "new representative". It's just a matter of filing the paperwork.
If he truly left on terms where he was actually "fired", why didn't he file to have some new friendly entity become representative for the 2 trademarks?

I'll admit there might be a legal reason this could not be done here, but still I hope you understand why I'm not convinced about all this when it comes to Monard.

Added for clarity: Click the link for Amiga Forever and go to "correspondence". Note the change of representative prior to surrender. Why assign a new friendly rep for that one but not the other two?

#6

Last edited by number6 on 30-Oct-2024 at 10:06 PM.

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#6 Quote:

My question would be about the "firing" in the case of Monard. Here's why. A colleague at Monard stands up for him in court documents plus...

Was it Dr. Nele Somers the Belgium model (Miss Belgian Beauty 2008) and attorney that stood up for Ben and left Monard Law with him to Artes Law?


https://www.artes.law/nl/wie-wij-zijn/dr-nele-somers/
https://www.instagram.com/nele.somers/?hl=en

She looks like a friendly and social person from her Instagram. Was infidelity the reason for Ben's previous divorce? More coincidences?

#6 Quote:

It is common to appoint a "new representative". It's just a matter of filing the paperwork. If he truly left on terms where he was actually "fired", why didn't he file to have some new friendly entity become representative for the 2 trademarks? I'll admit there might be a legal reason this could not be done here, but still I hope you understand why I'm not convinced about all this when it comes to Monard. Added for clarity: Click the link for Amiga Forever and go to "correspondence". Note the change of representative prior to surrender. Why assign a new friendly rep for that one but not the other two?

The EUIPO "Kickstart" trademark was refused so the representative data is likely outdated data and there is no reason the representative would be contacted. The "Amiga Forever" trademark may have required a representative to surrender the registration. Legal challenge documents may have been sent to Monard Law causing them to contact Ben to take care of it. Using "Nele Somers" as rep instead of "Ben Hermans" or "Artes Law" obscures Ben's new conflict of interest between Hyperion and Artes Law. I can't think of any legitimate reason Ben would go after the "Amiga Forever" trademark for Hyperion Entertainment's own business needs. It may have been registered as a bargaining tool with Cloanto or just for revenge. There were legitimate reasons for Hyperion Entertainment to register "AmigaOS" and "Workbench" trademarks in Europe if they found them unregistered just like there were legitimate reasons for Cloanto to register the "Amiga" trademark in the US upon finding it unregistered which may be what caused the revenge against Cloanto.

Last edited by matthey on 31-Oct-2024 at 01:40 PM.

@matthey

Quote:

THEA500 Mini shows how many 68k Amiga units can be sold

No it doesn't, it is a Linux/ARM system.

Please stop being so daft.

If you replace the ARM with an equivalent 68k somehow, and replace Linux with AmigaOS somehow, you will have a system that doesn't work at all.

Last edited by kolla on 31-Oct-2024 at 04:11 AM.

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@matthey

Quote:

It is risky for Trevor to try to buy the Hyperion Entertainment stock but it looks like that is what he is trying to do. He could be one lawsuit loss from owing Cloanto hundreds of thousands of US dollars in 68k AmigaOS profits which have likely already been spent and/or losing the right to use AmigaOS 4 and the AmigaOS name

Trevor and Mike have always been on good terms, soI think the lawsuit would be settled pretty fast withiout any friction. I don't think Mike will try to squeeze money out of Trevor for something he had no say in. What happens to revenue while a Hyperion is in administration, I expect that it isn't being drawn into an account owned by Ben, so there could be money waiting for Mike if Trevor gets control of Hyperion.

Quote:

I don't know how long anyone else would be interested in PPC AmigaNOne hardware if the 68k Amiga was mass produced again as performance could be competitive with PPC hardware at a fraction of the price

I don't think your fever dream super 68k SOC is going to happen, it would be less expensive to mass produce PPC hardware to the point where it would be affordable to consderably more people, and that also has pretty much zero chance of happening.

@matthey

Quote:

Was it Dr. Nele Somers the Belgium model (Miss Belgian Beauty 2008) and attorney that stood up for Ben and left Monard Law with him to Artes Law?

NO

Go down to "T" for Timothy

Now look at document #23

Monard d'Hulst was rebranded to Monard Law, so consider these identical.

#6

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Rob Quote:

Trevor and Mike have always been on good terms, so I think the lawsuit would be settled pretty fast without any friction. I don't think Mike will try to squeeze money out of Trevor for something he had no say in. What happens to revenue while a Hyperion is in administration, I expect that it isn't being drawn into an account owned by Ben, so there could be money waiting for Mike if Trevor gets control of Hyperion.

Trevor and Mike were friends before Trevor hired Ben as his fixer. Actually as I recall, Mike introduced Trevor to Ben. I'm not so sure Mike would drop all the pending lawsuits against Hyperion Entertainment just because Trevor becomes the majority owner. Mike has no doubt incurred significant legal bills and it may be better at this point to wait for the conclusion of the filed cases which could pay the legal bills. I believe Trevor is partially responsible for Ben's actions and that Mike was betrayed by both Ben and Trevor in their scheme to what I believe is stealing the Amiga IP (financially distressed Amiga Inc coerced into signing 2009 gift). Also, I would say Hyperion violated the 2009 agreement by challenging ownership. I expect Mike dropping the lawsuits is negotiable though and certainly Trevor is more diplomatic, reasonable and honest than Ben. I expect they will come to a compromise but I hope Mike doesn't let Trevor off too easy after all the trouble he has caused.

Rob Quote:

I don't think your fever dream super 68k SOC is going to happen, it would be less expensive to mass produce PPC hardware to the point where it would be affordable to considerably more people, and that also has pretty much zero chance of happening.

There are likely plenty of bargains for PPC cores and IP right now to modernize the aging PPC silicon and guarantee future supply of chips but the problem is no PPC market. AArch64 is similar to PPC but better in almost every way including code density. There are no remaining popular architectures as fat as PPC. Also, AArch64 has cores with more than twice the performance of the best performance PPC cores. Even the weak RISC-V ISA SiFive U74 core outperforms a PPC G5 in 7-Zip benchmarks while offering better code density than not only PPC but also AArch64. The U74 in-order core design is similar to the in-order 68060 design and smaller than most PPC OoO designs. The 68k ISA would have better performance than the RISC-V ISA using the U74 core design and it has better code density. Most importantly, there is a 68k retro market that has already sold millions of devices.

https://gamerant.com/sega-genesis-mini-2-low-limited-supply/ Quote:

According to sales data, the 2019 original Sega Genesis Mini (or Sega Mega Drive Mini depending on the region) sold over 1.5 million units. Some consoles even had region exclusive games depending on where they were sold. Much like the original, the Sega Genesis Mini 2 has a number of retro titles, although this time will feature some classics that never made it onto the system as well as some Sega CD games. Despite this being a product that would be greatly anticipated by older Sega fans and prospective buyers, the mini console will be in less supply compared to its 2019 release.

THEA500 Mini likely sold many tens of thousands if not low hundreds of thousands of units despite lacking value. An ASIC is a cost reduction where the lower cost and higher value will increase sales more. An ASIC 68k SoC can be ridiculously cheap to produce and low cost is great for embedded use too where the 68k created and was king of the 32-bit embedded market for close to two decades. Code density is still among the best with only ARM Thumb ISAs being on par among common ISAs.

#6 Quote:

NO Go down to "T" for Timothy Now look at document #23 Monard d'Hulst was rebranded to Monard Law, so consider these identical.

Ok. So Ben had a friend at Monard Law or another victim of his deceptions.

Last edited by matthey on 01-Nov-2024 at 12:45 AM.
Last edited by matthey on 01-Nov-2024 at 12:41 AM.

@matthey

Quote:

Ok. So Ben had a friend at Monard Law or another victim of his deceptions.

Monard tenure overlap between them was a decade or so. Technically Timothy document on Courtlistener was posted when he was a -former- Monard partner.

#6

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@matthey

Quote:

An ASIC 68k SoC can be ridiculously cheap to produce

If that’s the case, why isn’t anyone doing it?

Last edited by kolla on 02-Nov-2024 at 12:25 PM.

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@kolla

Cos everybody outside some retro nerds left or started leaving 68k 30 years ago.
Some stragglers stayed a few years more on ColdFire but after 2000 it was as dead as the horse everybody likes to beat so much.

Sure we can discuss wether the retro market is 1 or 10% of the size needed for economics of scale to kick in for an 68k ASIC. If you fancy pointless discussions tat is

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#6 Quote:

Monard tenure overlap between them was a decade or so. Technically Timothy document on Courtlistener was posted when he was a -former- Monard partner.

Ok. I have thought about how much of a known criminal predator Ben is, how much he has abused the power of his legal degree and how much evidence there is against him which was enough to get him fired at Monard Law before the shell business incident. Presenting the evidence to his law office employers was a good idea but maybe a letter to get him debarred from practicing Belgium law altogether is in order. The bar may be higher to get him debarred but there is plenty of evidence. Bizarrely, there are no criminal convictions though.

Sam Bankman-Fried
o wire fraud (2 counts)
o conspiracy to commit wire fraud (2 counts)
o conspiracy to commit securities fraud
o conspiracy to commit commodities fraud
o conspiracy to commit money laundering
25 year prison sentence

Ben Hermans
o conspired to steal AmigaOS 4 and Amiga IP with Trevor
o embezzlement of bank funds from A-Eon Belgium
o forgery/fraud of bank notes as part of embezzlement
o making false statement and possible perjury in several cases
o created shell business and illegally transferred assets to avoid loss in bankruptcy (security fraud?)
o possibly tax evasion involved with the shell business
free pass and still practicing law

Sam Bankman-Fried stole on a larger scale but Ben is a more hostile and power abusive predator using his legal degree and the legal system. Ben's criminal acts are spread over a long time so the statute of limitations may have run out in some cases and some of his co-conspirators support him making a conviction more difficult. The authorities don't even seem to be aware or interested in scaring him as he is just as arrogant as ever.

Last edited by matthey on 02-Nov-2024 at 03:01 PM.

matthey Quote:

An ASIC 68k SoC can be ridiculously cheap to produce

kolla Quote:

If that’s the case, why isn’t anyone doing it?

Uncertainty is an investment killer. Trevor and his fixer Ben stole too much of the Amiga IP, especially the "AmigaOS", to create better hardware than THEA500 Mini (RGL approached Jeri Ellsworth about a 68k ASIC). Trevor wants PPC for the classes so more lost Amiga decades. A 68k SoC ASIC with both performance and compatibility like RPi hardware would kill the AmigaNOne.

Kronos Quote:

Cos everybody outside some retro nerds left or started leaving 68k 30 years ago. Some stragglers stayed a few years more on ColdFire but after 2000 it was as dead as the horse everybody likes to beat so much. Sure we can discuss wether the retro market is 1 or 10% of the size needed for economics of scale to kick in for an 68k ASIC. If you fancy pointless discussions tat is

The Sega Genesis Mini sold 1.5 million units alone while there is a new Sega Genesis Mini 2, Neo Geo Mini (at least 6 variations), Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro, Neo Geo MVSX and THEA500 Mini with no production numbers but it would not be surprising if these minis/toys alone have sold over 2 million units in the last decade. There have been enough sales for successors to the Sega Genesis, Neo Geo and THEA500 Minis/toys. Most of these products could have better value with many die hard fans choosing universal FPGA devices like the MiSTer or FPGA based recreations like Analogue Mega Sg instead but collectors may buy the Minis too, especially if cheap enough. Better value hardware, especially a lower price, could significantly increase these sales. Real 68k CPUs with FPGA chipsets provide the best quality at a cheaper price than emulation or large FPGAs simulating the CPU too. There are also partially untapped markets like the Amiga, Atari ST and X68000 where higher end hardware up to the 68060 is sought after and an ASIC 68k SoC could deliver the compatibility and performance they want (more than 10 times the performance without expensive and hot OoO ARM CPUs and incompatible JIT emulation). There are probably hundreds of thousands of universal FPGA device users using their devices mostly for retro 68k hardware and this number would grow with cheaper hardware. I think you are way off in your estimates for the size of the 68k retro market.

@matthey

—1,5 mllion Mini-Segas

All build on ultra cheap ARM SoCs that have plenty of headroom for emulation and convenience features around it.
99.999% of buyers don’t care and wouldn’t even know the difference between SW, EMU, HW EMU (FPGA) or an ASIC
Market might also already be saturated at this point

68k ASIC for that market would require substantial upfront investments to actually develop it and a SW stack making it an as nice retro gaming experience as the existing ARM based ones.

Even if you could sell 7 figures still not enough economics of scale when competing SoCs that can be ordered and payed in 6 or even 5 figures per batch for under 1$.

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