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In cyberspace, no one can hear you scheme

Anyone who was a fan of Spike TV's The Club, a reality-based series about the inner workings of Ice, the metaclub on Harmon and Paradise, should be familiar with the name Ed Williams. He was the balding, angular whirlwind of energy, credited by the show as being the club's owner. Those same viewers also will know that Williams and his entire management staff were booted and barred from the club by the series' end by Ice's main money man, Greg Neely.

"(Williams) was the original general manager-slash-CEO," says the club's general manager, Derek Silberstein, who also took part in what was televised as a hostile re-take-over. "There was really only one real owner of Ice Las Vegas and that's Greg Neely."

Reported by Associated Press as being a matter of "creative differences in the future direction of the club," on the small screen it seemed more like a question of financial improprieties, as Neely hired international clubbing concern Godskitchen to come in, change the locks and seize all records. More specifically, as detailed in a press release issued April 26, Williams is facing accusations of misappropriation of funds, unjust enrichment, breach of duty of loyalty, and breach of fiduciary duty by Ice.

Williams sees it differently. Reached by phone at his local office, he says that he's owed money by Neely and Neely is refusing to pay. "The way the contract was spelled out, my partner was able to push me out, which he did."

All of this is old, or at least slowly developing, news. The latest wrinkle is the real reason for issuing the April 26 press release: Williams was accused of "cyber-jacking" the Ice website. On April 16, web surfers who clicked on www.icelasvegas.com found themselves directed to a site run by Williams and his company, No Limit Entertainment. As well, all Ice-related e-mails were directed to Williams.

Why take over the domain name of the company that fired you?

"You'd have to ask him," says Silberstein. "As an ex-employee, he might have had other reasons for trying to get back at Ice, whether they were justified in his mind, only he can answer that."

Williams apparently felt that he had full rights to the domain name because he had registered it while being employed by Ice, says Silberstein. "We were happy with the decision the judge made that just because you ... at one time registered that name, at that time, you were acting in the best interests of Ice, and not for yourself."

"I and my company owned IceLasVegas.com," says Williams, claiming that he paid for Ice-related domain names with his credit card. "The judge says I am no longer a partner and Ice is using that domain name and Ice should have possession until I can actually show the proof that I own it."

"We were awarded a temporary restraining order against him and his company," says Silberstein, "which basically said that ... Ed was not allowed to use any Ice or Ice trademarks in any of his materials, etcetera."

The website to which people found themselves directed has vanished from the Internet, not even being cached on Google. Before it disappeared, what surfers would have found were several pages, produced by Williams' company, singing Williams praises as a club manager and businessman and promising new nightclubs in the future, including an Ice Los Angeles, an Ice in Arizona (both names Williams says he owns as limited liability companies), and in Vegas, a club called Pi and two other unnamed clubs, none of which he said he was free to discuss.

But with the courts barring him from trading on the well-known Ice name, the success of some of those plans are doubtful. Williams disagrees with the judge's decision, citing the existence of the Ice House Lounge as proof that the word "Ice" can't be trademarked.

"It's a lot of bad, negative energy which I'm caught up in, and wish I wasn't. ... I don't like negative energy and I'm forced to defend myself so I have to."

Waydowntown (R) (3 stars)


$24.95

This undeservedly obscure take on the absurdity of everyday life in the workplace can best be described as a cross between the work-sucks film, Office Space, and the work-sucks comic, Dilbert. Set among intricately winter-proofed downtown Calgary, it involves a group of young cubicle dwellers who bet a month's salary on who can stay indoors the longest. Viewers arrive on Day 24, when things start getting really weird.

The Phantom of the Opera (PG-13) (3 stars)


$29.95

The sewers are alive with the sound of music. And what wonderfully decorated sewers they are. The best thing about Joel Schmacher's adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical is its splendid reconstruction of the Phantom's netherworld home. Beyond that, you either buy into the theatrical conceit or you don't. Despite the critics, fans of the musical should enjoy the DVD, while those who fancied Lon Chaney's frightening take on the legend will hate it.

The Chorus (PG-13) (3 stars)


$29.99

Nominated for a pair of Oscars, this is the latest in a long line of films demonstrating music's redemptive power and the positive influence a teacher can have on a child. Set in a nasty reform school in post-war France, The Chorus does for singing what Mr. Holland's Opus did for high school music programs and Stand and Deliver did for calculus. Overly familiar, but not likely to disappoint anyone who likes this sort of thing.

As our more observant and star-aligned readers will note with some degree of panic, this issue marks the last appearance of Matt Short's Astromat horoscope column. The Weekly has summoned the world's top astrologers to our offices in the city-state of Green Valley for a conclave to decide upon our next seer. Watch for the white smoke.

Monday saw the 1,000th performance of Chippendales at the Rio. According to a press release, each 70-minute performance requires 10,500 heartbeats per dancer, equalling a total of 115,500 from the 11-member troupe of male strippers. On Monday, the grand total for the show's history came to 115,500,000 heart beats. Hey, the Weekly staff went into journalism because we suck at math—we can't make this stuff up. But it does look like our female intern just fainted.