It appears that just before last New Years Eve, David Wayne Flash was not hanging out with friends. He was consumed by his obsession with this website. He appears to be having a hard time dealing with the fact that this website is The Most Trusted Name In News In the Big Bend, while his pathetic smear site is barely noticed online.
If one examines Flash’s postings on FB and the postings on his smear blog, this all paints a picture of a person desperate for attention. That is likely because David almost certainly has zero friends. One can look at his smear blog, where he has to make up employees and generate text refering to himself in the 3rd person, and see that David tries incredibly hard to create the impression that there are other people working with him. One can look at his presence on social media over many, many years and find that all of the pictures THE FLASHOLE posts, he does not appear to ever be with any other people. One might begin to have empathy for Flash… until one sees how Flash relates to others. It is not pretty. That’s why we have no trouble pointing out that Flash likely has exactly zero friends. He’s intolerable to everyone except the people on social media that don’t take the time to look into what he is all about.
The reason we know Flash wasn’t hanging out with friends around NYE last year is that he was busy sending strange emails to a candidate for office in Jeff Davis County. Flash believes that Jake Knobloch is our publisher and sent 2 emails that he claims are cease and desist letters. Letters aren’t something you receive in an email, they are delivered via US mail or other carriers and printed on paper. Flash’s ‘cease and desist letters’ were sent to Mr Knobloch using a personal email address belonging to Flash. In the first he states he is writing on his own behalf. This article will focus on that email. That email was sent at 3:24AM CST on Dec 30th. The emails were provided to our publisher by Mr Knobloch, who has since become the Count Chair Elect of the Republican Party in Jeff Davis County.
After receiving the email our technical team got right to work. The first thing they did was check our website logs around the time that Flash sent the emails. Our site is obviously very popular, often having traffic numbers similar to CNN, a similar news site. So it was quite lucky that our tech team was able to identify hits on our site just before Flash fired off his strange emails:
Flash mentions that URL in his second email so it’s likely this hit was from Flash himself. If we lookup that IP address online, further evidence appears to implicate Flash:
It appears possible that Flash was at a Holiday Inn Express in Corpus Christi, at 3:30AM the morning before NYE sending emails with very strange claims. Just a few weeks later his lawyers would file a hilarious federal lawsuit against officials in Jeff Davis County. Perhaps Flash was hoping to send stupid threats via email hoping to scare our teams into taking down the site to give him a better chance of continuing to con people? We don’t know yet. But we do know the idiot was surely in Corpus to push his Gulf Of Mexico trope. People on social media sure will fall for anything.
The first sentence in the first email is a doozy. “I write on my own behalf to demand that you immediately cease and desist from unlawful conduct associated with the website operating at BigBendTimes.org, including but not limited to defamation (libel), copyright infringement, trademark passing-off, cybersquatting, and tortious interference with business relationships.” That’s a lot to unpack for sure. Let’s take this item by item.
First is the defamation (libel) claim. Those are actually two different things so make up your effing mind David. Forgive my language. You can always tell when someone is bluffing on a defamation claim when they don’t actually list any direct quotes. Flash’s further comment says “BigBendTimes.org has published and republished false statements of fact about me, including the claim that my mother killed someone. That statement is false.” What Flash appears to be talking about is here. As soon as we confirmed that it was not Flash’s mother but instead his step mom, our editorial team updated the article. And David, if you don’t want people to be confused, then call him what he was, your half brother. That will help avoid confusion.
The next claim may be the most comical. Flash claims “BigBendTimes.org has used photographs, images, and other original content that are my copyrighted works and/or the copyrighted property of Big Bend Times, without authorization, license, or permission.” This is the exact description of what Flash has done with our own intellectual property many times. Each time he does so, he claims he is allowed to use our content via the Fair Use provision of copyright law. We are allowed to do exactly the same. Surely Flash knows this but perhaps he is a narcicist that believes he is allowed rights that no one else is. In a second sentence he says “These materials are protected under the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.). Their use on a domain intentionally designed to imitate the name and branding of my publication aggravates the infringement and creates confusion as to source and affiliation.” So are our materials. He claims that this site creates confusion, but doesn’t state how. Our site is clearly labeled “Counterpoint to bigbendtimes.com.” If there’s any confusion, it’s because David Flash doesn’t seem to be thinking straight. This news site, The Most Trusted Name In News In The Big Bend, is nothing like Flash’s AI Slop blog. Remember too, Flash’s Big Bend Times is not a real business. There’s no brand there. David Flash claims to be a media mogul, but he doesn’t understand very basic things about the internet. If you don’t want people using domain names similar to yours, there’s one sure way to do it. Register the domains yourself. Looks like David got ripped off on that online master’s degree. They didn’t even teach him the basics.
Next is Flash’s cybersquatting/domain squatting claim. “The domain is being used to impersonate or trade on the goodwill of my publication, divert readers, damage my reputation, and interfere with my business. The bad-faith intent is evidenced by the site’s focus on attacking me and my reporting, its mimicking of my publication’s name, and its use of my intellectual property.” This news site doesn’t impersonate. Again, our site is clearly labeled “Counterpoint to bigbendtimes.com.” If there’s any confusion, it’s because David Flash doesn’t seem to be thinking straight. He mentions a law that relates to Marks. It says “A person shall be liable in a civil action by the owner of a mark, including a personal name which is protected as a mark under this section, if, without regard to the goods or services of the parties, that…” Mark is defined here. Once again, there’s no brand there. Flash has no trademark, he hasn’t and now can’t register the business name. He loves to make statements that might confuse people into thinking he has a legitimate business, but he’s just a lowly AI Slop blogger.
Next is the “Trademark Passing-Off and Consumer Confusion” and it’s hard to see how that claim is any different than the previous two. “Operating a website under the name BigBendTimes.org creates a likelihood of confusion as to affiliation, endorsement, or origin. This constitutes passing-off and unfair competition and misleads readers into believing the site is connected to or endorsed by my publication.” Sounds kind of like a legal claim, but it’s BS. Forgive my language.
And finally we have the “Tortious Interference With Business and Professional Relationships” where Flash says “The operation of this website, combined with outreach to individuals connected to my work seeking negative statements about me, constitutes tortious interference with my business and professional relationships. The conduct appears intended to disrupt my journalism, damage my reputation, and interfere with my livelihood.” What Flash is actually referencing is our site doing REAL JOURNALISM. Flash posts AI Slop to his blog and may be the most hated man in The Big Bend. There is no way to damage his reputation beyond what he has already done himself.
After all this crap, Flash follows with some demands, responses inline:
Disable and take down BigBendTimes.org in its entirety; –Hah, I’ll sell you the domain David and you can do whatever you want with it. How about $250k?
Cease use of the domain name BigBendTimes.org and any confusingly similar variants; --Again, I might consider selling it but since you are such a jerk, price just went up. $500k
Remove all false and defamatory statements, including the false claim regarding my mother; --Bro, if I take down the site and cease using the domain as you said above, there would be no way to remove individual news posts. What an idiot.
Remove all copyrighted materials belonging to me or Big Bend Times; --Now I'll just copy/paste: Bro, if I take down the site and cease using the domain as you said above, there would be no way to remove individual news posts. What an idiot.
Cease any further publication or distribution of false statements about me; --It's all true bro. Even if it isn't, Texas's Anti Slap Law protects false statements. If you wanna come at me here, be ready to pay my legal fees when your case is dismissed.
Cease any outreach to third parties intended to solicit or publish defamatory content about me; and --So you think you can restrict my journalism, take away my 1st Amendment rights? Perhaps you are mad because Pierce made you take down the reference to Bobby on your website?
Confirm in writing, within 48 hours of receipt of this letter, that you have fully complied. --Why would anyone reply to a strange email, sent at 3:34AM from a Holiday Inn Express? None of the claims are valid, none of the requests are constitutional.
Finally, our team would like to point out that Flash copied a few journalists that have covered him in the past. Doesn't appear that any of them paid any attention. Surely Carlos Ramos came to his senses and is so embarrassed about being suckered by Flash that he couldn't even bring himself to correct his story.
Look for updates here and a link to Part The Second where we examine Flash's second strange email sent just a few minutes later that same night in December...
Here is the full email text:
From: David <david.flash@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2025 03:24:51 -0600
Subject: Cease_and_Desist_Defamation,_Copyright_Infringement,_Cybersquatting,_and_Tortious_Interference_(BigBendTimes.org)
To: jake@uptimecomputing.com
Cc: Carlos Nogueras <carlos.nogueras@texastribune.org>, news@newswest9.com,
editor <editor@bigbendsentinel.com>
Mr. Knobloch,
I write on my own behalf to demand that you immediately cease and desist from unlawful conduct associated with the website operating at BigBendTimes.org, including but not limited to defamation (libel), copyright infringement, trademark passing-off, cybersquatting, and tortious interference with business relationships.
Defamation and False Statements of Fact
BigBendTimes.org has published and republished false statements of fact about me, including the claim that my mother killed someone. That statement is false.
My younger brother was shot to death in 2011 by his mother, who is not my mother. My mother had no involvement in that event. Publishing or repeating a claim that attributes that act to my mother is materially false, reckless, and harmful.
The website further exploits this family tragedy in an effort to discredit me personally and professionally. This conduct goes well beyond opinion or fair comment and constitutes defamatory statements and implications presented as fact.
Copyright and Intellectual Property Infringement
BigBendTimes.org has used photographs, images, and other original content that are my copyrighted works and/or the copyrighted property of Big Bend Times, without authorization, license, or permission.
These materials are protected under the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.). Their use on a domain intentionally designed to imitate the name and branding of my publication aggravates the infringement and creates confusion as to source and affiliation.
"""
Cybersquatting / Domain Squatting
Your registration and use of the domain BigBendTimes.org, which is confusingly similar to my publication, Big Bend Times, constitutes cybersquatting and bad-faith domain use under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (15 U.S.C. § 1125(d)).
The domain is being used to impersonate or trade on the goodwill of my publication, divert readers, damage my reputation, and interfere with my business. The bad-faith intent is evidenced by the site’s focus on attacking me and my reporting, its mimicking of my publication’s name, and its use of my intellectual property.
Trademark Passing-Off and Consumer Confusion
Operating a website under the name BigBendTimes.org creates a likelihood of confusion as to affiliation, endorsement, or origin. This constitutes passing-off and unfair competition and misleads readers into believing the site is connected to or endorsed by my publication.
Tortious Interference With Business and Professional Relationships
The operation of this website, combined with outreach to individuals connected to my work seeking negative statements about me, constitutes tortious interference with my business and professional relationships. The conduct appears intended to disrupt my journalism, damage my reputation, and interfere with my livelihood.
Demand
Accordingly, I demand that you immediately:
Disable and take down BigBendTimes.org in its entirety;
Cease use of the domain name BigBendTimes.org and any confusingly similar variants;
Remove all false and defamatory statements, including the false claim regarding my mother;
Remove all copyrighted materials belonging to me or Big Bend Times;
Cease any further publication or distribution of false statements about me;
Cease any outreach to third parties intended to solicit or publish defamatory content about me; and
Confirm in writing, within 48 hours of receipt of this letter, that you have fully complied.
This letter is sent without waiver of any rights or remedies, all of which are expressly reserved. If you do not comply promptly, I will consider pursuing all available legal remedies, including injunctive relief, statutory damages, domain transfer, and recovery of costs.
Govern yourself accordingly.
Thank you!
David W. Flash
Media Maven / Growth Hacker
https://davidwflash.com
www.linkedin.com/in/davidflash
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." John Wooden
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