Saying he has received death threats, the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against Apple is reaching out to the Mac community in an effort to free himself from the lawsuit over scratch-prone iPod Nanos.

Jason Tomczak posted a letter to the Mac community on his Web site this week, saying that he never intended to be a plaintiff in the case and was included without his consent by the law firms behind the class-action suit. He said that he has been waging a separate legal battle with the firm to remove himself from the case to no avail.

On October 19, 2005, the date the lawsuit was filed, "My life changed due to the unauthorized conduct of others," Tomczak wrote. "From that date forward, countless numbers of people around the world were driven to hate me and slander my name, sometimes using foul and threatening language."

Tomczak said he never hired David P. Meyer & Associates or Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, the two firms that are handling the plaintiffs' case. He said that David Meyer contacted him with questions after Tomczak, an avid Mac user, wrote about the scratch-prone iPod Nanos on various Mac enthusiast sites.

But Tomczak claims he was never asked to be a plaintiff in the case and didn't receive an attorney-client agreement to sign until two days after the suit was filed.

Tomczak hired a law firm to represent him in his attempt to back out of the case, but says the firms invoked Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) in an attempt to have his complaint thrown out. In invoking such a claim, the firms contend that Tomczak is impeding their right to free speech--in this case a lawsuit--by removing his name from the suit.

The firms are also attempting to impose any legal costs onto Tomczak.

Neither Meyers and Associates nor Hagens Berman could be reached for comment.

By writing the letter, Tomczak said he is "hoping to make an attempt to reduce the damage already caused to my good name and to open people's eyes to the fact that I did not approve, endorse, authorize, initiate, or promote the lawsuit against Apple. These actions were taken without my authority and against my express wishes by the law firms of David P. Meyer & Associates and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro."

"I am frightfully aware of the fact that issuing this letter could possibly spur an even more aggressive legal attack against me as they apparently wish to suppress the truth and wish to suppress me," he continued.