Yeah, I hear you, hindsight 20-20.
It was Mark's manager John Shimmin who made that request. John is a great guy, and Mark had (still has?) a great relationship with him. He genuinely wanted to help Shimmin, and did so faithfully for weeks.
It's not fair to pin this on Mark and dismiss it with a "rookie move dude." Mark (and I) had no idea that facts could be twisted and ignored to create this kind of legal conflict. A lot of people operate under the guileless belief that if they help someone, that person/entity will not screw them. Mark is one of those people.