Earthcomber Sues TechCrunch
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
We will not be bullied, and people who file frivolous lawsuits need to be put down. I would rather run TechCrunch into the ground and go out of business than let this guy win.
I'm not usually much of a Michael Arrington fan but much respect for this stand. This "we don't negotiate with terrorists" approach, if applied more broadly by more companies would go a long way toward fixing both the patent system and the legal system. It takes mad courage. Go Mike.
Same principle ;-)
The "best" thing to do is settle for less than the fixed cost + your willingness to gamble. This creates a system of minor extortionists knowing that by simply filing suits and collecting settlements they can sap wealth from businesses that create it almost without effort.
Whats best for the one business (to settle) is not best for all businesses because it perpetuates the broken status quo.
What it takes to stop this cycle is for individuals to stand up and say "No. That's a step to far", even if it means loosing more than taking the "rational" option of settling.
To put it slightly more succinctly, to say as nations do "We will not negotiate with terrorists". There's a reason we take such a hard stance on that. Once you give in once, you'll be giving in forever. It takes courage. Even for a former lawyer.
People fight lawsuits all the time. People fight frivolous lawsuits most of all. The article makes it appear that the connection between Mike Arrington and the company is extremely tenuous. Great. Fighting that doesn't take courage, just business sense. There are far better profiles in courage, especially against better caliber patent trolls and slimy ambulance chasers.
Have you contributed to ACLU yet?
He's subject to the same rule of law as everyone else. He's not above it, nor should he be.
What's fantastic is the lemming responses from this group. Are you guys afraid of him? Did you read the LA Times story that he went back and CHANGED his original hack piece to soften it up?
He also describes Techcrunch as a filter? But Techcrunch the filter isn't being sued. Techcrunch the Co-branded product is being sued.
And who brought that to the public's attention? Arrington? Nope. His former employee reporter did.
Still think this guy is champion of the little fella?
s/ink by the barrel/has a subscription count in the sextuple digits/
Never sue a man who buys ink by the barrel. s/buys ink by the barrel/has a subscription count in the sextuple digits/
They may not get their money's worth from this publicity stunt but it by far wasn't the worst way to spend their cash -- more money has definitely been spent on less exposure in the past.
From what I understand (which may be wrong), most companies that incorporate as Delaware corporations, do so in part because DE has a solid business law system in place.
At the top of the complaint it shows that both defendants are incorporated in Delaware, yet whoever filed the complaint tried (and succeeded) in making a case for whatever goes down to take place in IL. Is that even reasonable?
While I'm sure it won't hurt TC or Loopt to take a road trip, if another startup wound up in a similar bind, I can definitely see the cost of fighting an out-of-state battle putting them over a barrel.
I also love the fact that everyone is afraid of him bc he's a lawyer. Star Jones is also a lawyer, people. Get my drift. Beside's Arrington's an M/A lawyer, which is lawyer with a "small l" in the litigation community. You know, worker bee.
And, he's kinda fat.
How do we know Arrington didn't start Earthcomber to drum up attention for Loopt! :)