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Comment by abyssknight | Hacker News Reader

Why do startups do this? I've seen this a few times over the past few years, and every time I find it loathsome. Dirty laundry isn't something you just go around airing because someone sent you a C&D letter. It could have been a mistake, it could have been a rogue legal team member, it could have been anything. Does it matter to the general public? No. Should it? No. This is between two businesses, and should have stayed that way. It makes both parties look very unprofessional -- and that's about all it achieves as far as I can tell.

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I've recently made a purchase from WP. During my buying process, I did not know that this other company even existed. Now I do.

bingo

I got the impression this open letter wasn't in response to the C&D (that was a while ago), but due to the fact that WP is apparently trying to sabotage Classic Specs's business prospects, e.g. by talking to CS's potential investors and saying unsavory things about CS. CS could run around trying to reassure their potential investors, or they could try and turn this into a marketing opportunity. Looks like they've gone with the latter.

They're "fighting up" as a marketing tactic. And it seems to be working pretty well so far. Countless of other startups have done the same thing like Paypal (fighting Ebay), Handspring (fighting Palm), Runkeeper (fighting Nike), etc.

I agree with you to a point (especially in this instance). On the other hand, I think there are certain circumstances where the laundry should be aired.

While it could be said that nothing is fair in love, war and business, I, personally, find unethical business practices to be quite loathsome. Sometimes a company that tries to win through intimidation and questionable legal threats deserves to have the world know what they're up to.

My grandmother once gave me a piece of advice that's stuck with me- "Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching." Years later, I think about that and I wonder, how many people are running their businesses with a smile on their face and a knife behind their back.

So yeah, there are plenty of times where airing dirty laundry is a shallow thing to do, but there are also times where you can finally see the true colors of a company and what they really stand for.

If it's a mistake, or a rogue team member, the onus is on WP to correct the letter. Aside from verifying that the letter did indeed come from someone authorized to speak on behalf of WP, it's fair for the recipient to assume that the letter is "as authorized" by the sender.

If someone like WP or another company is going to send a letter like this, they should operate on the assumption that it will be made public (especially if it might later end up in litigation.) That would seem to just be good practice with any document you're issuing outside of your company, especially when you're basically initiating a disagreement.

Note that the C&D is from 16 months ago.

Yes, while this kind of stuff doesn't help either party much in the long run, you do have to admit to chuckling a little at the end when Andrew confessed to sending WP's co-founder's wife an empty box instead of her order.

edit: Yep, sorry, I was not clear, the kind of chuckling one does when a business freely publicizes an act of stupidity that could cost them customers.

If by chuckling you mean, "Ensuring I never do business with this company in the future." The open letter makes them come across as jerks. The P.S. makes them look like assholes.

I was with them until the P.S. -- that's just creepy.

Assholes and a vendor which doesn't care about the privacy of customers.

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