Go Little Guy, Go!

[thejere]

I encountered this story while reading slashdot. Finally a solution to little guys being bullied by big guys with patent lawyers: the little guy is a lawyer. I hope AOers who watch the x-mag and hAIR disappear under threats of litigation smile knowing someone is throwing up a road block in the way of frivolous law suits.

Blue Jeans Cable Strikes Back

[Spider-TW]

Nice!

[Hilltop Customs]

That was a really interesting read.....funny that monster has such a huge mark up, but still feels the need to go after tiny competitors who are willing to sell their products at a lower price because they dont have such a huge name and big box stores behind their products.


" Further, if any of these patents or trademarks has been licensed to any entity, please provide me with copies of the licensing agreements. I assume that Monster Cable International, Ltd., in Bermuda, listed on these patents, is an IP holding company and that Monster Cable's principal US entity pays licensing fees to the Bermuda corporation in order to shift income out of the United States and thereby avoid paying United States federal income tax on those portions of its income; my request for these licensing agreements is specifically intended to include any licensing agreements, including those with closely related or sham entities, within or without the Monster Cable "family," and without regard to whether those licensing agreements are sham transactions for tax shelter purposes only or whether they are bona fide arm's-length transactions."

I believe this is a good time to use the word.......pwned




and in closing www.monoprice.com for all your cable needs! (they have a lot more than just cables too....and you simply cannot beat their prices) I'm no way affiliated with monoprice, just happen to be a very happy customer


oh and maybe this would be better in the Friendly Corner

[ThePixelGuru]

I do not compromise with bullies and I would rather spend fifty thousand dollars on defense than give you a dollar of unmerited settlement funds.

Bravo.

That letter was complete hilarity. I only wish I could see the look on their faces when they open that email.

EDIT: reminds me of that "copyrighted" C&D letter from a while back - this company was sending C&Ds and intimidating people into silence by claiming that the C&D was copyrighted so they wouldn't repost it. Worked until they ran into this guy.
Article
Response to C&D (100KB PDF)

[Cold Steel]

We gotta get that guy involved in paintball. With most of the big names in paintball hurting now financially, it would be a good time to push back some of the BS claims.

CS

[halB]

Bulgaria was an ally of Hitler's Germany.
Hitler told the Bulgarians to hand over their Jews.
Bulgaria said, "NO."

And you know what happened? You know what happened to the one* state that stood up to that maniacal bully, the bully with the grandest army in Europe?

Nothing.

Not a thing happened to the Bulgarians.




Oftentimes, all you have to do in life is call someone's bluff. Most people are too cowardly to do that.

[acropilot19]

Buy "Blue Jeans" Cables!

Monster=SP!

[SteelSoul]

Didnt anyone see the date???
Read the first line of the letter. Yall sure this isnt a prank???

[secretweaponevan]

Didnt anyone see the date???
Read the first line of the letter. Yall sure this isnt a prank???

I think the author was just pointing out how foolish the letter was.

It is nice to see the law being used in defense of justice instead of tyranny.

[Ratt]

Someone...ANYONE...please hire this guy to go after SP! Let's take a collection so we can hire him!

[Steelrat]

Typical. Large corporation that puts out mediocre product uses it's size and finaces to try and bully little companies. I'll have to check out there product next time I'm looking for some high-end cables. Which Monster definately are not.

[halB]

Monster's cables sound as good as coathangers

And ya'll thought coat hangers were just for the back alley

[sunfisher89]

Monster's cables sound as good as coathangers

And ya'll thought coat hangers were just for the back alley

I really want to try that now.

[ThePixelGuru]

Monster's cables sound as good as coathangers

And ya'll thought coat hangers were just for the back alley

Doesn't surprise me in the least. If you're running anything of a decent gauge less than 20 feet no one will ever know the difference. I've always bought thick cheap wire for my sound systems and it works just fine.

It's like comparing the $30, gold-plated USB cable to the $5 generic one. Is there a difference? Yes. Is anyone ever going to notice? Probably not.

[Steelrat]

Monster's cables sound as good as coathangers

And ya'll thought coat hangers were just for the back alley

I've got some expensive cables for my system, but a high-end company once used home-depot type extension cord for speaker cable at a high-end show, and everyone raved about the sound until they saw what it was.

I do believe, however, that the high end cable is shielded better, and that prevents cross-talk and noise from entering the line. It also looks cool