Against Monopoly

Indeed. Hopefully, this will get even more people to start to contemplate the bigger picture here:

http://claytonecramer.blogspot.com/2010/07/outrageous-lawsuit.html

Fortune's Don't ice me, bro! When memes meet the marketplace relates the battle by Vodka peddler Smirnoff against fans of its Smirnoff Ice beverage. Apparently it had become popular with "Bros"--"a college-age person ... They like to hang out. A lot of them drink beer and wear backwards baseball caps. A lot of them drive SUVs and listen to Dave Matthews Band"--well, until Smirnoff sued them, I guess. Some frat-boy antics arose where these kids of privilege and no rhythm would "ice" each other--basically daring or challenging or pranking each other to drink a Smirnoff Ice. Then someone set up fan site brosicingbros.com, with pictures etc. of people "Icing" each other.

Good PR for Smirnoff, right? Well apparently Smirnoff didn't think so, so they threatened the site with a copyright and trademark lawsuit, so it was taken down. The case by Smirnoff is taken apart in Bros Icing Bros - A Case for Copyright Bullying by Overreacting Smirnoff Lawyers by legal non-profit called NewMediaRights, which heroically provides "free legal assistance to bloggers, journalists, and filmmakers getting bullied by companies into taking down their websites."

This reminds a bit of Ford Slaps Brand Enthusiasts, Returns Love With Legal Punch, AdRants, in which Ford Motor Company claimed it holds the rights to any image of a Ford vehicle, even if it's a picture you took of your own car.

For other IP horror stories, see The Patent, Copyright, Trademark, and Trade Secret Horror Files.

Microsoft gets patent for Windows shutdown This wouild seem to fail the non-obvious test. I mean, isn't the natural thing to shut down a

NBC--Comcast combo will screw the public Absolutely not, you were, as I document below. His response to this was civil too. Nobody

NBC--Comcast combo will screw the public Bill Stepp writes: I note that Nobody Nowhere was [insult deleted]; [threat deleted]. None of the

NBC--Comcast combo will screw the public I note that Nobody Nowhere was rude in his comments to Anonymous; why he isn't banned is a

Microsoft gets patent for Windows shutdown If only Microsoft would work on patenting technology that would make Windows shut down in, say, 5

NBC--Comcast combo will screw the public It's nice to see that commenting has picked up again after a long lull of nearly zero activity at

NBC--Comcast combo will screw the public Comcast is such a huge company. They can buy anything that they want. I know that they are trying

Music without copyright Metallica has been making so much money over years and they still do. This band has been around for

NYTimes finds more IP news but doesn't report its consumer cost Hey there, thank you for the heads up, will spread the word. Maplin onsale

Comment Posting Announcement Awesome stuff, loved the tricky spam buster! Medela

Against Monopoly

defending the right to innovate

IP Bullying

Yes, lawyers in the Department of Justice really CAN be as stupid as the next lawyer.

"There are criminal enterprises out there prepared to use the law in ways that it was not intended."

Smirnoff's Copyright and Trademark Bullying