Wikimedia sues Internet Brands

Kevin said:
Somebody submitted it to Slashdot...
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Someone said this:

The suit is about Trademark Infringement, Unfair business practices under the Lanham Act, Unfair business practices under California Business Practices Act, and Civil Conspiracy. Copyright is not mentioned at all.

Basically, WikiTravel (Internet Brands) is claiming that the site was forked, which they admit right in the suit is legal. However, these two 'unpaid volunteers' , who were admins for WikiTravel (and are the ones who forked the site) then went on WikiTravel's web site and made statements to the effect that WikiTravel was moving to or becoming WikiMedia. That is a lie. WikiTravel is a trademark owned by Internet Brands, and is going nowhere. They also used their admin authority to send emails from WikiTravels email to WikiTravels customers stating the same thing.

They can fork the site if they want. They can not claim or imply that the site is WikiTravel (a trademark violation). And they can not make it appear as if the WikiTravel business no longer exists or has become something else. That is a Lanham Act violation.
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The unpaid volunteer admins could certainly have made a minor mistake of words.
 
BamaStangGuy said:
So what was the exact email they sent, word for word?
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Not seeing the full context but check items #29 & #30 here...

http://static.ibsrv.net/ibsite/pdf/...el Trademark From Deliberate Infringement.pdf

#35 seems to be a copy & paste (not literally, mind you) from the XF lawsuit in that there were additional unnamed conspirators acting together against IB. Any of you guys/gals watch The Caine Mutiny with Humphrey Bogart? I'm starting to think somebody at IB is obsessed with strawberries.
 
According to #29 and #30 all the email states is that the Community is looking to migrate. Nowhere does it state that the site is moving.
 
IB blows chunks... I would honestly hope nowadays nobody is silly enough to entertain a purchase by IB for their website. You won't likely get your money, then they will destroy your work so you can't use it after you've been in court for years trying to get your site back, of which they haven't paid you for... or money... which they will then devalue due to their own negligence. IB should be spanked hard by courts IMHO to teach them a lesson in business etiquette.
 
Anthony Parsons said:
IB blows chunks... I would honestly hope nowadays nobody is silly enough to entertain a purchase by IB for their website. You won't likely get your money, then they will destroy your work so you can't use it after you've been in court for years trying to get your site back, of which they haven't paid you for... or money... which they will then devalue due to their own negligence. IB should be spanked hard by courts IMHO to teach them a lesson in business etiquette.
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If their software is good I'll support it. Just like I would with ipb, if their version 4.0 ipb polished turns out to be good for my needs I'd support that also. I'd have absolutely no problem whatsoever in supporting say for example vb5 if it turned out great.
 
Anthony Parsons said:
Good luck with that... I wouldn't piss on IB if they were on fire. In fact I would stoke the fire and add more fuel to it just to make sure it all burnt down good and proper.
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This seriously made me laugh. Got an odd look on someone's face in the room from doing so. :ROFLMAO:

I feel the same way about another company (IPS / IPB)
 
Adam Howard said:
This seriously made me laugh. Got an odd look on someone's face in the room from doing so. :ROFLMAO:

I feel the same way about another company (IPS / IPB)
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Can we do it in Bob Brisco's office like how Harvey Spector did it in Suits? :D

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ManagerJosh said:
Can we do it in Bob Brisco's office like how Harvey Spector did it in Suits? :D

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Suits. Suits! Suits! SUITS! SUITS! SUITS!

SUITS!

Ahhh....I looooove that show. Love. :cool:
 
Nah. I'd rather have someone like Harvey Spector making Brisco pee... Or weep! :D

I yelled, and exclaimed when Harvey made Louis STFU and pee in the office that episode. There needs to be a GIF for that $#!^.

I was like "Serves you right, B!^@#!"
 
Andy.N said:
This makes an article on NYT Tech section
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/b...ofit-dream-wikitravel-now-bedevils-owner.html
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From the article ...


Live by the wiki, perhaps die by the wiki.

When the California company Internet Brands bought the Web site Wikitravel in 2005 for $1.7 million from the two developers who had created it, the company got the site and the name, as well as a community of thousands of volunteers who generated the travel guidance that brought the audience.
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1.7 million !
That's lots of bones for a little group of volunteer admins.
 
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