Slashdot Mirror
Quepasa.com Settles Whatshappenin.com Lawsuit
Bob Roberts writes: "It looks like the frivolous lawsuit brought against quepasa.com by Whatshappenin.com is finally over: the case has been settled by Quepasa.com. What does 'dismissed with prejudice' mean?"
If a case is dismissed with prejudice, it cannot be brought again in front of the court. This is another way of adjudicating a case is frivolous.
'prejudice' here means a pre-trial decision; the case is decided and the plaintiff can't bring suit again. When a case is dismissed "without prejudice", no judgement is entered and the case can be filed again.
No, it's not wrong. The "judge" most likely has nothing to do with this. And it doesn't really have to do with res judicata. When parties want to settle a civil case, the most common method is to execute a settlement agreement. This agreement calls for one party to pay money, or stop using a trademark, or both, or whatever. In exchange, the plaintiff agrees to dismiss their lawsuite with prejudice. This means that they cannot refile their lawsuit. Res judicata usually applies where a judge or jury adjudicates an issue, in which case it cannot be relitigated in a later case. A dismissal with prejudice is typically a voluntary dismissal (although there are situations where a judge will enter a dismissal with prejudice).
Otanoshimi ni! ne?
You also have www.gildot.org (in portuguese).
el primero posto!
They had the "Embrace and extend" kerberos story 4 days before Slashdot
This is really valuable information.
Where are the moderators when you actually need them?
Well, it appears you have the prejudice part down pat.
Then we'll have to worry about whazzup.com, wassup.com, howzitgoin.com, and of course howsithanging.com
your trolling sucks. your aren't even clever. you don't fool me, you poser.
Brilliant.
What, you work for marketing?
It's always nice to meet a fellow fan.
"Asshole without name" Yeah, right. Some of us still remember when Slashdot got hacked and the user list was thrown to the winds. Hope you're still getting the spam, FanBoy.
Perhaps a NINJA should be consulted on this issue.
Would any NINJA like to comment?
I would not recommend acting pro se to anyone. I did it because I had to. I made a lot of mistakes and the judge was openly condescending to the naivete of my responses.
I believe I won because the plaintiff's lawyer thought it would be an open-and-shut case and did not adequately prepare. If someone wants to go after you for crypto violations that probably won't be the case.
I spent a lot of time in the local university law library reading state statutes and fumbling with case citations. It's not unlike reading a big mass of code. The slippery dangerous part is reading words that have technical meanings and not realizing the technical meaning. (E.g. if you are reading securities law then the words material and non-public have technical meanings and you need to know how courts have interpreted them, not what you think they might mean).
Once again ... if you have a direct personal interest ... my advise is to do your own reading first. (And if you have absolutely nowhere else to get started, hit up the Nolo Press books). But if you have a personal interest, pay some real $$$ to a real professional to explain things to you.
...and flecksters are exactly those. h4w7 d4w6 0wn2 j00!
you're a shitty troll. you suck at it.
(Sorry, shouldn't feed the trolls, but I couldn't resist it!)
What are you talking about?
The article says the case was settled, but doesn't say what whatshappenin.com got out of this... I assume a large amount of cash, but how much and did they get anything else out of it?
Natalie Portman descubierto y aterrorizado
Natalie Portman descubierto y aterrorizado
!NATALIE PORTMAN DESCUBIERTO Y ATERRORIZADO!
In contrast to the Quepasa/Whatshappenin situation (where, to the best of my knowledge the only connection between the two was the name, which in each case was a common idiomatic expression in the applicable language), I would think that should Slashdot/Andover/VA Linux Systems wish to take action against the Spanish site (putting aside U.S. v. Spainish jurisdictional arguments) (and I am not saying they should), they would have a pretty good case -- Barrapunto is pretty clearly attempting to be suggestive of Slashdot, potentially to the point of causing confusion under the trademark laws, given that it is using the Slashcode in an attempt to look like Slashdot (though the open copyright license to use the Slashcode may weaken the trademark claim) and the name _Slashdot_, while it has a Linux/Unix meaning, is a fairly distinctive mark.
Multilingual domain name lawsuits.....whatever..
He gets a bonus because your ass is easily amused ?
*smack*
Dictionary says: corta de punto, of course, I wouldnt know
Isn't "res judicata" the name of one of The Police's albums?
I hope ReRun lays the smack down on the unauthorized use of his domain.
gee, babelfish sucks ass.
Primera nota.
"slash punto" will only be used by someone speaking in "spanglish".
IANAL a lawyer, but I think that means that the judge (or any other legal bodies) _cannot_ further discriminate, in this case, against Mexicans from pouring hot grits down thier pants.
Or, in Spanish - Una harina de avena más caliente en mis pantalones!
punto de la raya vertical
But only if you spell it as slash dot
you suck as a troll.
you're not a troll. you just suck cock.
diagonal punto. If we try and make it catchy, we could say diagopunto.
It's barrapunto... and it's already used BTW ;-)
Ask a Mexican college student to read a web address aloud, and they'll call the / a 'slash' (with a Mexican Accent, of course), not 'Barra Diagonal' or whatever.
Of course, if you go to Spain saying 'slash' for /, you'll probably get laughed at.
So my friends, Slashpunto it is :-)
Oh, and as far as I know, there are no grits down here. We'll have to think of an equivalent foodstuff to pour down people's pants....like Chilaquiles
!Anda Canijo, te voy a echar Chilaquiles en los pantalones!
Penejo Sin Nombre... :-) not likely....
That is utterly moot.
Which meaning of the word 'moot' did you intend:
1 a : open to question : DEBATABLE b : subjected to discussion : DISPUTED
or
2 : deprived of practical significance : made abstract or purely academic
Disclaimer: IANAL, but I watch CourtTV and LAW&ORDER.
Now we only have to wait for the outcome of www.smallflaccid.com Vs. Microsoft...
Find funky gifts
ROFL
Sorehands? Yeah, I bet. Probably from beating your more than likely pathetic cock because you can't get any pussy.
You don't fool me you lamer.
Oh, wow, that's nice. Let them bring suit against you in China. Who gives a fuck. It won't matter. What the hell can China do about it? That's like saying that not only am I supposed (I use "supposed" lightly here) to obey US law but now Chinese law is binding? Give me a break pal.
You're a lamer and you do not fool me one bit.
KATZ FOR PRESIDENT!
NAZI PARTY REPRESENTATIVE
YOU'RE A JEW IF YOU DON'T VOTE KATZ!!!
If I'm not mistaken you are indeed a gay communist.
How much is it to cross the bridge you live under? Do fellow trolls get free passage?
I suppose I shouldn't reply to such a dickweed troll but take your finger out of your ass and think...
Slashdot is international. For example, I am reading this in Wales. However as my father (Polish) actually spent some time in a POW camp in Italy under the barbaric regime of the Nazi's I find your comments ignorant, abusive and offensive.
I will forward a complaint to the staff of slashdot.org in due course.
I hope you petty puerile sense of humour enjoys this - becuase I can think of 6 million people who will not.
...Upgrade now to Schrodingers Dog...
You're stoopid. All of you.
Moderators suck.
Microshaft roolz.
Moderators suck.
So does Micro$oft.
Moderators suck.
Yes, you read him right. This case means nothing legally. Much like the MS case--if they settle, the findings of fact effectively won't exist and can't be used in the class-action suits.
However, the outcome was pretty obvious. Trademarks are compared *in English*, so whatshappenin.com and quepasa.com are the same, and quepasa.com would have been in violation--but only if the court somehow found that whatshappenin.com was a fairly unique term and not merely a cliche describing what the company did.
Moral of the story: Don't try to get away with using translations of names like "Microsoft" or "SlashDot" as you can be sued for that and will almost certainly lose, since there's much precedent there. If you have the money to fight it, though, feel free to call your graphical interface "Windows" since that's just a description and you can likely win, given enough money. Don't try to get away with "Windows 2000" or "Windows NT" though.
Dude. It's called comity. Look into sometime before you go courting lawsuits in other countries. With a treaty, they domesticate the judgment. Now, you got the local sheriff at the door to enforce the foreign judgment recognized by treaty as legit.
...wish I had mod points to mark this funny!
--Joe--
Program Intellivision!
....and wazzzzzuuuuuup.com is probably already 0wn3D by Anheuser-Busch.
spawn_of_yog_sothoth
As the dude above pointed out, it's not a precedent because it's not a ruling. This was a settlement, so whenever something is dismissed (with or without prejudice) then there's no ruling, or judge's decision on record, so there's no precedent to cite in future cases. A settlement is a way to avoid a decision and to avoid setting a precedent (in some cases).
Just be sure to wear the gold uniform when you beam down -- you know what happens when you wear the red one.
Moderators, mod this baby up, this needs to be preserved for all time.
:)
Wet myself, were talking actual droplets of urine here
"Because we are not employing at entry level, offshoring will kill our industry stone dead."
IANAL, but I always though that "without prejudice" meant that the deal had no effect on future legal wheeling and dealing. i.e. it would mean the settlement in this case did not effect any future legal wheeling and dealing. "With prejudice", would presumably mean that the settlement in this case would affect any future dealing between the two companies involved.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Ahhhh... ahora que se siente bueno!
Blar.
Besides, it is a Spanish language site, wherein the vid clip of the reactions over Jennifer Lopez' dress were all in Spanish.
Did someone say that quepasa.com settled?
-- memoid
I don't know how this relates, but I recently heard that somewhere in the world recently a judge ruled that you can't agree to get injured.
I'm sketchy on the details but it went something like this: Two guys in a bar agreed to go outside and fight. One guy got pretty badly injured in the fight. A case resulted, went to court, and the judge said that although they agreed to fight, and that the nature of a fight is for people to hurt eachother, you can't agree to get injured.
Anyhow, I thought it was interesting.
Yes, "nolo" refers to that, but it also means so much more: "We wanted a short domain name that can be easily remembered and associated with law, but lexis-nexis was already taken".
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
Trademarks are compared *in English*
Ok, everyone remember the Nova incident in Spanish speaking countries?
Does this mean that I can't go around selling cars under a name of "Doesn't Go"? Or does that just describe the actions of the product?
:-)
Steven Rostedt
Steven Rostedt
-- Nevermind
It is not wrong. The *judge* has the final decision... hence res judicata. Judges aren't supposed to tell plaintiffs their arguements are full of @#$&.
-sid
Not catchy. Not even a little.
:-)
-sid
YES!! We need better trolls! These trolls suck!
yeah. thanks
--
The shareholder is always right.
--
The shareholder is always right.
Dismissed with extreme prejudice.
Ask me if I've been required to disclose any crypto keys.
I wonder if the owner of a similiar domain (i.e. whatsgoingon.com or some such) is gettting a similiar idea and thinking about suing whatshappenin.com. I don't see why not
-ac
"The state was indeed [...] the gendarme, but the kind of gendarmes who think they are somebody [...] and the capitalist class got rid of it [and replaced] it with a government of its own choosing [...] at all times under its control." - Errico Malatesta, "L'Anarchia"
Hmm... not sure.
You see, to me the real excitement of slashdot is the epic battle between order and chaos. The moderators are of course on the front lines. I think the reason I am so enthralled is that it is all so tragic -- surely it clear to everyone by now that the moderators are utterly doomed. Their cause is lost, but each day they sally forth once more to defend a shrinking scrap of land where 'meaning' and 'civility' still reign. I am filled with a dread fascination, and cannot turn away. But today, this fool stumbled out and disgraced the noble field where so many have perished in vain. Thus did I become wonderly wroth, and sought to deliver unto him a royal dis, although I knew my skill would not be equal to the task. My fingers flew over the keyboard, and my post was shot forth, alone. The rage cleared from my brain, and I was free from slashdot, for a time. For these reasons, I do not know what was intended, but if I had to guess, I'd probably choose #2.
Wonder if the moderator will have the guts to tell me why he did it - I guess not.
I am not that moderator, but I doubt he or she will mind my explaining this to you. There is not much point in your responding to a post that everyone can see is a piece of trash. But if you do respond to that post, complaining that it is so abusive and offensive, why on earth would you give a response which is just as abusive and offensive?! I quote:
CmdrTaco has given you the privilege of expressing this opinion. But he has alloyed this privilege with moderation, to scourge the kind of pointless abuse of which you and 'TRoLL.' are such shining examples. Perhaps you are complaining that the moderator should have marked down the parent post first. That is utterly moot. By adding to the total volume of stupid, worthless flamebait, you are making the moderators' job much harder. To complain about their noble work, just after you have thwarted it, makes you nothing less than a hypocrite.
Best regards,
Tuxedo Mask
Actually, I think the lawsuits will erupt between: whazzzaaaappp.com whazzaaaappp.com whazzzaaappp.com etc., etc.,... they'll tie up the country's courts in litigation for years. :)
ad astra per alia porci
It good to see that these things, for the most part, are being dealt with properly by the courts. I imagine it will take some time for "every" fivilous lawsuit to get processed but ultimitatly if things go well, then that will be the end of it.
Think of it as an experiment in neural networks, once the cells have time to understand what inputs produce what outputs the system stabalizes itself and continue to produce correct answers...
Maybe this will set a precedent for future lawsuits of this type. Anyone up for registering howsithanging.com to see if anyone sues them.
Environmentalists are their own worst enemy. ~tricklenews.com
I think that barrapunto.com has a better color scheme than slashdot. OTOH, the stories seem older....
That's the opposite. Eheheh. Silly me. Told you IANAL.
For an example of this term see What I found using Google.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
Use Babelfish and find out for yourself :P
-FweE-
Actually it is more of a "rm -rf /lawsuit" Should be moderated up for accuracy of analogy by a attorney-geek!
So how do you say "first post" in Spanish
:)
There don't seem to be any first-posting assholes on that site...
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
In spanish Slashdot = Barrapunto Chau!
I actually found the quote in the Principia Discordia, and found it amusing. Thus it became my .sig
"And real life has warts and smelly feet" -- Paul Jaquays, id Software
read above ...
... lol
ok and finally, seventh!!!
anonymous cowards are exactly that...
............ no.
rayaverticalpunto.org
lol!
............ no.
The usual disclaimers about what my profession is and is not apply.
--
We have fought the AC's, and they have won.
Vierto arenas calientes abajo de mis pantalones!
Anomalous: inconsistent with or deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
Anomalous: deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
Canard: a false or unfounded repor
I mean god damn, it's not like it already hasn't been said 80 times. I know I'll get modded down for this but I don't give a fuck. Go ahead. m0D m3 d0wN. fUcK d4 m0DzZzZ.
Mattel has locations in China, and they can try to claim that the China location is hurt by the US based website.
But on your point, doesn't MIT and Harvard have exhange programs with schools in France? Is that enough to cover them?
Fight Spammers!
The web messes up traditional jurisdictional arguments. What about stores with no physical presence? Or companies that have 6 employees that are spread out over the world?
Have cablemodem, will telnet.
Fight Spammers!
What about the DeCSS case? It's in California one day, then New York, then Norway.
Do you define lamer as one who sticks up for their rights?
I think you may project oo much.
Fight Spammers!
In a lawsuit (after filed), the dismissal with prejudice prevents it from being brought again.
When you settle, you want the case over. If you don't dismiss, the case could continue.
Fight Spammers!
Fight Spammers!
Fight Spammers!
If we talk about hte same case then it is irelevant of this story because this was an American university that had an implementation in France and the website of their location in France was only in English (which is understandable for an university in which you will only speak English), including the on-line enrolment forms which is against the French law that state that enrolment forms must be available in French.
The case as you depict here is misleading and make us believe that it is "these stupid French suing an American University located in Georgia (maybe the original one was here but the targeted one was the France-located one), hey why not sue the MIT, Harvard, and every other non-French university over the world". I don't say that you said that, just that the way you said what you wanted to say was meaning that.
"The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
The right way to say it would be "diagonal punto" or "diagonalpunto". although most spanish speaking people would probably say "slashpunto" since "slash" is rarely translated (at least where I live, Panama)
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those with good memory.
are you selling your services?
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those with good memory.
Flamebait
You've got someone openly displaying swastika's and I'm the one who's FLAMEBAIT?
Well well well. Moderators are scared that I said something against the rules huh - or perhaps someone out there thinks that opening being anti-semitic/pro nazi is acceptable huh?
MMM Says a lot. Wonder if the moderator will have the guts to tell me why he did it - I guess not.
...Upgrade now to Schrodingers Dog...
barra vertical punto is completely off, barra diagonal punto is the closest thing in spanish.
barra punto
diagonal punto
and even
slash punto
are used in some places
Now I have a question: Was this a case about domain names, or about trademarks? I couldn't imagine that this would be about domain names. From the articles, it seems to be about trademarks, not domain names. It's quite common now for a domain name to happen to also be a trademark, say, Amazon.com...
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
sorry nothing here.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
the phrase "what's happening" is even original. Suing somebody for translating a common phrase is the stupidest thing i've ever seen.
"Those who know don't speak and those who speak don't know"
It's a good way for the judge to "honorably" state their disgust, which is probably the case here.
This is wrong. A dismissal with prejudice means that the the principle of res judicata may apply as to matters actually litigated (as opposed to tangentially exposed) by the case.
A dismissal without prejudice is often made for clerical mistakes in the form of the pleading. Parties can refile the lawsuit (and start the clocks for answers, cross motions, etc., all over).
So, it just means that as to matters explicitly raised in the pleadings, or fairly before the court (jurisdictions differ at to what this means), the current dismissal has the force of res judicata--"that which is already decided".
Oh, yes. Fuck moderation and all that.
Suppose that John Q. Slashdotter pours hot grits down the pants of Anonymous Troller, scalding A. T. in an intensely painful and personal way.
Suppose that A. T. feels injured and files suit for damages against John Q. Slashdotter.
Scenario #1: John Q. Slashdotter shows up in court and says "hey look! this suit is against John Q. Slashdaughter, and that is not me!" The judge might give A. T. leave to amend the complaint, or the judge might dismiss the claim without prejudice.
Scenario #2: At the first hearing, John Q. Slashdotter produces a letter from A. T. that says "please pour hot grits down my pants. Thank you". The letter goes on to say "I am aware of the possibility of intensely painful and personal injury resulting from grits pouring activity. I hereby forever release and hold harmless John Q. Slashdotter from liability for any such injury. Thank you." What's more, the letter is signed by A. T. and the signature is notarized.
In Scenario #2, the judge is going to ask A. T. "what's up with this letter?" And if A. T. doesn't have something really compelling to say at this point, the judge is likely to dismies the case with prejudice.
In other words, "without prejudice" means the judge is saying: "you may have a case but you aren't making it right. Come back and do things right and I'll listen to you." And "with prejudice" means the judge is saying: "you do not have a valid case. Go away, and don't come back".
IANAL, but I did defend myself in a civil suit once against a Real Lawyer. The judge dismissed the case with prejudice.
I've given up on Babblefish. www.freetranslation.com does a much better job. Running barrapunto.com through FreeTranslation gives a pretty readable result.
...phil
...phil
"For a list of the ways which technology has failed to improve our quality of life, press 3."
You are out of order here.
.sig means it's important to him.
/. who use sigs force you to do the same. You can just turn off sigs in your preferences.
This person has a personal crusade. It may be important to other people on Slashdot or it may not. The fact that he has chosen to put it into his
Do you have the right to tell him what he should call important ? Can you set other people's priorities ?
So what if you get tired of reading the same sig every time he posts. All the people on
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
The next big domain battle is going to be over "whazzzaaaappp!!!".com, anyhow. Look for a big lawsuit between Annheuser-Busch and all the folks who set up variations on the whazzzaaaappp name in multiple languages.
(but imagine the ads!)
- -Josh Turiel
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
The judge hates both parties, holds the lawyers in contempt of court, and really, really wanted to adjourn. :P
That's a surprizing quote. Everything I've heard of Galbraith makes him sound like a major cheerleader for the state. What is this from? Maybe I should finally get around to reading some of his stuff.
You know I got to thinking about it and it reminded me of the feeling I have when I am wiping a windows partition and installing linux to it. I format that bad oscar with prejuidice.
:-)
A precedent is a ruling that can/is used to make other rulings. Usually this is from an appeals level courts. In Mass, if the Mass Appeals court or the Mass SJC makes a decision, it applies to other cases in Mass. Sometimes, other courts would look at thoses cases for advice. Generally the closer the court to the jurisdiction, the more weight given the decision.
Fight Spammers!
This was a publicity stunt. No mention was made about the terms of the settlement. It's possible they just got together, threw together bs lawsuit and then dismissed it in order to get some publicity. __ Then again what the hell do I know?
Oh man, that's fun to read in babelfish.
;)
"You have not entered like user. You can enter or Create an account. If stuffed your name and your password in addition to the fields Subject and Commentary, you can send your commentary without using a galletita (cookie). If you do not enter, your commentary will be put to name of Asshole Without Name"
Yep, that sounds about right.
---
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
--
This means this case can never be brought up again... even if new circumstances are uncovered.
:-)
It's a good way for the judge to "honorably" state their disgust, which is probably the case here.
Anyone know how to say "Slashdot" in Spanish??
-sid
What would that be? dismiss -9?
"And real life has warts and smelly feet" -- Paul Jaquays, id Software
Dear Sirs/Madames; This is our last warning. As the owner of the trademarked domains "ot.com", the workaholics annonymous website, and "t.com", the Boston Harbor Authority web presence, we insist that you cease and decist using our registered trademarks in your domain name, "slashdot.com". If you fail to comply with our demand, we will be forced to defend our trademark through other means. Sincerely, R. E. Dickulus
There's a site barrapunto.com which appears to be a spanish slashdot-esque thingy and uses the Slash code and has lots of people posting using the name "Pendejo Sin Nombre"... you get the idea.
When a case is "settled," as the linked article tells us that this case was, it almost always means that the plaintiff -- the person or entity who brought the case -- agreed to voluntarily dismiss their case with prejudice in exchange for something they want, often money. Dismissal "with prejudice" means the plaintiff can't refile the case. (If the plaintiff were able to refile the case, it would make the settlement worthless to the defendant.)
A voluntary dismissal is usually entered automatically by the clerk of the court. A dismissal in connection with a settlement therefore does not reflect any judge's opinion on the merits of a case, and has no value as precedent.
The following things are not true or are nonsensical:
When you dismiss, it can be with or without prejudice. Without means that the case can be brought again. Usually that can be done by the plaintiff before the defendant answers. After their is an answer, it needs to be agreed to by the defendant or ordered by a judge.
Dismissed with prejudice mean it's dead. But a new case can't be brought unless there is a new violation that is signifantly different from what occurred before filing.
Mattel tried that trick with me. They tried to dismiss w/o prejudice in my case. This would allow them to bring it again, anywhere that Mattel had a location. Probably without anti-SLAPP statute, and maybe without free speech. Maybe they were thinking of bringing in China, where there is no free speech?
Fight Spammers!