FedEx Cracks Down on Box Furniture, Citing DMCA

nospmiS remoH writes "Wired is running an article about a guy with no money making furniture out of FedEx boxes. If that weren't strange enough, FedEx is going after him, legally citing the DMCA. Yes, the DMCA. Apparently they are not upset about the furniture itself but rather this site that he put up with pictures of his creations (pretty good work really). My favorite quote from the article, '...Avila clearly intended to operate a business from his website because he used the .com domain suffix, the "commercial level domain," rather than .net.' You just can't make this stuff up."

Comments

Back in college...

[TheOtherAgentM]

They put out these stupid phone directories. No one wanted them. They were the biggest waste of money, and they ended up sitting outside on huge stacks for people to grab. One night, we took a whole bunch of them, added some duct tape, and we had a couch for our dorm room. The only problem was that the covers were glossy and we would also slide off the couch.

slashdotted

[BobVila]

Is the server made out of fedex boxes.

He's a geek

[digitalvengeance]

My favorite part of the site, the footer:

If any shipping corporations have problems with our site please feel free to forward requests to /dev/null. By emailing us any questions or comments you give fedexfurniture.com the right to post any such message, and or replies on our site.

Re:He's a geek

[Dare nMc]

and definitive proof from the site.

can handle his 5-foot-6-inch, 165-pound frame, even when he jumps up and down on it (an experiment he tried in response to an e-mail asking if the bed could support two people).

Re:It does sound silly, but...

[Hawthorne01]

But information (and shipping boxes) WANT to be free... :-)

Re:Best example of corporate stupidity...ever

[necro2607]

Yeah it's like...

Insane Lawyer: "hey, this guy is making our logo and related corporate branding imagery get seen by millions of people worldwide... hmm... let's ruin our reputation with every single one of those people!"

CEO: "hey yeah good idea! proposal approved!"

Re:It's all about shutting down the site.

[Kelson]

And, by making sure he gets Slashdotted, they've already succeeded!

Slashdotted?

[k98sven]

Hmm..

1) Someone puts up a website that irritates your corporation
2) File a frivolous lawsuit against the website
3) Wait until Slashdot picks up the resulting story
4) Watch the site go down in flames due to the subsequent slashdotting.
5) Objective achived, site is offline!

Slashdot - greater threat to free speech than the DMCA? :)

Re:Best example of corporate stupidity...ever

[Valiss]

Same as before (read: currently) with the record industry:

"I dont get it. We sue the fuck out of them and they STILL won't buy our products!"

Obviously!

[isa-kuruption]

The bed can handle his 5-foot-6-inch, 165-pound frame, even when he jumps up and down on it (an experiment he tried in response to an e-mail asking if the bed could support two people).

And the reason he couldn't actually test his bed with two people on it obvious.... right?

Re:Free Boxes from UPS & FedEx

[Anonymous Coward]

At least he's not a loudmouth.

Christ, why are the "ethical" people all so fucking loud and annoying?

Re:He's a nerd, without a doubt.

[JahToasted]

I think if your furniture is made out of Fedex boxes you aren't going to have many women staying the night. Even if you're willing to pay them.

Re:Free Boxes

[Yocto Yotta]

Well, one's thing is for sure -- I won't be posting pictures on my website showing off my USPS poster tube bong (DISCLAIMER: For tobacco use only) anytime soon. My USPS "toilet" probably wouldn't go over too well either . . .

Slashdot.org

[cparisi]

I guess that makes slashdot.org a "non-profit" organization...

Re:Trademark yes, copyright no

[OrangeTrafficCone]

If you have a non-decent judge, you better hope his robe stays closed...

Re:It does sound silly, but...

[Wescotte]

Jose Avila: I'm broke! See how broke I am? I'm funny too! Can't you spare just a little change?

Lawyer: See! Right there, I told you so! If you allow Mr. Avila to continue using the FedEx trademark, customers will become confused, and may think they're donating money to the REAL FedEx corporation!

So, does that mean when he can't pay the legal fees to defend himself he will be forced to sell his furniture and get sued again?!?!

Re:Free Boxes

[dubl-u]

My USPS "toilet" probably wouldn't go over too well either . . .

Wow! When the box is full, where do you ship the stuff?

Re:Free Boxes

[Greslin]

Heh.. I can imagine the cellblock conversation now:

"Judges and juries, man. They don't get nothin'. They don't know that sometimes God wants you to kill your family and, like, do stuff with their body parts. Read the Bible, man - God's all into that. So, what you in here for, man?"

"Eh.. I got these boxes from the Post Office.."

Re:Free Boxes

[CyanDisaster]

...Wow! When the box is full, where do you ship the stuff...

I'm sure it could be sent to SCO...considering that's what they're full of...

Hope be with ye,
Cyan

Re:Free Boxes

[shokk]

I think FedEx has a case here. I went to that site and thought I was at FedEx.com, no lie. For some reason it took longer to type into my browser than fedex.com, but I was still confused between the FedEx brand and this guy's attempt to make furniture.

In other news...
* Scotch brand tape will be suing anybody making a 3D contruct of tape similar to a ball
* Swingline will be suing anyone who makes a CD/floppy eject tool out of a paperclip
* International Paper will literally crucify anyone who makes paper footballs,
* various rubber-band manufacturers have formed a consortium specifically to pursue legal action against anyone that uses a rubber-band as a device similar to a slingshot or a projectile in itself
* the Ticonderoga pencil company will be after anyone who bundles pencils together into a tube shape to simulate a solid piece of wood

Sounds ridiculous? Wait and see!!!

Re:Free Boxes

[Savatte]

I think UPS' slogan says it all: "what can brown do for you?"