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

Free Boxes

[dthrall]

I explored both his site and the fedex site... seems to get the boxes from fedex, you need an account... the good new? the USPS will send you free shipping supplies :)

Re:Free Boxes

[dthrall]

Here's that USPS URL:

http://shop.usps.com/cgi-bin/vsbv/postal_store_non _ssl/home.jsp

Re:Free Boxes

[Desert Raven]

Don't play this game with the USPS. Unlike FedEx, the USPS has very strict terms of use for their materials, printed clearly on each box/envelope. And, since they are a branch of the federal government, it's a federal offense to violate those terms.

Re:Free Boxes

[Desert Raven]

From http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs04/

In 1976 the Postal Service filed its first annual comprehensive statement to comply with an amendment to the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act. The amendment, now codified as Title 39, United States Code (USC), Section 2401 (e), required that a comprehensive statement accompany the annual Postal Service budget submission to Congress. The amendment further required the Postal Service to explain and address 1) the plans, policies, and procedures designed to comply with the statutory mission of the Postal Service; 2) general postal operations, including data on service standards, mail volume, productivity, trends in postal operations, and analyses of the impact of internal and external factors upon the Postal Service; 3) financial information relating to expenditures and obligations incurred; and 4) other matters necessary to ensure that Congress is "fully and currently consulted and informed on postal operations."

From Wikipedia:
"The United States Postal Service (USPS) is the United States government-owned corporation...".

So maybe they are technically no longer a branch of the govt, but they certainly are wholly owned by it, which sounds to me like they are still run by the government. You'll also remember that the USPS can't raise postal rates without congressional approval either.

And from a Priority Mail box I have:

"This packaging is the property of the U.S. Postal Service and is provided solely for use in sending Priority Mail. Misuse may be a violation of Federal law."

Betcha won't find that on a private corporation's packages...

Re:Free Boxes

[EvilTwinSkippy]

...and congress has specific interest in their continued survival

US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8:

Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

Yup, it's in there.

Re:Free Boxes

[Alex P Keaton in da]

Okay- I am going to admit to a funny error. I sold about 40 car repair manuals that I got for free on Ebay about a year ago. They fit perfectly in priority mail boxes and weighed under a lb so it was 3.85 to ship them anywhere in the country. Plus, with priority mail, you print the label on you computer (and pay), tape it on the box with the priority tape the USPS gives you free, and throw it on your front porch. You don't need to call for a pickup as the Mailman is there 6 days a week. (I live in a nice area, so there isn't an issue of theft from the porch, and it isn't visible from the street).
So I go online on usps.com and order 40 of the boxes I thought I needed. Except, of course, I am an idiot, so I ended up ordering 40 box of 10, thus 400 boxes. I felt like an ass, not so much because of the free boxes (I have actually used well over half of them so far for mailing) but because I my postman is a cool guy and the thought of him with 40 boxes of boxes....
A good reason to have anything bought on Ebay etc shipped by USPS- if it turns out to be counterfit, call the US Postal Inspection Service. They don't take kindly to misuse of the mail. UPS and FedEx don't have sworn federal agents with guns to investigate fake products sent theough their delivery channels....

Re:Free Boxes

[Anonymous Coward]

He's not selling anything. Get your facts straight.

Free Boxes from UPS & FedEx

[Anonymous Coward]

I love their generosity.

UPS, especicially. You can get huge "25KG" boxes intended for international shipping. I have UPS drop these on my doorstep every time I move, all for free.

Re:Free Boxes from UPS & FedEx

[sammy baby]

Screw that - head to the local package store or beverage place. They have tons of boxes used to ship beer, wine, and spirits, and they often wind up just dumping them. They're happy to give them away.

Re:Free Boxes from UPS & FedEx

[cl0secall]

According to his blog, his original intention was to use the boxes for shipping, and continued to be a use for the boxes even after being assembled into furniture. To wit, "Since I frequently ship items, I ordered about 300 boxes of various sizes. I figured this would save me time, instead of walking down to the store whenever I needed to ship something, I could do it comfortably from home. Later that month I saw a picture from a friend of a desk that was made of boxes. My friend, Tom, was in a similar situation in Seattle, and it gave me some inspiration. I decided to build some furniture with some of the boxes I had lying around. I figured, if I needed to ship something, I could pull it off a piece of my furniture and mail it off."

That being said, there are numerous free sources of boxes. Just ask any local retail shop what they do with their shipment boxes. At my old store we got several boxes each week which were recycled, unless I took them.

Re:Trademark yes, copyright no

[Anonymous Coward]

Tademark only applies if he is intending to sell products or pretend that he is FedEX (I saw the site, it is obviously a parody and labeled as such), as in the case of trademark dilution.

He is doing neither, so FedEX really is just strongarming this guy because he dared to abuse their free boxes.

Full mirror here

[winkydink]

Weird... very weird

Mirror.

Re:It does sound silly, but...

[necro2607]

However, none of that even remotely justifies blatant abuse of the legal system...

Yeah, so they don't like it... they probably don't like other people using competitors like UPS or Purolator, but that's part of doing business... and it's no grounds for legal action at all.

Re:Even better!

[Kiaser Wilhelm II]

I want my possessions to come to my apartment intact, not broken in 1000 pieces and the edges of the box smashed in.

Seriously, UPS has the worst track record in package handling. One time I was looking for a job during college.. I went to UPS and they took us on a tour of their package handling facilities. You will never want to be a customer of UPS after you tour their facilities. They don't care about your package. The people who work there have to work their "packages per hour" number.. if they get too low, they get fired, so quality/careful handling doesn't simply exist at UPS.

Re:Even better!

[Anonymous Coward]

Having just quit UPS last week, I can second Kiaser's observations. When you have three trucks to load with about 200-300 packages each, your primary concern is getting those boxes off the belt and in their right place on the truck as quickly as possible. If you spent your time trying to be delicate about it, you'd be up to your ass in packages. Because for everyone one you take off, there's three or four to take its place.

And at 9.50/hour in 95 degree heat inside the warehouse, the condition of your package is the least of my concerns.

For those considering a career at UPS: please first consider dealing smack or pimping out underaged runaways. It's a good deal more fulfilling.

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

[ChaoticLimbs]

The main problem with that, of course, is that it's illegal to sue somebody to shut them up.
It's called a SLAPP lawsuit. A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.
Basically, using the courts to shut people up, intimidate them or harass them, without needing to win, or suing somebody for revenge after they divulged something you didn't want divulged, is a SLAPP.
There are penalties for SLAPP lawsuits.
This is almost certainly one. What they would be suing for if they were serious, is the use of the URL and trade name for FEDEXFURNITURE dot com.
Especially since the guy colored FedEx the red and blue colors like the FedEx logo.
Basically he could have said Shipping Container furniture all he wanted, but by naming his site fedexfurniture.com he is using their name.
However, if FedEx hasn't trademarked that name for use in the furniture industry, I'd say they're SOL.
Well, except that he is stealing his materials from their company.

Re:This is why FedEx filed the lawsuit

[Twanfox]

Here's the thing. You cannot sue someone under the DMCA unless they're violating DIGITAL copyrights, most notably circumvention of a device to protect against illegal copying (or legal copying, frankly. Another debate for later).

So, what legal leg does FedEx hope to stand on? They offered to send these boxes to people for free. Yes, they were intended for shipping, but there was no agreement made that says "You must ship with us with these supplies." End result? FedEx is going to lose this one. They offered free supplies, and someone took'm.

Re:Even better!

[Adult film producer]

"I want my possessions to come to my apartment intact, not broken in 1000 pieces and the edges of the box smashed in. Seriously, UPS has the worst track record in package handling."

Something like this eh ?

http://www.spikedhumor.com/Article.aspx?id=767

Re:The catch? Those aren't your USPS boxes!

[Chainsaw76]

Actualy, he says he ordered 300 boxes, because he ships frequently. And that his furniture was built from those boxes, and that if he needed a box for shipping he would take one out of his furniture to do it.

-Jason

Re:This is why FedEx filed the lawsuit

[LarsG]

most notably circumvention

Anticircumvention is only a part of the DMCA. FedEx tried to invoke 'notice and takedown' (see title II in the linked article).