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Amazon Sues Alexaholic
theodp writes "ZDNet reports that as Jeff Bezos tap-danced out of a cringe moment at Web 2.0 Expo prompted by Tim O'Reilly's questioning of why Amazon couldn't get along with Alexaholic (now Statsaholic), Amazon had already filed a lawsuit to legally spank the tiny company into oblivion."
Keep up the good work.
Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
Why does that name sound so familiar?
What?
Another generation learns the old truth... the upstarts always seem to start as the Good Guys taking on the Big Faceless Corporate Machines. Their CEOs are hip and appear smiling, sharp but casually dressed, on magazine covers. Even after they go public, they maintain that halo for awhile, give lip service to idea of making the world a better place instead of just making a buck. Why not make a little less, and give something back to the people?
Then one day, the upstarts turn into the Big Bad Guys. There's just no way to tell the difference. The need to dominate the industry is overriding, and the end justifies every means.
That is a mistake, or rather a mistaken response to the claim. Yes, statistical significance is attainable but only if the sample is representative (i.e.) is random. The critics' claim is that Alexa's data is not representative, in other words the sites that choose to give Alexa their data are somehow don't represent a random sample of all the websites out there. It isn't a question of size but rather of quality.
The folks at Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe beg to differ.
What?
It has been shown in multiple studies that statsahol use is a gateway to statsajuana and statsamphetamine. Good for Bezos!
At least according to US copyright law, raw data does not contain the expressive component necessary for copyrights.
From the complaint:
"Alexa seeks to force Mr. Hornbaker to stop infringing Alexa's trademarks and to stop pirating Alexa proprietary data."
I don't know exactly what Alexa does, but the only thing protectable in a database is its *design and *structure -- and that only if those attributes exhibit creativity (rather than the ordinary constraints of the relational model).
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Alan Graham here...I'll answer you...since you actually don't get the thrust of the piece.
It smells bad to have someone from a $16 billion dollar company pitch to an audience of web 2.0 developers about how you can trust them with your business and pretend to be a good steward of what web 2.0 stands for...while you're suing one guy for upwards of $500k...especially when you had a year to shut him down and you only did that after you took all his ideas. On top of that you operate a company that would not exist without the volunteer efforts of every single person who installs the Alexa toolbar and reports that data back to the company...and they even admit...no data/volunteers...no Alexa.
What I expect Alexa to do is to find it in themselves to work with the community that they depend on...in a more open way. I have nothing against them making a buck...but this type of lawsuit is heavy handed.
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who still boycotts Amazon over the one-click patent. That O'Reilly sold out doesn't mean that I have to. Still, it's getting more and more difficult to avoid Amazon, especially when I have to explain to well-meaning friends and relatives that I can no more accept a gift bought through Amazon than I can accept a gift made through child labour.
You only used one click to submit your comment, so GO SUE YOURSELF!
I still am too... but yeah, when RMS gives up it makes you feel pretty lonely...
This is a gross misrepresentation of what Alexaholic does. It does not "pull images" from Alexa. Ever. It just constructs a URI and tells your browser about it. Then your browser pulls the image directly from Alexa.
I've never been to Statsaholic until just a few minutes ago. There's nothing good about this site at all. I guess it might have been relatively better than Alexa before the Alexa redesign a few months back, but now it seems to be pretty broken.
...not using the APIs.
He was "avoiding an API fee", but the data he wanted was not available through the API anyways, so he screen scraped alexa. If alexa had wanted that data available they would have made it available through the API.
The guy (hornbaker) admittedly says he wants to turn this into a PR battle. And I remember him explicitly trying to stick it to amazon before he changed the site name.
I don't really know who the hell to cheer for here, so I'm just gonna sit back and watch.
"The need to build the internet comes from something inside us, something programmed... something we can't resist."
I must admit I did read "Amazon Sues Sexaholic" first time round. But what if we turned the tables around..
Sexaholics Sue Amazon
That would be one classy action suit!
Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]