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Lawyer Puts $10k Bounty on Blogger's Identity
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Raymond Niro of Niro Scavone Haller & Niro is fighting back against criticism from the Patent Troll Tracker blog by offering a $10,000 bounty for the identity of the person behind it. He thinks the blogger might work for Microsoft, Intel, or has connections to a 'serial infringer' and that could 'color' what they say."
It's not even been a week since The smartphone was patented , and now we've got people wanting to sue for criticising patent trolls. I thought America was the "land of the free". Oh wait, it is, if you've got millions of dollars in your pocket and a lot of lawyers.
What's saddening is that this stuff never makes it to the mainstream media.
Don't mind the extra X. Alex
Thanks! I hadn't heard of this blog before, but now that the $10k bounty has been offered, I know about it. Great publicity!
"Is he an employee with Intel or Microsoft? Does he have a connection with serial infringers? I think that would color what he has to say."
This is douchebag lawyer speak for "companies that spend money researching, developing and selling products." Unlike his clients who think up obvious ideas and rush to file a patent, without ever doing a bit of work. It's scumbags like this that exacerbate the terrible state of our patent system. I for one can't wait until there's real reform and this guy's out of business.
I would hope an attorney of Mr. Niro's stature and experience would realize he has no right nor legal recourse against this anonymous blogger. I suspect that had the blogger written anything libelous, Mr. Niro would have already brought suit.
Since Mr. Niro has not brought legal proceedings against this blogger, I can only quote the next best legal authority on this matter:
Ha, Ha!
Truth is a defense for libel.
True... but you still have pay for *your* defense - even if you 100% in the right. That sucks.
+++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
... lawyer who apparently is unable to engage any of the numerous detective firms out there who could find his information for much lessMy work here is dung.
Look at the list(and pockets) of the companies that he thinks the blogger may work for. More than likely what he is hoping for is that the blogger works for big company X, and then he can sue big company X for a lot, and in order to avoid (potential) embarrassment and/or the potential for a huge loss, he assumes that big company X will settle out of court for a handsome sum.
Monstar L
I was involved in a libel suit awhile back, and the court was not thrilled with the whole anonymous thing.
;-) )
That court at least was of the opinion that if I was doing something anonymously then I clearly knew I was doing something wrong.
(Completely missing the argument that what I did was legal, and I was trying to avoid being in court making the argument that it was legal because I knew one of the other parties was a litigious psychopath... in my opinion
You mean that Americans (who happened to be black) invented them. I don't mean anything derogatory by that, but making such distinctions only serves to demean those individuals and their works. The implication is that there's something so noteworthy about a black person achieving anything of substance that their race must be mentioned. Of course black people have made significant contributions to our society, our culture and our technology. So have French, Greeks, Germans, Italians, Russians, Czechs and millions of others of all nationalities. Why does their ethnic background matter so much to some people? They were all citizens of this great nation, all helped to make it what it is today. That should be enough.
... she came to the U.S. about twenty-five years ago from that continent, earned her citizenship, and has the right to call herself an African-American. But she doesn't. She calls herself an American and she's proud of that. This is her country now. As for me, I was born here, but I don't go around brandishing my ethnic roots. That would be complicated, since I'd be something like a "Greek-Irish-German-with-some-other-stuff-mixed-in-American". Not so easy on the ears.
My girlfriend is a true African-American
She told me flatly that she could cure all of them of their desire to be called "African Americans" by the simple expedient of sending them to her home country for a few months. Most of them would come back here and would count themselves lucky to be Americans. Bad as things can be for many people in the United States, there are places that are worse. Much worse.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
The identity of the blogger will lead to accusations and lawsuits, and the legal fees for the blogger will dwarf $10k. And the threat will shut down the criticism, which is the point. The identity of the blogger should be worth a lot more to Niro, say $100k. And then let the blogger win by revealing his identity.
Indeed, an excellent point, we're all Africans, race comes down to the finer points of how long ago our immediate ancestors left Africa and gained a tiny evolutionary advantage in colder and less sunny climates by growing more body hair and producing less Melanin. Makes racism seem very silly doesn't it?
Why do people like you always say "African American"? Please know that I do not agree with the GP that you replied to. What an idiot. I agree with you, blacks have contributed a wealth of knowledge and culture to our American society.
;-)
I just hate the term "African American". Most of the black Americans in the USA have _never_ been to Africa. So what makes them "African"? If someone watched me commit a crime, would they say it was a German/Irish/English American? No. They would say it was a white guy. So why should I say that all black people in America are "African Americans"?
What if the black person is not from Africa, but Jamaica? Or, what if a black guy, on vacation from England, committed a crime? Should I say it was an "African American" even though the guy is not an American, but from England? How would some bloke from England be an "African American" when he certainly is not an American. Should I just say it was an "African"?
I hate PC-terms. When I recently started a new job I was asked, after getting the job:
() White
() African American
() Hispanic
() Asian
() Native American
() Other
WTF? Why as a "White guy" am I identified by my skin color and that is "OK", yet all other races have a "name"? So if I was Mexican I am "Hispanic", however, if like my good friend, I was born in Puerto Rico, I am some how also "Hispanic"? Oh, and as a programmer, I have 3 good friends I work with every day. Very good guys. One is from the Philippines, one is from Korea (South), and one is from Japan. Very, very different people and ethnic groups, yet they are all "Asian"? Not to mention the people from India I have worked with, I guess they are "Asian" too?
Did I mention I hate PC-term "African American" yet?
I can say anything without "giving" you the ability to respond. You have to locate and do that on your own. But more importantly, free speech cannot happen if there is fear of repercussion. I'm sure that plenty of people have seen things that they though were wrong in their life but failed to speak out against it because they though it would cause bodily harm, financial harm, or some other harm. I could easily get into the holocaust and other hot topics but lets just say that there are people who see things happen at their job that is illegal or unethical but fail to say anything because they would lose their job and probably be blackballed out of the business. Anonymous reporting of things like this is key to speech about it.
Anonymous tips to the police and news stations about drive by shootings that manage to miss everything but the three year old kid inside a neighbors house playing with the family cat is key to getting heinous crimes solved without fear of retaliation from the thugs who did the shootings.
Free speech without freedom of response is not only meaningful, without it is detrimental to a safe and working society.
A friend of mine was born and raised in Africa, by white parents who were also born and raised in Afica. He has now moved to the US. Does that qualify him as African-American?
A friend of mine had gas because he ate some poison. So they took him to the hospital and pumped his stomach. Does that make him a gas pump?
If a person is born in Africa then becomes a US citizen, they're African-American.
If a person is born in America and stays a US citizen, they're American.
Heritage is all screwed up. How many generations have to be born in America before you consider it part of your heritage?
These days, a good attorney is a good defense, not the truth. You can have all the truth on your side, but if you cannot afford a good lawyer, proper procedures will not be followed (because you do not know them), and the judge will think you are wrong.
In our times, it is money, not the truth, that shall set you free.
I also suggest you read up on the whole freedom of the press and anonymous sources thing.
For $10,000 dollars and to be able to mock the lawyer even more, the blogger in question is most likely quite willing to sell them self out, although he/she better make sure he/she has a good attorney, because undoubtedly he/she will end up needing to sue them to get the money ;).
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
the next time that you are called a 'white' by someone that insists blacks are African Americans, you might find it fun to insist that they call you 'slave trader' American, or remind them that the abbreviation for African American is AA. Perhaps reminding them that Lincoln tried to ship them back to Africa will give them some humility? History is so full of fun facts. If they pull out the term caucasian, you would do well to remind them that 'whites' are NOT from the caucasus islands. Another fun little fact of life: in Africa they are also prejudiced against one another by skin color. Yes, light vs dark, or one tribe versus another, one country vs. another. That kind of solidarity of dark skinned people ONLY happens in North America, so exactly what kind of African American are they? and what tribe do they support? Personally, I'm Anglo-Saxon American, I'm listed in the DAR (revolutionary American), and I just prefer that you call me by my name...
On those little quizzes, always select 'other' as the discussion as to why you chose other can be lots of fun. Its a racial question that does not account for South Americans, mulatto etc. If your grandfather was black, your grandmother was chinese and your mother was south american, what race do you belong to? How do you answer the quiz? select 3 or more categories?
ALL PC terms are insulting.
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