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Arrington Responds To the JooJoo, Files Suit
itwbennett writes "Not normally 'one to enjoy a casual read of a lawsuit,' blogger Peter Smith admits to finding the suit Michael Arrington is filing against Fusion Garage over the JooJoo (nee CrunchPad) fascinating. 'Skip to page 4, starting with item 11,' says Smith. 'At this point I don't know what to think, Every time I get close to pretty much accepting Arrington's story at face value, he pulls something that makes me stop and reexamine his arguments.' For example, says Smith, in one bullet point in Arrington's latest salvo, he calls out the press, saying 'it is irresponsible for press to link to the pre-sale site.' 'This attempt to directly sway the press away from Fusion Garage really spikes my suspicion meter' says Smith. 'After all, Arrington is the press. If I started writing screeds advising him on what he should or should not say about a product, what would he think?'"
Fusion Garage is, and always has been, a company on the edge of going out of business. Their main shareholder, the guy who wrote the now infamous email telling us that we were no longer part of the project, is a chiropractor named Bruce Lee. The company was constantly raising debt from unsavory investors, borderline loansharks ...
... and zombie martial artists infecting people under the guise of 'chiropracty.' Arrington is requesting chainsaws, shotguns and three volunteers from the straggling group of survivors ...
My work here is dung.
I'm not a law-talkin' guy but he's suing them under the Lanham Act which seems to be for all things trademark including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising. So way back when this first hit Slashdot, I went poking around for trademarks and patents belonging to Arrington. All I found was the trademark for Crunchpad assigned to Interserve, Inc (I assume that's Arrington). No patents.
So, I'm not saying what they've done is right or moral, but if Fusion Garage steers clear of using 'Crunchpad' and only calls it JooJoo, then what kind of case does Arrington have? False advertising for the news articles calling JooJoo the 'reborn Crunchpad'? I'm a bit confused as to how this is going to work and I think Arrington just got hustled. Or was never doing anything at all but wanted to be a part of it. I guess we'll never know the unadulterated truth. Anyone close to this have more details/proof?
My work here is dung.
Are the lawyers. The Crunchpad/JooJoo was doomed from the start: too expensive given the current technology...
So all that will happen out of this is entertaining lawsuits where the laywers make their money and everyone else just laughs.
Test your net with Netalyzr
He already has a reputation as a pompous ass. Now he has a reputation as a lazy, dishonest, litigious pompus ass.
Hadn't heard of JooJoo aka Crunchpad before so did some googling.
For those who are as clueless as me, it seems to be a tablet pc with a 12 inch touchscreen. Runs a custom version of Ubuntu on Intel Atom.
Sounds a bit like a bigger version of N810. Sounds a bit interesting, but it's all up to implementation.
Does anyone know whether you could bluetooth tether this to use internet through something like N900?
If Dell / HP tech support is crappy, and those are well established companies, imagine how this will be.
Even with TechCrunch behind it and at $200 the stuff seemed dubious, now without, with all this litigation and at $500... I think I'm gonna pass.
I guess Rathakrishnan will be sued by the ADL next.
...is Arrington laying it on a bit thick, firing every bit of ammo he can muster?
I mean, sure the guy has an understandable grievance and all, but seriously - why not stick to the points that aren't nearly as easy to drag off to the philosophical
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Every time I get close to pretty much accepting Arrington's story at face value, he pulls something that makes me stop and reexamine his arguments.
TFA starts with a promise but quickly loses the plot. Smith fights Arrington's ambiguity with ambiguity. Alright - so Arrington hates this guy and calls press out. Big deal. Where are the facts?
If he things Apple is going to release "an affordable tablet" he needs a reality check.
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. - Dogen
This is why we STILL don't have fucking jet packs and robotic sex dolls.
All kidding aside, if these jokers spent as much time DEVELOPING as they did LITIGATING, just imagine the cool stuff we'd have.
Wasn't the entire point of the CrunchPad to show how Michael Arrington was smarter than the entire consumer electronics industry and to highlight how he's a brilliant, super connected Silicon Valley darling? The FusionGarage guys seem to have a pretty good point in that Arringon apparently never delivered on his promised to hook them up with VC and supplier contacts.
Techcrunch is the Drudge Report of tech blogs and Arrington is a douche who seems to piss off every person he encounters.
I have no idea who any of the people involved are, or what their products (or websites maybe?) are supposed to do. For the sake of us who aren't familiar with every current lawsuit, could you please add a little context to the story summaries? This isn't exactly like mentioning a new salvo in IBM v. SCO where you can assume a majority of Slashdotters will have a clue WTF you're talking about.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
The more I learn about this, the more it looks like one of those failed relationships where the guy thought things were getting serious and the girl was never looking for a long-term attachment.
Neither one can be blamed or absolved completely; they both were under the illusion that the other shared their view. Of course, the couple should have talked a little more about what they both wanted out of the relationship, as should Arrington and Fusion Garage have.
Love, or that dizzying sense that you're going to change an industry. Both serotonin.
Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
The quote in the summary about not wanting press to link to the pre-sale site is a bit out of context. The full quote makes slightly more sense:
Fusion Garage’s financial situation is a mess, and it is inappropriate for press to recommend to people to pre-buy a CrunchPad. The company has not yet hired an attorney to respond to our lawsuit. We believe they do not have the cash flow to do so. When the device goes on pre sales today, linked to from scores of gadget and press sites, they will suddenly have cash flow to defend themselves. What they won’t have is cash flow to build the devices. We believe it is irresponsible for press to link to the pre-sale site without disclosing this to readers.
It doesn't seem that he contributed anything to this project other than marketing support. If that's the case, 35% of the company seems astronomically generous.
I think Gizmodo said it right in this article http://gizmodo.com/5424261/the-crunchpadjoojoo-lawsuit-has-been-filed-preorders-are-officially-a-gamble "if Arrington's lawsuit has even a hint of truth to it regarding the lack of lack of Fusion Garage's sound capital resource—is no longer an option for the sane or even marginally patient. I mean, just wait til it ships and gets reviewed before giving these guys any money, ok?" One, I wouldn't put 500 bucks down on a device that is a web browser, and looks like e-ink. I want something very fresh. I've never owned an apple product, but if the rumored tablet is real, and is off the charts, I'll buy it. Otherwise I'm going to wait a year to see what other products come to light.
TechCrunch's value as a source for news and analysis (especially analysis) has fallen as a result of this escapade. How much trust can we place in its stories when the owner, operator and editor in chief fails to cover a business enterprise with a written contract or background check of his business partners?
The lesson for readers is that developing, manufacturing and successfully marketing any product is hard. Creating a browser in a tablet that is a cost effective alternative to existing products is very hard.
This seems to involve some feud over clones of renamed vaporware products. I think.
Whatever.
After a quick read through part of the document linked to, it sounds like this was a partnership as per the law (if you act and give the impression that you are partners, under the law, you are to those parties who you created the impression to). So there would be breach of fiduciary duty on Fusion Garage's part... This looks like a lawyer's wet dream in some respects... Though it will be interesting how the lawyers will play this...
Also...what is TC trying to get out of this? All they will likely get is an injunction (maybe interlocutory--thereby preventing sale of the Joojoo in the US before it even launches). There DOES seem to be some copyright involved (design of the tablet), as the copyright on the software is apparantly owned by Fusion Garage.
Interesting...
Huh? [devShell.org]
Arrington isn't suing for breach of contract. He isn't suing for on any grounds related to the IP. To me, this suit is simply intended to sic legal costs on Fusion Garage since they backed out of whatever verbal or implied deal that they had with Arrington, and he's mad about it. The claims aren't frivolous, but they're pretty weak, and not what Arrington has said the actual problems were.
rename it the "Phantom".
So let’s design it, build a few and then open source the specs so anyone can create them.
If everything works well, we’d then open source the design and software and let anyone build one that wants to.
I was already seeing the ads: "JooJoo, you buy one Joo, you get two!"
If Arrington did have the engineers in his employ, then he'd own the IP and FG wouldn't be able to push him out. Everything I've read has said FG did the engineering.
That just leaves the publicity from his blog and other touchy feely marketing somesuch. 35% seems well and above reasonable for that.
I've heard game developers are often approached by folks who say "hey, I've got a great *idea* for a video game, but I don't know how to program. How about I share my ideas with you, you program the video game, and we split the profits 50/50!".
I wonder if it was a similar sitation here. I'm leaning towards believing that Fusion Garage and Chandra Rathakrishnan have the actual ability to design and create the hardware, and Arrington is just a douchebag blogger with an inflated sense of how important his ideas are.
"Okay guys, check out my VISION. How about... a thin and *cheap* tablet pc!" Yeah Michael, thanks.
But if that were true, he'd own the IP. I've met many, many non technical folks who will quite blithely claim they "created the entire blueprint" of whatever their partners actually did.
This whole situation seems more than mildly racist to me. I don't imagine anyone would pay the least attention to Arrington's claims if FG weren't Indian.