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Baumgartner's Daredevil Parachute Jump From Space Put On Hold
Velcroman1 writes "For years, an Austrian daredevil named Felix Baumgartner has been planning to take a 23-mile plunge from the edge of space — and in the process, become the first parachutist to break the sound barrier, plummeting toward the ground at 760 miles per hour. The engineers and scientists behind The Red Bull Stratos project, an effort to break the record for the highest freefall ever, billed the jump as more than a stunt. The leap from 120,000 feet was to yield volumes of data that would have been used to develop advanced life support systems for future pilots, astronauts, and even space tourists. But a promoter feels that the jump was his idea, and filed a lawsuit in April to prevent the event from taking place. And now Red Bull has pulled the plug on the project, FoxNews.com reports. 'Due to the lawsuit, we have decided to stop the project until this case has been resolved,' Red Bull said."
So if someone tells you to jump off a bridge, you're not allowed to do do it if they suddenly decide that no actually it was their idea and they want to keep it?
which is totally what she said
When saying "wouldn't it be cool to do a parachute jump -- from outer space!!11" gives you a monopoly on draining money off the people actually doing it, the concept of "intellectual property" really shows how childish and immature it is.
Anyone else sick of ridiculous lawsuits? Can we get a public vetting vote for lawsuits to determine whether they are worthwhile or not?
Every experiment which ends in a big bang is a good experiment.
This is what you get for promoting the idea of "Intellectual Property".
If you can, using IP, stop people from making and selling products, stop people from singing songs, stop people from telling stories that contain certain fictional characters. Then why not stop people from making a jump from space?
Oliver.
Is it possible for Slashdot to avoid the marketing-speak? Space begins 100km (62 miles) above sea level. 36km is not "the edge of space".
They invested heavily in the project and the resarch to make this possible. Just to "pull the plug" because some asshole sues them does not only leave the asshole with the "square root of fuck all", but also everybody involved in this project.
Unfortunately the US is such a big market, else I'd say they should simply pull their producs out of the country and let the sucker try to sue in a more sane jurisdiction.
No one can tell me that others have not, at the very least, though about pushing the envelope for free falling from the edge of space and beating Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger's previous record. Unless the promoter has filed for a patent on the idea of falling from that high, which I highly doubt (even if it is something that could be patented), I don't see what kind of legal claim the promoter would have. Truly, this sounds like an attempt at a greedy money grab. The Austrian skydiver, Felix Baumgartnen, is pretty crazy even considering a stunt like this, though. Breaking the speed of sound, which is apparently highly likely, without being inside an actual machine, is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, in the event of equipment failure, all kinds of fun physical maladies could appear, like the blood boiling and bleeding from the eyes due to low atmospheric preassure or freezing from -140F tempratures. You would think the promoter would be more concerned about the person actually taking the risk rather than his own bank account. But, I guess that would be too much to ask from the greedy corporate world.
This is why all Intellectual Property laws, with the possible exception of Trademarks, need to be systematically dismantled.
Starting now.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
Are you sure you don't mean "leap"?
Wait... I'm being informed by my attorney that "leap" is too significantly similar to "jump", which is already another's IP. I'm sorry for wasting your time.
FTA: Hogan claims the daredevil stunt would be worth $375 million to $625 million in advertising to any corporate sponsor.
If this type of lawsuit was as prevalent in the past, NOTHING would be accomplished.
Again, science and innovation are stifled by simple, unabashed greed.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
As far as the human body is concerned, it may as well be space.
Last time that I checked Coca-Cola do sell their product in the uk. Here is a description of UK law. So as I already said it is quite insane to pass laws to give protection to "secrets". The best way to protect them is to ensure that they remain secret, not having laws to punish people who leak them.
Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
This is an example of something that sounds good in principle, but is difficult in practice. Imagine the scene:
"Hey Red Bull, I've got a *great* idea for a promotional stunt!"
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Sign this NDA and I'll tell you!"
"An NDA? Go away, kid, you bother me."