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Baumgartner's Daredevil Parachute Jump From Space Put On Hold

Posted by timothy on from the not-a-satisfying-reason dept.

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."

18 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. WTF by somersault · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?

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    which is totally what she said
    1. Re:WTF by AMindLost · · Score: 5, Funny

      Are you kidding? I jumped two whole steps on my way downstairs this morning and found the cease and desist letter already waiting for me on the doormat!

    2. Re:WTF by Mitchell314 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Huh, I was just about to say the same thing. See you in court.

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      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    3. Re:WTF by rossjudson · · Score: 4, Informative

      The WSJ story has a little more detail than the others. Turns out that Kittinger (the first guy to do anything like this, decades ago) used to work for Daniel Hogan as a consultant on the project. After the meetings with Red Bull, RB informed Hogan that the deal was off, and Kittinger started working for RB on a freshly minted version of the same thing.

      The right answer here is, as usual, "who knows?" It looks like there might really be something to the case, and it needs litigating to resolve the problem.

  2. "Intellectual property" by MrHanky · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  3. Pull the plug by captain_dope_pants · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The promoter who claims it was his idea and Red Bull stole it is, as always, in it for the money. Red Bull should just abandon the whole thing leaving him with the square root of fuck all. It'd save them legal fees too.

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    while (true != false) process_more_stupid_code();
    1. Re:Pull the plug by PseudonymousBraveguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

  4. Solution! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ok fine! It's your idea...

    Come on. You're going to space!

  5. Sick of lawsuits by toQDuj · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.
    1. Re:Sick of lawsuits by somersault · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I refer the poster to YouTube. Pick a video. Basically any video. Now, look at the comments. Do you really want these guys deciding what lawsuits are "worthwhile"? I think they'd actually get more ridiculous. These people are the ones that sue when they accidentally kill their dog in a microwave.

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      which is totally what she said
  6. Re:You need to be a daredevil by PseudonymousBraveguy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Its a pretty ordinary name in german speaking countries. It basically means "The lucky tree gardener". Daredevil indeed.

  7. The future of IP by khchung · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?

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    Oliver.
    1. Re:The future of IP by Pharmboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is saying: "Have a lifelong childhood dream? Well, that dream belongs to us now, and it is only fair because money changed hands, and we bought and paid for that dream."

      Thank god that Martin Luther King Jr. didn't accept sponsorships.

      --
      Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
  8. Re:You need to be a daredevil by sortius_nod · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, but in English speaking countries it comes across as "The man who trims arse hair".

  9. Why is this tagged Switzerland ? by dafdaf · · Score: 5, Informative

    Baumgartner is (as the article says) Austrian, so is Red Bull... Ah, and by the way. The guy who sued Red Bull for 'prior idea' (or whatever) is named Daniel Hogan. More infos here.

    --
    To error is human, to forgive, beyond the scope of the OS.
  10. Re:Space = 100km above sea level by zebslash · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We're talking about a Foxnews report here... Scientific accuracy is not their priority.

  11. The wrong payload!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can we push a lawyer out at 120,000 feet?

  12. Trade secrets by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Informative

    He's actually saying that his specific plans for executing the jump were used by Red Bull after they reviewed and rejected the project. Those plans wouldn't be protectable if they were open knowledge, but given that he was shopping the plans around privately, looking for a partnership, the plans constitute a trade secret.

    Trade secrets are the antithesis of most IP law. Once an idea's "out there", the protection disappears, as it should.

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?