I'd kick in a couple of dollars for your legal fees if you get a donation page up
Me too. Seriously.
A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
51–60 of 228 posts
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#52How long has WhosHere been around for? (Okay, I read an update, 5 years and trademark since 2 years - still, irrelevant) Seriously, this news sickens me, your app name is a common phrase, a big f you to WhosHere from me to be honest :)
They can't trademark "Who's", surely.. I hope this makes big news, you deserve to win this, which is really obvious in my eyes. Good luck!!!
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
In spite of only having one side of the story I'm going to decide to choose my ground and ask this: What if we started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the legal fees to counter-sue this company? The precedence set in a success would be profitable to the builders of the startup community. And I'd sleep better at night.
You want to completely buy in to one side's story without any context or response from the other side, then start a Kickstarter to fund a legal assault upon that company? Really? Not only are you surprisingly easily manipulated, apparently, don't you have better things to hack on?
FYI, personal attacks (a.k.a. ad-hominem arguments) are discouraged here. Here are the guidelines, for your convenience. http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Your objections could be worded in a way that is not a personal attack and could be just as informative, or more so.
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#54I never went to law school so there's no way I could be a lawyer, I'm just giving my thoughts on things I would do in this situation. This isn't legal advice. I sympathize with your situation and I'm sure there are a couple lessons learned here- namely that they used negotiation with email to apparently cause you to forget that there was court case pending. But saying that doesn't help you. I've been in the situation…
I appreciate what you're doing, but you just wrote an essay full of legal advice, including conclusions on how the proceedings will go -- something you really shouldn't predict. By putting the words "this isn't legal advice" before your comment, you aren't magically making it okay to give your opinion in the guise of advice. Just be aware of that.
I agree with jsprinkles for the most part. There is a great deal of legal advice packed in there. The OP needs a lawyer.
But on the other hand, I have to agree with nirvana about one thing. A certain amount of work must necessarily fall on the OP to find the right lawyer for the case. As nirvana says, there will be plenty of lawyers who aren't really interested and just say "roll over," while there will be others who would want to aggressively pursue the case. I'm not saying the former type is wrong and the latter right. But it's worth considering that different lawyers will have fundamentally different attitudes about the case and different styles. The OP should be cognizant of that when picking a lawyer.
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#55Something tells me you don't have 400,000 users: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/wnmlive.com
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#56Somewhat unrelated, but I ask the legal experts here. If someone sues you for some bogus claim, is it possible to submit a written plain english rebuttal and have the court throw it out before it gets too serious? I mean if I sue some company for something absurd and demand $10 million dollars, are they forced to actually entertain my lawsuit or can it be dismissed readily without a lawyer?
The short answer is this: It's possible, but hard to pull off. First, you would have to do some basic research on court filing procedures. It's not rocket science, but you can't just pop an envelope in the mail addressed to the judge. Once you figure out how to file documents for the case, you need to determine what type of documents to file. E.g. a motion to dismiss might be appropriate if you think the claim is utt…
What a screwed up system. Seemingly there should a vetting process where the court system determines a claim at least has merits before the defendant has to waste his/her resources fighting it.
As it stands it is way too easy to use as a weapon to sue people into submission. Although I think this is already well known.
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#57I never went to law school so there's no way I could be a lawyer, I'm just giving my thoughts on things I would do in this situation. This isn't legal advice. I sympathize with your situation and I'm sure there are a couple lessons learned here- namely that they used negotiation with email to apparently cause you to forget that there was court case pending. But saying that doesn't help you. I've been in the situation…
I appreciate what you're doing, but you just wrote an essay full of legal advice, including conclusions on how the proceedings will go -- something you really shouldn't predict. By putting the words "this isn't legal advice" before your comment, you aren't magically making it okay to give your opinion in the guise of advice. Just be aware of that.
I found a missing "possibly" and a spot where I clarified that something was my perception, but to be honest nearly every perspective I give is qualified with a "may" or a "it appears" or some other similar language.
Nowhere did I give a single bit of legal advice. I merely illuminated a variety of ways that he could do some research that might show that he has more of a case than the lawyers he originally talked to concluded, towards the goal of getting a lawyer interested in the case.
----
Edit to add: The opposition continues to dishonestly claim that I am giving legal advice. I have not. I have merely suggested avenues of the law that could be researched and then discussed with a lawyer.
There is zero risk in someone reading the law and then talking it over with a lawyer. There is zero liability in me suggesting someone get a lawyer and offering suggestions for how they might get one.
I find it astounding that this comment has been down voted by %75 because persistently dishonest people have continued to claim that I'm "giving legal advice" when I am not, and have convinced people to punish me for trying to help this guy.
I mean, I actually went to the USPTO and pulled up the relevant mark and read the examiners comments!
Yet on HN, lying about me and attacking me carries 3 times the weight, apparently.
That's a shame.
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
You want to completely buy in to one side's story without any context or response from the other side, then start a Kickstarter to fund a legal assault upon that company? Really? Not only are you surprisingly easily manipulated, apparently, don't you have better things to hack on?
FYI, personal attacks (a.k.a. ad-hominem arguments) are discouraged here. Here are the guidelines, for your convenience. http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Your objections could be worded in a way that is not a personal attack and could be just as informative, or more so.
FYI, what I wrote is not an ad hominem argument, and "ad-hominem argument" is not an a.k.a. for "personal attack" (neither of which my comment is, for what it's worth).
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#59It's a dog-eat-dog world out there and I guess the author had to find out the hard way. He'll have to consider that this might be a lost cause, but remember that you have the knowledge that they did this to you and can share it with everyone else, people will be less likely to buy the VC-funded app if this bit of information was out in the open :)
edit: clarity
Re: A VC-funded startup called WhosHere is trying to steal my social network
#60Looks like in USA you have to have at least LLC setup even if you doing something for fun only. In worst scenario give away or "give away" it to offshore company and "sue me" to these pricks.