Since title changes are being done anyway, this one should be changed to "Aaron Greenspan". There's only one famous Greenspan, and it's not this one.
I too was shocked that Alan Greenspan was suing people. "The Fed has gone too far!!!"
Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
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Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#52It seems really odd to me that AirBnb is being included in this list. 57. Defendant Airbnb, Inc. allows its customers to rent the homes of other customers for varying durations, in lieu of a hotel. To process each transaction it holds onto the customer’s funds, and remits those funds to the property owner at the conclusion of the stay, minus its fee. Well, okay, but wouldn't this apply to every company that acts as a…
In most marketplaces, the buyer pays the seller. In this marketplace, the buyer pays the marketplace and the marketplace pays the seller. Any business that engages in the transfer of funds between people is a money transmitter and needs a license. Escrow service has always been regulated.
Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#53Perhaps I'm new here, but any chance the title might get 's/Greenspan/Aaron Greenspan/'? I got real confused as to why Alan Greenspan might be suing tech companies...
I had the same reflex.
Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
From reading the complaint, it seems more likely that the expected result here is something like: * State is forced to fairly enforce the rules that caused Think Computer so much trouble (re money transmitter regulations) * Fairly enforcing the rules causes incredible amounts of grief & overhead for companies large enough to comply, and drives smaller companies out of business * The grief drives those larger companie…
>The grief drives those larger companies (and investors into the smaller companies) to push for these laws to actually get fixed Huh? The law just got rid of many of their competitors, and they're going to push to change the law?
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Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#55Since title changes are being done anyway, this one should be changed to "Aaron Greenspan". There's only one famous Greenspan, and it's not this one.
Agreed. Had the same thought.
Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#56Who is Aaron Greenspan?
Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#57Did anyone read the part where he explains that he is not being represented by a lawyer? ("REQUEST FOR CIVIL LOCAL RULE 3-9(b) EXEMPTION AND RETIREMENT.") That seems a very unusual decision indeed. Does anyone have any idea why he would do it that way? Is it probably a money issue?
If the PR (making the tech community aware of the problems with CA's MTA laws, getting the VCs to stop ignoring it, and perhaps getting the legislature to reconsider how they treat startups that try to get licensed) is more important than the result of the suit, you wouldn't want to bankrupt yourself over the suit.
Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#58houseSYSTEM failed -> Sue Facebook
FaceCash failed -> Sue Facebook + everyone
Aaron got rich by filing a frivolous lawsuit against Zuck, might as well try it again, huh? This time with even more victims.
Building successful companies is hard, let's go lawyering.
Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ahh, is this why all these tech giants use a non-money credit system for their stores and networks: Sony, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon(?), ... there must be many more.
The reason why companies use points instead of $ is: 1) Easy to keep the price consistent world wide 2) There is a casino chip theory that you spend more money when it is abstracted. People spend more when they use their credit cards as opposed to cash, etc. 3) You can sell point cards at retailers to the unbanked. In the Xbox case this is important because a lot of your audience is kids.
2) is on the spot. As soon as you introduce an abstract that is one step removed from money, people are more willing to gamble with that abstract. This is true for everything from credits to casino chips and from stock/shares to options and derivatives. Also, the word "willing", in this context, is actually an intended pun, since this happens on a subconscious level.
There is a lot of literature on the topic; some pieces even establish a tie between that notion and the most recent banking crises and scandals. For example, stock options are not just one step removed from currency, but at least two or more.
Interesting stuff indeed.
Re: Aaron Greenspan sues Facebook, Sequoia, Andreesen, YC, others
#60I wonder if HN user thinkcomp (i.e. Aaron Greenspan) is willing/able to comment here. It would be interesting to know his motivations for doing this.
He's unlikely to comment now that it's in progress, but here's a comment on the topic from the past: