How do I deal with Acacia?!
 

I thought I'd ask everyone's opinion on a letter I received today from Acacia claming this was my "final notice" (haven't ever received anything from them before!). They sent me a letter addressed to my design company, AVS Designer. My design site doesn't have any video content on it at all. I do have one or two free sites and a couple tgp galleries that have videos on them but we're talking 4 or 5 sites max! Why in the world would they send me a patent infringement notice?! I'm such a small fish in this whole thing. I can't believe this is happening. Anyone have any advise on how I should respond to their notice?

Thanks in advance.

I got one too.

I filed it away and that is basically all that I plan on doing. I do not produce content or run any paysites so I would be really surprised if I need to give this a second thought.

This seems to be the year of suing. I see that X10.com has been sued for using pop under consoles since someone is claiming they invented the idea. Slashdot has a thread going about this one.

Thanks Cleo. I'll calm down now and try to breath. Do you think I should maybe take down the few sites I have up with movie clips to be "safe"?

i recieved one too
 

I got one a while back. Im removing every movie file from every one of my domains. and im not paying them a dime. i just hope they dont decide to pantent jpegs.... only in america eh

rl

None for me yet, but I doubt they would go after someone from outside the US

I'm not a lawyer so I can't give any advice, but I will say that I'm not doing anything with any of my stuff.

I too was disturbed by some of the big names that where mentioned in the letter as having settled and paid the fine. I won't be paying them any money - ever. So for me I think I'll take down the clips and be done with it.

hermit is right - God help us if someone decides to patent images.

I got a letter from them in Aug regarding some of my pay sites. I turned over to my attorneys. They didn't seem concerned.

Thats a good call Surfn, however I would hardly ignore the letters if you recieve them, ignoring the letters has proven to be a very bad call for a few companies out there. At very least get it to your Attorney or get in touch with Far-L or Spike from Homegrown.

The letters are not official. They are openly spamming an affiliate programs webmaster list to see how many bite. In order to go through courts to shut someone down, they would have to "officially serve" you, which means getting a signature. I think.

Ask your lawyer :)

What would those who settled with Acacia do if Acacia said something like this?

"Your affiliates are protected now, because you signed up. So we need them listed to make sure we do not pursue them."

Acacia then have a list of webmasters and the knowledge that few of them work for one sponsor.

What we need is people who got the package to an address only know by sponsors to list those sponsors. It will not take a genius to see which names pop up consistently against who has settled. We may even find a few who have settled and kept quiet about it.

"They are openly spamming an affiliate programs webmaster list "

Who gave them their affiliate webmaster list?

THey shouldn't do that, if you can figure out who that is pull your lnks and don't do any more biz with that company.

We've received quite a few letters but haven't been served, all letters go to our lawyers

I thought they got my name from doing a domain name lookup.

No it seems somes are going to addresses not on URL registrations. We need to start a list.

yo what the hell is going on??
i don't even do mainstream..

i don't own no damn paysite..
never bought or used any audio/video content for my domains...

fucken idiots......

i ain't paying shit lol....

unless i own a paysite.... i ain't paying shit.. and jesus christ.. i don't even know how much that shit actually is.

if i find out also... i shall sue them for violating it... the hell... there is no way they can get my address unless i gave them it |angry|

Re: How do I deal with Acacia?!
 

Well, here's the thing--I got one of those letters, too, and it was also on a site that has NO streaming anything on it.

My bf said it reminded him of a recent issue with a lawfirm here in LA. Seems some Beverly Hills Law firm was sending out vaguely threatening letters to small business owners in East LA (the kind of owners that don't have enough money to deal with Lawyers and the such). The firm would CLAIM they were representing people in a civil lawsuit that was ABOUT to be filed against the owner for "fraud" or something like that. Here's the hook: the small business owner could settle for a fairly small fee BEFORE the suit gets filed. Generally the most the asked for was 5000 bucks. Pocket change to BH lawyers, a godly sum for business owner. A lot of owners caved. Those who didn't, generally never heard from the firm again(IIRC). The firm was pretty much fishing for victims and nailed those who bit.

Welp, someone got wise and set the City Attorney on the firm. And the firm got in HUGE TROUBLE. The CA discovered there were no "clients" of the firm about to sue the business owners--the firm was representing ITSELF in the alleged pending lawsuits. Basically, they were extorting money from the largely immigrant, low income and legally inexperienced small business owners in East LA.

This really does sound exactly like what Acacia is doing now. The question is: does anyone want to go public and report this to the proper authorities here in CA?

I'm not sure I do. Yes, I'm a wuss. I freely admit it.

|sad|

well.. i have just received my AVN Online magazine at the same time... i have read that Acacia is actually not a so rich company lol

but they have like $540 million at hand... and it says acacia is trying to convince every adult site owner to pay the fee before they take it into action....

so i started thinking... are they actually trying to even get people that don't use audio/video content for their domains to even pay the fee for nothing???? they trying to get more money from webmasters like me that don't use audio/video content???

go to fucken hell Acacia

I got one of those letters yesterday too... I find it hard to believe that they would legally be able to go after sites that only LINK to other sites that have streaming audio and video...For one thing, every search engine would be affected. It just doesn't make any sense - looks like a fishing expedition on their part, not to mention possible extortion |raygun|

I hear people are getting the letters to addresses Not on their whois info so it's coming from a sponsor or a content provider was mentioned too.

Look at the letter. It doesn't even name domains or what you are infringing upon. Those fuckers just have a list of adult webmasters and their addresses and sent out a huge mailing. That's it!

Of course you could always move to Canada or even better, Mexico. Think of all the pesos you'd have.
I never got any letter here in Canada. |rasta|

Don't be so sure about that Ramster. Shilli (Chris) in Toronto got a legal notice .. not just a regular mail letter .. about his paysite. The problem is, he's hosted in the US. I think if your host is in the US, you could be vulnerable to Acacia. This is just conjecture on my part, I'm not a lawyer. ;)

This whole episode is very strange. Acacia has to know that any notice sent by regular mail is worthless in court. There is no way of establishing delivery or receipt of the notice .... unless the recipient acknowledges receipt on a board or some other published media.

Stop posting that you received a notice in the mail!

If I were a US webmaster who received one of these letters, I'd be taking it to the FBI, or some such department. These letters are clearly just scare tactics that would never hold up in court (the way they were delivered). In my opnion, by definition, this is extortion by threat through the mail across state borders. Is it not? That's only my opinion, and a very uninformed opinion at that since I don't know all US law.

Still, this seems really strange to me. Acacia has got to know that these letters are going to cause them more grief than good. Very strange.

*********************************************
Now watch .... Ramster and I will get a letter. |jester|

I'd be looking at a content providor(or 2 ) as well - affiliate program was my first thought until I did some looking around

I just got one today and like a lot of you I don't have any audio or video coming from my domains, just links to others...
So until someone can prove to me that's illegal I don't think I'm going worry about it...|zzzzzzzzz

I agree though, I don't think it's coming from whois info.
Someone spilled some beans...

A lot of fingers over at GFY are pointing at Matrix Content.
The Matrix Content president did make a formal statement at AVN:

One particular quote from that article stands out more than all the others in my opinion
Why would he stress that he is speaking only for himself and not necessarily his company? So does this mean that he denies that he personally gave Acacia affilate members' information, but he does not "necessarily" deny that his company gave over information? How do you guys interpret this quote?

I'm not saying that Matrix did or did not give up affiliate info. However if I owned Matrix, and if my company did in fact give out information, I'm not so sure I would admit it. I think the results would be disastrous.

Comments? Opinions?

them bastards.....

if anyone that can prove its illegal... i'll be one of the first to report it and sue them till their poor and broke and all mainstream people shall be relieved

Letter??? What Letter |confused|

I

Stop whining on the boards that you got the letter, contact Spike at Homegrown and ask him if you have grounds to sue for extortion or if he would like to add you to the list.

He is counter suing Acacia and will be the best person to contact. Stay up to date with the fight at IMPA or Fight The Patent these are the places to get all the info and contribute info.

As I said before if a list was started it would not take long to narrow down who ratted on you. Then we decide whether we do business with this company or not.

The frightening thing about this is the way we lay down like wussies and stick our arses in the air for people to fuck us. |raygun|

Who the fuck is acacia?

Is this for US only or do they come and pay me a visit in Holland.

Maybe this thread is a good idea.

http://gofuckyourself.com/showthread...hreadid=189615

|peace| Troy

I'll get nervous when I get served with legal papers and not a form letter.

And no non-US citizens are not safe. Acacia owns the patents worldwide. They're just starting here first, Europe will probably be next.

Agreed! I have my po box listed for my domain registrations and this letter I received yesterday was sent to my home mailing address!

After receiving my Final Notice from Acacia, I've decided this:

I am the sole patent holder for nudity. Yes, just general nudity. Not only do I want royalties paid for all photographed and video taped nudity, but I also wish to be paid each time anyone finds themselves in the state of nudity, whether a camera is present or not. I expect to be paid double if you are naked while reading this.

If anyone would like to avoid the eventual lawsuit, I suggest you go ahead and start sending me money now. Cash only please.

Also, is it possible to say, "Final Notice of Introductory Royalty Rates"? I mean, if it is INTRODUCTORY, how the hell can it be FINAL? Please explain - In three words or less. Acacia may have good attorneys, but their proofreader sucks.

|jester| Gotta admire their balls, even if they are hanging from their chin |jester|

Here is a theoretical story..
Say you are a comission salesperson working for a store.
You get a comission eveytime a customer buys something that you show them..you also have a display in your area of responsibility of other things the store has for sale..you also get comission on the items in that display that the customer buys from those other departments of the store too..
But..the person who made the technical specs for the shoelaces in the shoes that the store carries wants the store to pay them extra because the shoes have those shoelaces..so the store pays..
now the shoelace company wants you, the comission salesperson, to pay them because the shoelaces are in the stores that you sell for..Never mind that you don't sell the shoes and never had them in your display in your areas of responsibility..
I've been in retail management for over 20 years..I never heard of such bull shit in my life..Manufacturers would never get away with that..Light bulbs are patented..does a comission salesperson who sells light bulbs to WalMart have to pay GE a percentage of his lightbulb sales because of the patent?? Of course not!!
This whole issue has me incensed..

GREAT analogy, Amber.

I think Acacia is casting a wide net to get those who link to the providers to remove them, so the providers will be forced to settle.

They can't double dip, and charge the providers and webmasters..

One of the chathosts over at IF got a letter becuase she has a website outside the IF platform where she does traffic for herself and has purchased content for that site. She has now freaked out all those hosts because some Misinformed idiot Studio owner who likes to post as a 19yr old female "host" has told them, that if IF settles with Acacia, Acacia can still come after them because IF only will pay for THEIR 50%. *which in actuality they get 60% but that's a whole other ball game*.. I posted they should be more worried that IF will settle and take the 2% out of their earnings, but as usual the lemmings follow the biggest "shouter".

Just Dumb SHIT..

i wouldn't remove anything from my site becuase that is what Acacia wants us to do, to pressure the providers.

I posted to them it would better for them to pay IMPAI 2% of their earnings now than to have to pony up later..

http://www.d-moneyshow.com/liveshow/dm07232003.wmv

Intersting d-money show about this

I think there is a whole lot of unnecessary worrying going on about this. They aren't really interested in the little fishes. They want to catch the big fishes and make them bring the little fishes inline. Just my .02 pesos |rasta|

Acacia Issue
 

I got my letter on Sat the Oct 25

I ended up calling Acacia today, to get some info that I couldnt get from reading their site.


I will use LFP for the example. As we know LFP paid for the license. Even though LFP paid still means us an an affiliate to LFP still has to pay, even though we are not hosting this said video stream on our own domains.


This really sounds like a form of double taxation, or at least double charging. And if this is truely the case shouldn't the FCC and or the FTC be stepping in, to stop the "monopoly" that will be created by this.


There has to be at least a bilion adult web sites that are published on the internet. And if every webmaster was forced to pay or close down. This company would have generated over a Trillion dollar business, which makes them prob the wealthiest compnay in the world.


Also isn't it a breach of contract with our sponsors to give out our personal info. As far as I know that information can only be given out with a court summons. Unless the sponsor was pissing their pants in fear and just handed it over. As far as I know this hansn't gone to court with the sponsors, (Per my phone call to the company that has the industry in a panic) It has been in court to prove the patent rights....


The thing that gets me is when I called today they have a few of my domain on file, that are not even sites, the names are parked and have never been published.


This will effect the smallest of sites, and will force them to prob close up. I for one cant afford to pay this license fee, and if I could, I still wouldn't pay.


We more then ever need to stand up together as a whole in this industry and not let this happen to these money grubbing mongers...


I am done I added my 2 cents....

I didn't get to read this whole thread, so someone might have mentioned this. I have it from pretty good sources that one of the sponsors leaked their list of affiliates to Acacia.

The letter that people have been recieving are just part of a blast mail.

How do I deal with Acacia?!
 

Ok I did a little research on Acacia you can read about the patents

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...FIELD2=&d=PG01

I went through and they own
#1 #2 #6 #7 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14
and looks like they have their hands in the other ones at that page

My Opinion of acacia media

I looked at their financial info after seeing an article in avn online the print version.
what interested me is it is taking enormous loses evry quarter(3 months).
tot he tune of $6 million. And has limited revnue streams. however there stock is up since the article it quoted a price of around $2/ share now it's at 5.
I see 2 possibilities
1. The patent is an effort to make thier company profitable and drive up it's stock.
by scaring small webmasters into signin an agreement. I know some big companies have signed but alll suuccesful company look at everything from the the bottom line prospective(money). It is less costly to pay the fee's then to go to court. and acacia media will not go to court if challened unless they are lunkheads becuase even with the law on thier side
it would cause a serois strian on the cash reserves wich they currently using to keep their biz afloat.
2. remember enron: Pump and dump!
i noticed the insiders(execs in the company, people who started the company) are buying thier own stock.
spreading good news about the company and it's so called strength to get investors to but and their stock to go up. when this patent fiasco is all siad and done they will sell and the stock tank.