Accacia vs. HomeGrown? Any more news?

What news do you got?

Well... first off... thanks for asking! Let me say that these views are mine
alone and not the views of the IMPA or any other company.

I should qualify my reply... Acacia is not just coming after Homegrown...
Acacia is coming after tons of companies and not just the adult companies.

Few realize what a threat this is to all of our businesses. Acacia is trying
to get one to three percent of gross income from anyone that uses streams and
or downloads.

That means not just the content providers are fucked but also everyone that
uses their content as well. Not only that... Acacia is asking content
providers AND sponsors to "rat out" anyone that they are affiliated with so
they can go bang on them for that percentage as well.

In short, all companies in the content biz, adult or mainstream, are direly
impacted by the threat Acacia poses.

There is a trade organization called the Internet Media Protection
Association that has hired one of the best patent firms in the world to fight
this. http://www.fr.com We strongly encourage everyone to support this
organization to help fight Acacia. The IMPA is a non profit corp and I will
post more info about them shortly.

Companies like Video Secrets, Matrix, Lightspeed, AEBN, Audio Communications,
Holio, Gamelink, and more have already dumped serious cash into fighting this
and I strongly encourage everyone to support these companies directly. They
are spending money to protect each and every one of us.

Already, there is a sentiment that "well, they are spending their cash to
fight this so I don't have to do anything..."

That is a bullshit. Would you tell a soldier hitting the beach in Normandy
that he has to buy his own bullets because Hitler doesn't have any
concentration camps on US soil?

Acacia's ambition is to make us all pay them till the day our companies die.
They want to make us slaves to their whims.

This is for all of us to join together and fight as one.

Once again, thanks for asking.

Far-L,

We support you guys 110%. It is only fair that we has an industry help the companies that fight for us.

It's the least we can do.

Those who don't, get the fuck out .




-Jason

So where is the specific info on how to financially support the fight?

nail those bastard lawyers

The IMPA is waiting for the Secretary of State to file the paperwork and send down the appropriate incorporation materials. With that, an account can be established. Once the account is set up, there will a place to put the donations. The IMPA will have strict guidelines to adhere to in order to maintain its non profit status. There will also be fiduciary responsibility to maintain so that the legitimacy of the organization is beyond reproach.

We are doing this completely by the book.

The IMPA will not only address the Acacia matter but also any other pertinent issues that impact web media businesses.

please let us know when a donation form has been set up...

Quiet: Thanks! I will certainly be banging the drums quite loudly when it is ready. We want to do some fundraising events at the trade shows and figure out ways that we can create incentives to help out... not that protecting one's income from a "tax" of 3% on their gross is not incentive enough... but let's face it... some people want something back right then rather than waiting for something that will happen in the future...

very cool Far-L... I'm sure you'll keep us posted.

Give us the info as well. We are not effected by this, Czech is not covered by these International patents, but this hurts our clients and industry. Tell us where to send the money.

I am also looking forward to this information.

Are you planning on setting up some sort of a membership database we can join so that the progress can be reported to us?

You could also use this database to request donations as and when they are needed.

Any luck getting Microsoft's (Media Player) attention and Real Networks' attention? Or any very large powerful players such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Network who all stream video from their sites?
Any one of the above companies being involved as "interested parties" (I think it's called? or possibly "affected parties"?) would definitely put this on the front-burner and make Acacia sit up and take notice... and possibly sit the fuck down and shut up.

PS - I'd also like to know when the organization is set up, my email should be in the Altmasters database.

Microsoft etc wouldn't be seen dead working with porn webmasters.

However it might be worth a go, as their legal dept is larger than most of their rivals entire companies.

We are certainly wooing all companies that are affected by this, not just adult companies.

I cannot be specific but I can say that we have moved very positively in this regard to bring in others.

The IMPA will not be an exclusively adult trade organization.

I thank you all for the tremendous support!

I've been in business for myself for over 20 years, and I can honestly say the greediest people I've dealt with are LAWYERS. No one comes close to their level of take you anyway they can attitude.

Far-L, I too am waiting for the info for donating to the defense fund for this.

The best company to get involved in this is Apple. They were developing Quicktime around the time this patent was issued and would have prior art. Microsoft got into digital video a couple of years later.

VideoJ: Thanks for the tip. If anyone knows any techs that go back to the roots of creating the technology to send video and audio over the internet, than that would be a tremendous help.

Others have made suggestions and I can assure everyone that we are looking into every possible angle.

The most helpful information will be regarding material published in the US prior to 1989.

Far-L - thanks for replying with so much info!

I know that we here at Sweet are 100% behind this.

VideoJ: Thanks for the tip. If anyone knows any techs that go back to the roots of creating the technology to send video and audio over the internet, than that would be a tremendous help.

Others have made suggestions and I can assure everyone that we are looking into every possible angle.

The most helpful information will be regarding material published in the US prior to 1989.

Far-L, who is handling the technical/prior research for your legal team? Have him e-mail me as there is a lot more info I can pass along that will help. I was writing software for quicktime in 1990, among other things so I know a lot of the history. And if I know what he is looking for, I can get even more.

VideoJ
jerry at photogregg.com

Very happy to hear something will be set up.. tell us where to send our donation when it's ready.

Thanks Lady Mischief!

We are completely open to fund raising ideas if anyone has any... JMM came up with a good one to put one year memberships up on ebay and give the proceeds to the IMPA... another idea has been suggested to do webmaster events at the trade shows...

At this point, we are entirely open to suggestions.

Run a small auction with donations from adult webmasters. Get people to offer exclusive content, video feeds, design work, etc. I'd gladly donate what I could and I'm sure everyone else would be willing.

People always find hard cash difficult to part with. However they'll often find it easier to agree to a small % of something before the cash actually hits their bank. Would any of the large sponsors consider doing a little work to give an option for people to donate a % of all their sales until this has been won? I'm sure many more would jump in and donate this way than asking for hard cash from them.

Either way it's gonna impact us all so I'm right behind the rest on wanting to know the minute donations etc can be taken.

Hair to Stay: Thanks for the suggestion!

Tipsy: We are definitely looking for ways to benefit webmasters that are easy to grasp and affordable.

We are not going to scoff at any amount, or time, or resource that people can offer to help with.

How can YOU help fight Acacia? I'm glad you asked! Start by sending some joins to the companies that are fighting this threat. Here is an incomplete list:
1. Video Secrets
2. Matrix
3. Lightspeed
4. AEBN
5. Audio Communications
6. Holio
7. Gamelink
8. Hustler
Not only will you be fighting the threat but these guys have some pretty damn good programs, too!

If you are asking "why should I help some huge company save their ass?" remember that Acacia is after ALL our asses! If these guys fall then WE are next! Start fighting back NOW!

B

BarryF: Great point... but allow me to add...

ATKcash (as of today... thank you!)


And of course... who can forget....


http://www.homegrowncash.com

The views that I have expressed thus far are my personal views and not necessarily the views of the IMPA or any particular company.

When I can help to present official notices from the IMPA then I will be happy to do so.