I agree :thumbsup

bump bump bump

Stop dreaming Amp, they never will. Give me one good reason why they should go after people who will crush them when they can go after people they think they can crush. The mistake they made was in picking the porn industry and not realising their are some mean and tough guys in it.

Guys like Larry Flynt who will fight this tooth and nail. He is just one of many. They thought they were going to up against a few small companies and a lot of webmasters working from home. They did not think we would band together. WRONG

You do business in the US so I'm afraid this in not the attitude. They will go after everyone until they run out of porn companies to bleed.

I'm in Czech and have sent my first donation, where is yours?

No sounds like a lot of lawyers who have thought this thing through. They went after Sony with the VCHIP and got their asses kicked.

Read this it tells you why they are going after us. http://www.chillingeffects.org/ecom/...?ResourceID=72 They think we are small and easy targets to pick off. Join together and lets crush them.

You still think this is a joke and stupid comments on boards are the way?

Read this http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary...ntent_ID=34590

Why do you think they want to put it in front of a jury?

http://www.webmastervault.com/tip-sp...ldberg-1.shtml

As promised in my previous article about Acacia and the headaches that they are causing for the online adult industry, I have more information about the situation and what webmasters should expect. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Spike Goldberg, CEO of Homegrown Video, who is leading the crusade against Acacia on behalf of webmasters and the industry in general. Here is what Spike had to say about the validity of Acacia?s claims, what could potentially happen as a result of these claims, how webmasters can protect themselves, and finally how webmasters can become involved in the fight.

Muffy: Tell me a little about your company and what kind of programs and
services you provide.

Spike: We market Homegrown Video content exclusively - via the HomegrownCash affiliate program for amateur mega site HomegrownVideo.com, HomegrownContent.com which leases Homegrown's XXX amateur video content to webmasters, and Homegrown Cams which provides live XXX chat and up-sells with our network of amateur cam girls.

Muffy: How long have you been involved in the adult industry?

Spike: I have been in the industry for 6 years.

Muffy: Now, most webmasters are familiar with Acacia and the problems that they are trying to cause for the adult industry, but could you please explain the situation for those that do not.

Spike: Acacia is seems to be in the business of buying patents and then using the threat of massive legal action to force companies into paying them licensing fees. In our case Acacia is asking companies to pay them royalties on all the streaming done on the web.

The royalties vary but they are based on gross revenue on all business that you do, streaming or not. Further, in the case of some companies, they are asking for client lists, the right to do quarterly audits, and they want you to embed code in your media player in order to track your streaming. Make no mistake, Acacia is interested in everyone whether you stream or just have links to streams, and they are coming after everyone.

Muffy: What is your stance in this whole Acacia vs. the adult webmasters issue?

Spike: My personal feeling is that Acacia is using the patent and legal system to extort money from the adult industry. They hoped by suing us with a team of lawyers in a conservative court they would be able to get us all to settle. I find that to be unacceptable. I liken it to a bully with a bat saying give me your lunch money so that you're protected while at school.

Muffy: I know that you are involved with IMPA (Internet Media Protective Association). Could you please explain exactly what this is and how it is helping to fight Acacia?

Spike: The IMPA is made up of industry members who are interested in the future growth of our industry. We all realized that we were going through major changes due to credit card regulations, patent fights, spam issues, and so on. Our response was to follow the example of other industry groups that have helped harness the power of their business community. This in turn will give us more power to deal with such threats.

As for the Acacia battle, the IMPA is helping the group of Acacia Defendants put up a fight against this industry affecting litigation, but there are also other issues that the IMPA is supporting like helping webmasters understand the 2257 requirements and trying to assist webmasters in their ongoing fight with hackers.

Muffy: How can other webmasters get involved with IMPA? Is something set up where people can go make donations?

Spike: The IMPA is currently putting its site together. Once it is ready, we will have information on joining the organization. In the meantime, the URL does have donation information - www.impai.org.

Muffy: It was announced recently that CECash has signed a deal with Acacia to license their technology. What do you think of this?

Spike: CE Cash had to do what was right for them. Plus, they are not the only big company that has settled. They were the ones that were exposed. I will say that Ron Levy has always pledged to support the legal fight from the outset and has never changed that position.

Muffy: Is there anything that webmasters can do to protect themselves from having to pay up to Acacia?

Spike: They do have options. I would suggest they speak with their attorney to see what they suggest. They also can call or e-mail me directly with any questions at [email protected] or 949-716-8080.

Muffy: What do you think will be the final outcome of this battle?

Spike: I believe Acacia?s patents will be invalidated. Beyond that, the Webmaster community will look back at this and other current issues and say that was the point in which our industry went to another level.

Muffy: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me about this latest threat to the adult online industry. I wish you the best of luck in your fight against Acacia and I encourage all webmasters to get involved, in any way that they can.

Darn it I sold all my old hard drives. I used to run a BBS on my 386.

Reading the AVN article confirms this thing is heading down hill very fast. I just love seeing Acacia panic and start coming apart at that seams.....great show!

As long as Homegrown stays firm and keeps cool within 6 months to a year a loud explosion followed by a giant fire ball will take place south of El Toro, CA.

What a bunch of chumps....hahaha

Remember "TheCat" predicted a month back they were going to start flipping out if you could band together and stand up to them.

You are now at the CONSPIRACY stage of the game....I got to hand it to Acacia they have certainly pulled one out the hat that surprised me... Tough guys!

This CONSPIRACY CHARGE has two feet in a case like this, it will be interesting to see how it walks if it walks at all.

What that means is if Acacia has some kind of relationship with the federal judge directly or indirectly they might have a shot at getting it in....if not I wouldn't want to be to close to the bench when the judge hands out his decision on it....someone should be there with a camera because judges can get very bent of shape when someone thinks they can just piss on their bench and add to the workload for kicks. CONSPIRACY for defending yourself during an attempted robbery... that's funny as hell.

Think of Homegrown not as a defendent but "THE HANGMAN" and they got rope pulled tight around Acacia's neck to the point I imagine it's getting a little tough to breath.

Acacia can't win this case and they know it .... only now they have fuck around enough to where it's not what is ahead of them that is going to be the killer it's all the wreckage they have left behind them.

This is what is likely going to happen if Homegrown doesn't give an inch.

When the court rules that Acacia doesn't own what they think they do....turn out the light the party is over and you can bet the lawsuits are going to fly like the speed of light....and the damages are going to be steep.

You know there are many laws on the books that say you can't legally sell something you don't own. And this is why Acacia is flipping out... could even be the possiblility of a criminal complaint in it for them for being the thugs they are.

Like I said 3-4 weeks back go join the IMPA this makes the Industry the Giant and Acacia the morons pissing in the wind.

It's unfortunate that something like this ever happened. The reason it did has to do with the rights we all enjoy in this country but it in no way suggests that our laws have failed...at least not yet.

There are likely to be other Acacias that will come out of pure greed and twist our laws in a way that make it hard for the little guy to stand up and fight for what he believes in but don't ever give that right up.

The reason Homegrown and others are where they are now is because those before them didn't have the balls to stand up and say "You ain't fucking no one else" Homegrown is where the buck stopped.

If this thing continues with Acacia throwing rocks and unwarranted threats and accusations... this industry has an obligation to the American people to inform them of what is happening. Get those guys over sea's to take off a few days and put a spam about this in every email box in the US.... might only take a day. We won't even miss the porn spam!

This is not a porn issue or a legal issue in a sense, this is an outright attack on the one thing
that has brought all people on this planet together for the first time ever in peaceful way, the internet, the mother of a new world economy.

If Acacia is allowed to own and control the flow of audio/video information on the internet it will
put the small players out of business in all commerce segments not just porn. The net will
become just Network Television and we will lose that freedom the internet has brought us as
a people-- the freedom of choosing the who, what, when, where and how anytime we feel like
clicking that mouse button.

Right now though Homegrown and their council have a perfect game of chess in progress.

PREDICTION:
Before this thing comes to end l think Acacias lead council will do something unexpected.... have stroke, leave town
with an undetermined amount of cash, maybe toss the President of Acacia out a window or run him over in the parking garage... who knows what will happen.....what I do know however is that you never ever bust a nut in public or in the press like Acacia did in the AVN article. He just ain't afraid of Homegrowns legal team there's something pushing his button from within Acacia.....

L8r...

heh-heh ... Berman says we all ain't "so-phis-ti-cated" ...

... and he was complaining about slander ? :1orglaugh

Here's the comment that kind of hooked me by Spike in that interview:
So, given that, hypothetically speaking, it would mean that if under one umbrella company I had ...

300 sites on the net of varying content
Two JackInTheBox 'Restaurants'
A Veterinary Clinic
and ... a brewery (of course!)

... that I would be liable for the 1-2% royalty of all my gross earnings from all of those physical and electronic business presences would be liable to their patent, even though only one single subsite of merely one of my hypothetical 300 domains even hinted at utilizing their "business process model of compressing audio/video data" for the purpose of transmission in any way other than via carrier pidgeon (extinct - and probably because Acacia killed them off) would be liable?
Even though said subsite never made a dime off of audio/video in any shape or form?
Even if there was no taxable revenue generated by any of my business ventures (given the above examples that's likely, LOL)?
Even though JackInTheBox owns the patent on compressing chicken components into bit sized death?
Even though many Vet Clinics rely on Gov't subsidies to maintain themselves and keep operating?
Even though most Breweries wind up dead before they even get started?

HUH!?

Acacia must really have one hell of a bankruptcy plan in mind when they finally get crushed with legal fees...