Things You Wanted To Know About Acacia But You Were Afraid To Ask
 

Let me preface this by saying that this is my opinion and is supported by Acacia?s own words. Be aware that Acacia watches the boards. Further Acacia is attempting to amend their complaint to punish us for banding together. More on this in the coming days. I'll speak about a few of Acacia's tactics and tell you my opinions.



Acacia Tactic 1: They are going after everyone whether you stream, zip, download, or link. For example sites that have affiliate links to other sites with video are being targeted. Read the article at

http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary...tent_ID=34286. This article talks about Acacia's litigation tactics and its recent decision to pursue default judgments against people who did not respond to the lawsuit they filed. The article says that:

Acacia vice president Rob Berman said July 18 that whether or not the defaulted companies are out of business isn't exactly going to prove an obstacle. If they've suspended operations or gone out of business, he said, that's one thing, but if they turn out to be trying to hide, that's something else entirely. And Acacia isn't going to stop with just content providers or AVS services, either.

"We have a team of researchers that does nothing but identify these groups," Berman said. "Content providers, AVSs, Webmasters, affiliate programs. Just because we haven't contacted you yet, it doesn't mean we haven't heard of you and that we're not going to get in touch with you."



Acacia Tactic 2: Acacia's trumpeting that it secured "Injunctions against Adult Webmasters and Content Providers for Violating Acacia's Patents"
This is a scare tactic, nothing more. The companies that they sued never showed up in court hence as a matter of administration they had a default judgment entered against them. There has been no entry of injunctions against companies that have decided to fight this matter.



Acacia Tactic 3: Acacia's claims about its VChip Litigation. This is what really happened (from its quarterly statement). They lost!
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/021113/actg10-q.html

On April 5, 2000, Soundview Technologies filed a federal patent infringement and antitrust lawsuit against Sony Corporation of America, Philips Electronics North America Corporation, the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association and the Electronics Industries Alliance d/b/a Consumer Electronics Association in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleging that television sets utilizing certain content blocking technology (commonly known as the "V-chip") and sold in the United States infringe Soundview Technologies' U.S. Patent No. 4,554,584. In September 2002, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut granted a motion for summary judgment filed by the defendants. In granting the motion, the court ruled that the defendants have not infringed on Soundview Technologies' patent. While we are currently exploring strategies in response to this ruling and intend to appeal it, litigation is inherently uncertain and we can give no assurance that we will be successful in any such appeal.



Opinion 1: This is in my opinion but it would appear the latest licensing drive is along the lines of Acacias apparent policy to pick on little companies unable to defend themselves in patent litigation.





Opinion 2: Whatever you do be sure to consult an attorney regarding the contract they sent you. You will be stuck with the contract you sign.



Opinion 3: If you are a foreign webmaster don?t think that will keep you safe. As long as you do business in the US Acacia can reach you.



Opinion 4: Acacia has said they are coming to the show so I believe it behooves everyone to act in a professional manner.



As always feel free to contact me if you have any questions. 949-716-8080 [email protected]

What better place to get a full list of anyone streaming video right there as samples, advertising having video, and handing out business cards to collect and give to the lawyers?

Be careful who you give your business card to this time around.
I went to Internext and came home with hundreds of business cards - not all were given to me, many were just picked up off of stacks.
What a goldmine of information for a company who is looking for people to target. Signed, sealed, and delivered.
And much less work than sitting and reading the GFY drivel daily looking for URLs.

it reminds me of when that old sex.com guy tried to sue anyone with sex in their domain name.

Crooks that will get whats coming to them in the end. Thats how it always works out eventually.


These sound like a bunch of dumbfucks that lost their shirt after the internet boom and have to try to do something to earn a buck because they cant build a business plan.

Do what the Amish do: shun them.

What reason do the Amish have to shun Acacia?

Have you ever heard of an Amish person licensing anything from Acacia?

Spike,

Very well said.......

Hugs,
tina

Yes, my great uncle Ishmael did it for the videos on his Amish gangbang site.

Have they gone after any of the mainstream big boys yet? Like, MSNBC, CNN, etc...

So now they're wanting people to believe that they have patents on downloading and linking... ?

And apparently want people to think they have all rights having anything to do with movie or song files..

As far as going after those who just link to the sites.. they will probably start going after people who just visit the sites..

These guys must really be desparate!!!

Sounds to me like if they're not careful, they're gonna become their own worst enemy.

We who are up in our years were downloading files in the commy 64 days.. I was transferring files in 72 from one Naval base to another.

Is there a link to a thread that explains what this whole acacia thing
is about? I'm reading bits and pieces of the story, but still don't know
what its all about.

Acacia is screwed, they will not win poop. I really think they got one hell of a surprise when a few smut peddlers got
together to fight them. :1orglaugh :thumbsup It's beyond me how anyone would settle with them. I'm wondering when
they loose if you can bring civil action against there Corp. officers and lawyers, after all they are patient Lawyers. There
patient it's worth the paper it's written on and I know shit about patient law, just have some common sense and can
fucking read. Hell one day one this board all kinds of post on Video's on the net years before there patient. Hell I had a
friend that use to bring me Porn CD's back in the Dos day's Dos 3.1. (1980's) Think I threw all of them away about 5
or 6 months ago (not 100% sure) . I use to play them for a few customers with pcanywhere in Dos. Fucking idiots.

Wow, here we are thinking Bush and his rightwing assmasters were going to fuck up this business and it looks like it'kll be a bunch of little wormy fuckrakes standing behind lawyers (note, it is is my OPINION they are fuckrakes, I don't actually have any proof).

I pray for them to get cancer in their asses.

LOELEROELSODSLDOLDOLSDODLSLSDSLSDLDS i laughed so hard

Cuncur.

You have it wrong. They are wormy fuckrakes who ARE lawyers (in my opinion only of course).

hahah, you're right my bad...
we'll discuss it further in detail in Vegas over a beer or 15 when you guys get into town :-) and I won't spill it in Shainna's shoe this time...

What if you put your movies into .swf flash format so people have to view your content as flash movies? Are they going after that too?

Dude, I'm not even letting her wear shoes near you this time ;)

We'll be there on the 31st; Im trying to line up real-estate appointments for Fri-Sat-Sun but we'll have plenty of time to hang out after 5:00 PM :)

Hit me on ICQ one of these days...I want to get an update on stuff and swap cell #'s etc.

I'll be a gentleman and not say anything on the first part (mainly because shainna will kick my ass ;-))

Sounds great, we'll do that. I think you guys will love Vegas.

One of these days I'll have to get out and meet a couple more Vegas-based webmasters.......

Ahh, don't believe it's not somehow related. As this goes to court the voice of the administration, the judges, will be more than happy to give us the fuckstick unless a proper case is argued in our favor.

Sometimes the people in power like to stand by and let someone else seemingly unrelated do the dirtywork. This is one of those cases. I bet this brings a smile to Mr. Ashhahahahaha's face.

The claim isn't against any one single technology but rather they claim to own the entire concept of digital audio and video streaming and downloading. It's such a broad brush that there's almost nothing it can't be applied to. I wonder if CNN will just turn over 2% of their gross to those bloodsuckers?

Nah, if the god rods wanted us dead, it wouldn't be by slowing bleeding 2% out of everyone....

what it does bring up is very interesting...what happens if they start going after people (and apparently they have been demanding to see everyone's books)...hmmm, wonder whta kind of info they could provide to the IRS? Hope everyone has their books in order......

again, I stand by my cancer prayer...hey, I got hit with cancer of the colon and look what kind of person i turned into :-)

What the fuck? You can patent CONCEPTS?

Ok, I've got a great idea. Tomorrow I'm filing a new patent for the concept of web hosting. Fuck all you other guys. You're going down!

http://www.chillingeffects.org/ecom/...?ResourceID=72

Read this link.

The author breaks down the patent (or one of them) and suggests examples of prior art.

I believe that someone claims they have a patent on "online auctions" and they are suing ebay. It's become a fucking joke.

While I'm at it, I'll patent the website, the paysite, and digitized music period.

wait... you mean it's not already a joke?

Patents weren't a (known) joke until the internet.

fuck acashit, ill get someone in poland to cash everything for me,

bring it on u fuckin fags have fun charging the son of a gov't member in poland fuckin dum asses.

FUCK ACASHIT!

You're screwed buddy, I just filed for a patent on paysite tours. Time to call up AT&T.

Oh shit....wait, before the ACACIA (in my opinion) fuckrakes get this cancer of the ass, I want to patent cancer in the colon and other areas of the anus...

Not to those of us on the receiving end of one of their greeting cards.


OK, OK, I give...it is a big fucking joke.

isnt that illegal? u cant punish someone for responding legally to a lawsuit... thats stupid... if u get sued, u take it to court... not just give in so they dont 'punish' you... wtf ??

I think it is Boneprone's finest character :)

I'm in Canada, and I even host in Canada so guess what.

FUCK YOU ACACIA!

Doesn't someone have an old BBS server sitting around somewhere from pre 1991 ? with some movies on it?
That would prove prior art - and we could really tell them to GFY
I've been searching for one - surely someone has something like that somewhere

WTF, in my opinion it is impossible to sue someone because of using zipped or downloadable files. It doesn't matter what is in these files does it? They don't own patents regarding transmitting data in general. In that case I want the patent on using TCP/IP. Can anyone explain this to me? And where can I find that patent? (whole story)

They just try to scare the shit out of us. They talk poop.

Not that I use video on my sites anyway, but I ould just put one on it for the fun. I know a good lawyer her in the Netherlands that deals with such internet cases, they will scare the shit out of them. I've the money, so sue my assholes.

...fat and livin' in Canada... lucky you! :glugglug

Why are these fags only targeting adult webmasters? Why don't they go after people like AOL/MS? They stream all sorts of shit.

Sounds like they are a bunch of desperate pussy's to me.

If I was going to internext I would beat the fuck out of each and everyone of them. I could take a night in jail and an asult ticket. It would be soooo worth it!

I'm sure someone else will though

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