Acacia Certification of Non-use
 

I just got this letter today... looks like they know the patent is about to be in-validated and are trying to sucker people into signing this bullshit. Sorry if there are any typos.. the scanner isn't working! : )

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CERTIFICATION OF NON-USE

This Certification of Non-Use will confirm your representation to Acacia Media Technologies Corporation (AMTC) that you do not own or operate any websites that:

(i) provide access to digital audio and/or video content; or

(ii) link to or advertise websites that are not licensed by Acacia and provide access to digital audio and/or video content.

In the event that, in the future, you engage in any of the activities described above, you agree to immediately notify AMTC in writing. Upon our receipt of this executed Certification of Non-Use, we will remove you name from our list of infringers; provided however, that we reserve the right to continually monitor your website(s) and to seek the maximum damages allowable by law if you use our patented technology without first obtaining a license from AMTC.

Please confirm your understanding and agreement to the foregoing by executing this certification in the space provided below and sending the original to : Acacia Media Technologies Corporation. Licensing Department, 500 Newport Center Drive, 7th Floor. Newport Beach, CA 92660

I am executing this legally binding Certification of Non-Use on behalf of:

___ Myself ___ My Company: ________________

Signature: ____________________

How sad... are they still in business?
WG

Tell them to fuck off.

Wonder how many people will be silly enuf to fill that out and send it in?

:helpme

This Acacia boondogle keeps getting goofier and goofier.

DO NOT SIGN THAT DOCUMENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



here's the real reason you received it.

acacia made a HUGE blunder and broke the law when they sent out thousands of form letters to people they did not know demanding $, people that did not even use video.

this is a fraud on a large scale, and a governmental agency will nail them for it (probably the FTC).

if you sign that you let them off the hook.

hahaha

i got one of those too.



:glugglug

This is such a ridiculous situation...:BangBang:

Matt,

Ask your corp. counsel what you should do, always safer that way.

Cheers

Todd

Had no intentions to do such a thing... think i'll light it on fire and piss on it like Amp did :glugglug

If one is doing nothing wrong, why sign an agreement to continue doing so?
It's none of their damn business if you are not infringing on their patents.

I hope the whole fucking mess turns into a Joke come 2004.

"and you sir, are worse than hitler!"

Screw the lawyers. Don't be a pussy, now is the time to grow a set of balls and stand up to these twats.

Twisty,

talking to your counsel is being a pussy?? hmm didn't know that. I always thought it was smart business :)

exactly correct.


look, acacia either has a valid patent or it does not.

my bet is that their "patent" will be invalidated shortly, as soon as the light of day shines on it.

but let's say it is a valid patent.

what will happen?

first of all:

acacia will not became a business partner to the rest of the world that uses "DMT", that ain't gonna happen.

because that will basically stop the internet as we know it.

and acacia does not "own" the information superhighway. that highway was built be the taxpayers of the United States, and the United States government will not allow the internet to be sabotaged by a bunch of bottom-feeder scammers.

what WILL happen, (if the "DMT" patent is found valid) is a large entity such as SONY, or MICROSOFT, etc. will purchase the "DMT" "patent" and license it's use into the sales price of it's hardware or services.

but there are other issues which make the acacia "patent" less valuable than many thing; the acacia "patent" is not valid all over the world, and there already is an offshore workaround, and the acacia "patent" expires in about 7 years anyway.

The lawyers will say that it is cheaper to settle than it is to fight. That is most likely true. That doesn't make it right. This has nothing to do with money, it never has and it never should unless you are a bootlicking lapdog. This is about right vs. wrong and if you give in to Acacia, you are doing a terribly wrong thing. Money can be replaced, honor cannot.

twistyneck, you hit the nail on the head.

and THIS is the main beef i have with acacia.

i don't really care IF they have a patent or not, i don't like their style, and the way they try to do business is morally repugnant to me.

i don't mind paying a license fee if it is warranted, but;

forget porn for a second:

right now as i type this some little kid in an amazonian jungle has a heart problem and is in the middle of a tricky operation.

and to save this little kid's life a technician working with "doctors without borders" is using a high speed satellite-based devise to leech a video file hosted at johns hopkins medical center that shows the doctor the exact procedures to save this little kid's life.

acacia would like a piece of that, acacia would like to bill the university, that will either have to abandon streaming, or raise the tuition rates to medical students, so they can have access to technology that actually saves lives.

if it were not for the effort and genius of untold thousands of geeks and dreamers (many of whom worked on projects donating their time and smarts for the betterment of mankind)
this technology would not be available to save this little kid's life.

for crissake, even bill gates is giving away his fortune trying to save people from dying of aids in africa---and his company actually produces a product.

there are too many good people that did great things for little or no $ that make this world a better place. shit, the guy that INVENTED the idea of the internet did not try to extort $ for his accomplishment from others.

i prefer businesses that make $ the old-fashioned way.

they earn it.

Acacia is dead, its on CNN. :thumbsup

link?

lmao...links? pics? something?

Confirmed on Fox.

Twisty,

my point had to do with asking your lawyer before signing or not signing any paper.

If your a corp you should always try and do your due diliagence(sp)..

Lets take the entire patent thing a little further to show how stupid ACACIA is..

Imagine if IBM the inventors of the PC had gotten a patent, and then enforced it...

Where would the net be???

Would acacia even exist?? No they would not, because the Net would still most likely be years away. The garage that produced some the next faster modem would not exist. They could not have afforded the computer.

Whether or not they own the patent, the October form letter was an illegal act under California law (fair business practises).

My attorney and I have checked several times with the California State Bar and have found that Robert Berman isn't a member. Since he sent out the letters as Robert Berman, General Counsel (of a corporation located within the state), that means he is praticing law in California without a license. California has no reciprocity with any other state.

:xomunch :xomunch :xomunch

Why don't they go after Mark Cuban who sold Broadcast.com for over $5 Billion to Yahoo. He piorneered audio and video streaming and would be a juicy target.

Bump for people that actually work : )

can you email me or post up a scan of the doc?



Fight the Exclusion!

I checked with an attorney about this same issue, and he said that you don't have to be licensed in the state to be General Counsel for a company.

Check with your attorney to see if this applies in california. Acacia uses an external law firm to handle the legal issues.. them mailing out letters is still a marketing campaign.


Fight the Junk Mail!

This was also posted on another board, and one reply made a very good point. Why do you need to prove you are not doing anything wrong? That's like Adobe asking you to certify that you do not use any illegal copies of Photoshop - regardless of whether you even have it installed or not... it's harassment, imagine if every company that had a patent with some minor relevance to our industry decided to start doing this.

Be sure to attend the Patent Panel on Monday at 4pm.

A great chance to vent :)

http://www.fightthepatent.com/v2/NoComment.html




Fight the Plugs!

Patent Law provides for "guilty until proven innocent".



Fight the Injustice System!

IMHO: I am not clear that there is any legal basis for "link to or providing advertising for" companies that are not compliant. On that basis, Google, Yahoo, and every other SE in the world would be in violation on so many different issues.

Moreoever, while the validity of this patent is before the courts, it could be considered coercion to have companies that provide sales leads and marketing change their deals with the companies that are currently taking that legal action. That might lead the companies takign legal action to drop their suits not as a result of "merit" but because of financial hardship.

This letter should be a clear indication that Acacia is desperate to scare people into signing up.

Check with your lawyers, but I think the suitable reply is that, as the legality of these patents are currently being reviuewed by a court in California, it would not be in your best interest to change, modify, or attest to anything about your business practices in relation to the claims of Acacia until the courts have ruled. At that point, you will review the document based on how the courts rule the patent should apply.

Other than that, blow them off, tell them to go jack with Google.

Alex

"IMHO: I am not clear that there is any legal basis for "link to or providing advertising for" companies that are not compliant. On that basis, Google, Yahoo, and every other SE in the world would be in violation on so many different issues."


Exactly correct.

And this is why acacia's so-called DMT patent will ultimately fail.

It is a big world, and some countries do not honor this sort of "patent" yet they can provide hosting.

And some countries do not have reciprocity agreements with the USA regarding disclosure of corporate officers.

I won't take the time to spell out all of the details, but there is already a via workaround to acacia.

The bottom line is this: USA patent law does not rule the world when it comes to the internet.

Well, i've decided to list matrixcontent.com as my primary domain and send it back. :)

the companies that made a deal with the devil will lose market share in 2004.

and the converse is also true.

the companies that stood tall will increase market share.

Those that took out a license, did so because it was a "business decision" (http://www.fightthepatent.com/v2/NoComment.html)

And some have provisions that say they can't be involved in any "anti-acacia" efforts. Who's to say that anonymous or private contributions couldn't be made?

I do not support the boycotting of companies that licensed, because I can understand their reasons.. what I can't understand is those companies that signed that don't help those that would stand up and fight.

We all pick and choose our battles, and if a retreat is called for, atleast leave some supplies behind for those rushing forward to the frontline.


Fight the Saving of Ryan's Privates!

Brandon, I understand your point.

But the adult web is a fairly well-connected bunch.

There are no secrets about who is settling and who is not.

I'm betting that within 12-18 months the acacia issue vis-a-vis adult webmasters is over.

But adult webmasters have memories like elephants. And when the acacia issue is over they will not forget about the companies that sold out, and those that stood tall.

The fact is, sunup and homegrown and some others are NOT huge companies. They are spending their time and energy and money to fight acacia. And, at this time there is not a groundswell of support behind them. They've been sued and they are NOT taking the "easy" way out.

No matter what you think of these companies or their products or services, you have to understand that many webmasters are watching this play out.

And I will tell you, that if I ever need a service that one of these companies can provide I will buy from them.

And I will also tell you, that if a company has already signed with acacia I will just cross them off the list.

But that's only how I feel, and I don't think I'm alone in this.

I understand this sentiment and should a company that did settle help to contribute to the fight against patent abuse, i'll be sure to convey a nudge and a wink so that maybe you don't cross them off your list.... at this time, i have no winks or nudges


Fight the Say No More!

... time to load up some more shares, ACTG rocks !!!