From GFY:


The decision by Hustler, Vivid, and Wicked to settle with Acacia means only that these companies have made a business decision, and as Ken pointed out, does not mean that they believe Acacia’s case has any merit—as Acacia would like the Internet community to believe. These three companies are not large players on the Internet stage. The bulk of their business comes from non-Internet sources, so for them it made sense to pay Acacia rather than paying attorneys to defend against Acacia’s attack on our industry.

If you are freaking out about this settlement, then you are doing exactly what Acacia wants you to do. Acacia’s strategy from day one has been to offer to settle for just a little less than the cost of defending against their lawsuit. In this way, Acacia believes it can generate profits without having to expose its patents to the scrutiny of the Court. The Joint Defense Group has countered Acacia’s strategy by pooling resources. The Hustler group chose not to join the Group and was faced with the decision of paying attorney fees to its First Amendment attorneys (they did not hire patent attorneys) or paying Acacia to make them go away—they chose to pay Acacia off.

Anyone under the impression that the Acacia fight would be won because Hustler would bank roll the defense simply does not understand the industry. Larry Flynt did not make his money on the Internet. He has little direct interest in the outcome of the litigation because he can pay Acacia a few thousand dollars and be done with a multi-year annoyance. This fight is going to be fought and won by the companies that are still in the mix, and if you think Acacia is not worried--think again! How important can their patents really be if Acacia needs to keep making “special deals” to get any money from anyone? Recall, Acacia’s plan is to make $200 million per year on these patents and last quarter it made $19,000. What more concrete proof do we need that the sky is not really falling?

What we need to focus on is that our industry will never be taken seriously until we learn to work together. The best defense against companies like Acacia who tell you that it is cheaper to pay them than paying attorneys is to come together as a group and share the costs of defense. Acacia may be the first company to view our industry as a “fragmented” group of “business amateurs,” but it will not likely be the last. Unless we want to see our profits going into the pockets of others 2% of gross at a time, companies in our industry need to recognize that we share common interests.

The simple fact remains that this case will be won by small companies working together toward the common good. This is why we continue to need your contributions, no matter how small, to fight this fight. Mainstream companies will not be our salvation because Acacia knows better than to sue companies with the money to kill its patents. Large adult companies will not be our salvation because they can pay a few dollars for peace of mind and continue to make their money outside of the Internet. The simple truth is that it will be the small guys who are going to fight this fight even though we are the least able to do it.

The best thing that I have seen from this case is the willingness of the small companies in our industry to step up to the plate and fight for what they believe is right—that is what leadership is all about. Our industry is obviously not going to be able to depend on the leaders of yesterday because the Internet is not the key to their businesses. The Internet industry needs leaders focused on what is in the best interest of the Internet. If you have an interest in continuing to build our industry--get informed, get involved, and take a stand. Because the business you will be saving will likely be your own, I urge you to join the IMPA, read the postings on “Fight the Patent,” and donate your time and money to fighting an unjustified and ill-motivated attack on our industry.

Now THERE is a very good point Spike makes!

Each of those companies have been around 20 years or more. Have large off-Net products (and again, those for decades). Their brands were made off-web. The Net is only their latest venue.

Therefore, they all have a very different perspective from the bulk of folks in the online adult industry for whom this is the only or the primary focus of their businesses.

If the Inventor of the Magazine fold and binding techniques that Hustler uses came knocking you can bet he would put up a fight. This issue just isn't important enough to him to take a stand.

Keep fighting the good fight Spike!




Last edited by KC at Oct 8 2003, 08:33 PM

Without naming names since I am not sure that they want to be publicized, I want to thank the many Opranauts that have stepped up and shown their support of our joint defense efforts both publicly and privately.

Some people talk the talk, but here at Oprano, folks walk the walk.

We are very gracious and immensely thankful and I will welcome the day when all this is behind and I can name the names of those that truly made a difference.

I have heard so many false promises and empty assurances. I have seen so many contradictions and lies. I have been at the brunt of hypocritical and selfish acts. It has been hard to hold my emotions and sometimes I have lost not only sleep but health from the stress of it.

Now, feeling the support, and knowing that were are not alone in our principals and our wallets on this matter, I am lifted in spirit and restored in morale.

We will take this all the way. We will do everything possible to protect the community as we would protect our own interests from these unreasonable assaults on our livelihood.

I am sure Acacia was gloating when they won licenses with their V-Chip patent. I am sure they employed the same agressive strategy. They made many millions and signed big corporate names. Then they lost in court on a SUMMARY JUDGEMENT! Now, they are so shellshocked from the experience that their press material still portrays that as an ongoing success story.

Every casualty of this affair saddens us. Nobody likes to see the massacre of integrity that goes along with these types of conflicts.

Still... All of us, VS Media, Gamelink, AEBN, ARS, Homegrown, Topbucks, and the rest have decided to see this through.

And we all agree on one thing.

No one gets left behind.

Far-L.

If my writing skills can help out, Sin-text would like to be included with that illustrious group.

If you'll give me a shout...

raven at sin - text dot com....maybe we can arrange that lunch we talked about at BrettJ's party....and put me to work. :)

Raven: Thanks!

Shoot me your number and I will call in the morning to set something up.

Far-L e-mail me so we can arrange a conference call tommorow. I had a nice conversation with JMM the other day.

michael at hirise dot com

FWIW - Spike was gracious enough to spend about 45 minutes on the phone with me a little while back discusing the Acacia situation and it was time VERY well spent!

Spike is well informed and very intellegent about the situation and what options and coures of action are available