986forum.com Sued by Righthaven - The Story

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by rkwei

To all,
Thanks again for the contributions. It is much appreciated.

As to Righthaven, I certainly don't like their business model but it appears to work. The settlement agreement precludes me from talking about the settlement process, amounts, etc., but I settled 1) to avoid really involved costs, 2) to also avoid secondary liability to Brucelee and 3) to avoid possible liability to the poster who is /has been a regular poster here.

No conspiracy theory necessary- most folks think that in this day and age they are protected when in fact they are not. Righthaven does appear to honor instances where there is a registered DMCA agent and does not sue those website owners - hence the importance of becoming a registered agent.

Was it a defensible case? Yes - a very good one, probably all the way up to the 9th Circuit Court - because this would have been the first case involving a forum and the poster being a forum member versus the poster being the website/blog owner. Start adding up the costs though...

As to public record - there are several websites for aggrieved "Righthaven victims". One of them lists the Righthaven suits by month - you can see 986forum.com and myself listed under October/November 2010. There are also public court documents out there with 986forum in them.

RKwei

I agree with the sentiments you (and others) have voiced here...it's indisputably a crummy way to turn a buck.

Although I haven't always agreed with some of the causes they've pursued through the judicial system, I wonder if this might have been a good case to chat with someone in the ACLU about. It's just the kind of cause they might have jumped on. Water under the bridge, I suppose, in light of the settlement, but, as with all frivolous, pernicious lawsuits such as this, hopefully someone will find a way to shut them down. These days, with so many wanting to get something for nothing, I guess it's a constant battle anymore...

I'll contribute something when I can...times are a bit lean for me at the moment.