I've just submitted yet another C&D email to chillingseffects.org: a surprisingly emotional mix of fanciful allegations, strange inconsistencies and hopeless implausibilities, sometimes bordering on libel.
The author of this work is a corporate legal department employee with a major European regional bank. Probably my newfound acquaintance is proud of his employers' brand, and ready and willing to defend it against the pirate villains he sees everywhere - particularly on the dangerous internet. I can only speculate that he imagines his perceived enemies as teenagers deserving a slap, who would not dare to leave their boys' room to rebutt his claims.
Still, reading his letter again, I'm trying to understand why a legal professional would want to publish such unfounded bloviations, seeking a wide distribution by cc:ing as many of his co-workers as possible, and creating a farce which may jeopardize his professional reputation. I found this insightful article by Bret Fausett, published some years ago, addressing the same question:
The Internet [...] has produced an unprecedented set of conflicts [...] While no one doubts that intellectual property owners have reason to fear the widespread piracy of their works, not everything that moves is a pirate. Cease-and- desist letters and lawsuits directed at fair use or innocent mistakes can have a quick and lasting negative impact on your company's reputation [...]
Every time one of these legal actions backfires against an overreaching lawyer and his or her client or company, I always ask myself, "What were they thinking?" The answer usually turns out to be that they weren't.
http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2001/05/legal/
The author of this work is a corporate legal department employee with a major European regional bank. Probably my newfound acquaintance is proud of his employers' brand, and ready and willing to defend it against the pirate villains he sees everywhere - particularly on the dangerous internet. I can only speculate that he imagines his perceived enemies as teenagers deserving a slap, who would not dare to leave their boys' room to rebutt his claims.
Still, reading his letter again, I'm trying to understand why a legal professional would want to publish such unfounded bloviations, seeking a wide distribution by cc:ing as many of his co-workers as possible, and creating a farce which may jeopardize his professional reputation. I found this insightful article by Bret Fausett, published some years ago, addressing the same question:
The Internet [...] has produced an unprecedented set of conflicts [...] While no one doubts that intellectual property owners have reason to fear the widespread piracy of their works, not everything that moves is a pirate. Cease-and- desist letters and lawsuits directed at fair use or innocent mistakes can have a quick and lasting negative impact on your company's reputation [...]
Every time one of these legal actions backfires against an overreaching lawyer and his or her client or company, I always ask myself, "What were they thinking?" The answer usually turns out to be that they weren't.
http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2001/05/legal/
