
1st Amendment wins in self-proclaimed e-mail inventor’s Techdirt libel suit - Tomte
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/09/1st-amendment-wins-in-self-proclaimed-e-mail-inventors-techdirt-libel-suit/
======
Chardok
Here
[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140901/07280928386/huffp...](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140901/07280928386/huffpo-
publishes-bizarre-misleading-factually-incorrect-multi-part-series-pretending-
guy-invented-email-even-though-he-didnt.shtml) seems to be the article in
question, with a chain of followup articles about it here
[https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=shiva+ayyadurai&start=20](https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=shiva+ayyadurai&start=20)

Honestly the article provides a lot of helpful information about the claims
and certainly backs it up with research and citations. Unfortunately it sounds
like he won't be able to recover his legal costs for this, which Masnick is
arguing (and I would agree with) that there should be greater risks with SLAPP
lawsuits
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_publ...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation))

------
cjslep
So how do the courts typically resolve the equivocation that the plaintiff has
historically and routinely taken advantage of, even as part of this lawsuit?

The root issue is that he created a program whose name happened to be EMAIL so
when laymen misinterpret the claim to mean "e-mail" and the plaintiff doesn't
correct them, it results in confusion that benefits him. The reporter tried to
cast light on that and it seems like the plaintiff is trying to leverage the
same confusion to win in court.

~~~
athenot
Perhaps if someone sues them for some issue with email in general (say loss of
productivity due to spam), they will quickly revert to the distinction between
e-mail (as in SMTP) and EMAIL (his program).

~~~
ascagnel_
Such a suit could have wide-reaching consequences -- he'd effectively be
getting sued for failing to anticipate the need for a feature.

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JumpCrisscross
Ayyadurai lands on my short list of people who piss me off so much that I
would be happy cutting a cheque to support Techdirt suing him for legal costs.

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ryandrake
I feel like such an idiot. Why did I even go to university, get two degrees,
and build up tech skills and a career, when instead I could have just claimed
I invented E-mail, sued anyone who said otherwise and collect more than my
salary in sweet, sweet settlements?

~~~
rayiner
To be fair, Ayyadurai has a BS and PhD from MIT, is a Fulbright scholar,
founded and runs at least one software company, _and_ is ahead of you on the
frivolous lawsuit front.

~~~
pravda
...and he married Fran Drescher.

Well, I suppose he "married" Fran Dresher in the same way he "invented" email.
He didn't really marry her.

[http://komonews.com/news/entertainment/actress-fran-
drescher...](http://komonews.com/news/entertainment/actress-fran-drescher-
splits-from-husband)

------
jedberg
So I've only ever seen articles lambasting the guy for claiming to have
invented email (and rightly so from my view as well).

I'm curious, is there _anyone_ who supports his claim other than him and his
family? Is there anyone on his side?

~~~
JumpCrisscross
Given we have documented evidence of ARPANET transmitting electronic messages
before his claimed invention of them, there isn't much room for rational
disagreement.

~~~
jedberg
Yeah I literally know the people who invented email long before this guy, I
guess my question was more along the lines of "is anyone fooled by him".

~~~
JumpCrisscross
Read the judge's opinion [1]. It's well-reasoned and goes into the fact that
there is no singular "inventor" of email as well as some sources, _e.g._ Noam
Chomsky, who agreed with the plaintiff's claims, at least in the past.

[1] [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3987555-Gov-
Uscourts...](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3987555-Gov-Uscourts-
Mad-185980-48-0.html)

------
itsmemattchung
... 15 million for arguing that you invented "email", when you already won
750,000 in another case with the same argument ?

~~~
CalChris
He didn't _win_ $750,000 in the Gawker case. The bankruptcy estate of Gawker
paid $750,000 in settlement. There was no court decision. That would be like
emptying $100 from the wallet of a dead body and saying you _earned_ $100.

Techdirt wasn't bankrupt and could afford to fight the case. Not to put too
fine a point on it, this was before a judge in Massachusetts rather than
before a jury in Florida as _Bollea v. Gawker_ had been.

~~~
jacquesm
> The bankruptcy estate of Gawker paid $750,000 in settlement.

That's so wrong.

------
sctb
Related discussion from yesterday:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15190574](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15190574)

~~~
cardiffspaceman
In that thread someone says that Ayyadurai invented a toy that has little in
common with today's systems[1] and there is no discussion of that remark. The
discussion in this thread is more interesting and could actually change
opinions in either direction, depending on which individual posts you read
closely.

[1] Quote: "Ayyadurai developed some little system that he called 'email'"

