
Legal Suicide for Web start-ups: A beginner's guide - ALee
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9782365-2.html
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LogicHoleFlaw
7: Ignoring the bribes you have to pay

This sort of activity riles me up more than almost anything. Patent trolls,
bogus copyright claims, and the advice to settle quickly to just be done with
them seems so fundamentally _evil_ that I can never get used to the idea.

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noonespecial
My guess is that whatever system you set up there is going to be a parasitic
element. I'm kind of thankful that they no longer burn your village and take
your women.

These people still suck. They are big fat minus signs on the tally sheet of
humanity. It really is a shame that they are born (from an economic
standpoint).

If it makes you feel better. Keep a careful list of those who extort this kind
of money from you during your ascent. When you get to be Google, hire a staff
attorney who does nothing but file nuisance suits against them for the rest of
their lives. (Hint: By that time you won't actually care, but it does make you
feel better about the extortion in the short run).

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callahad
AskHN: I'm inspired by the existence of organizations like the EFF, FSF, and
SFLC. Do any HN readers or their acquaintances practice law in this field? Is
it possible to make a decent living working in favor of "ethically sound"
organizations like the above?

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kaens
I have a friend who is a lawyer who does "ethically sound" work - he primarily
works with people who get treated horribly during peaceful protests.

He lives fine. He definitely doesn't make "lawyer money", but he doesn't live
like a pauper either.

I don't know how software lawyers fare, or how people employed by
organizations that primarily deal with software ethics (I guess that's the
right term) fare, but I'd guess there's a living to be made. While I'm
guessing, I'd guess that it's going to get progressively easier for people to
make a living in such fields for the next year or five.

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tocomment
This stuff is really scary. Is there any insurance you buy that protects you
if a patent troll sues you personally, etc?

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gwc
Isn't limiting this liability this one of the primary reasons for
incorporating?

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tocomment
Is that enough though? I recall all those people being hit by that storing-a-
wishlist-in-a-database patent troll felt really screwed. Shouldn't they have
been less worried if just had to shut down their LLC?

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kqr2
Video interview with Fred von Lohmann (author of the guide)

The Legal Campaign Against Software Developers and Users

[http://footage.stealthisfilm.com/video/1?t=00:00:00,000&...](http://footage.stealthisfilm.com/video/1?t=00:00:00,000&q=lohmann)

~~~
pchristensen
It's pretty cool how you can jump directly to a point in the video by hacking
the URL.

~~~
alex_c
Off-topic, but Youtube has that feature too.

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vaksel
The problem with law firms, is that they charge you out of the ass. Look at
Kawasaki...his crappy truemors site paid something like 5K in lawyer fees. To
do what?

What the web needs is more online legal solutions with cheaper prices.

