It's funny that so many big companies let their ego get in the way of good business.
I imagine that this lawsuit and loss of community good-will will cost them millions of dollars. Uh, millions of dollars that they could have used to just acquire Alexaholic. They would have gained good-will, great press, and a great developer already passionate about their product.
What a huge blunder - sad to see, especially since they're so innovative in other areas.
It's hard to fire workaholic lawyers, and once you've hired them, they'll find people to sue, with or without good reason. Could the moral of the story be: don't hire in-house lawyers if you can, and make sure someone PR-competent holds a big stick over their heads if you do.
What I'd like to see is companies hiring lawyers who spend their surplus time blogging. Being involved in the community should prevent them from being as seriously out of tune as this, and if they spend some of their time explaining tech law to the unenlightened (like me), that'll reflect back on the company.
I imagine that this lawsuit and loss of community good-will will cost them millions of dollars. Uh, millions of dollars that they could have used to just acquire Alexaholic. They would have gained good-will, great press, and a great developer already passionate about their product.
What a huge blunder - sad to see, especially since they're so innovative in other areas.