4 ms·

Fortune is jerking him around. I don't see how: at least in the emails posted, Fortune never authorizes Arrington to post the full excerpt: they talk about wri

by neilc 16y ago

Fortune is jerking him around. I don't see how: at least in the emails posted, Fortune never authorizes Arrington to post the full excerpt: they talk about writing a post "on the book excerpts". In any case, I think it is more likely to be a simple miscommunication. It would be more mature for Arrington to simply concede that -- the excerpts are their copyrighted material, and they have the right to control its distribution. Getting all peeved about being woken up at 6:30 AM is silly.

ig1 16y ago
Why is neilc's post getting downvoted ? - it seems a perfectly valid contribution to the discussion.
- danudey 16y ago
  On the one hand, yes, he has a valid point, but I'd guess the downvotes are from people who feel that being unclear in your communication, then calling repeatedly over and over to have you take down a post full of glowing praise and preorder links on a hugely popular blog, then, when you refuse to edit what is probably the best PR the book's had so far, threatening to sue you to have you take it down. Fortune could have said 'Sorry, we miscommunicated, could you trim down your excerpts? Here are some example quotes you might want to include instead.' They could have called him, and when they didn't get an answer, e-mailed him instead. They could have asked nicely, or even looked on the bright side of this amazing PR. Instead, they're being the biggest assholes they can be. So yeah, there's a point to be made there, but I think Fortune's dickery is overshadowing it.
  - ismarc 16y ago
    Except for the fact that the entire blog post with the excerpts has no content except the excerpts. There's no value to be derived from it except reading the excerpts. There's no trimming them down, they are the only content.
  - jimbokun 16y ago
    'Sorry, we miscommunicated, could you trim down your excerpts? Here are some example quotes you might want to include instead.' Didn't they do that, minus the example quotes? I'm honestly confused here.
    - ZachPruckowski 16y ago
      Expecting immediate action at six AM is a bit silly, as is calling three times at that hour especially when you know the guy was up as late as 2 AM. I realize it's a priority, but expecting 24-7 service when someone's doing you a favor is a bit unreasonable.
parfe 16y ago
I agree. Fortune wanted TC to write a story about Fortune having the excerpts to drive traffic to Fortune. By posting the exclusive content himself Arrington essentially stole the exclusive.

by neilc 16y ago

ig1 16y ago

Why is neilc's post getting downvoted ? - it seems a perfectly valid contribution to the discussion.

danudey 16y ago
On the one hand, yes, he has a valid point, but I'd guess the downvotes are from people who feel that being unclear in your communication, then calling repeatedly over and over to have you take down a post full of glowing praise and preorder links on a hugely popular blog, then, when you refuse to edit what is probably the best PR the book's had so far, threatening to sue you to have you take it down. Fortune could have said 'Sorry, we miscommunicated, could you trim down your excerpts? Here are some example quotes you might want to include instead.' They could have called him, and when they didn't get an answer, e-mailed him instead. They could have asked nicely, or even looked on the bright side of this amazing PR. Instead, they're being the biggest assholes they can be. So yeah, there's a point to be made there, but I think Fortune's dickery is overshadowing it.
- ismarc 16y ago
  Except for the fact that the entire blog post with the excerpts has no content except the excerpts. There's no value to be derived from it except reading the excerpts. There's no trimming them down, they are the only content.
- jimbokun 16y ago
  'Sorry, we miscommunicated, could you trim down your excerpts? Here are some example quotes you might want to include instead.' Didn't they do that, minus the example quotes? I'm honestly confused here.
  - ZachPruckowski 16y ago
    Expecting immediate action at six AM is a bit silly, as is calling three times at that hour especially when you know the guy was up as late as 2 AM. I realize it's a priority, but expecting 24-7 service when someone's doing you a favor is a bit unreasonable.

parfe 16y ago

I agree. Fortune wanted TC to write a story about Fortune having the excerpts to drive traffic to Fortune. By posting the exclusive content himself Arrington essentially stole the exclusive.