4 ms·

"Every CD and vinyl record you store at Murfie HQ is your property. We take that very seriously. In the event Murfie goes out of business, you will get back eve

"Every CD and vinyl record you store at Murfie HQ is your property. We take that very seriously. In the event Murfie goes out of business, you will get back every CD and vinyl record you own in your current collection." A buyer beware for future sites that promise something similar to the above, it's not worth the webpage it's printed on. Regardless of initial sincerity, this could change at a moment's notice.

irongeek 7y ago
Yes, when there is no money left, that sincere person who wrote that statement will not be able to afford to send everything back. Faith in silos is a bad idea.
- paulryanrogers 7y ago
  Which makes the faith in Apple's recent pivot to privacy suspect. While it's financially viable it will continue. The moment it costs more than the alternative ... it's unlikely to endure. One might say their compromising in China is a sign they've already begun to change.
john_moscow 7y ago
I would say, seeing a company advertise something like this without an actual verifiable escrow mechanism is a huge red flag. Because it means they are targeting people who don't understand how limited liability works and are very likely not planning to hold up their promise.
userbinator 7y ago
A buyer beware for future sites that promise something similar to the above, it's not worth the webpage it's printed on. Regardless of initial sincerity, this could change at a moment's notice. We should call this Murfie's Law.
Dylan16807 7y ago
The promises about shipping can change. The ownership of the discs can't. If someone starts throwing CDs in the garbage they are going to get sued hard.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  If the company is already failing, suing them, however “hard”, is, if you win, just getting a pennies-on-the-dollar bankruptcy claim. Which is why that kind of promise may matter against some eventualities, but not against “what if the company fails?”, which it is presented as a guarantee against.
  - Dylan16807 7y ago
    > If the company is already failing, suing them, however “hard”, is, if you win, just getting a pennies-on-the-dollar bankruptcy claim. The company already failed. It's a different company that would be throwing the discs away, as far as I can tell. One that has money to lose. I can't think of any reason Murfie itself would want to throw anything away, either.
    - dragonwriter 7y ago
      Murfie might “throw them away” by failing to properly handle and do anything based on ownership records, possibly leaving the media as abandoned property in facilities it got locked out of for failing to pay rent as it failed, not (most likely) by actively placing them in garbage bins. The net effect from the perspective of the owners is, of course, exactly the same as if Murfie was malicious and actively discarding them.
      - Dylan16807 7y ago
        That's leaving it to the landlord. A landlord can't just throw away a bunch of stuff owned by other people, with no attempt to return it. (When those people have the resources to fight, at least.)
pontifier 7y ago
As someone hoping to build a service like this, I hope they can salvage this situation. I've already reached out in a few places with an offer of help, and am going to fly out there to knock on their door Monday morning. Ownership of physical media means something, and the rights the owners have must be protected.
- mysterydip 7y ago
  Please follow up here with the results! I'm sure there are many people interested in the result.
  - pontifier 7y ago
    I'm in Madison now. Nobody is actually in charge, but all the CDs are still at the storage facility for now. It's truly an impressive sight. The person answering the CDreturns2u email address has collected some money from customers and is paying 3 of the last employees to slowly ship media out. He's overloaded with requests and is attempting to answer each one in order, but has several hundred still in the queue. Even sending all requested media back can't solve the whole situation here though. There's just too many disks and not enough time. I met with one of the creditors and the landlord, and have a meeting scheduled with the other major creditor. Nobody wants to see the CDs thrown away, but the landlord wants to be paid. I've proposed a plan to move all the media to my facility where I could store it as long as needed and would handle all the returns. I'd also work to restore digital access for media still in storage. There is still hope. Maybe even the start of something better? I've been procrastinating on the launch of Crossies.com for far too long, but it looks like fate is forcing my hand.

irongeek 7y ago

Yes, when there is no money left, that sincere person who wrote that statement will not be able to afford to send everything back. Faith in silos is a bad idea.

paulryanrogers 7y ago
Which makes the faith in Apple's recent pivot to privacy suspect. While it's financially viable it will continue. The moment it costs more than the alternative ... it's unlikely to endure. One might say their compromising in China is a sign they've already begun to change.

john_moscow 7y ago

I would say, seeing a company advertise something like this without an actual verifiable escrow mechanism is a huge red flag. Because it means they are targeting people who don't understand how limited liability works and are very likely not planning to hold up their promise.

userbinator 7y ago

A buyer beware for future sites that promise something similar to the above, it's not worth the webpage it's printed on. Regardless of initial sincerity, this could change at a moment's notice. We should call this Murfie's Law.

Dylan16807 7y ago

The promises about shipping can change. The ownership of the discs can't. If someone starts throwing CDs in the garbage they are going to get sued hard.

dragonwriter 7y ago
If the company is already failing, suing them, however “hard”, is, if you win, just getting a pennies-on-the-dollar bankruptcy claim. Which is why that kind of promise may matter against some eventualities, but not against “what if the company fails?”, which it is presented as a guarantee against.
- Dylan16807 7y ago
  > If the company is already failing, suing them, however “hard”, is, if you win, just getting a pennies-on-the-dollar bankruptcy claim. The company already failed. It's a different company that would be throwing the discs away, as far as I can tell. One that has money to lose. I can't think of any reason Murfie itself would want to throw anything away, either.
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    Murfie might “throw them away” by failing to properly handle and do anything based on ownership records, possibly leaving the media as abandoned property in facilities it got locked out of for failing to pay rent as it failed, not (most likely) by actively placing them in garbage bins. The net effect from the perspective of the owners is, of course, exactly the same as if Murfie was malicious and actively discarding them.
    - Dylan16807 7y ago
      That's leaving it to the landlord. A landlord can't just throw away a bunch of stuff owned by other people, with no attempt to return it. (When those people have the resources to fight, at least.)

pontifier 7y ago

As someone hoping to build a service like this, I hope they can salvage this situation. I've already reached out in a few places with an offer of help, and am going to fly out there to knock on their door Monday morning. Ownership of physical media means something, and the rights the owners have must be protected.

mysterydip 7y ago
Please follow up here with the results! I'm sure there are many people interested in the result.
- pontifier 7y ago
  I'm in Madison now. Nobody is actually in charge, but all the CDs are still at the storage facility for now. It's truly an impressive sight. The person answering the CDreturns2u email address has collected some money from customers and is paying 3 of the last employees to slowly ship media out. He's overloaded with requests and is attempting to answer each one in order, but has several hundred still in the queue. Even sending all requested media back can't solve the whole situation here though. There's just too many disks and not enough time. I met with one of the creditors and the landlord, and have a meeting scheduled with the other major creditor. Nobody wants to see the CDs thrown away, but the landlord wants to be paid. I've proposed a plan to move all the media to my facility where I could store it as long as needed and would handle all the returns. I'd also work to restore digital access for media still in storage. There is still hope. Maybe even the start of something better? I've been procrastinating on the launch of Crossies.com for far too long, but it looks like fate is forcing my hand.