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I once received a cease-and-desist from my employer, who was a big tech company! I had written a small shareware app called JazAwake. It was designed to stop t
by codazoda 3y ago
I once received a cease-and-desist from my employer, who was a big tech company!
I had written a small shareware app called JazAwake. It was designed to stop the Iomega Jaz drive from spinning down every two minutes or so.
They did not know who I was but the stakes were instantly very high. If they filed a suit, they would uncover my identity, realize I worked for them, and terminate my employment.
To make matters worse, I was relatively sure the demands were impossible to meet. They requested I stop distributing the program AND remove all traces of it from the internet.
Similar to the linked article, I spent 9-months responding to demand letters. To my own surprise, I was eventually successful in removing it from the internet. I had to send my own demand letters (which were nicer) to every website owner who mentioned or linked to a copy of the app.
- matheusmoreira 3y agoWhy did your employer have a problem with your small shareware app though? I don't see why anyone could possibly get fired over something like a drive utility.
- gnicholas 3y agoMy guess is that GP's knowledge that led him to be able to create the shareware was derived from his employment, and quite possibly involved trade secrets. Creating and releasing software related to his work likely violated his employment agreement.
- phendrenad2 3y agoThat can't be it, see the "If they filed a suit, they would uncover my identity" part.
- codazoda 3y agoThe cited problem was trademark infringement. I had used “jazAwake” as the name and the drive was the Iomega Jaz(tm) Drive. They also mentioned that it might shorten the life of a drive, but that was not their primary complaint.