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My vision for the future involves ending world hunger, a Mars base, and an alternative energy source to power everything in the world. To accomplish these thing

My vision for the future involves ending world hunger, a Mars base, and an alternative energy source to power everything in the world. To accomplish these things I will set a budget of $5 dollars. Because I see it's the right amount of money to charge for all that. I'm going to call my plan "The Future." Since I just wrote about it online, in a comment, any time any one reference The Future, or even mention the future, and it includes some aspect of my plan I demand you credit me and attribute me as being involved. Because I wrote about the idea first. Also, the blogosphere agrees with me about ending world hunger, having a Mars base, and the need for an alternative fuel source so I'm right. Because we all know if it's popular then it's more important than the truth and popular people are always the best judges of plausibilities in an intellectual property legal dispute where there are no legal documents. This is why Michael Arrington won.

Ixiaus 17y ago
"The Psi Corps is your friend. Trust the Corps."
jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
Now I'm reminded why we are friends- well said.
nikcub 17y ago
your analogy would be really cool and interesting if it applied in this case, but it doesn't. I was involved in the Crunchpad from day 1 and we actually built a lot of things - long before anybody else came along. You might have a different viewpoint if you have ever had anything you built or were involved with stolen from you. It sucks. Not just from an IP perspective, but from a 'lets ride this wave while it suits us' perspective as well.
- alaskamiller 17y ago
  I recently got screwed over a project, too, and it does suck. And if anyone from TC contributed code, designs, and energy, then, of course, you deserve your take. This is a legal dispute between two parties and I hope a fair conclusion can come out of that. But I don't have any more information on the matter than the author of this blog post--unless you guys sent him all the legal papers or he's the arbitrator in the dispute, then by all means I'll eat my hat--and I find his use of flawed logic, piling on to the drama, and a mention of an unannounced and unseen Apple tablet is just... lame. Especially the part about wanting a tablet for $200. I want a pony that poops ice cream.
- codexon 17y ago
  What exactly did you work on? Not to be rude, but there was nothing original about the crunchpad except for the estimated price.
  - sp332 17y ago
    Hardware is hard. Board design, solutions to space and volume constraints, industrial design, etc. It's not the "specs" of the hardware that are original, it's the specifics. Edit: software / user experience design is also hard, that was probably included.
    - codexon 17y ago
      Tablet PCs aren't new.
  - ryanwaggoner 17y ago
    Really? Can you point me to a link where I can buy one?
    - codexon 17y ago
      Sure thing! http://www.google.com/products?q=touchscreen+tablet+pc http://www.google.com/products?q=touchscreen+tablet+pc
      - ryanwaggoner 17y ago
        Cute. Can you point me to a slim touchscreen tablet that boots directly into the browser?
        codexon 17y ago
        Sarcasm begets sarcasm. You can either wait for Google OS or use http://moblin.org/ http://moblin.org/. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to pay a $200+ premium for someone to install it for me.
        17y ago
- jsz0 17y ago
  Good contracts keep people honest. That's why they exist. When there's money on the table no one can be trusted.
- mlinsey 17y ago
  Appreciate the response and it sucks that folks on both sides are jumping to a lot of conclusions, but if litgation is pending I would definitely stop commenting in public about anything related to work you did on CrunchPad.
rms 17y ago
Arrington is a lawyer, I find it unbelivable that there are no legal documents.
- pavs 17y ago
  Who said lawyers can't be stupid?
  - rms 17y ago
    Not me, but I don't think Arrington was a stupid lawyer. He worked at Wilson Sonsini. Presumably he knows how to arrange a basic business deal.
- ghshephard 17y ago
  Well, actually, if you believe Fusion Garages side of things (and I really have no clue either way), there are no legal documents because there was no agreement. Ergo, the lack of legal documents is primary evidence that there was no contractual agreement. It's actually quite possible that Michael never raised any money, never invested anything significant into Fusion Garage, and therefore really doesn't have much of a leg to stand on. Saying that you "Worked together on an idea" and "Collaborated on a system" - is a lot different from having a contract wherein Arrington invested $500K into the project, and got a clear assignment of intellectual property. It will be interesting to see if he files suit against fusion garage. Meanwhile - why by JooJoo when I have to believe for $300 more you'll be able to get a MacTablet is what I'm thinking...
  - DenisM 17y ago
    Absent any explicit agreement the work produced together is jointly owned under Common Law. Or more accurately, it's owned by a partnership that is created by virtue of working together without any paperwork at all.
  - tfh 17y ago
    I don't think that you won't get the MacTablet for under $1000. I actually think it will cost around $1500. It would be a macbook air with a nice capacitive 12"ish screen.
Xichekolas 17y ago
I would like to be an investor in your "The Future". I'm willing to fund 20%, in exchange for equity. Given the sums involved, I think Paypal will suffice. Also, my equity share can be documented on a napkin. (Well said.)

Ixiaus 17y ago

"The Psi Corps is your friend. Trust the Corps."

jasonlbaptiste 17y ago

Now I'm reminded why we are friends- well said.

nikcub 17y ago

your analogy would be really cool and interesting if it applied in this case, but it doesn't. I was involved in the Crunchpad from day 1 and we actually built a lot of things - long before anybody else came along. You might have a different viewpoint if you have ever had anything you built or were involved with stolen from you. It sucks. Not just from an IP perspective, but from a 'lets ride this wave while it suits us' perspective as well.

alaskamiller 17y ago
I recently got screwed over a project, too, and it does suck. And if anyone from TC contributed code, designs, and energy, then, of course, you deserve your take. This is a legal dispute between two parties and I hope a fair conclusion can come out of that. But I don't have any more information on the matter than the author of this blog post--unless you guys sent him all the legal papers or he's the arbitrator in the dispute, then by all means I'll eat my hat--and I find his use of flawed logic, piling on to the drama, and a mention of an unannounced and unseen Apple tablet is just... lame. Especially the part about wanting a tablet for $200. I want a pony that poops ice cream.
codexon 17y ago
What exactly did you work on? Not to be rude, but there was nothing original about the crunchpad except for the estimated price.
- sp332 17y ago
  Hardware is hard. Board design, solutions to space and volume constraints, industrial design, etc. It's not the "specs" of the hardware that are original, it's the specifics. Edit: software / user experience design is also hard, that was probably included.
  - codexon 17y ago
    Tablet PCs aren't new.
- ryanwaggoner 17y ago
  Really? Can you point me to a link where I can buy one?
  - codexon 17y ago
    Sure thing! http://www.google.com/products?q=touchscreen+tablet+pc http://www.google.com/products?q=touchscreen+tablet+pc
    - ryanwaggoner 17y ago
      Cute. Can you point me to a slim touchscreen tablet that boots directly into the browser?
      - codexon 17y ago
        Sarcasm begets sarcasm. You can either wait for Google OS or use http://moblin.org/ http://moblin.org/. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to pay a $200+ premium for someone to install it for me.
      - 17y ago
jsz0 17y ago
Good contracts keep people honest. That's why they exist. When there's money on the table no one can be trusted.
mlinsey 17y ago
Appreciate the response and it sucks that folks on both sides are jumping to a lot of conclusions, but if litgation is pending I would definitely stop commenting in public about anything related to work you did on CrunchPad.

rms 17y ago

Arrington is a lawyer, I find it unbelivable that there are no legal documents.

pavs 17y ago
Who said lawyers can't be stupid?
- rms 17y ago
  Not me, but I don't think Arrington was a stupid lawyer. He worked at Wilson Sonsini. Presumably he knows how to arrange a basic business deal.
ghshephard 17y ago
Well, actually, if you believe Fusion Garages side of things (and I really have no clue either way), there are no legal documents because there was no agreement. Ergo, the lack of legal documents is primary evidence that there was no contractual agreement. It's actually quite possible that Michael never raised any money, never invested anything significant into Fusion Garage, and therefore really doesn't have much of a leg to stand on. Saying that you "Worked together on an idea" and "Collaborated on a system" - is a lot different from having a contract wherein Arrington invested $500K into the project, and got a clear assignment of intellectual property. It will be interesting to see if he files suit against fusion garage. Meanwhile - why by JooJoo when I have to believe for $300 more you'll be able to get a MacTablet is what I'm thinking...
- DenisM 17y ago
  Absent any explicit agreement the work produced together is jointly owned under Common Law. Or more accurately, it's owned by a partnership that is created by virtue of working together without any paperwork at all.
- tfh 17y ago
  I don't think that you won't get the MacTablet for under $1000. I actually think it will cost around $1500. It would be a macbook air with a nice capacitive 12"ish screen.

Xichekolas 17y ago

I would like to be an investor in your "The Future". I'm willing to fund 20%, in exchange for equity. Given the sums involved, I think Paypal will suffice. Also, my equity share can be documented on a napkin. (Well said.)