disruption

No Love for SFX Baseball's Strong-Arm Tactics

leelefever — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:06:00 +0000

I just got an email from Patrick O'Keefe, a friend that I've known through the web for years. His story got my blood boiling and I want to share it.

Updated:Â Patrick will not have to give up his site (for now). Â

Patrick owns a Mariano Rivera fan site at MarianoRivera.com. Here's the banner - notice the "unofficial" part. Rivera is a relief pitcher for for the NY Yankees.

Just recently he was contacted by SFX Baseball, who represents Rivera. Without any other contact, they have accused him of cybersquatting and creating the site to...

trick people into coming to this website instead a website operating with Mr. Rivera's approval.

Further...

they "demand" that I immediately cease and desist my use of the domain name and give it to them. They want written confirmation saying that I will do it by 5:00 PM on August 10 or they'll... well... do what they need to do without any further notice to me.

Now, I am not a lawyer, but I imagine that Patrick may end up having to give up the domain - but it's not about that. This article has more info on the personal name/domain name issue.

What gets me (and Patrick) is the automatic accusation of unethical behavior. The lawyers came to him having ruled, judge and jury, that he is a thief or criminal. Maybe the sports and music lawyers should get together - strongarming is sooo 1980.

Patrick and his site are completely legit, as he says:

It's not like we're selling forged autographs, trying to trick people into something or passing ourselves as official. This is a good fan site. We've been in operation since April 4, 2004 - that's 3 years and nearly 5 months. We are the largest (and perhaps only) Mariano Rivera fan site on the internet.

Again, this isn't about the legal case - it's about being cool - you know, like The Fonz. I get so frustrated when I hear about lawyers reacting this way. Haven't we moved on yet?

To blindly throw around offensive boilerplate letters and try to throw us up against the wall like a typical cybersquatter is completely, completely inappropriate. I don't know why they couldn't have approached us respectfully and asked nicely? Maybe thanked us for what we've done and offered to work with us or something.

He is a fan with nothing but good intentions to support an athlete - and they treat him like a criminal? Patrick's site is about the best, most wholesome and legit site Mr. Rivera has on the web right now.

I wish Patrick the best in fighting this. More than anything, I want to bring light to tactics that I sincerely loath. I have no love for people that work this way. Patrick deserves better. Pass it on.

More on this story here.

No Love for SFX Baseball's Strong-Arm Tactics

leelefever — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:06:00 +0000

I just got an email from Patrick O'Keefe, a friend that I've known through the web for years. His story got my blood boiling and I want to share it.

Updated:Â Patrick will not have to give up his site (for now). Â

Patrick owns a Mariano Rivera fan site at MarianoRivera.com. Here's the banner - notice the "unofficial" part. Rivera is a relief pitcher for for the NY Yankees.

Just recently he was contacted by SFX Baseball, who represents Rivera. Without any other contact, they have accused him of cybersquatting and creating the site to...

trick people into coming to this website instead a website operating with Mr. Rivera's approval.

Further...

they "demand" that I immediately cease and desist my use of the domain name and give it to them. They want written confirmation saying that I will do it by 5:00 PM on August 10 or they'll... well... do what they need to do without any further notice to me.

Now, I am not a lawyer, but I imagine that Patrick may end up having to give up the domain - but it's not about that. This article has more info on the personal name/domain name issue.

Patrick and his site are completely legit, as he says:

It's not like we're selling forged autographs, trying to trick people into something or passing ourselves as official. This is a good fan site. We've been in operation since April 4, 2004 - that's 3 years and nearly 5 months. We are the largest (and perhaps only) Mariano Rivera fan site on the internet.

Again, this isn't about the legal case - it's about being cool - you know, like The Fonz. I get so frustrated when I hear about lawyers reacting this way. Haven't we moved on yet?

To blindly throw around offensive boilerplate letters and try to throw us up against the wall like a typical cybersquatter is completely, completely inappropriate. I don't know why they couldn't have approached us respectfully and asked nicely? Maybe thanked us for what we've done and offered to work with us or something.

More on this story here.

No Love for SFX Baseball's Strong-Arm Tactics

leelefever — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:06:00 +0000

I just got an email from Patrick O'Keefe, a friend that I've known through the web for years. His story got my blood boiling and I want to share it.

Updated:Â Patrick will not have to give up his site (for now). Â

Patrick owns a Mariano Rivera fan site at MarianoRivera.com. Here's the banner - notice the "unofficial" part. Rivera is a relief pitcher for for the NY Yankees.

Just recently he was contacted by SFX Baseball, who represents Rivera. Without any other contact, they have accused him of cybersquatting and creating the site to...

trick people into coming to this website instead a website operating with Mr. Rivera's approval.

Further...

they "demand" that I immediately cease and desist my use of the domain name and give it to them. They want written confirmation saying that I will do it by 5:00 PM on August 10 or they'll... well... do what they need to do without any further notice to me.

Now, I am not a lawyer, but I imagine that Patrick may end up having to give up the domain - but it's not about that. This article has more info on the personal name/domain name issue.

Patrick and his site are completely legit, as he says:

It's not like we're selling forged autographs, trying to trick people into something or passing ourselves as official. This is a good fan site. We've been in operation since April 4, 2004 - that's 3 years and nearly 5 months. We are the largest (and perhaps only) Mariano Rivera fan site on the internet.

Again, this isn't about the legal case - it's about being cool - you know, like The Fonz. I get so frustrated when I hear about lawyers reacting this way. Haven't we moved on yet?

To blindly throw around offensive boilerplate letters and try to throw us up against the wall like a typical cybersquatter is completely, completely inappropriate. I don't know why they couldn't have approached us respectfully and asked nicely? Maybe thanked us for what we've done and offered to work with us or something.

More on this story here.

No Love for SFX Baseball's Strong-Arm Tactics

leelefever — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:06:00 +0000

I just got an email from Patrick O'Keefe, a friend that I've known through the web for years. His story got my blood boiling and I want to share it.

Updated:Â Patrick will not have to give up his site (for now). Â

Patrick owns a Mariano Rivera fan site at MarianoRivera.com. Here's the banner - notice the "unofficial" part. Rivera is a relief pitcher for for the NY Yankees.

Just recently he was contacted by SFX Baseball, who represents Rivera. Without any other contact, they have accused him of cybersquatting and creating the site to...

trick people into coming to this website instead a website operating with Mr. Rivera's approval.

Further...

they "demand" that I immediately cease and desist my use of the domain name and give it to them. They want written confirmation saying that I will do it by 5:00 PM on August 10 or they'll... well... do what they need to do without any further notice to me.

Now, I am not a lawyer, but I imagine that Patrick may end up having to give up the domain - but it's not about that. This article has more info on the personal name/domain name issue.

Patrick and his site are completely legit, as he says:

It's not like we're selling forged autographs, trying to trick people into something or passing ourselves as official. This is a good fan site. We've been in operation since April 4, 2004 - that's 3 years and nearly 5 months. We are the largest (and perhaps only) Mariano Rivera fan site on the internet.

Again, this isn't about the legal case - it's about being cool - you know, like The Fonz. I get so frustrated when I hear about lawyers reacting this way. Haven't we moved on yet?

To blindly throw around offensive boilerplate letters and try to throw us up against the wall like a typical cybersquatter is completely, completely inappropriate. I don't know why they couldn't have approached us respectfully and asked nicely? Maybe thanked us for what we've done and offered to work with us or something.

More on this story here.

No Love for SFX Baseball's Strong-Arm Tactics

leelefever — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:06:00 +0000

I just got an email from Patrick O'Keefe, a friend that I've known through the web for years. His story got my blood boiling and I want to share it.

Updated:Â Patrick will not have to give up his site (for now). Â

Patrick owns a Mariano Rivera fan site at MarianoRivera.com. Here's the banner - notice the "unofficial" part. Rivera is a relief pitcher for for the NY Yankees.

Just recently he was contacted by SFX Baseball, who represents Rivera. Without any other contact, they have accused him of cybersquatting and creating the site to...

trick people into coming to this website instead a website operating with Mr. Rivera's approval.

Further...

they "demand" that I immediately cease and desist my use of the domain name and give it to them. They want written confirmation saying that I will do it by 5:00 PM on August 10 or they'll... well... do what they need to do without any further notice to me.

Now, I am not a lawyer, but I imagine that Patrick may end up having to give up the domain - but it's not about that. This article has more info on the personal name/domain name issue.

Patrick and his site are completely legit, as he says:

It's not like we're selling forged autographs, trying to trick people into something or passing ourselves as official. This is a good fan site. We've been in operation since April 4, 2004 - that's 3 years and nearly 5 months. We are the largest (and perhaps only) Mariano Rivera fan site on the internet.

Again, this isn't about the legal case - it's about being cool - you know, like The Fonz. I get so frustrated when I hear about lawyers reacting this way. Haven't we moved on yet?

To blindly throw around offensive boilerplate letters and try to throw us up against the wall like a typical cybersquatter is completely, completely inappropriate. I don't know why they couldn't have approached us respectfully and asked nicely? Maybe thanked us for what we've done and offered to work with us or something.

More on this story here.

Plenty of Fish and Dating Site Disruption

leelefever — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:03:03 +0000

If you haven't heard about Markus Frind and his dating site at plentyoffish.com, you will.

Markus is singlehandedly disrupting the dating site industry by offering a free alternative to pay-to-play sites like match.com. What makes his story so interesting is that he is the site's only employee - he runs the whole site from his Vancouver, Canada apartment and makes millions of dollars from Google ad revenue.

Here are some of the basic facts from a recent Wall Street Journal story (via: online personal watch):

For the week ended April 28, PlentyOfFish.com was the 96th-busiest Web site in the U.S. (HitWise)
Busy Web sites like these usually require scores of people. Mr. Frind says people often don't believe him when he says PlentyOfFish is all his.
Nielsen/NetRatings says that by some measures, such as the time its members spend on the site, it ranks second after eHarmony.
A few months back, he posted on his blog a picture of a check from Google for nearly $1 million for a two-month period. Google confirmed the check was for real.
Mr. Frind says the site brings in between $5 million and $10 million a year.
Many companies would respond to competitive pressure by hiring someone. Mr. Frind says he has no plans to do so.

There are two things that I love about this story:

1. Disruption: Markus is constantly talking about the demise of the paid sites and has the model to prove that he's a real threat to the top players. I have nothing against the paid sites, or their model, but it's great to see one guy be able to create something so threatening to an established industry. His blog is here.

2. Small is beautiful. Consider this: In 2005, Match.com had 275 employees and Alexa (whose permalinking and graph sharing tool is very broken - booo!) says Plenty of Fish is gaining on them in a big way - with only one employee and no venture funding.

This idea of being small, lightweight and happy really appeals to me in a fundamental way. It reminds me of the Robot Co-op who run very large sites (like 43 Things) with a small team of 6. The same is true with 37 Signals who have chosen to stay small despite the to opportunity to grow in #s of employees and of course, Craigslist.

These days, 20+ employees and millions of capital can be more of an impediment than an advantage - especially if you count the happiness factor. I count Markus as one the few who are showing us the business models of the future.

Plenty of Fish and Dating Site Disruption

leelefever — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:03:03 +0000

If you haven't heard about Markus Frind and his dating site at plentyoffish.com, you will.

Here are some of the basic facts from a recent Wall Street Journal story (via: online personal watch):

For the week ended April 28, PlentyOfFish.com was the 96th-busiest Web site in the U.S. (HitWise)
Busy Web sites like these usually require scores of people. Mr. Frind says people often don't believe him when he says PlentyOfFish is all his.
Nielsen/NetRatings says that by some measures, such as the time its members spend on the site, it ranks second after eHarmony.
A few months back, he posted on his blog a picture of a check from Google for nearly $1 million for a two-month period. Google confirmed the check was for real.
Mr. Frind says the site brings in between $5 million and $10 million a year.
Many companies would respond to competitive pressure by hiring someone. Mr. Frind says he has no plans to do so.

There are two things that I love about this story:

Plenty of Fish and Dating Site Disruption

leelefever — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:03:03 +0000

If you haven't heard about Markus Frind and his dating site at plentyoffish.com, you will.

Here are some of the basic facts from a recent Wall Street Journal story (via: online personal watch):

For the week ended April 28, PlentyOfFish.com was the 96th-busiest Web site in the U.S. (HitWise)
Busy Web sites like these usually require scores of people. Mr. Frind says people often don't believe him when he says PlentyOfFish is all his.
Nielsen/NetRatings says that by some measures, such as the time its members spend on the site, it ranks second after eHarmony.
A few months back, he posted on his blog a picture of a check from Google for nearly $1 million for a two-month period. Google confirmed the check was for real.
Mr. Frind says the site brings in between $5 million and $10 million a year.
Many companies would respond to competitive pressure by hiring someone. Mr. Frind says he has no plans to do so.

There are two things that I love about this story:

Plenty of Fish and Dating Site Disruption

leelefever — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:03:03 +0000

If you haven't heard about Markus Frind and his dating site at plentyoffish.com, you will.

Here are some of the basic facts from a recent Wall Street Journal story (via: online personal watch):

For the week ended April 28, PlentyOfFish.com was the 96th-busiest Web site in the U.S. (HitWise)
Busy Web sites like these usually require scores of people. Mr. Frind says people often don't believe him when he says PlentyOfFish is all his.
Nielsen/NetRatings says that by some measures, such as the time its members spend on the site, it ranks second after eHarmony.
A few months back, he posted on his blog a picture of a check from Google for nearly $1 million for a two-month period. Google confirmed the check was for real.
Mr. Frind says the site brings in between $5 million and $10 million a year.
Many companies would respond to competitive pressure by hiring someone. Mr. Frind says he has no plans to do so.

There are two things that I love about this story:

Plenty of Fish and Dating Site Disruption

leelefever — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:03:03 +0000

If you haven't heard about Markus Frind and his dating site at plentyoffish.com, you will.

Here are some of the basic facts from a recent Wall Street Journal story (via: online personal watch):

For the week ended April 28, PlentyOfFish.com was the 96th-busiest Web site in the U.S. (HitWise)
Busy Web sites like these usually require scores of people. Mr. Frind says people often don't believe him when he says PlentyOfFish is all his.
Nielsen/NetRatings says that by some measures, such as the time its members spend on the site, it ranks second after eHarmony.
A few months back, he posted on his blog a picture of a check from Google for nearly $1 million for a two-month period. Google confirmed the check was for real.
Mr. Frind says the site brings in between $5 million and $10 million a year.
Many companies would respond to competitive pressure by hiring someone. Mr. Frind says he has no plans to do so.

There are two things that I love about this story: