worst marketing idea ever?

[geekchick]

Media Rights Technologies has apparently sent cease and desist letters to Apple, Microsoft, Adobe and Real Networks for "actively avoiding the use of MRT's technologies" (the X1 SeCure Recording Control) in Vista, Flash Player, Real Player, iTunes and the iPod. They claim that failure to use their technology is a violation of the DMCA.

Ooooookay. Well, that's certainly one way to get your product name out there; I surely hadn't heard of these guys and their product before today. Granted, I'm no marketing guru (and apparently neither is their marketing guy), but I think that there are probably far more effective ways to get your product licensed than "use our product or we'll sue you".

Comments

[nminusone.livejournal.com]

See icon...

[abovenyquist.livejournal.com]

The picture of the combined weight of Apple's and Microsoft's legal departments landing on them is amusing. "Splat!" wouldn't quite cut it...

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

The logical conclusion to this is that you have to use *every* DRM product.

The phrase 'laughed out of court' was invented for this kind of thing.

[madbodger.livejournal.com]

Sadly, it's been attempted before. By the DVD-CCA (with Macrovision), Qualcomm (with CDMA), and CBS (with Field Sequential Color, and again with Copyguard), that I know of. That last one's a fun tale of the good guys finally winning.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

I saw this, and was amazed, amused and appalled.

It won't make it past prelim, the judge will refuse. There's no way the law can oblige a vendor to obtain a third party product.

If Adobe, Apple and Microsoft were making it impossible for those who wanted to use MRT's product, then there might be a case.

But as is... some lawyer/pr guys are earning their keeps.

TK

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

If I had to script a better reductio ad absurdum demonstration of the DMCA, I'm not sure I could.

[geekchick]

I don't think even these guys seriously believe they have a case. I would bet that this is pretty much it in a nutshell:

RealNetworks spokesman Matt Graves said he hadn't yet seen the letter, but it appeared to be a ploy by a "desperate company" to get its product licensed. "That's a rather novel approach to business development," he said in an e-mail interview Friday.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

That's what I think it is too, but it's a stupid, and probably worse than futile attempt.

It's likely to get thrown out, and all the offended parties will claim costs, with a healthy bill.

If they are lucky the judge won't asses any sanctions for frivolity.

TK

[geekchick]

Well, to be fair they haven't actually brought a suit yet, it's just a cease and desist. It may not (probably won't) get any further than that. (There I go, putting my faith in humanity again. I should know better by now.)