Finally, someone uses “IP Troll” properly

Lee Cheng, Chief Legal Officer of online retailer Newegg, said:

“A troll is a type of entity that doesn’t sell a product, or transfer value of any sort. All they offer is the right to not be sued. It’s protection money. To put it bluntly, it’s extortion.” (source)

Righthaven produced nothing but lawsuits. The term is properly applied to them. Porn companies, record companies, and other companies trying to stop infringement, or trying to recoup losses from infringement are not properly so-labeled.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 at 1:18 pm and is filed under copyright, ip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to Finally, someone uses “IP Troll” properly

  1. LSutter says:
    January 18, 2013 at 3:02 pm

    That’s not quite fair, assuming trolls deserve fairness–in theory, they
    own something that you’re using to make money without their permission. If you left your car in the driveway for six months you wouldn’t want to come home and find that somebody had hot wired it and was running a limo service. Of course, if they’re lying about (a) whether they own it (Righthaven) or (b) whether it’s the same
    thing you’re using (everybody else)–nuke ’em.