[development] FW: Twitter is Suing me!!!

Wed Aug 12 05:27:24 UTC 2009

This isn't Drupal related but I figure several developers on this list
have built apps for Twitter (or other 3rd party API's).

Just found out a few hours ago I'm being sued by Twitter

Feel free to tweet this link ( www.MyTwitterButler.com/I'm_Being_Sued
<http://www.mytwitterbutler.com/I'm_Being_Sued>  ) or forward on the
link to any journalists you know.

If you are on dig here's a dig link.
http://digg.com/software/My_Twitter_Butler_I_m_Being_Sued 

Regards,

Dean Collins
dean at MyTwitterButler.com
<mailto:dean at MyTwitterButler.com?subject=I'm%20being%20Sued> 
+1-212-203-4357   New York
+61-2-9016-5642   (Sydney in-dial).
+44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial).

________________________________

From: Dean Collins 
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 10:37 PM
Subject: Twitter is Suing me!!!

So not only are Twitter fighting battles with Russian hackers they are
now fighting their own third party API developer community !!

I received this email 30 minutes ago stating that Twitter is suing me??

Basically they feel that my application - www.MyTwitterButler.com
<http://www.mytwitterbutler.com/>  does the following.

1/ That anyone using the API to auto follow people are breaching the
TOS??

2/ That no one can use the word "Twitter" in their domain

3/ That somehow people might be confused my application is related to
twitter even though every page is labeled 

"Copyright 2009 (c) My Twitter Butler - Not related in anyway to Twitter
Inc, if I owned Twitter would i be spending my time building this app??

Is this the end for Twitter 3rd party developers?

Have they forgotten that it was people like me who saw a need and built
an application using the publicly defined Twitter API to add value to
the Twitter ecosystem?

I have asked Twitters lawyers for a conference call tomorrow to clear up
'WHY' they feel anyone using the twitter API to auto follow people is an
illegal act and will be looking forward to their answers about 'WHY' the
twitter API was built in the first place if they want to sue people for
using it.

www.MyTwitterButler.com/I'm_Being_Sued
<http://www.mytwitterbutler.com/I'm_Being_Sued>  

Regards,

Dean Collins
dean at MyTwitterButler.com 
+1-212-203-4357   New York
+61-2-9016-5642   (Sydney in-dial).
+44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial).

FENWICK & WEST LLP

SILICON VALLEY CENTER 801 CALI FORN IA STREET MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94041

TEL 650.988.8500 FAX 650.938.5200 WWW.FENWICK.COM

August 11, 2009

KAREN WEBB

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL AND EMAIL

Dean Collins

Attn: MyTwitterButler.com

dean at cognation.net

Re: Infringement of Twitter, Inc.'s Trademark Rights

Dear Mr. Collins:

EMAIL KWEBB at FENWICK.COM

DIRECT DIAL (650) 335*7656

This firm represents Twitter, Inc. ("Twitter"), owner of the TWITTER
trademark and

the popular social networking and micro-blogging website at
www.twitter.com. We are

contacting you regarding your violation of Twitter's Terms of Service
("TOS") and spam

rules, and your infringement of Twitter's trademark rights.

Twitter has recently become aware that you have registered and are using
the

MyTwitterButler.com domain, where you advertise and offer for sale the
"My Twitter Butler"

software that facilitates aggressive and automatic following to Twitter
users. On your website

you also claim to have used the same aggressive following techniques.
This activity violates

Twitter's TOS and rules.

In addition to the above violations, you are also infringing on
Twitter's trademark

rights by using the MyTwitterButler.com domain and the TWITTER
trademark. As you are

likely aware, Twitter's extensive and widespread use of its TWITTER
trademark provides

Twitter with strong and defensible rights in the mark, and has caused
the mark to become

well-known, if not famous, in today's online marketplace. Twitter owns
trademark

applications and registrations for its mark in the United States and
numerous other countries

for use in connection with its online services, which will provide
Twitter with exclusive rights

in the mark.

Twitter has expended significant time and financial resources to build
up the

considerable customer recognition and goodwill related to its valuable
TWITTER mark. In

addition, in order to protect its investment and valuable intellectual
property rights in its

trademark, Twitter is required to prevent others from infringing or
diluting the value of its

brand. In light of the importance and distinctiveness of the mark and
the strength of Twitter's

legal rights to its valuable intellectual property, please be advised
that Twitter is determined to

take whatever steps are necessary to protect its rights in the mark.

Having said that, at this time, we are willing to assume that you did
not choose to

misuse Twitter's trademark with the conscious intent of infringing
Twitter's rights or trading

off of Twitter's goodwill. Twitter is concerned, however, that your use
of My Twitter Butler

and the related domain may cause confusion in the marketplace by
suggesting that you and

your site are somehow affiliated with Twitter, or are endorsed,
sponsored, or approved by

Twitter, which would result in an infringement of Twitter's valuable
trademark rights.

In light of the above, we must demand that you immediately:

1. deactivate the MyTwitterButler.com website;

2. transfer the MyTwitterButler.com domain to Twitter;

3. comply with Twitter's TOS and rules, which includes stopping your
aggressive

and automatic following and offering techniques and software for others
to

aggressively or automatically follow; and

4. stop all use of the My Twitter Butler name, the TWITTER mark, or any
other

name, logo, or domain name that includes TWITTER or any confusingly
similar

term.

Please respond to me no later than August 24, 2009, to confirm that you
have

complied with these demands and to obtain domain transfer instructions.
Twitter is hopeful

that this matter can be resolved quickly and amicably. If, however, you
do not comply with

these requests, Twitter will be forced to consider suspending your
Twitter accounts and take

such steps as it deems necessary to protect its intellectual property
rights.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

KAW

________________________________

From: Karen Webb [mailto:KWebb at fenwick.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 8:55 PM
To: de5ffa48513f2670-348777 at privacy.no-ip.com; Dean Collins
Subject: Letter re MyTwitterButler.com

Dear Mr. Collins:

Please see the attached letter.

Sincerely,

Karen Webb

Karen A. Webb  |  Fenwick & West LLP
801 California St.  |  Mountain View, CA 94041
T: 650-335-7656  |  F: 650-938-5200 
kwebb at fenwick.com

-------------------------------------------
IRS Circular 230  Disclosure:  To ensure compliance with requirements
imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice in
this communication (including attachments) is not intended or written by
Fenwick & West LLP to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of
(i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii)
promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any transaction
or matter addressed herein.
-------------------------------------------
ATTENTION:
The information contained in this message may be legally privileged and
confidential.  It is intended to be read only by the individual or
entity to whom it is addressed or by their designee. If the reader of
this message is not the intended recipient, you are on notice that any
distribution of this message, in any form, is strictly prohibited.

If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify
the sender and/or Fenwick & West LLP by telephone at (650) 988-8500 and
delete or destroy any copy of this message. 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.drupal.org/pipermail/development/attachments/20090812/181dbf21/attachment-0001.htm>