Large US company came after me for releasing a free open-source alternative(old.reddit.com)
56 pointsby zem5 hours ago7 comments
  • mr_toad4 hours ago
    > I originally had my tagline as "The Free open-source [Company A] Alternative," which they claimed was illegally driving their traffic to my site.

    In the UK it’s common for supermarkets to advertise “we price match Aldi”. (Aldi is the trademarked name of a low price supermarket chain). Maybe the US trademark law is different, but I’d be surprised if you can’t claim to be someone’s competitor.

    It also occurs that even if their were laws in the US that said that you couldn’t advertise that you were a competitor of a trademark, they’d probably be unconstitutional.

    • fluidcruft4 hours ago
      In the US generally it's "oh hey there do you wanna pay to play charades for a decade with our sadistic jackal lawyers who enjoy nothing less than finding ways to cause pain and bankrupt you so that if you somehow manage to survive financially long enough to prevail in court you will at best enjoy a pyrrhic victory while we shrug off the loss as a rounding error?"
  • ryandrake4 hours ago
    > You can upload unlimited flight logs for free.

    > BUT you can only view the last 100 flights.

    > If you want to see your older data, you have to pay a monthly subscription and a $15 "retrieval fee."

    > Even then, you can't bulk download your own logs. You have to click them one by one. They effectively hold your own data hostage to lock you into their ecosystem. I am not sure if they are even GDPR complaint even in the EU

    1. There is zero reason for this to be an online, cloud-hosted application. This is... a database. 20 years ago, this would have been a 400KB EXE you ran on your computer and that was that.

    2. I hope people are not deleting their own logs after uploading them to this service. Surely, users aren't relying on this site as some kind of backup for their data. Especially when their business model appears to be clearly HostageWare.

    EDIT-ALSO:

    The legal basis for this threat doesn't make much sense. The company is saying that mere mentioning of their company (or product) name "uses the [product] name and brand as a commercial hook to drive traffic and adoption of your unfairly competing tools."

    If this was enforceable, how would any project that provides open source compatibility with some company's proprietary format be legal? If I write a program that downloaded fitness data from my Garmin smartwatch and mentioned "compatible with Garmin smartwatches" on the project's GitHub, am I suddenly infringing their trademark? (Not looking for legal advice, just confirmation that this company's position is legally bizarre.)

    • maneesh4 hours ago
      I totally doubt it’s illegal, but the argument hinges on the trademarked name, not the export tool tech. “Provides functionality with top smartwatches” has no chance of a cease and desist, but “provides functionality with Garmin” might get you one.
  • fuzzfactor5 hours ago
    Barbra Streisand sends her regards :)
  • senectus14 hours ago
    good to see some civility has entered the scene though. The CEO got in contact and apologized for the aggressive attack on the guy. they're now chatting.
  • Suppafly2 hours ago
    Anyone know what company it was that he was competing with? I tangentially support one of these cloud drone systems, and it's pretty shitty for the price.
  • toomuchtodo5 hours ago
    “Felony Contempt of Business Model” on the part of AirData.
  • zenon_paradox4 hours ago
    This highlights the unfortunate reality of legal asymmetry, where the threat of a costly defense often matters more than the actual legality of the code. It’s a stark reminder of why robust anti-SLAPP protections and organizations like the EFF are so vital for protecting the individual's right to tinker.