http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/ Engadget Comments for Fusion Garage files to dismiss CrunchPad lawsuit http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 2:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
it sounds a lot more uncomfortable than "ipad", now that you mention it..]]>Feb 1st 2010 2:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 2:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Absolutely. He's a business lawyer with an economics degree, yet he failed to secure ANY kind of contract or formal agreement with Fusion Garage? That might be understandable if he was some shmuck that wandered in off the street with an idea, but he absolutely knew better. The only conceivable reason for a contract not to exist is that FG wouldn't sign one with someone who wasn't actually contributing anything.]]>Feb 1st 2010 4:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Isn't Nilay Patel a failed lawyer too?]]>Feb 2nd 2010 1:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 2:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
nobody cares ?]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
]]>Feb 2nd 2010 2:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Bullshit. Arrington had little to no actual involvement with the Joojoo's design or manufacture. FG developed it in their offices, on their dime. Arrington's total contribution to the project consists of a couple obvious UI suggestions and a whole lot of blog-o-hype.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Michael Arrington is naive and an idiot to pitch his idea without contracts in place, lesson learned. Fusion Garage is going to go no where with little to no marketing to backup this device.

Let this story die already.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
They are going to go where no pad has been before.

Or so says their Klingon CEO.

That's right, I called him a Klingon in two different posts, on the same day.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Best be careful he'll have Gagh and Blood Wine from your corpse if you keep it up.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
What a dumb illiterate. Stupid muthafucka. ]]>Feb 1st 2010 7:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
In the real world, people usually get paid for their ideas and contributions to a project. Marketing or as you call it "blog-o-hype" costs money in the real world too.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Not sure that I agree here...at all. Arrington's vision was a tablet...that provided a simple browser...for 200 beans. I have had similar visions. The difference is that Arrington had a web site, came up with a name, and posted related thoughts on the topic. Did he design the hardware? No. Did he package it? No. Did he write the code to make it happen? No. Did he secure funding to finance a third-party to support any of these activities? No. Well, that's the story as I believe that I have seen it reported.

Others did the real engineering...and did it on their own nickle...and Arrington appears to have failed to keep any of his financing promises. So what did he contribute? To the best of what I can see, he came up with the name and built some hype in a niche community on a niche web site. Sure, that has value, but these aren't exactly trade or design secrets.

He got kicked to the curb when FG decided that he provided no value to the effort and was more of a hindrance than a help...and that was probably a sound business move. Arrington then did everything reasonable in his power to sully the reputation of the folks who did the real engineering here (in addition to the open source community).

$0.02]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
I'm not sure any OEM would be willing to touch this thing given all the negative press and the imminent availability of the iPad. There just won't be room for most of these other products in two to three months.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Arrington deserves exactly what he's getting - nothing. Fusion Garage is entirely responsible for the hardware and software design. Arrington's contributions consist of a couple vague suggestions and a whole lot of hot air.

If I do a blog post about how cool it would be if someone created magic flying underpants, and then some other company actually invents and manufacturers them, am I entitled to a piece of the flying underpants pie? Of course not. The money goes to those who do the work. As a trained lawyer, Arrignton would have absolutely known to secure a contract with FG before contributing anything of value. The reason he couldn't is because he DIDN'T contribute anything of value.]]>Feb 1st 2010 4:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
You have some inside info? Or did you just like one side of the argument more than the other?

Armchair quarterback]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
@ScubaSteve

BTW, if Arrington was an actual player here (as he represents himself to be), he would have had a contract or partnership agreement. He had neither as far as I can tell. Why not? Interesting question. Makes you wonder why FG would have signed one with him. What would he have provided? Engineering? Funding? What precisely would be FG's motivation to cut him in?

Seriously, people have been working on tablets and MIDs for years and the portable browser/eReader concept was evolving already. Did he spur on the Joo Joo? Almost certainly, but Arrington was giving those ideas away to anyone who was reading Tech Crunch. If he wanted to get paid, he should have figured out how to define his value and then get someone to sign a contract for that contribution. If he agreed to be responsible for securing funding, that would have been something...but even that seems to have been just a verbal promise that appears to have gone nowhere...which appears to be why he got dumped.

To address a previous poster - you only get paid for marketing a product if you are an employee of that company or have a contract in place for such services. Coke is not going to pay you if you start a non-sanctioned guerrilla marketing campaign for them. It's business. Get an agreement on paper. Otherwise, perhaps I can demand payment for all of the CrunchPad ideas that I submitted to the comments section for related pre-FG stories that appeared on TechCrunch. ;) Nope, I gave those ideas away for free...as did Arrington...for better or worse.

Either way, at 500 beans, it's a dead man walking.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/It is immoral to tell Michael on the last week(?) that FG will go on their own. Seems they used TechCrunch for publicity as much as possible and then told them to fo. I mean even if Michael was wrong in thinking he was in on it as well, FG should have told him from the start, or at least as things went along, not at the end of the development. And you can't say that they didn't know Michael thought he was in on it.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
In chip's defense, there are many source of info on what went south here...and I don't think it's reasonable to expect him to source every assertion. You can search on Giz and Gadge for piles of info from both sides.

Personally, I was dying to see this thing hit the market...and I can't say that I am happy where things are now. That said, I also seem to recall that Arrington said (i.e., wrote on TC) very early on that the CP project was not about making money - they just wanted the device out there. Well, the price vision was naive...but something is getting out there...so what is his problem? I tend to think you have an engineering company on one side of this equation and a huge ego on the other...but that's just a guess.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Arrington said that Fusion Garage was working out of his office for quite some time.

Here's more from Arrington: "Development expenses have been shared, and our team has spent time in Singapore and Taiwan, and their team has spent time here."

I would say that Techcrunch had more involvement then just posting some ideas on the internet. Do you really think Michael would assume he would get money for it, and his name on it for something that he had no contribution to?]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
I think that folks should read some of the early articles on TC. Here are some select quotes...from Arrington:

"So let’s design it, build a few and then open source the specs so anyone can create them."

"Our partner Fusion Garage continues to drive the software forward..."

"But one thing I’ve learned about hardware in the last year is that you need partners to actually make things happen, and the credit for what we saw today goes entirely to the Fusion Garage team. Those guys are rock stars."

"In fact, all the credit should go to Fusion Garage."



Just a random sample of his own words...before the breakup.]]>Feb 1st 2010 3:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Here ya go: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/08/joojoo-tablet-hands-on-video/]]>Feb 1st 2010 4:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 3:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Not at all. FG had no obligation to Arrington, since Arrington had nothing invested in the project except his own hot air. And since they're not even using his Crunchpad name, whatever hype he built up does not apply. Any free publicity the Joojoo gets from Arrington is a result of his public hissy fits. If he had just said "Never mind, the Crunchpad is dead" and FG released the tablet with its new name, nobody would even make the connection between the two.

Arrington is a business lawyer and has a degree in economics. If there was ANY way that he could have gotten a contract signed with FG, he would have. The only logical reason that he didn't is because FG would never sign a contract with someone who wasn't actually contributing anything. FG is wholly responsible for the manufacturing, hardware and software design. Even going by Arrington's own blog posts, his only contributions were vague UI suggestions like "Make the icons big". That's hardly valuable input. It doesn't entitle you to a piece of a product's profits. Certainly not without some kind of contract or formal agreement.

I think a lot of people are simply falling for Arrington's side of the story because he shouts the loudest. Look into the details and use a little reasoning, and his story suddenly becomes totally illogical.]]>Feb 1st 2010 4:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
and @ No one in particular


Well, perhaps the best way to sum things is to state the obvious --

1) Most folks here (myself included) probably really don't know everything that transpired.

2) A court will eventually decide the issue. Thus, throwing rocks at either side is probably not useful...and certainly not definitive.

Frankly, the entire episode also seems fairly academic unless they can figure out how to sell this thing for 200 beans. Otherwise, it is going nowhere...and they are arguing about who gets credit for particular arrangements of deck furniture on a fairly well-known ocean-going vessel.]]>Feb 1st 2010 4:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
At the same time, Arrington should continue litigating. If Fusion Garage amends their lawsuit to go after Arrington for his actions, it shows the partnership he described is accurate. When faced with a CrunchPad vs. JooJooPad decision, I think the overwhelming majority will buy the CrunchPad - especially if it is open-source, no matter whether it is complete or not, and despite the launch of the iPad.]]>Feb 1st 2010 4:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
If any of you pre-order this thing, you deserve it when they take your money, spend it on "development" without giving a refund, and laugh at you on their way to a non-extradition state.

"You don't hack a bank across state lines. Universally stupid man."]]>Feb 1st 2010 4:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 5:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 6:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
His "involvement" was the sort that Michael Jordan has with Nike. Jordan makes suggestions about how the shoes should look, and Nike gives him some to try out and show off. The actual design and manufacture (the hard parts) are left to professionals.

The only difference is that Jordan was smart enough to get a contract for his (minor) contributions.]]>Feb 1st 2010 9:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/Feb 1st 2010 9:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/
Monochrome home screen on a color screen device with ugly background colors. You're kidding me right? Internet only.... Seriously?

No thanks. ]]>Feb 1st 2010 10:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/01/fusion-garage-files-to-dismiss-crunchpad-lawsuit/http://bit.ly/joojoo-who-tablet

""legally barred, facially flawed, and fatally imprecise." -- That's a headache indeed.]]>Feb 1st 2010 11:49PM