[Cabal] Bad news from Virginia

Sean Egan seanegan at gmail.com
Thu Jan 25 18:57:07 EST 2007


Here's what seems to have happened:

- The law firm AOL hires was ok with the deal we proposed
- The junior lawyers they dealt with at AOL were also fine with it
- They tried to seek final approval from management, who refused outright.

AOL has told our lawyers that they will not accept our proposal in any
form that involves them representing they have no legal claims against
us. They also say they are unwilling to consider donating to us to pay
for the costs we've incurred by changing our name.

Luke, cover your ears for a second.

Fuck.

We're essentially back to where we were in December 05, with three
possible outcomes:

1) We accept this agreement, don't get sued and change our name to Pidgin
2) We tell them we won't change our name, call their bluff, and then
they give us something in return.
3) We tell them we won't change our name and get sued.

3. is really bad, because it costs a lot of money and even if we win,
we lose all we've invested in the name change already.

2. is ok, but can very easily lead to 3, which is bad.

1. is giving up and conceding defeat, essentially throwing out the
past year of efforts from me and the lawyers. But there's less a
chance of 3 happening, which is good.

Upon much reflection, I think my mind is that we should be making
software and not bothering with silly law stuff. That we should take
the settlement they will agree to and move on with our lives.

-s.


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