[Cabal] Bad news from Virginia

[Nathan Walp]

Sean Egan wrote:
> 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.

I vote for 1, for the same reasons Sean mentions.

Just for a reminder, can we get a bullet-list summary of what the 
agreement they DO agree to gets us?

-Nathan