VIDEO: Ron Paul files suit for RonPaul.com (Fox News)

[fr33]

If you write a biography of Ron Paul, full of pictures, and sell millions, how much credit do you deserve for it?

None if you claim, as the author, to be Ron Paul like the site did when it made posts of his Texas Straight talk under an account named "Ron Paul".

 

[eleganz]

I've never known libertarians to complain about people making too much money. I hope they are getting filthy rich off the site, but in reality revenue is probably something like 5k/month, which puts Cowlesy's 5x estimate right in the ballpark.

There is nothing wrong with making too much money. The site owners are playing to people's emotions as if they're working their asses off and not making any money.

and please, save the B.S. this is one of the last places to scold others for making money and you know this.

 

[CPUd]

I think he shouldn't have filed it in the first place, picked up the phone and got it settled. It's amazing what a phone call can accomplish.

There is a member here who has ronpaul.name who said RP can have that name for free if he calls and asks for it

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

There is a member here who has ronpaul.name who said RP can have that name for free if he calls and asks for it

Haha yeah I bet he would.

Seriously though, a phone call works wonders. I was well known in my little neck of the woods in both business and politics. When I picked up the phone and called someone, many problems magically disappeared.

Case in point, many moons ago we were booking Bobby Rydell for an appearance in Wildwood. There was an issue between my people and his people, over fees, time, accommodations, and a lot of bullshit. I had a decent relationship with Bobby (we had tied many a load on together) so I picked up the phone, called him and within 5 minutes all was well.

 

[sailingaway]

Haha yeah I bet he would.

Seriously though, a phone call works wonders. I was well known in my little neck of the woods in both business and politics. When I picked up the phone and called someone, many problems magically disappeared.

Case in point, many moons ago we were booking Bobby Rydell for an appearance in Wildwood. There was an issue between my people and his people, over fees, time, accommodations, and a lot of bullshit. I had a decent relationship with Bobby so I picked up the phone, called him and within 5 minutes all was well.

I understand Ron's son Robert went to meet with some representative. This claim wasnt where it started and we don't know how it got here. You can assume if you handled it all would be well, but it is possible that wouldn't have been the case. It was then put on the market and Ron might have had reason to be concerned his name would be used worse by someone new buying in good faith not knowing the claim.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

I understand Ron's son Robert went to meet with them. This wasnt where it started and we don't know how it got here. You can assume if you handled it all would be well, but it is possible that wouldn't have been the case.

The son is no replacement for the father.

 

[sailingaway]

The son is no replacement for the father.

You don't know what happened and neither do I.

 

[fr33]

Seriously though, a phone call works wonders.

Not with liars that claim to be supporters that lie about the UN and slander the man while trying to gouge him. They are no supporters. They are people that made money off the backs of the liberty movement. No supporter would be responsible for headlines like "Ron Paul is against his supporters" "Ron Paul is using the UN". These people are using the media against the liberty movement because they want to keep making a living off of the content Ron Paul produces.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

You don't know what happened and neither do I.

We don't but I sure as hell hope Ron gets himself a skilled PR person that can work with him to prevent these things in the future. Twitter, now this - it hasn't been the best couple of weeks for his image.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

Not with liars that claim to be supporters that lie about the UN and slander the man while trying to gouge him. They are no supporters. They are people that made money off the backs of the liberty movement. No supporter would be responsible for headlines like "Ron Paul is against his supporters" "Ron Paul is using the UN". These people are using the media against the liberty movement because they want to keep making a living off of the content Ron Paul produces.

That is only your assumption based on a negative view of the site owner.

 

[CPUd]

If he saw the guy posting on ronpaul.com with the username "Ron Paul", I could see him wanting to take some kind of action based on his history with the newsletters.

 

[jj-]

We don't but I sure as hell hope Ron gets himself a skilled PR person that can work with him to prevent these things in the future.

Maybe someone close to him could suggest Matt Collins.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

The way I understand cybersquatting, and I am no expert on it, is that it is more so for registered trademarks (which Ron does not have being a politician), and where the person "squatting" has no intention of building a site, but just sits on the domain name. Kind of like if one of us bought pepsi.com before Pepsico was able to register it, and then demanded $1 million for the name.

I think where Ron loses on this is that 1) he does not have a trademark claim, and 2) the site owner is not acting in bad faith since he put up a legitimate news and info site focused around the subject of the domain. If I could wager on this, I would bet the arbitration rules in favor of the site owner, but we shall see.

It would be a bit ridiculous if people had to register a trademark on their own name to ensure that nobody used it for their own benefit, don't you think? Ron ALREADY owns his name, he doesn't need a "registered trademark" on it in order to have a claim on it because he already owns it. I have never even seen the site, but I wouldn't claim outright that whatever he did with it was necessarily done in good faith. Considering that 97% of these IP cases are won by the plaintiff, I wouldn't be so sure that the arbitration will rule in the domain owner's favor. Ron probably wouldn't do this if he didn't think he had a case.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

It would be a bit ridiculous if people had to register a trademark on their own name to ensure that nobody used it for their own benefit, don't you think? Ron ALREADY owns his name, he doesn't need a "registered trademark" on it in order to have a claim on it because he already owns it. I have never even seen the site, but I wouldn't claim outright that whatever he did with it was necessarily done in good faith. Considering that 97% of these IP cases are won by the plaintiff, I wouldn't be so sure that the arbitration will rule in the domain owner's favor. Ron probably wouldn't do this if he didn't think he had a case.

From what we have learned politicians do not have that trademark on their name as celebrities do. For example, Mitt Romney is not afforded the same trademark rights as Frank Sinatra. But we shall see what happens in arbitration.

 

[fr33]

From what we have learned politicians do not have that trademark on their name as celebrities do. For example, Mitt Romney is not afforded the same trademark rights as Frank Sinatra. But we shall see what happens in arbitration.

Newsflash: Ron Paul is not a politician anymore.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

Newsflash: Ron Paul is not a politician anymore.

Doesn't matter. Angelatc posted some info on it earlier today.

 

[sailingaway]

Doesn't matter. Angelatc posted some info on it earlier today.

It only spoke to a specific it didn't address this circumstance. That is what arbitration will do presumably.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

If you write a biography of Ron Paul, full of pictures, and sell millions, how much credit do you deserve for it?

Biographies are done with the consent of the concerned parties. Aren't there also terms that allow them a certain portion of the profits? These things are all hashed out. You can't go writing a biography of someone while they are still alive without even asking and expect them not to complain if enough people read it for it to be significant.

 

[CaptLouAlbano]

It only spoke to a specific it didn't address this circumstance. That is what arbitration will do presumably.

Exactly. I'm still betting on a ruling for the domain owner. If that is the case, Ron could very well be SOL depending on how much he pisses off the site owner.

 

[sailingaway]

Exactly. I'm still betting on a ruling for the domain owner. If that is the case, Ron could very well be SOL depending on how much he pisses off the site owner.

You seem to be really eager for that result, but I'll wait to see what happens. There is definite confusion and trading off of Ron here, and it is Ron's name. We'll see.