Publicity Via Cease and Desist
from the our-head-of-marketing-is-a-lawyer dept
Gadget site Gizmodo got a cease and desist letter from mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson's lawyers today, demanding the removal of some images of a potential future product some tipster had passed along. It looks like they've decided to ignore it, as the picture in question remains on their site, and the editors have made a pretty eloquent explanation of why this and other C&D letters are a pretty stupid tactic in the world of gadgets. Not only do they invoke the Streisand Effect, the chilling effect isn't on future leaks, it's on people's impressions of the company and its products. Furthermore, what's the deal with companies thinking they get to decide what's legal and illegal? Isn't that what courts do? SE's lawyer writes that the C&D letter is confidential (even without Gizmodo's agreement or acceptance), and that how the site responds "very much would influence Sony Ericsson's attitude towards" it. Apparently that's what's most important, rather than how it will influence the public's attitude towards Sony Ericsson.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Sony-Ericsson
Sounds like Sony-Ericsson has borrowed a page from the RIAA/MPAA thuggery manual.
Oops, wait: I just got a threatening email from Sony-Ericsson's legal department.
They are threatening to force my cable provider to cut o
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
More on this...
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/p910i/dr-schunke-to-gizmodo-delete-me-122619.php
[ link to this | view in chronology ]