Community members gewg_ and present_arms have submitted reports regarding Chubby Checker's lawsuit against HP:
There was once an app that claimed it could determine the size of a man's penis simply from being told that individual's shoe size.
Deccan Chronicle reports
The app was called "The Chubby Checker" and was short-lived on HP's WebOS app store.
According to a report on Ars Technica, HP was sued for half a billion dollars by Ernest Evans, a singer-song writer, also known as Chubby Checker, best known for his 1960 smash hit cover version of "The Twist." The app was named "The Chubby Checker," which was the rock-n-roll icon's stage name. Ernest sued HP over infringement on his trademark and also added that HP violated the Communications Decency Act.
The Communications Decency Act was dismissed by the courts, but the infringement of trademark claim was allowed to proceed with the trial due this October. The application was based on estimating the size of the male sex organ by getting the details of his shoe size and was sold online for $0.99 by HP on their WebOS app store in 2012. The app was designed and named by a third-party developer, but was approved and put on sale by HP.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, upon learning about the Chubby Checker's trademarks and in a 2012 cease-and-desist letter from Evans' attorneys, HP pulled down the app within a few days. Ernest claims that, "HP's 'detailed' app approval process should have discovered his name."
Ars Technica also reports that the $0.99 application was downloaded less than 100 times from the time it was hosted on the WebOS app store and the company made a total profit of only $30. The October trial has been avoided since the two parties have finally agreed to come to an agreement.
Reuters provides more background:
In his February 2013 lawsuit against HP and its Palm unit, the singer objected to HP having in October 2006 begun online sales of "The Chubby Checker" app, which purported to let women estimate the size of a man's genitals based on his shoe size.
A federal judge last August let Checker pursue part of his case, saying one might infer that HP should have known that "the owner of the Chubby Checker mark would never have consented to license the mark for such a vulgar purpose."
And we all know what big feet mean, that's right, big shoes.
(Score: 2) by Theophrastus on Saturday July 26 2014, @05:33PM
"no correlation" [scientopia.org]
(ouch: "stretched penile length (cm)")
(("yeah... but that's for "UK shoe size" what about for good ol' U.S. sizes??"))
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday July 26 2014, @05:49PM
And it doesn't make clear which type of penile measurement is made -- measuring from the top of the base of the penis, or from the underside. Measurements made with the underside as the starting point can overstate the length of the penis.
My shoe size is 11, but my (top) penile length is between 6-7 inches depending on the weather. However, I do have a fat dick, and I have wide feet as well.
Next up: An app that determines vaginal tightness and depth* based on shoe size.
* Note: I have been with 27 women and I have determined that there's no way to determine a woman's vaginal tightness and depth with certainty without actually being in it. How big or skinny they are, whether or not they've taken big dicks (including Black guys) in the past, how young or old they are, whether or not they've had kids, how tall they are, none of those or combinations of those have been a reliable predictor thus far.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 26 2014, @05:46PM
I think the musician had a shit-fit about the name of the app and went way overboard.
But, I think he got "lucky" in that HP did not want to risk a precedent on the books that would require near-perfect scrutiny of any app-store like approvals. So they paid him off far in excess of any damage done just to make it go away.
If HP wasn't worried about a precedent they probably would not have settled and if it actually went to trial, they probably would have won.
It's the "probability * severity = risk" calculation at work.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 26 2014, @06:16PM
from the takes-his-trademark-way-too-seriously dept.
My original title was more interesting too:
Chubby Checker Settles Lawsuit Over App to Check Your Chubby
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday July 26 2014, @06:34PM
Your title was edited to tell people what the story was about - I used a variation of your suggested title but, quite rightly, it was changed during the editing review because it did not meet SN's requirements.
OffTopic Thanks for your messages re: Spam in the submission queue but they are not necessary. We see a different page to users and we have a procedure to follow for processing spam. As we don't all live in the same timezone, and at weekends some people don't log on as frequently as other times, the message can stay in the submission queue for quite a while until all the relevant actions have been completed
(Score: 2) by present_arms on Saturday July 26 2014, @06:44PM
It was my title you used (grin) I think me and Gewg has the same idea of others having a chuckle over it.
http://trinity.mypclinuxos.com/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 27 2014, @03:11AM
your messages re: Spam[...]are not necessary
Roger.
We see a different page to users
I suspected as much.
we have a procedure which means it stays in the queue until actioned by all relevant teams [soylentnews.org]
Roger. Wilco.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 26 2014, @07:52PM
what a dumb ass...
His time has long gone. He should know that. He should be 'hey I am fine with it but I want a cut of 30%'. I admit the title of the app made me chuckle. I could see lots of people tossing it a buck and that would have been *easy* money. Not mad money but easy...
(Score: 3, Informative) by isostatic on Saturday July 26 2014, @06:34PM
FEWER
That is all
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Saturday July 26 2014, @07:01PM
I think that's mentioned somewhere in a song [wired.com].
1702845791×2
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 26 2014, @08:05PM
FTFS: downloaded less than 100 times
FEWER
Yeah, that caught my eye as well but I forgot to add a (sic).
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday July 27 2014, @06:48AM
We do not change the parts of the story that are being quoted - usually indicated by the blockquote indentation because the nested " and ' get too messy. The quote is as printed by the original source. We wouldn't want to be accused of putting words into someone else's mouth - firstly, it's just plain wrong and, secondly, we could be accused of implying a bias in some instances.
JR
(Score: 1) by Horse With Stripes on Saturday July 26 2014, @07:13PM
The settlement was an HP TouchPad with WebOS and a 9.7" screen, which Mr Checker said more accurately reflected the measurement of his offendedness.
(Score: 2) by present_arms on Saturday July 26 2014, @07:32PM
What is sad about that is it only went a 3rd of the way up the screen.
http://trinity.mypclinuxos.com/
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Saturday July 26 2014, @11:36PM
So, he's another one who uses a tablet + fleshlight [soylentnews.org] in landscape mode rather than portrait mode [soylentnews.org]?
1702845791×2
(Score: 2) by present_arms on Sunday July 27 2014, @11:48AM
Yeah, seems so, I hope his tablet is dishwasher safe
http://trinity.mypclinuxos.com/