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posted by martyb on Sunday January 29 2017, @04:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the repeat-something-often-enough... dept.

The guy who made himself famous for claiming he created EMAIL, Shiva Ayyadurai, has taken to suing various web sites, social media sites, and bloggers to shut down any contrary talk on the matter. On the surface the business model looks like it might be that of a classic copyright troll. However, given the targets and the backer, could it be the ultimate goal is simply to close down the coverage in general?

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/01/lawyer-for-inventor-of-e-mail-sends-threat-letter-over-social-media-posts/

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/01/popular-tech-blog-sued-by-self-proclaimed-inventor-of-e-mail-hits-back/

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170111/11440836465/techdirts-first-amendment-fight-life.shtml


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by ShadowSystems on Sunday January 29 2017, @06:57PM

    by ShadowSystems (6185) <ShadowSystemsNO@SPAMGmail.com> on Sunday January 29 2017, @06:57PM (#460342)

    There's enough previous art to disprove his claims beyond a shadow of a doubt (much less beyond reasonable doubt) that the judge would probably smack him down as a Vexacious Litigant & threaten to disbar the lawyer that represented him.
    The moment you start filing the various RFC's that include the phrase "electronic mail" that predate his *BIRTH* much less his claims to have invented the contraction "email", you'll have such a pile of evidence against him that his lawyer will probably soil his socks.
    Go ahead & sue me you pile of crap, I'll just *LOVE* the sound of your voice when the judge orders to Darwin your ass for being a waste of DNA.
    You. Utter. Douchebag.

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 29 2017, @07:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 29 2017, @07:13PM (#460359)
    If you get or know someone that gets a threat letter from Ayyadurai, send a copy to Roy Schestowitz at his site:

    " This episode is not over. I hereby publicly ask anyone who has received a similar letter to get in contact with me."
    http://schestowitz.com/Weblog/archives/2017/01/28/gagging-criticism-rather-than-false-claims/ [schestowitz.com]

  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday January 30 2017, @02:12PM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Monday January 30 2017, @02:12PM (#460640) Homepage
    It seems all he has is a copyright. From 1982. Which (a) is too late; and (b) only covers his implementation of a protocol not the protocol itself. You can't copyright a protocol, it's just an interface definition, effectively a list of facts (if you do send this, you'll get that back).

    Sounds like there's a bit of loon in this one.
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday January 30 2017, @05:09PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Monday January 30 2017, @05:09PM (#460708)

      Sounds like there's a bit of loon in this one.

      Not a loon, a con-artist who does his best to use the legal system to get what he wants. Basically, think The SCO Group on a smaller scale and budget.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday January 30 2017, @04:31PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday January 30 2017, @04:31PM (#460693)

    Something tells me a motivation for him popping up again is the death of Ray Tomlinson, who would have been a very effective expert witness against him if any of his cases went to trial.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.