[todeen]

Originally Posted by BobC

Heck, just go back to that story from a few months ago about the MA couple that were stalked, harrassed, and threatened by Ebay employees for posting things on their website that Ebay company execs didn't like. Company culture starts at the top, and works it way all the way down in an organization. If they would do that to a couple for simply postings unpopular things about them on a somewhat obscure website, what do you think Ebay would be capable of doing to one of their top sellers, generating around $300M in sales for the current year, if they suddenly wound up on Ebay's bad side?

In the mid-90s, Marlboro sponsored the Billings MT fair a couple times. Some local yokel was selling gag gifts, and one of them was a silly cigarette product in Marlboro colors and design. My dad provided a cease and desist letter for encroachment on brand identification. Another time we were in Mexico, and we saw knockoff Marlboro stuff being peddled by sellers on the beach. My dad looked at me and said, "You don't know how much time is spent trying to eliminate stuff like this."

Sometimes it seems like mega companies don't care about money, they are willing to tie up litigation in the courts for years and years instead of paying a settlement. They don't save any money and their lawyers just keep ringing up the billable hours. And then at other times, they are going after mom & pops because every dollar counts.