Boycott Monster Cables!!!

[s_u_y_*]

I've been hearing how Monster Cables are suing a lot of companies for either having "Monster" in the name or produce high quality cables.

Very recently they started a case against Blue Jeans Cable. Unbeknownst to them, the owner was a lawyer in a previous life and told them their claim was frivilous and was simply a bully tactic to scare off the competition. (http://www.audioholics.com/news/indu...s-strikes-back.

As pointed out in a reply from a Halloween shop (with the name monster.biz) which fought back and won, with Monster Cables agreeing to fork out legal costs, they stated that the word "Monster" existed before the company did, and their copyright of a Halloween store could not possibly infringe on their audio market image. (http://www.madmartian.com/legal/apology_response.htm)

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I dont think anyone with the slightest knowledge of the law would be worried about the tactic. If they are in different industries there isnt a problem.

And whats the deal with other people who make cables? Moster suing people because they can't have a monopoly.

Monster FTF

[Hoover]

I still have the one Monster Cable product that I bought in 1991 (when I was stuck in the US Virgin Islands in need of a patchcord and the only ones available were Monster Cable or some totally crappy worse-than-Radio-Shack no-name cord), but I would never buy another Monster Cable product...not just because I agree w/ the OP re: Monster's frivolous bullying litigation, but also because I've spent enough time studying electricity, physics, expectation bias, & cable performance to know that I can build a better patchcord for less than half the money.

[MD]

Link to the letter to Monster from Kurt Denke at Blue Jeans Cable:
http://www.audioholics.com/news/indu...s-strikes-back

And the subject thread:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...ad.php?t=43259

From the Holloween letter...

Number of children who imagined there was a monster under the bed: probably millions
Number of children who imagined there was an audio interconnect cable under the bed: probably none.

Spit my coffee on that one.

Never bought Monster gear. Never will.

[NickyBass]

So, now we know why Monster Cables are so expensive....$15 from every cable you buy goes to pay Monster's legal bills ......oh, crap, can I say 'Monster' here without getting sued?!?!?! Drat.

[need4mospd]

Originally Posted by MD

Link to the letter to Monster from Kurt Denke at Blue Jeans Cable:
http://www.audioholics.com/news/indu...s-strikes-back

I love Mr. Denke's letter. Might as well attach an "owned" picture to that one.

[PhatBasstard]

It will get interesting when a couple of the "big kids" on the block decide to flex a little muscle. Monster.Com & Monster Energy (drink).

[s_u_y_*]

Originally Posted by PhatBasstard

It will get interesting when a couple of the "big kids" on the block decide to flex a little muscle. Monster.Com

Already did! http://www.monster.com/ Go right to the bottom and look at the small print.

I even found a document from 2001 when Disney countersued after Monster Cables sued them (maybe for Monsters Inc?) You have to have pretty big cojones to sue Disney!

http://www.madmartian.com/legal/disney_complaint.pdf

[NickyBass]

Wow. That is insane. I have a Monster speaker cable and an instrument cable that I bought ages ago. I am going to box them up and send them back to them...tell them that I don't want to use their products anymore, or be associated with a company like theirs.

[thesteve]

this is totally nutty. I wonder if GC will let me trade in my Monster cables for some Live Wires instead.

[PhatBasstard]

Originally Posted by s_u_y_*

Already did! http://www.monster.com/ Go right to the bottom and look at the small print.

I even found a document from 2001 when Disney countersued after Monster Cables sued them (maybe for Monsters Inc?) You have to have pretty big cojones to sue Disney!

http://www.madmartian.com/legal/disney_complaint.pdf

Disney/Monsters Inc. I forgot about that one.

[ROON]

Originally Posted by NickyBass

Wow. That is insane. I have a Monster speaker cable and an instrument cable that I bought ages ago. I am going to box them up and send them back to them...tell them that I don't want to use their products anymore, or be associated with a company like theirs.

DO IT! That'd be a major kick in the arse to Monster.

[boing]

Now, I may be drunk(?)...but I'm pretty sure this will be going in the post tomorrow:

"Dear Monster Cable:

This is the first, and last, piece of your alleged "intellectual property" I will ever own.

I guess I'll just use coat hangers from now on.

[My Full Name]
Musician"

[s_u_y_*]

That is hilarious!

[invader3k]

Why do people on the internet always feel the need to get worked up when a large company takes legal action for some reason or another?

This kind of stuff happens all the time in the business world. I don't see the reason to get offended or worked up about it. If you don't like it, fine, don't buy their products. I don't because I think they're overpriced...I'm not going to start some kind of online crusade over it, though.

[invader3k]

Originally Posted by ROON

DO IT! That'd be a major kick in the arse to Monster.

Yeah, I'm sure they'd get really concerned over one guy sending a few cables back to them, which were already paid for long ago.

[Mark Wilson]

Just to get things straight... is planet waves associated with monster?

[NickyBass]

Originally Posted by invader3k

Yeah, I'm sure they'd get really concerned over one guy sending a few cables back to them, which were already paid for long ago.

I wouldn't be doing it for them, I'd be doing it for me.

The issue isn't that they're suing one company for stealing their ideas....did you read the list of people that they're suing? There's over 100 companies that range from Walt Disney to some tiny miniature golf courses. This behavior is ludicrous, and could potentially harm a small business that doesn't have the fire power to defend itself against a larger corporation. I do not want to do business with a company like this, so, yes, I made a statement that I was going to send back the cables that I bought and paid for years ago. I doubt that they'd care.

[s_u_y_*]

Originally Posted by invader3k

Why do people on the internet always feel the need to get worked up when a large company takes legal action for some reason or another?

This kind of stuff happens all the time in the business world. I don't see the reason to get offended or worked up about it. If you don't like it, fine, don't buy their products. I don't because I think they're overpriced...I'm not going to start some kind of online crusade over it, though.

I am a believer in capitalism. But I'm also a believer in law, and applying the law in the spirit it was intended. Trademark law is there to protect companies, etc. from using their image to promote their products. I find it difficult to believe that a small Halloween company could infringe on rights of an image of a pro audio cable company, amongst the other 100+ companies ranging from security companies to a mini-golf company.

A small company being threatened with a team of lawyers is more likely to settle out of court. Because if they lost, they would be completely bankrupt. I do think it is important as a consumer that we have knowledge of the impact of our purchases and be able to make an informed choice.

As a consumer, I feel let down about how Monster operate. I thought that other Monster customers deserve the right to know, so that they can make up their own minds.

Surely you would agree that they deserve the right to know and make up their own minds?

[Spector_Ray]

Although I never enter into organized boycotts, I do tend to deny my patronage to a particular company for personal reasons if I see fit. That being said, I only own one Monster product and I'm sending that one Monster cable I own back with a copy of Mr. Denke's letter.