Nobody ever accused the technology blog TechCrunch of practicing straight, just-the-facts journalism. But a recent post about “a rather absurd” lawsuit against high-profile Silicon Valley start-up Loopt now has TechCrunch pondering its own legal strategy — because it’s getting sued as well.
Earthcomber, a Chicago-area start-up, on Tuesday amended its suit against Loopt to add TechCrunch as a defendant, emphasizing their partnership in a co-branded iPhone “social enhancement” application that Earthcomber claims infringes on its patent.
TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington e-mailed a copy of the lawsuit by the Mercury News, promptly posted his take: “Earthcomber Sues TechCrunch Out Of Spite, Pisses Me Off Personally.”
The dispute underscores the often freewheeling nature of blogosphere journalism and the potential for conflicts of interest. Questions of editorial independence are particularly acute in Silicon Valley, a place where influential bloggers often invest in technology, business collaboration is common and the lines between the professional and personal easily blur.
Arrington, recognized as a tech business pundit and taste-maker, has emphasized that his investments are relatively small and are disclosed on the TechCrunch site, as are business relationships such as the new mobile networking partnership with Loopt. Arrington said he is not invested in Loopt.
When first reached by the Mercury News on Wednesday while visiting Washington state, Arrington said he had yet to read writer Mark Hendrickson’s original Oct. 3 story on the Earthcomber lawsuit. “My writers are entitled to express their opinions,” he added.
That said, TechCrunch on Wednesday toned down Hendrickson’s original post, removing the phrase “rather absurd” from the lead paragraph. The phrase remained in the readers’ comments, however, several of which were critical of the report and pointed out TechCrunch’s new business relationship with Loopt.
Arrington had trumpeted that alliance in an Oct. 1 posting: “Got An IPhone? Join The TechCrunch Loopt Social Network And Never Be Lonely Again.”
Loopt, based in Palo Alto, is considered a leader in developing social enhancement software for cell phones. Users who opt in to the TechCrunch Loopt “mix” would be able to use their cell phones to identify others within the community at a particular gathering.
“Loopt has a great product. I love their product,” Arrington said. If Loopt is infringing on Earthcomber’s IP, the companies should work out a resolution, he said.
Earthcomber’s lawsuit claims Loopt’s practices infringe on a patent that founder and Chief Executive James Brady filed on June 27, 2003, and was awarded on July 4, 2006. Loopt first began filing patents in 2006; all are pending.
“It came out of the blue,” Loopt founder and Chief Executive Sam Altman said of the lawsuit. He said he first learned of it from “friends in the media” who had received a press release from Earthcomber’s publicist. “We had never heard of this company before.”
Altman, who left Stanford as an undergraduate to launch his start-up, contacted Brady. He and Brady have different accounts of the conversation.
Altman said he asked why Earthcomber didn’t first approach Loopt with its claims, as have other companies with patent issues. All of those, Altman said, had been resolved. He said Earthcomber’s claims are not valid and perhaps a “misunderstanding.”
Brady described Altman as “agitated and contentious”: “He flatly stated that we aren’t going to get any favorable coverage, and informed me, ‘Our friends in the press will only write when I’m in the story calling it a frivolous suit.’ ”
Within a matter of hours, Brady said, the original TechCrunch post ridiculing the lawsuit appeared, seeming to affirm Altman’s words. Hendrickson skewered Earthcomber as “a pretty weak offering. . . . So the suit may very well be just a desperate attempt to get the company some attention,” it said.
Earthcomber, Brady counters, was honored as best “infotainment” application at the Nokia Mobile Rules! competition in Silicon Valley in March for its trademarked “personal radar” technology. Earthcomber’s technology is available as an iPhone application and available to consumers through Verizon, Nokia, Palm, Citysearch and Travel Channel.
Brady said he has too much at stake not to pursue the patent claim. For his part, Arrington put his position in a post: “I would rather run TechCrunch into the ground and go out of business than let this guy win.”
Contact Scott Duke Harris at sdharris@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-2704.
