Bird Scooter tried to censor my Boing Boing post with a legal threat that's so stupid, it's a whole new kind of wrong

[Oo_oO]

You might have reached beak bird pun right there.

[euansmith]

Yeah , toucan play at that game.

[anon21100188]

Now you’re just parroting the talking points.

[euansmith]

I keep heron that, but I dunnock if its true. I mean, its easy to snipe.

[snigs]

Don’t be a tit.

[teknocholer]

@anon21100188

This is the time that websites need to flock together to ensure that the threat doesn’t migrate from letters to legal action.

This.These turkeys may be stork raving raven cuckoo, but if we quail at their threats, they will just goose it up next time. We mustn’t stick our heads in the sand.

[edited to add “raven”. C’mon, could you have resisted?]

[Lexicat]

@anon21100188

So…we’re just not going to talk about the fact that Bird’s legal counsel’s name is Linda Kwak?

@kpkpkp

That’s not gonna fly

@euansmith

Making fun of people’s names is juvenile. Cory really ducked that one.

@Melz2

What a bunch of loons these folks are.

@Oo_oO

Please stop. You’re just egging them on.

@wazroth

(inb4 “poultry in motion”)

@MadLibrarian

Ah, organized crime. Waaak-waaaak-waaakk!!

@teknocholer

If some old coot starts grousing about a perfectly legal post, they deserve it.

@Melz2

You think she’s squawking up the wrong tree?

@Oo_oO

Two piece combo! Tasty.

@euansmith

Man, you swanned right in here with some quality puns.

@teknocholer

She’d a swallow-tail coat of a beautiful blue
And a brief which she bought of a booby…

– W.S. Gilbert

@spetrovits

Fitting that the EFF’s response is the legal equivalent of flipping the bird.

@teknocholer

Vulture capitalism?

@Oo_oO

I’d do a rimshot if I could only find my drumsticks.

@teknocholer

I’m fine with eider.

@Melz2

Do you think you can… take these broken wings, and learn to fly again?

@teknocholer

Damn. You could knock me over with a feather.

@James_Mason

You missed a two-fer - “I’m down with eider”

@Avery_Thorn

That there is only one post talking about the cease and desist is a real flight of fancy.

Duck it, I’m out…

@teknocholer

“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of bird puns approaches 1.”
– Godwit’s Law

@euansmith

That’s a bit much to swallow.

@Oo_oO

I believe you are referring to Larkell v Crestdram?

@roomwithaview

Yeah, they really fowled up this time, somebody oughta flip them the bird!

@Oo_oO

I think it’s justice enough that the dodos will need to foot the bill for their frivolous threats.

@euansmith

I’m getting a hawkward feeling about them.

@Oo_oO

Relax, we’re just falcon around.

@anon21100188

Listen, this letter may seem flighty, but the next one could come from a real legal eagle. Speech issues like this are really a canary in the coal mine. We can only hope it rolls like water off their backs and the strategy isn’t to peck BB to death with threats like this.

This is the time that websites need to flock together to ensure that the threat doesn’t migrate from letters to legal action. Also, uhhh, something about beaks.

@Oo_oO

You might have reached beak bird pun right there.

@euansmith

I keep heron that, but I dunnock if its true. I mean, its easy to snipe.

I am in love with you all, and you have restored my faith in humanity.

[anon62122146]

On a more serious note, what do people think about the idea of a ballot initiative to make it so that people like Linda Kwak would lose their license to practice law in California for doing shit like this?

[Akimbo_NOT]

What a peep show!

[jra]

I was going to post some kind of bird pun, but I chickened out.

[Avyctes]

http://instantrimshot.com/

[euansmith]

Yeah, maybe we should tweet about this.

[Akimbo_NOT]

[jra]

Finally, someone taking this as seriously as it should be taken.

[Bart]

Is signing a go-fuck-yourself response “Very truly yours” the legal equivalent of “Bless your heart”?

[Bonivus_elderheart]

@Bart

Is signing a go-fuck-yourself response “Very truly yours” the legal equivalent of “Bless your heart”?

Quite probably.

Bird’s lawyer completely missed the phrase “legally acquired” in the original article; If they were that protective about their hardware, then why did they let the city auction them off instead of paying the fines and getting them out of the impound lot?

Just saying.

[bb4me]

if your business model is threatened by free speech (ie. mentioning and linking) you’re going to have a bad time

(and lack of funding eventually for the whole stupid business, yay)

[Sludge]

To summarize the comments, I have prepared an infographic.

[gracchus]

@anon62122146

On a more serious note, what do people think about the idea of a ballot initiative to make it so that people like Linda Kwak would lose their license to practice law in California for doing shit like this?

The bar association itself would shoot it out of the sky even if such a proposition got on the ballot.

The closest you can get for this result is for a judge (a “beak” as they sometimes call them in England) recommending review proceedings or disbarment for an attorney who wastes his time in a particularly egregious way.

Otherwise, there’s always this existing remedy in CA:

Barratry (common law)

[DukeTrout]

@anon62122146

On a more serious note, what do people think about the idea of a ballot initiative to make it so that people like Linda Kwak would lose their license to practice law in California for doing shit like this?

That would raise a lot of hackles.