Saturday, February 26, 2011

Michael Robertson Fails in Final Appeal to Kill Free Speech at Freespire.com

Michael Robertson fails to get government to step in and
kill free speech at Freespire.com, a website critical of Robertson.

Those of you who have been following Michael Robertson's attacks on free speech, by attempting to take down the Freespire.com website, will be pleased to know he has failed at his last and final attempt. This week, Robertson thew in the towel and abandoned his appeal in the case. Freespire.com, the free-speech gripe site dedicated to exposing the "real" Michael Robertson, can now safely live on for years to come.

It is estimated that Robertson spent over $100,000 in his legal attacks to see Freespire.com take down. However, in a previous blog, I had vowed to put my free speech to the test, and see if I could win this appeal without spending one dime on attorney fees, so I represented myself in this matter. I stayed true to my commitment, and am pleased to see that my free speech didn't end up costing me one dime to defend. American's are very fortunate to live in a country where wealthy bullies like Robertson can't buy your free speech for any amount of money.

For those of you not familiar with this case...Freespire.com was launched as a means to expose the real Michael Robertson, and as a resource for anyone thinking about having dealings with Robertson. Understandably, Robertson wouldn't want people finding this site. However, given America's strong First Amendment protections of the press and free speech, Robertson was forced to be clever, and tried using Trademark law to have Freespire.com taken down. As I reported in April of last year, Robertson lost those attempts in court after spending thousands in legal bills on his failed attack. Upon losing the case, he filed an appeal, which he has now given up on.

Honestly, this is the first smart thing I've seen Robertson do in years. I've seen him waste over a million dollars losing in court time and time again (more details of this in my next blog). As with so many of his attacks, the Freespire trademark case was groundless (read the Judge's strong ruling against Robertson here). However, that hasn't stopped Robertson in the past, and it seems to me that his lawyer, Ed Cramp has played Robertson for the fool, making loads off of Robertson. (Although Cramp, like so many of us, may also come to regret ever having met Robertson...read why.)

I was quite surprised to see Robertson finally make a smart decision and stop wasting money on this. One can only speculate as to why he dropped this case... Is he running out of money? (You know what they say about a fool and his money.) Did he stop paying his lawyers? Did he finally figure out all he was accomplishing was bringing more light to Freespire.com while making his lawyers rich? Did he realize I wasn't spending a dime on this? Did he decide he has bigger things to worry about, like the massive copyright infringement case against him from EMI?

The Future of Freespire.com

Now that Freespire.com is safe from Robertson's attacks, look for the site to become even more dynamic. (Visit Freespire.com now to see the beginnings of it's new look.) In addition to the several facts already there, here are just some of the topics you'll be able to read more about in the coming months at Freespire.com:
  • My next blog post, "Michael Robertson's Million Dollar Ego," with tabulated figures, facts and details of just how much money Robertson wasted attacking former employees, and see the final "scoreboard" of who won and who lost.

  • Blow by blow accounts of the insurance fraud investigation involving Robertson and his lawyer, Ed Cramp (w/Duane Morris).

  • Updates on Robertson's failure to speak with Linspire shareholders in years since he ran the company into the ground, with millions of dollars still un-accounted for to the shareholders.

  • Timely updates on the EMI copyright infringement case against Robertson. Having worked at MP3.com and closely with Robertson for many years, as well as having been deposed as a witness in the EMI case, I have a unique perspective and access to timely updates for all the developments in that case. For example, find out how Robertson argued that he was involved in all the major decisions at Linspire (where he had little involvement and wasn't the CEO), and yet claimed to have little involvement (read: liability) in the EMI case, where he WAS the CEO of MP3tunes. Don't fall for the spin from Robertson, get the true facts at Freespire.com.

  • Inside perspective from former employees on how Robertson treats them, who he gives special attention to, and who he attacks and his underhanded methods in those attacks.
So, bookmark Freespire.com, and link to it from your websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social networking pages. (The more links to the site, the higher up it will appear in Google searches to help inform others who may be considering dealings with Robertson.)

With someone like Robertson, you know there will always be interesting reading, so stay tuned to Freespire.com for the latest news on the REAL Michael Robertson.

Kevin

9 comments:

Bartski said...

I've been waiting for your insight into Robertson's latest soon-to-be-a-failed-business-venture: recording live radio streams...but I guess this will do for now.

Oh, and unless you intended to say that Robertson's personality it cutting and as as subtle as a sharp, metal knife, you probably didn't mean to say "cleaver" above.

Kevin Carmony said...

Robertson has so many soon-to-be-failed-business-ventures it's hard to keep up. =)

I fixed the clever typo...lol...thanks.

Kevin

Scott said...

Love the graphic. Good to know that money can't buy free speech. I've linked to freespire.com from my blog. Keep up the nice updates about loser MR.

Scott

Mark said...

Great news! Keep up the pressure on Robertson. It's good that others get to read about him. I wish I had been warned before I had ths misfortune of working for him.

Mark

Spinfusor said...

Thanks for keeping us updated on Robertson, Freespire.com, and the Chubb case. I wonder where Linspire would be today if he didn't screw it up so badly...

Unrelated: are you going to do an American Idol Predictions post this year?

Kevin Carmony said...

Spinfusor: Thanks. Yes, makes you wonder. We were quite ahead of our time with the CNR app store.

Yes, I will for sure be doing AI this year. I will post my blog with my predictions on Friday, once we know who the Top 12 will be. From last night, I'm liking Casey, Jacob, Scotty, Robbie, and Brett for America's top 5 vote getters for the men. We'll find out Thursday.

Kevin Carmony said...

Spinfusor: Since they let 13 move forward, I'm going to wait one more week before making predictions. This way, we get to see them all perform one more time before locking down our guesses. Look for my blog, predictions, and soliciting your guesses next weekend.

Kevin

Anonymous said...

It's interesting to read those Tina e-mails. I've never seen him go to such lengths to make sure someone is "happy". He could give a shit about his other employees. Like, oh I don't know, getting rid of someone who was SO dedicated -- practically the minute he got out of serious surgery!! Leaving he and his entire family out in the cold.

Kevin Carmony said...

As I said, Robertson almost never got involved in hiring or firing. I could have fired probably anyone at the company without him so much as even bothering to ask why I let them go, but yes, with Tina, he was on a mission to keep her there. He hired her in less than 24 hours of meeting her to run his R.E.E.F. organization (or at least from when he told me he met her, but I think he may have known her for longer). After my email, Robertson and I met for a very long and very heated meeting. As badly as I wanted to fire Tina, Robertson refused. I've never seen him defend ANYONE like that. I'm quite sure I know why.