Michael Robertson Fails...Again. MP3tunes Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Another Michael Robertson company goes belly up.

Looks like we can add MP3tunes to the long list of Michael Robertson failed companies.  MP3tunes has filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.  You can download the entire bankruptcy filing here.  

Looks like Robertson is sticking it to everyone from his lawyers ($1.4 million), to several employees ($10,775), to even the coffee vendor ($96).  The only secured creditor he lists is HIMSELF, through his SKL Trust.  No surprise there, classic Robertson move--as usual, he'll end up first in line while others get completely stiffed.  

Even worse, innocent customers are STILL getting ripped off, as it appears he's more than happy to keep selling subscriptions to his now defunct company.  Hopefully the media will alert would-be customers about this bankruptcy, since apparently Robertson isn't.  I can find no mention of the bankruptcy anywhere on the MP3tunes site, but I can find where they are still accepting $139.95 for annual subscriptions.

I admit I'm not too sad to see Robertson's partner in crime, the law firm of Duane Morris (Ed Cramp), being stuck with $1.4 million in bad debt.  You'd think the law firms in San Diego would start to learn to stay far away from Robertson, who has proven time and time again to be a very bad bet.  Prospective employees should also be paying close attention to how Robertson treats employees.

Robertson may be hoping to get out of his EMI litigation with this move, but EMI is suing him personally and will continue to keep after him.  Get ready, of course, for Robertson to blame the EMI lawsuit for MP3tunes demise.  Don't buy that for a minute.  As you'll see from the filing, the REVENUES from MP3tunes hardly moved the needle, ever.  MP3tunes was just another poorly executed business idea from Robertson.

To keep up on all the latest Robertson fiascos, visit Freespire.com.

Kevin

Michael Robertson Throws MP3tunes Customers Under The Bus As He Loses His SECOND Court Case This Week

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Michael Robertson isn't having a very good week.

After losing a motion for Summary Judgment earlier this week to try and see the Freespire.com website taken down, today Robertson was dealt a crushing blow. Judge William Pauley ruled that Michael Robertson can be rejoined as a defendant in the copyright infringement case against Robertson and his company MP3tunes. This means if the dozen plus record companies and publishing concerns who are suing Robertson for copyright infringement win, Robertson could be found personally liable. (Visit Robertson's blog to see how he prematurely claimed victory in this matter, only to have that earlier ruling reversed today.) Given the statutory damages in copyright infringement cases, this could be in the billions of dollars (as Robertson should know all too well, given his historical loss at MP3.com for copyright infringement). You can read the full ruling here.

But don't worry, Robertson has a defense. He's blaming the MP3tunes customers. THEY are the REAL copyright infringers, not him.

Michael Robertson throws MP3tunes customers under
the bus to defend himself against copyright infringement.

I have watched Robertson try to blame his employees for any copyright misdeeds at MP3tunes. Apparently he now has a new strategy, and Michael Robertson who likes to pretend to be the champion of consumer rights, is throwing MP3tunes customers under the bus as a way to defend himself from the alleged copyright infringement. From the ruling:

"MP3tunes argues that the Amended Complaint fails to allege any direct infringement by MP3tunes--that is, any volitional conduct by MP3tunes. Rather, the Amended Complaint establishes that MP3tunes' customers are the ones engaged in volitional acts of infringement."

In other words, "Hey, I didn't violate any copyright laws, MY CUSTOMERS DID!" Yikes!

Why would anyone want to be a customer of MP3tunes, given Robertson's position in this case? Do you really want to join a website, and if that site is sued for copyright violations, they then BLAME YOU for the infringement? The complaint goes on to say, "The person who actually presses the button to make the recoding supplies the necessary element of volition, not the person who manufactures, maintains, or, if distinct from the operator, owns the machine."

So Robertson creates a website, and because of how the site copies and stores files, YOU, an innocent, unsuspecting MP3tunes customer, could be blamed for any copyright infringement, simply for having used that site, because YOU "pushed the button." So much for Robertson defending his customers. I watched Robertson toss minority shareholders out of the way as he scrambled for a life raft as he sank Linspire. Now, he's tossing MP3tunes customers under the bus to defend his personal net worth. Not cool, but classic Robertson.

I would recommend to all my friends, family and associates to not be "pushing any buttons" at MP3tunes. If you do, Robertson will point the finger at you.

Kevin

Lala Music Service - THEE Best Place to Download DRM-Free Music!

In my last blog I called out Michael Robertson for his bogus put down of the Lala music service. Today I want to show you why Lala is hands-down my favorite place to buy DRM-free music.

Lala.com has:

• NO DRM! Use songs on virtually any computer, phone or other music device.
• The lowest prices.
• The best selection.
• High-quality 256 kbps MP3 files.
• The fastest way to find, sample, buy and download pretty much any song or CD.
• Instant sync with iTunes.
• Sample over 6 million FULL songs (not just 30-second clips).

For example, today I wanted to buy Paul McCartney's first solo record, McCartney. iTunes didn't offer it. Amazon only sold the CD, but didn't offer it in their MP3 store. But, watch how easy it was to find, buy and download it from Lala:



In his blog this week, Robertson is yet again trying to get you to think poorly of Lala in favor of his failing MP3tunes venture. Don't fall for his propaganda. Most people don't even care about a silly "locker" for their music, as they prefer to have their music stored on THEIR hard drive and devices. You can buy a 1 Terabyte drive at Costco for around $100. (In my opinion, anyone who stores their music at MP3tunes and expects that company to be around in the future is kidding themselves. Look at what happened to MP3.com, Linspire, and other Robertson ventures. Where are they today?)

I encourage you to give Lala a try. It doesn't get any easier to find, buy and download high-quality, DRM-free music. I'm happy to finally see a legit site that respects artists and copyright law and that is easier and more convenient to use than piracy.

Thanks Lala!

Kevin

Click image above to see why Lala is the best music service

Michael Robertson Wants To Fool You About the Lala Music Store

I worked with Michael Robertson for seven years and watched first hand his methods. Anyone who follows my blog knows I wasn't impressed with his ethics or tactics. If you want to see a typical example of how Robertson tries to fool people to get his way by misrepresenting the facts (like when he falsely charged former employees for embezzlement to get money from his bank), look at his latest blog where he puts down the successful music service Lala.

The REAL reason Robertson dislikes Lala.

To me, this seems to be Robertson's typical cycle: start a business, fail, then start tossing garbage at the companies who did it right and succeeded, thereby justifying his failure. Linspire lost to Red Hat, Novell and Canonical (Ubuntu). MP3tunes lost to Lala. SipPhone lost to Skype. And so it goes, leaving Robertson with plenty of companies to whine about.

Let's look at his latest drivel about Lala to see his typical MO:

First he starts off like a politician, by trying to scare you with some horrible, over-the-top threat that only he can protect you from: "An insidious new plot to wrestle control of your personal music library is underway." He then goes on to compare it to a "roach motel." Ohhhh, the drama! Whatever shall we do?!? Please Michael, save us from this "insidious new plot!"

Robertson talks about how Lala must be evil because it has taken investment from music companies. I have absolutely no idea if that's true or not (as I don't believe anything that comes from of Robertson), but what I DO know is that when I was CEO of Linspire, Robertson was more than happy to have Linspire take millions of dollars from "the evil" Microsoft and partner with them. So I guess Microsoft was pulling all of Michael's strings at Linspire?

Robertson put millions in his own pocket that came directly from Microsoft ($3M while I was CEO, and I'm sure more after I left). The money that flowed from Microsoft to Robertson more than likely helped fund MP3tunes. So, using Michael's logic, we can all assume that Microsoft is pulling the strings at MP3tunes, right? Such hypocrisy. The only reason MP3tunes isn't backed by "big music," is because big music is smarter than that. Warner Music tried one time to partner with Robertson and got stabbed in the back the second the ink was dry on the agreement. If one of the big record labels offered to put money into MP3tunes, Robertson would take it in a minute, just like he did at Linspire with the Microsoft deal.

Robertson's claim that he will never "sell out the consumer," is utter rubbish. As CEO at Linspire, I didn't see him raise one objection to Linspire's "deal with the devil" Microsoft, or him concerned in the least about how this would affect the consumer. All I saw him care about was how big was the check and him making sure that $3M was wired to his personal account on the very day we got paid from Microsoft to cover a line of credit Linspire had with Robertson. Many times I watched Robertson intentionally do things that would annoy our users because it would sell more product. As soon as I became CEO, I made CNR free and put out a free version of Linspire (Freespire), all going against what Roberson did as CEO. Robertson helped to justify Microsoft's patent claims when Linspire entered into their deal with Microsoft, so his claims of being the champion against patents, DRM, and protecting consumers' rights rings hollow. I only thing I saw Robertson ever care about was himself, his ego and his net worth. Robertson is the one person I know who can make the big record labels seem like good, honest, honorable people.

Next comes more lies and half truths. He says, "To participate you just need to upload all the tracks from your personal library." Lala should sue Robertson for that line, because it's total rubbish. You don't have to upload a single song from your library to participate at LaLa, but by lying about this, Robertson can make Lala seem so much more "insidious," so why let the truth get in the way?

Robertson's nonsense continues with, "Your music will be controlled by Lala and will eventually vanish, because no company lasts forever." There is no truth to the first part, and the second part would apply even more so to Robertson's companies, given their poor performance.

If you upload your music library to Lala, you are in no way transferring ownership or control of that music. You will still have all your music on your computer's hard drive or on your CDs. Lala can't touch those files and in no way does it "control your music." Lala could go out of business tomorrow and you'd still have your music. (Besides, if anyone's going out of business, my money is on MP3tunes tanking long before Lala.)

Robertson then offers a table where he laughably labels LaLa as the "Record Label Locker," and MP3tunes the "Consumer Locker." Robertson insults the reader with this transparent "BS." Lala is an independent music service, even though Robertson wants to scare you into believing otherwise.

Here's the table I'd offer you about Lala, the one Robertson DOESN'T want you to see:


Read what Ed Bott has to say about Lala on ZDnet.

Most of the popular music stores now all offer non-DRM MP3 files, so Robertson has to start finding other excuses to pick at them. Most consumers just want the lowest cost MP3, and Lala is an excellent service for that, perhaps the best. MP3tunes has little content and can't possibly compete with Lala there, so Robertson wants to scare you about their locker service, which honestly, most consumers don't even care about. (Most people can carry their entire music collection in the palm of their hand and sync it to all their devices without a locker, rendering MP3tunes useless.)

From what I hear, all the best employees have left MP3tunes and there are hardly any employees even left there. Why would anyone want to waste their time uploading their music to a business that will probably go the way of MP3.com, Linspire, AJAX Windows, and so many other ventures started by Robertson?

I've had years of watching Robertson closely. I wouldn't trust anything he says. If you want to have a great selection of music that you can buy in non-DRM MP3s, I'd ignore Robertson and check out Lala. You'll see why it's succeeding.

Kevin

What has Michael Robertson accomplished this past year?

I resigned from Linspire exactly one year ago on July 31st, and still no shareholders meeting or word from Michael Robertson to the minority shareholders as to what happened with their investment in Linspire.

This past year Robertson had time to predict the iPhone would flop, falsely accuse good people of crimes, shrink several companies, come up with dumb and exploitive new product names, and as recently as today, have his lawyers harass me, but he still seems to have no time for those employees and investors who wrote out checks to buy stock in his company.

Yes, Michael, we know, we know, YOU'RE #1. We got it.

Kevin

Forced to Comment on EMI/MP3tunes Lawsuit

EMI filed a lawsuit against MP3tunes and Michael Robertson. I have never spoken in my blog about the EMI matter, because I was subpoenaed as a 3rd-party witness in this lawsuit. However, someone pointed me to the Wikipedia entry for Michael Robertson, where it was disclosed by others, not me (I have never made an entry to Michael Robertson's Wikipedia page), that I am a 3rd-party witness in the EMI case. Because I am a witness in this case, I will continue to remain quiet on the EMI lawsuit, other than to set the record straight on the following four statements in Robertson's Wikipedia entry (of which I think Michael Robertson made many of these statements himself as "Mykill"):

"...after he volunteered to help the major record label EMI..."

I never volunteer to "help EMI." I was subpoenaed to this deposition, asked questions by both sides, and simply told the truth. It will be up to the court system to decide who is "helped" by the truth of my testimony.

"Months have passed without any fact sheet or official documents which calls into question the validity of the claims."

This statement is false, as I have in fact filed official documents with the IRS and other government agencies. The statement is also misleading, since, as I mentioned in a previous blog, I was holding off on the "fact sheet" for certain reasons. I didn't say at that time what those reasons were, because I didn't want to mention the EMI case. However, now that this has been disclosed, I will share that the reason I have not yet issued the "fact sheet" is that I am in fact involved as a 3rd party in the EMI lawsuit, and there are two other lawsuits going on currently with Linspire (both involve Linspire trying to unwind the fair and reasonable severance payments I made to former employees who were laid off in good standing). I decided to wait on going public with the "fact sheet" until after these three lawsuits are concluded. I remain committed to exposing the truth and facts of the Linspire matter, but only after these lawsuits are concluded, as they may bring even more facts and light to the situation.

"He then asked for large portions of his testimony to be hidden from public scrutiny which raises suspicion of his claims."

My reasons for asking that my EMI/MP3tunes deposition remain confidential had nothing to do with "public scrutiny." The reason I asked for this, as I'm sure "Mykill" knows, was so that my EMI deposition could not be used in the two Linspire lawsuits going on now, or any future Linspire lawsuits, all of which have nothing to do with the EMI matter.

(No one knew about this other than the EMI and Linspire parties and their respective attorneys. I doubt EMI would have posted this, nor do I think MP3tune's lawyers spend their time on Wikipedia, so I can only assume that the Wikipedia user "Mykill" is "Michael" Robertson.)

On April 11, 2008, former Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony issued a collection of serious accusations against Michael Robertson via Carmony's personal blog. [9] Carmony's public accusations specify allegations that Michael Robertson/Linspire "has attempted to defraud a federally-insured bank, filed false documents with the IRS, knowingly filed a false report with the San Diego Police Department, and perpetrated deceit upon other federal and state government agencies."

Here is the actual statement from my blog: "The full story includes facts that lead me to believe Linspire has attempted to defraud a federally-insured bank, filed false documents with the IRS, knowingly filed a false report with the San Diego Police Department, and perpetrated deceit upon other federal and state government agencies."

The false statements on his Wikipedia page appear to be classic Robertson, trying to gain public favor by complaining about the injustices against him. I wonder why in his last Michael's Minute, instead of his minivan, he didn't show a photo of his Lexus sedan, his multi-million dollar beach-front home in Del Mar, or his 300+ acre ranch in San Diego? If Robertson and MP3tunes didn't violate copyright law, then they have nothing to be worried about. (Unless perhaps Robertson is STILL saying that MP3.com didn't violate copyright law? If so, this might explain why EMI is going after him personally, as he would appear to be unrepentant. If he didn't believe MP3.com violated copyright law, what would prevent him from doing it again?) I wonder why he's looking for sympathy from the public? Michael claims the big, bad record labels are picking on him, but what about multi-millionaire Michael, and all the little people HE'S kicked around throughout his life?

I'd correct these statements myself, but I wish to keep my status of never having edited Michael's Wikipedia page.

Kevin