Rare that reason and law come together like that these days. Still, it's sad. They inspired a lot of people and were good at what they did. They just got caught up in their own bullshit. People in agriculture and permaculture circles trademark and patent things all the time, but with the intent of preserving the idea from would-be abusers. They don't do it to sue people, they do it so they won't have to defend themselves from litigious patent trolls in court later. These unrelated groups and businesses didn't detract from their recognition or harm their business. They sued anyway.
It's a lesson learned. They turned their back on the most basic principals of their target audience, damaging people who would likely have been strong allies in their legitimate endeavors, and lost years in silly court battles which might have been spent building their reputation into something marketable. Look at how many here at TSP were supporters until they started with the trademark nonsense. Just this one website being alienated by their actions cost them thousands of potential customers & supporters.
I just hope they realize this and get their venture back on track with more legitimacy. They're kooks, sure. Far be it for me to hold that against them (Pot & Kettle). But they have knowledge, drive and a real desire to share that with their community. Their litigiousness however prevented other similarly motivated people from doing the same. If they pay whatever damages are assessed by the court, apologize to the businesses they hurt, fire their attorney, put their skills to work in providing a real service to their community and sincerely admit they were wrong, I'd probably follow their work again. Until then... they got what they deserved. I believe in second chances, but they must be earned.
The family has been harassed, they did get threats (a unmeasured response to a cease and desist order). The backlash from the community likely caused them to dig their heels in on principal. They could see how their opponents were obviously wrong in sending death threats, and that blinded them to their own misdeeds. Add in a lawyer to obscure the moral arguments with legal arguments and I can see how they ended up here. I just hope they get their shit together and resume the good work they were doing before all this legal nonsense.
I do get kind of weird vibe from them though... Like maybe they should have trademarked "Urban Jonestown" instead.
