My point was (and is) about respecting others work, and the fact that we’re surrounded by those who don’t. Affiliate Espionage doesn’t respect the work of others. Nor does a broken Patent Office. Nor does an overzealous land grab approach to patenting. Allowing a patent on 404 pages is evidence of a broken system. Broken can be inadequately protecting someone’s work… and it can also be protecting something that shouldn’t be protectable (leading to extortion).

And yes, the patent office does have the potential to affect a wider swath, but if the Espionage system worked (and we both know it doesn’t), and you were the victim of having your hard work, earned skills, keyword research, bid experience and more taken from you, you’d certainly look at these guys with significantly more disdain than the patent office.

Lastly, we also have to consider our own impact as well. You are able to do something about the Espionage folks. Not to put you or myself down, but the patent office is unaffected by your actions and mine. If I am incapable of affecting the world large problems, I will do what I can on my plane. Sure beats doing nothing. And obviously, as evidenced by your action taken, so do you. And that my friend, is the among the highest professional praise I can lather on anyone – respecting your fellow intellectuals enough to act on their behalf regardless of the cost to yourself, just because it’s the right thing to do.

Making a difference where we can, together. Now that’s worth toasting. I look forward to buying you a drink in Vegas at the Affiliate Summit and telling you personally how much I admire you professionally, and love you personally. Thank you for stimulating my mind today and for valuing it as well.

I think it is a question of scale. It is like comparing the equivalent of a street corner porn peddler to an aggressive nation with a nuclear arsenal.

The problems with the US Patent System are of far greater potential business impact to you or anyone who business online. The fact that Google, and yes Revenews by extension through Google, serves an ad for AffiliateEspionage is problematic when you are reading a story concerning leveragists.

But AffiliateEspionage unlike Amazon doesn’t own the rights to how cookies function on the net. It doesn’t’ own the rights to the concept of affiliate tracking nor does it own the rights to 404 pages.

In our everyday business every one of us uses those technologies, which only for the moment Amazon has “chosen” to shelve as a weapon.

All that Cygnus has accomplished is to serve as a reminder that the US Patent system is severely broken.

Other then reminding me that I need to read some HP Lovecraft, what you have accomplished is to remind me that I need to put AffiliateEspionage on the Revenews advertiser exclude list in Google.

But you should really take the time to read into the details Pat.

Angel

So true! Even here on your site, right now, I am seeing a banner ad on this very page that says…

Affiliate
Espionage
Exposes Profitable Pay Per Click Campaigns With Ease!
Affiliate Espionage . com Ads by Google

Interesting twist that, for me, made it hard to focus on your story’s details as I was reading…

We like to blame the copycats as leveragists or extortionists… and the patent office as being lame technophobes… but at the same time, Google makes a cut off ads for leveragists… so does this site…

I’m not spanking this site, just pointing out how, in the online world, we become involved in deals with bad actors due to expanse or design, and everyone seems to lack offline morality as a result.

At least in most patent cases, there aren’t a bunch of anonymous leveragists trouncing on the intellectual work of others (which always serves to stifle innovation and development).

The ugly under belly of the Internet… knotted dirty dreadlocks, skin covered in carbuncles and dripping buckets of pus.