Internet bullying Archives by Mark Murnahan

Will Bloomingdale’s Sue Over Meta Tags and a Link?

I have a question for Bloomingdale’s, and then I will move on with the story. Here is my question: “Dear Bloomingdale’s: Did you bump your collective head?”

Bloomingdale’s department store sent me a cease and desist notice for mentioning them, along with a link to their website. Strangely, I find that other companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Pepsi, and other brands don’t seem to mind positive mention from the public. No, instead, they seem to like all of those mentions of their brand name along with links to their websites. It is what makes them more popular, and it is good for SEO. That means search engine optimization, Bloomingdale’s.

Do you ever come across a company that makes you absolutely convinced that somebody “upstairs” in the corporation took one too many drunken stage dives? I do, and I got that feeling today when I sorted through an email spam folder. I discovered threatening letters from Bloomingdale’s department store claiming they plan to sue me if I do not remove their name from one of my websites.

So, what in the name of all things rational is fleeting through the legal minds at Bloomingdale’s? Are they trying to squash all mentions of their brand name on the Internet, or did they just pick on my 2002 relic that listed their website in a shopping directory?

Aside from the fact that they emailed me a spam-ish form letter, it kind of made me wonder if they just don’t receive the Internet over in their part of the world. Oh yes, Bloomingdale’s is based in New York, NY, and I know they must have access to mostly the same Internet as the rest of us. It seems odd that they didn’t figure out those links are good for them.

Maybe they are just too damn tired of being in business and want to call it quits. Maybe they have enough business, and just thumb their nose at all of the rif-raf out here on the silly and icky Internet. It beats me, but there is definitely something resembling last year’s tuna salad. It doesn’t smell healthy to me.

It made me wonder just what asinine sort of “unbranding” they are seeking by picking on me. Bloomingdale’s actually wants to erase a positive mention and a website link to their company, and they threatened a lawsuit to make it happen. Who is running the Bloomingdale’s Internet campaigns? Is it the “stars” from Jersey Shore?

To me, it seems they are having one of those moments that you or I may call a “shit the bed” encounter. You know, one of those times when you wake up ready for a challenge and say “Damn, I am feeling way too smart, and it has been a while since I topped my all time stupidest moment.”

Before I go too far, let me just say this: If you should choose to link to my website as a good resource for the SEO and social media marketing services I offer, it is pretty unlikely that I will send you nasty email messages filled with idiotic idle threats about suing you. I don’t sue for Twitter retweets, Digg votes, or Facebook likes, either. No, instead, I will more likely send you a pair of lips to virtually kiss you square on the mouth. In any case, I will not treat you the way Bloomingdale’s Department Store treated me!

Bloomingdale’s Threatens to Sue for Promoting Them

I have included letters that I received describing Bloomingdale’s threats to sue for using their name in a shopping directory (see below). I omitted the URL where the alleged offense occurred, but not because there was any violation. I simply do not intend to give the Bloomingdale’s website link on that page any further relevance by mentioning it here.

The website in question was from a retail example website for my wholesale Internet access company. It was created as a working demo for wholesale ISP (Internet service provider) clients. Although it once had many dial-up customers, we didn’t even market that site when it did have the option of signing up for dial-up Internet access. Our business is selling services to other ISPs.

Each of these letters from Bloomingdale’s are mostly the same rhetoric, and they each demand that I remove the content within five days. My thoughts for Bloomingdale’s are as follows:

Five days are up, Bloomingdale’s. Let’s shit or get off the crapper. Bring on the lawsuit and let’s see what the Internet public thinks of it. Maybe I will sue you back for being disastrously lame in your online acuity. My sense of the matter is that your legal and marketing departments should borrow a brain cell from a store clerk and stop fighting over just one.

At first, I was torn between whether to let you know just how badly you need my services to avoid coming off as a douchebag company, or whether to let others decide whether you are a douchebag company. I chose the latter, but you should probably read more of my work to determine the former. A better strategy to your online marketing efforts seems desperately in order.

Bloomingdale’s Demand Letters

Before I leave you to review the Bloomingdale’s demand letters I received, I want to say this:

Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s … nanny nanny boo boo. I used your name again. When you write up that lawsuit, just be sure to spell my name right.

Just one more outrageously funny thing I must mention is the Bloomingdale’s expressed concern for their name appearing in meta tags. That makes it seem even clearer to me that they are stuck in the “Miami Vice” and “Chaka Kahn” era.

Hello? Year 2011 calling Bloomingdale’s! If you are paying attention, you should probably have somebody in your “brainiac” eye tee department read “SEO Meta Tags: Oh, You Must Be Another SEO Expert!“ Perhaps they should check out the meta tags on this page while they are at it.

MARIE CAMACHO
FACSIMILE: 646-429-7521/22
EMAIL: infringement.response@macys.com

2/16/2011

VIA E-MAIL

Re: Notice of Infringement on the Bloomingdale’s Trademark

To Whom It May Concern:

This office is counsel to Macy’s, Inc., its subsidiaries, and operating divisions, including those operating Bloomingdale’s department stores (herein referred to as “Bloomingdale’s”.) Bloomingdale’s is the owner of all rights, title and interest in and to the BLOOMINGDALE’S® name and trademark, which is the basis for an extensive family of trademarks and service marks. The BLOOMINGDALE’S® family of marks is the subject of numerous active registrations with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a wide range of products and services. Bloomingdale’s has continuously invested substantial time, money and effort in the marketing and sale of products and services represented by this mark nationwide. As a result, the BLOOMINGDALE’S® name has become famous. It represents an exceptional level of consumer recognition and goodwill and is a property of incalculable value to the company.

Bloomingdale’s recently became aware of your use of the Bloomingdale’s trademark in meta tags (and/or hidden text) at http://www.********* used to attract Internet traffic to your web site. Your use of this trademark to attract Internet traffic is an obvious attempt to capitalize upon the goodwill associated with Bloomingdale’s for your company’s benefit by diverting buyers. More particularly, the Lanham Act, 15 U.S. Code Section 1117 provides for recovery of profits and damages, as well as a sum of up to three times the amount of damages for violations of Section 1125(a).

Accordingly, demand is made that you immediately cease-and-desist from any further use of the Bloomingdale’s trademark name in the meta tags (and/or hidden text) on your web site. Additionally, we must receive your written assurances that you will make no use of Bloomingdale’s registered mark in your business affairs in the future.

Provided you immediately comply with our reasonable demands, a lawsuit may be avoided. If your unauthorized use of Bloomingdale’s intellectual property continues and we do not hear from you within five (5) days of the date of this letter, my client has already authorized the filing of a suit against your company, seeking immediately injunctive relief and all damages allowable under the law.

We shall be monitoring your website and await your response in writing to this office. Should you have any questions or comments regarding Bloomingdale’s position in this matter, please contact me via e-mail. Nothing herein shall constitute a waiver of any of Bloomingdale’s rights in law or in equity, all of which are expressly reserved.

Thank you for helping us protect our brand. If you are authorized to use our intellectual property and believe you have received this in error, please provide the name and number of your contact within the company in order to verify your use and close the matter.

Sincerely,

Marie Camacho

MARIE CAMACHO
FACSIMILE: 646-429-7521/22
EMAIL: infringement.response@macys.com

2/23/2011

Re: Notice of Infringement on the Bloomingdale’s Trademark

To Whom It May Concern:

Bloomingdale’s recently became aware of your use of the Bloomingdale’s trademark in meta tags (and/or hidden text) at http://www.*********.com used to attract Internet traffic to your web site. Your use of this trademark to attract Internet traffic is an obvious attempt to capitalize upon the goodwill associated with Bloomingdale’s for your company’s benefit by diverting buyers. More particularly, the Lanham Act, 15 U.S. Code Section 1117 provides for recovery of profits and damages, as well as a sum of up to three times the amount of damages for violations of Section 1125(a).

Sincerely,

Marie Camacho

MARIE CAMACHO
FACSIMILE: 646-429-7521/22
EMAIL: infringement.response@macys.com

3/2/2011

To Whom It May Concern:

In order to avoid formal legal action, we are writing once more to follow up to our earlier letter to you regarding your use of Macy’s Inc. trademark (Bloomingdale’s) in the meta data of your website http://www.*********.com. As explained in our previous letter, Macy’s Inc. has well established rights in this mark and it is well known to consumers throughout the world.

As you know, Macy’s Inc. recently became aware of your unauthorized use of its trademark and sent you a letter requesting that you cease and desist from such use (and confirm same in writing). As of this date, we have not received a response from you about this matter, and the infringing content still appears in the code of your website. Your failure to act upon receipt of our notice underscores that your use is willful, exposing you to up to three times the amount of damages typically awarded for violations of Section 1125(a).

Your infringing use of our property is an obvious attempt to legitimize your website and/or divert traffic from this company’s authorized site. Accordingly, we reiterate our demand that you terminate the use of our brand in the meta data of your web site, and provide written assurances that you will make no use of Macy’s Inc.’s marks or other intellectual property in your business affairs in the future.

Provided you immediately comply with our reasonable demands, a lawsuit may be avoided. If your unauthorized use of our intellectual property continues and we do not hear from you within five (5) business days of the date of this letter, we reserve the right to pursue any and all remedies without further notice, including the filing of a suit against you seeking immediate injunctive relief and all damages allowable under the law. We shall be monitoring your website and await your response in writing to this email address.

Nothing herein shall constitute a waiver of any of Macy’s rights in law or in equity, all of which are expressly reserved.

Sincerely,

Marie Camacho

Photo Credit: Combination enema and douche syringe by Shattonbury via Wikipedia

Facebook Privacy Fears Are Absurd!

I know, I just slapped a lot of Facebook’s 400,000,000+ users with an insult. The real insult is how many “Chicken Little” minds there are out there crying “The sky is falling!” You are a “grown up” right? You can take responsibility for things you say and do, right?

I have read about the biggest fear-mongering pitches ever surrounding Facebook’s privacy settings. I see people moaning about how all their privacy has been taken away and they feel all exposed. They whine about the fact that they actually have to take responsibility for the stupid things they don’t want the rest of the world to see. For me, that has simply been obvious. I mean, I keep my wallet in my pocket instead of leaving it on a counter at the airport. I have routers and virus protection to keep my data safe from prying eyes. If I don’t want somebody to have something, I just don’t give it to them.

Free Facebook Privacy Guide

Didn’t anybody ever read the privacy information published by Facebook in “A guide to privacy on Facebook: Understand and control how you share information” or was that too much work? The service is free, but people still want to complain that it has some rules and guidelines.

If you are afraid of things like somebody tagging you in a photo on Facebook, how do you feel about blogs, email, or even fax for that matter? Is it the service’s fault for transferring the information? That seems kind of absurd to me, considering that transferring that information is exactly why people use Facebook. If people will just take a little time from their selfish Facebooking life to set how they want their information to be handled, maybe they can move on and complain about something else.

Facebook Privacy Beyond Facebook

If you are concerned about what somebody will see, keep it off the Internet. Did you forget that anything on Facebook or any other website can be copied and pasted, printed, or otherwise reproduced without your authority? Who are you going to blame for that? Will you blame the copier company?

I entered a couple of comments on a blog post about Facebook privacy on Mashable.com a moment ago. I will share some of what I said here, and I invite you to go and see the context of my comments as well.

My Comments:

“Facebook is not the whole Internet. What if they take the photo and email it and post it on their blog? Would you like Facebook to control that, too? What if the Internet didn’t exist at all? Couldn’t people still be embarrassed by a bad photo? Marilyn Monroe was, and she didn’t use Facebook.”

“That is the business they are in, but that does not make Facebook, Google, Twitter, or any other site responsible for our indiscretions, or for our privacy. I do not want my documents read when I take out the trash, so I shred them. I do my part to protect my privacy. My privacy is my responsibility. What others do to reduce my privacy by posting a photo or writing something about me is often beyond my control. That does not make me stay indoors. I just know that if I pick my nose while I am in public, those in my direct contact may not be the only public who see it. The fact that there is a venue to share it does not mean the venue should be blamed. It is like blaming the phone company for somebody sending a fax about you. The person doing the faxing is at fault, and not the phone company or the fax manufacturer.”

My point here is this: If you want to blame Facebook instead of yourself, it is like blaming your Internet service provider because you got a virus but did not protect yourself with up-to-date antivirus software. Take responsibility to know the services you use online. If you are not willing to take the time to know the rules of a service, and to keep up to date with those rules, don’t use the service. Nobody is breaking your arm to use Facebook.

Let’s be grown-ups and stop blaming everybody but ourselves for our personal responsibilities. Go set your Facebook privacy however it makes you feel comfortable, or delete your Facebook account like many fear-mongering technophobic users are suggesting.

Defending Facebook

Facebook is a corporation that makes decisions based on their interests. That is the way a corporation is supposed to work. Sure, you can whine that they should ask your opinion, but it seems apparent that they have a pretty good feel for what people want. Maybe you think a company with such a big omelet can do it without breaking a few eggs, but I don’t see anybody else attracting 400,000,000 people across the world for their great plan.

It seems to me that with a user-base larger than all but three countries in the world, they are doing just fine without you in their boardroom.

Cyber Bullying, Death Threats, and Other Cyber Crimes

I was prompted to write this after filing a complaint with the FBI for death threats I received here on this very blog. You may not receive death threats, but surely you have encountered people who became less-than-civilized and abusive online. For most of us, I suspect that it really shocks us how somebody can get so upset over what may seem insignificant to us.

I guess I never realized how scandalous and heated the topics of my writing can be. Apparently this humorous article that I wrote last February really got somebody’s emotions all stirred up. I cannot say a lot about the details or post the comments yet, but perhaps I will in due time.

One thing I can say is that the abuser claimed that the article “didn’t spark my interest in the least”, which I know is a lie because they spent an hour and fifty three minutes writing and re-writing their comments. That sounds like more than a “spark”, but rather a raging inferno. So how in the heck can a simple article on writing good copy inspire so much anger that the reader threatens to kill me? I will allow your guesses in the comments for this blog post. No death threats, please!

Why do some people say things online that they would never say to your face? Do I have an answer for this, yes and no. I know a good share about the Internet. After all, I have earned my living based on providing Internet services for well over a decade. As CEO of one of the top wholesale providers of Internet access and Web hosting, I have just about seen it all. I am the guy people come to with a subpoena for server logs and other evidence to prove the crime or track the criminal. I have helped to put people in jail for child pornography, terroristic threats, fraud, and other crimes. I have worked with law enforcement on many occasions, and it has often given me a huge eye-opener to the human condition.

Perceived Anonymity

The psychology of perceived anonymity is strange. It shocks me, but it is pretty common that the abuser actually believes that they are anonymous. With this feeling of being anonymous, I suppose a bully really lets out what they are all about deep-down. They can really let their misery show when they think there is no price to pay for their anger and hate. In many instances where the crime is small, their identity is never researched and revealed, but of course this is not always the case.

Hateful Bullying

It seems that a lot of people do not consider how things they write may affect other people. Some people seem to enjoy causing hurt or frustration to others. I believe this is often the person who feels very insignificant and small. The only way they can be heard and get the attention they need is to be mean. I think we have all known a bully at some point in life. Maybe you knew him or her as a child on the playground. The sad thing for this tormented soul is that they never grew up, but you did.

Bullies often go overboard just to emphasize their frustration. I have witnessed many mean-spirited comments that are quite certainly overstated. I have a good friend who is a meteorologist. It seems the weatherman is easy to blame when the weather does not go as hoped. This guy gets all kinds of hateful complaints, and not for his work or his presentation, but for the weather. Yes, he gets angry complaints for the weather that “he caused”!

I have had hate mail, mean blog articles written about me, and more than a couple of harassing comments on social networking Websites. You can say that it is simply a matter of numbers, and that if you reach enough people there are surely some who will be mean. It is true that the more people you reach, the more you will find hate. However, as social media use is more widely adopted, it is much easier to spread that hate to an even larger number of people.

Put Out Their Fire

If you encounter bullying, I ask that you remember what it is the bully seeks. They often want attention. If you give it to them, you allow them to bolster their pride to carry on. If you ignore them and snuff out their flame, you will often save yourself and those around you a lot of negativity.

Negativity spreads quickly. Consider this in how you interact with others online.

When it goes too far and it becomes criminal, it is time to contact The Internet Crime Complaint Center, your local FBI office, or other authority of proper jurisdiction.