'A Nation Of Winklevosses': The 'Bunk' Lawsuit Against The Huffington Post

Slate Magazine:

Today, an unpaid contributor to the Huffington Post filed a $105 million suit against the website; its new owner, AOL; and co-founders Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer. The class action suit, filed by writer and union organizer Jonathan Tasini on behalf of all unpaid HuffPo contributors, proves that we're becoming a nation of Winklevosses who file legal motion after legal motion every time a pot of money is spotted.

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Comments

[DevonTexas]

02:16 PM on 04/16/2011

So rather than report on the lawsuit on behalf of the contributors who got nothing of the $316 million HuufPo sold out for, they attack the person who brought the suit? How clever.

[MtnGeek]

06:28 PM on 04/15/2011

So the most recent post was 22 hours ago ... is HuffPo trying to hide this story now that the public opinion court isn't ruling in their favor?

[DevonTexas]

02:17 PM on 04/16/2011

yes. it's a pattern lately.

[MtnGeek]

06:23 PM on 04/15/2011

Everyone here is trying to make a legal decision based on a movie? Wow, talk about disconnected from reality.

[MtnGeek]

06:03 PM on 04/15/2011

Let's see if HuffPo let's any posts through which are critical of HuffPo or their position in the lawsuit. Journalistic integrity is key in a news outlet ... and they just don't have any.

[MtnGeek]

06:00 PM on 04/15/2011

Another example of the poor, "free" journalism that abounds on HuffPo. To discredit the lawsuit, they link it to a completely unrelated lawsuit that was settled for a small settlement (compared to what the twins were hoping for). I can't say I support the lawsuit since the majority of the "content" on HuffPo is not worth paying for.

[gypsynomad]

02:13 PM on 04/16/2011

X2

[mojo filter]

08:15 PM on 04/14/2011

Sorry. There's no way they can win this case. There was no deception involved here. I don't see how websites that host blogs or message boards or news groups or any other content that was submitted without a promise of payment would suddenly be legally bound to give people money. Not to mention that this would set a horrible precedent. For example, a computer site would now have to worry about whether that guy who submitted a post on how to install a new HD in your laptop is going to suddenly demand to get paid a few months down the road. Not going to happen.

[NOBSJUSTFACTS]

08:53 AM on 04/14/2011

It seems nobody watched the movie cllosely but the "Winkelvosses" being twins of the same genus and specias and as the article implies, perhaps hydra or pod like traits or even devolutionary beings leading humans towards their ancestors, what better way then to use the old Latin plural for them that we often culturally embrace (albit incorrectly) by saying Octopi and Winkelvi!

I found the only actually genuinely funny line in the "Social Network" when Mark Zuckerberg's character "corrected" his lawyer from saying "the Winkelvosses" when referring the the oddly similar litigants, to the more correct terminology, "Winkelvi"- it just seemed to fit in such a hilariously Harvard admissions way, Oh come on Bill, those "WInkelvii\"i reproduce like mad, they could supply us with rowers for years to come and they seem to produce in pairs--what a great genetic gift! Long live the "Winkelvi" and their 66 million dollars-poor poor babies, its only enough to buy two yachts, 2 mansions in each of 3 states and money to sail between them with a fully loaded bar around the world, spawning Winkelvi in every land. Might be the only thing in the whole film that made me like Zuckerberg in any way was the "Winkelvi" line--too funny!

[Seafarer61]

05:11 AM on 04/14/2011

I joined this site not long after it found its way online and honestly believe its success was based on a "community" of thousands. HuffPo became a successful watering hole and has earned Arianna millions and the irony is delicious, especially for someone as fiscally conservative as me. She made a TON of money in no short order from the efforts of others. It's the American way and one that usually draws the ire from liberals.

I'm not sure the AOL connection will serve the members here (I can already see the site quickly turning into a link-fest) but it is what it is. Someone got their bank and cashed in. It just wasn't the "little" folk.

[NOBSJUSTFACTS]

09:32 AM on 04/14/2011

In the computer world before the bubble burst the politically correct thing would have been (aside from bringing in a heavy weight who I adore being "Howard Fineman" from Newsweek-now defunct and giving him a long overdue pay day) would have been to pick the top 50 to 100 bloggers who regularly contributed to the site and were the most popular and to give them an equity offering in the event HP was bought out. This would have eliminated any cries of foul or greed and equity cost nothing to give away initially, sure once a share price or sale price is determined its up the HP to split the shares proportionately but if they got 300 million from AOL and HP had say 100 bloggers besides the 10 top cheeses and Arianna who got the 80 percent as was typical in tech take overs by Cisco etc. then why not toss the masses say 10 percent that is what got them at least partly where they are and that would mean dividing that 10 percent up among 100 bloggers but hey 30 million divided by 100 is still 300k a slice for blogging for a year or two-not exactly a tiny pay day. Sure, Arianna, legally they may not have any good grounds to sue, but in the public eye and in the HP fans eyes, who now feel a bit betrayed to be just another site run by CNN, its a win win, greed is bad.

[mojo filter]

08:25 PM on 04/14/2011

This is one case where I agree with the conservatives. It happens one in a while. Think of all those online communities out there that would suddenly have to start paying the people who are using their sites!

[mannyschotz]

01:11 AM on 04/14/2011

HP can call it "bunk" all they want and Arianna can go on tv telling everyone it's a case without merit and laughing it off.

But I guarantee you she knows she could lose this case (she already has in the court of public opinion) and behind the scenes is taking it very, very seriously.

[f0rTyLeGz]

06:42 AM on 04/14/2011

Ridiculous. Read the "blogs." They are ALL pushing the products of the authors. Every single one of them. Publishing a "blog" here is an opportunity to be read. To be seen. It's an opportunity to show your skills, and to post links to your book or institute.

[Bigjon87121]

12:23 AM on 04/14/2011

Why the f@$! wouldn't you start asking for money?!

[weekendpartier]

11:37 PM on 04/13/2011

Okay - no one can read my commentary until you each pay me 50 cents. Thank you.

[liberal4aclu]

11:06 PM on 04/13/2011

"Rocky Racoon checked into his room only to find Gideon's Bible. Gideon checked out and left it (no doubt) to help in young Rocky's revival."

[Carsy]

09:27 PM on 04/13/2011

Armie Hammer made the Winklevosses seem so charming that when you watch a interview or see a picture of the real ones, it is a bit of a disappointment.

[Courtenay Jones]

12:50 AM on 04/14/2011

SERIOUSLY...lol that is exactly what I came here to say.

[Andy McDonald]

09:07 PM on 04/13/2011

I knew when I was recruited that I wouldn't be making anything, and that the platform was the reward. However, I have noticed since the AOL business, my posts take longer to get up on the site, if they're put up at all. Perhaps that's administrative.

But when they do get up, they're relegated to the bottom, never make it to the rotation of "seen" blog posts, thus disappearing into obscurity. Is everything I write gold? No way. But that's more for readers to decide. I'm sorry if FAIL lists just doesn't always do it for me.

That said, I enjoy having the platform, whether someone reads what I say or not.

[mojo filter]

08:30 PM on 04/14/2011

Yeah. That's generally the arrangement with blogs and a lot of other internet writing. I'm kind of embarrassed really for liberals in general after reading these posts. It's like playing a set at an open mike night in a bar then going up to the owners and demanding to get paid afterward.

[StevenKeirstead]

07:20 PM on 04/13/2011

This seems to me like an unpaid intern suing a company for a salary that was never agreed upon.