DISQUS

Ted · 2 years ago

Wow, that's really awful. I've been considering using s3 or even the ec2 for my business. This definitely gives me pause. If they aren't committed to actually letting people use their APIs, why release them in the first place???

Jessica Costa · 2 years ago

Funny thing: On the about page of Statsaholic there's a link to the Alexa blog that says that Statsaholic is cool

http://awis.blogspot.com/2006/04/alexa-site-fac...

mrshl · 2 years ago

I usually roll my eyes when I hear a larger firm accused of "bullying" a smaller start up through simple competition. Even appropriating features spawned through a smaller firm's use of an API doesn't bug me a all that much. This "evil" is the risk these small developers have to take as entrepreneurs. It's just as likely they'll be purchased by the larger company (see e.g., Salesforce).

But Amazon's conduct here is beyond the pale. It's difficult to believe there's not some seriously personal beef a the heart of this dispute. Like you, I'm trying to figure out what the cause of action is. The pleading actually includes includes a claim against Statsaholic (through Hornbaker) for use of the Alexa name and trademark. It specifically asks for relief under the AntiCybersquatting Consumer Protection act. Given that Alexa has already ceased using the name, and that Amazon's asking primarily for injunctive relief, I'm at a loss to see what they're after. Perhaps they want Mr. Hornbaker to give up ownership of the Alexaholic domain name, which I'm guessing he still owns. If so, perhaps this suit is simply a negotiation tactic against further use of that name. Indeed, Alexaholic.com now points to Statsaholic. Maybe Amazon wants the site for itself.

AdvertiseSpace · 2 years ago

I totally agree with you on this one Pete. You take a guy who mashes up an existing product and in essence promotes it and instead of thanking him, they sue him! Give me a break Amazon. Alexa sucks anyway.

Pete Cashmore · 2 years ago

I should also add that Bezos was asked about the Statsaholic issue at the Expo, and knew at that point that they were suing (the audience didn't). He was probably smart to avoid the topic, of course, but it still looks bad.

Jimmy Gambier · 2 years ago

Sure, this isn't a good idea, in fact it's an outright stupid thing to do.

I don't think this will "dig their grave" when it comes to EC2 and S3 however.

It still makes business sense to use there services for storage and it seems unlikely this lawsuit will impact that on a grand scale, it will most likely be a moderate hiccup.

Still don't get why they are so adamant about this, Stasaholic isn't going to dethrone Amazon anytime soon, and if anything they're giving them a ton more press than they ever received.

techfold · 2 years ago

Anyone else want to organize an ECS/API boycott against amazon for a day?

Pete Cashmore · 2 years ago

techfold,

Sure, sounds fun. ;)

Angry Abe · 2 years ago

That's awful! Pete, good luck leading the boycott of Amazon/Alexa - the guy made a great mashup (that gets Alexa lots of attention) and ends up getting punched in the face for it! Amazon just lost all credibility, Mr Bezos, may I suggest that you go back to selling cheap books instead.

BikerDan · 2 years ago

OMG! This is terrible. I'm going to Alexa right now to remove all of my sites! Screw them!!!!

Chris · 2 years ago

I don't think I agree with you, Pete. Alexa's graphs are copyrighted, so simply hotlinking to them is illegal and using their bandwidth for statsaholic's benefit. If he wants access to the data to make his own graphs, Alexa provides a web service to do that (at a small cost per query--$.15/1k queries). This pay-as-you-go service is like all of the other web services Amazon provides so I don't really see how this is going against what Amazon's platform is all about. Thoughts?

BikerDan · 2 years ago

"Mr Bezos, may I suggest that you go back to selling cheap books instead."

Amen!

Stat Head · 2 years ago

Download the Compete.com toolbar instead!

Sergi · 2 years ago

You cant cut peoples ideas..and Amazon and this guy..that its incredible.
What Amazon did was give him a lot of attention..and that its not good.

Tom O'Leary · 2 years ago

Ironic that Bezos presented at the Web 2.0 Expo, proclaiming that they are in line with the community vision. But, I suppose that there is another side to web 2.0. I posted about the Business of Web 2.0 today as a result of this and other recent news.

http://www.messagingtimes.com/blog/?p=812

About as damaging as Viacom removing all of its YouTube clips as far a reputation goes.

All the best

Tom

Pete Cashmore · 2 years ago

Guys,

Please join the petition against Alexa's Statsaholic lawsuit:

http://mashable.com/2007/04/19/petition-against...

John Doe · 2 years ago

Hypocricy* at its best, I will have to avoid Amazon web hosting services for sure.

It just not worth taking the risk of hosting something on their platform and for them to potentially sue or worse shut it down without my consent. Reminds me of GoDaddy aka BlueRazor today.

Jim Benson · 2 years ago

Rather than a boycott, have a "clone statsaholic" day. I say we set up hundreds of clone sites that do the same thing and spend a few hours visiting them all.

Stephen · 2 years ago

"After all, isn’t Amazon stealing your proprietary surfing data?"

No. Read the user agreement (i.e., contract) for the toolbar to see exactly what the legal relationship is, but in a nutshell, if you use it, Alexa gets to make use of the data.