Update regarding the CommunityBound/My Mountain Town Dispute

Just an outsider's view: I never did understand the name change... 285Bound is pretty specific to the location. MyMountianTown is generic, with no specific geographic location in mind. I figured that MyMountainTown was shooting to increase geographic scope beyond just the Highway 285 corridor. New board, new name, and even though it said something about being a *Bound affiliate, I figured it was a thin and wispy connection that would soon be severed.

That's all just an opinion. Also an opinion, the facebook,twitter,email and more icons stuck in the lower left corner are really dang annoying.

Thepill wrote:

ScienceChic wrote: Curious. How exactly have I violated the Non-Compete clause Thepill?

You copied the entire site including the users base to a site competing with the site you rented the right to use.

While the language could be more clear and state you wouldn't compete during the term, the intent of the language that you agreed to was not to compete with CB until the 366th day after the end of your relationship with CB.

This is case is no different than getting the rights use my and market my Gizmo for 3 years. Part way through the agreement you become dissatisfied and instead of terminating the relationship or building a brand new Gizmo, you copied all aspects of my Gizmo and called Gozmo. You didn't own Gizmo and you didn't have the right to take everything in Gizmo.


If you had set up a different website (not taking any post, user accts or advertisers) then terminated your agreement with CB and claimed breach (with supporting facts) then you of had a much stronger case and likely not find yourself paying lawyers and going to court.

I've had a long standing question about how the data was transferred, why use a back up and restore function instead of simply transferring the data from the old host to the new host? Actually I think the reason is pretty clear.

SC, I appreciate your words of support! and have just a couple questions now that I've glanced at the docs:

Since March 30 is right around the corner and the contract expires by its own terms on that date no matter what, are you able to announce any plans for this site going forward? and

Only so long as the contract is ongoing are you entitled to the transferred IP, right?

Grady wrote: I've had a long standing question about how the data was transferred, why use a back up and restore function instead of simply transferring the data from the old host to the new host? Actually I think the reason is pretty clear.

I've only transferred a MYSQL database from one host to another a dozen or so times, so maybe you can tell me a better way to do it, in case I need to do it again?

Thanks!

ScienceChic wrote: Is it? Why do you think that was Grady?

I don't claim to be a DB admin, and I haven't stayed in a Holiday Inn Express in a while, but.. In all honesty, using a back up & restore to move a data base seems to be exploiting a back door. People move data bases every day without loss of data or integrity. (why didn't our avatars move)

I guess the question about who owns/owned the data is yet to be decided.

I don't know nearly enough about website Intellectual Property rights to interpret Paragraph 15 but my quick "lay" read on it is that everything goes back to the CBound entity on termination of the contract -- so that the investment of the affiliate is only in the value of the monies gained DURING the contract term -- unless the owner goes bankrupt, in which event CBound will "try" to transfer the sites over to the affiliates. It struck me as a weird contract and made me wonder how great an investment it was, to be candid.

Presumably, since the site is "thriving" in SC's words, the managing affiliate must generate enough proceeds to justify the loss of the management right at the end of the term no matter how great the site has become in the interim, and even if its success is due solely to the efforts of the affiliate. Unless I missed it, there's not even a guaranteed option to renew the contract at the expiration -- so what would keep CBound from making a huge profit at the end of one affiliate's term, simply by selling the management right to a new affiliate? Coupled with the non-compete clause, that's a pretty harsh scenario for the affiliate -- isn't it? -- they can't compete later, and don't have the contractual right to renew either.

SC, please know these are business comments from the community at large, not legal commentary! -- since I'm not an attorney and am in no position to interpret your contract!! just remarks relative to the contract posted on the Flume site, reading the plain text published and wondering how it's supposed to work, even under the best circumstances. And, I'll bet the Evergreen owner is wondering too.

IMHO the best circumstance would be for you to join forces with Evergreen and start up a site to serve the S corridor separately, since the bleed-in from Evergreen to Conifer is just about solid. When I was a kid, there really was a difference between Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood and Westminster. Now? nobody wants to have to figure out the street address to find the hair salon. The same is true for you folks, which is why you have ended up having to defend whether your marketing efforts are bleeding into that area.

My further impression is that CBound does not want to continue your legal dispute. I only say this because when I opened the Answer & Counterclaim and envisioned the Motion to Dismiss and supporting docs that must have been filed to prompt the Order, I heard the sharp, cold CHA-CHING of legal fees. Unless you are convinced she also has enough money to satisfy any judgment you might obtain, as a friend I would once again recommend you try to bring her to the table. Under the worst-case scenario, a year passes quickly -- and you move so fast personally that you can have your new site sponsors well in hand by this time a year from now. Do NOT forget that your best bargaining chip is not the contract but yourself and your ability to transform vision into reality! as everybody can do the Go.Daddy thing but few can make this sort of thing work ..... and my money is on CBound to have already figured that out, too.

Final suggestion, I swear! -- this is a business decision, keep it that way, and remind everyone in your personal life that's all it is. The "family business" is often an aggravation that's not worth any amount of success, as various agendas tend to manifest that don't support your best interests. Benefit from a lesson I've learned the hard way, and don't mix up your hats.

If you can't negotiate, then do you need, and can you pursue, an injunction to keep the site up past the upcoming date? it is getting orvil close, I'm sure you've noticed! well in advance of when you may expect to have a conclusion on your lawsuit. Maybe you could at least score an agreement to keep matters in the status quo? you'll pay and she will negotiate your checks, without that having any legal effect on the issues while they're being determined? -- it's called a "stay" -- or maybe your attorneys don't feel this is necessary, or advisable.

If it were me, I wouldn't want to publish any association with 285Bound past the term of my contract with CBound. Only the attorneys can interpret the contract provisions as they apply to the IP such as the membership database, and who owns it following the term. By my own inexpert reading, I'm starting to inwardly view your contract as a tenant rental agreement whereby your improvements to the property don't benefit you after you leave, so as a RE broker specializing in buyer advocacy I'm naturally concerned where you're going to move next. Please know this is not based on anything except two plain factors: the contract terminates March 30, and it's almost March 30.

What you really need is alleviation from the non-compete, and a sharing of funds with CBound from July through March. Her lawyers are just as aware and unhappy as yours, that their fees will eat up whatever profits either of you made. I will light the candle for you both! and for us all! in fervent prayer that Pinecam's voices do not resound alone in the inhabited forests flanking 285.

Let us not forget the impetus behind these sites: many people aren't allowed to post on Pinecam or don't feel confident doing so -- while lives are at stake during fire season and on many other occasions. Its decisions to not allow the reform and return of previously banned users, or provide amnesty during emergencies and on posts of condolence, left many Insiders feeling Outside their own community and initiated the "separations" for which CBound was supposed to be the remedy. So please, ladies: keep your eyes on the ball and work this out -- not for yourselves -- but for everybody else. The fact you will also benefit from a cessation of your dispute is just icing on the cake.

A non compete is only enforceable under very narrow perimeters in the state of Colorado.

Colorado Non Compete Restrictions

A Colorado statute invalidates non-compete agreements except in these limited
circumstances: (1) contracts for the purchase and sale of a business or the assets
of a business; (2) agreements with executives, management personnel, and their
professional staff; (3) contracts for the protection of trade secrets; or (4) contracts
for recovery of expenses for educating and training an employee who has been
employed for less than two years.

To qualify as an executive or manager under the non-competition statute, the
employee must generally be in charge of the business and act in an unsupervised
manner. If an employee has never supervised any other employees and has him-
self been supervised by other levels of management, a Colorado court will likely
find that the agreement does not fit the exception.

I think it would be fair to say that SC was micro managed to death.