@TheDP said:
Looking at the ticket, he made it clear that he owns the trademarks for LowEndBox and LowEndTalk, but at no point did he state that using the name "LowEnd" and those domains mentioned, violates or infringes on his trademark, nor did he claim it constitutes a trademark violation.
I have a slightly different view. For privacy reasons, I’m not allowed to quote the ticket. Perhaps I also implied something that wasn’t actually there. In any case, I’d like to apologize for any discrepancies and any mistakes on my part.
As far as I am concerned @AGXL your site and its many options are very good.
I have no idea who @GoMaKe is, or your relationship but my advice would be keep going and you have my support (in the PM).
@TheDP said:
Looking at the ticket, he made it clear that he owns the trademarks for LowEndBox and LowEndTalk, but at no point did he state that using the name "LowEnd" and those domains mentioned, violates or infringes on his trademark, nor did he claim it constitutes a trademark violation.
I have a slightly different view. For privacy reasons, I’m not allowed to quote the ticket. Perhaps I also implied something that wasn’t actually there. In any case, I’d like to apologize for any discrepancies and any mistakes on my part.
@DrNutella said:
You promised slow response times yet you respond so quickly. Can I expect the same from your support? Under promise and insanely overdeliver?
I’m glad you’re calling my response time 'quickly'. Actually, people usually call me a 'slowpoke' or 'slow coach'. Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
You should never overpromise. Being down-to-earth and honest is much better. By the way, please excuse my late reply.
@DrNutella said:
You promised slow response times yet you respond so quickly. Can I expect the same from your support? Under promise and insanely overdeliver?
I’m glad you’re calling my response time 'quickly'. Actually, people usually call me a 'slowpoke' or 'slow coach'. Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
You should never overpromise. Being down-to-earth and honest is much better. By the way, please excuse my late reply.
Honestly, I've had clients like that before - in the long run, you're better off without them.
@AGXL said: Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
As per @ahnlak's comment, this would be a terrible client. If they're like that during the evening of a public holiday, they're going to expect you to answer the phone any time of the day. Unless you can charge them a rate high enough to reflect effectively being on call 24/7, it's just not worth dealing with someone like that.
@AGXL said: Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
As per @ahnlak's comment, this would be a terrible client. If they're like that during the evening of a public holiday, they're going to expect you to answer the phone any time of the day. Unless you can charge them a rate high enough to reflect effectively being on call 24/7, it's just not worth dealing with someone like that.
This would be a terrible client DEPENDING ON HOW YOU MARKETED YOUR SERVICES.
If I'm paying multiple-thousands per month with a 10 minute SLA, a 30 minute delay in response is not acceptable.
On lowend, depending on impact, multi-day response times are fine.
@AGXL said: Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
As per @ahnlak's comment, this would be a terrible client. If they're like that during the evening of a public holiday, they're going to expect you to answer the phone any time of the day. Unless you can charge them a rate high enough to reflect effectively being on call 24/7, it's just not worth dealing with someone like that.
This would be a terrible client DEPENDING ON HOW YOU MARKETED YOUR SERVICES.
If I'm paying multiple-thousands per month with a 10 minute SLA, a 30 minute delay in response is not acceptable.
On lowend, depending on impact, multi-day response times are fine.
A client paying multi thousands per month still needs to agree with specific SLAs. The response time is about 10 or 15 mins for the support team to "accept" the issue, but if they need engineering support, the SLAs are usually around 24 to 48 hours for the engineer to respond.
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
@AGXL said: Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
As per @ahnlak's comment, this would be a terrible client. If they're like that during the evening of a public holiday, they're going to expect you to answer the phone any time of the day. Unless you can charge them a rate high enough to reflect effectively being on call 24/7, it's just not worth dealing with someone like that.
This would be a terrible client DEPENDING ON HOW YOU MARKETED YOUR SERVICES.
If I'm paying multiple-thousands per month with a 10 minute SLA, a 30 minute delay in response is not acceptable.
On lowend, depending on impact, multi-day response times are fine.
The clients demanding an immediate response out of hours are almost never the ones willing to pay for it.
I don't often fire clients, but for those I make an exception :-)
@AGXL said: Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
As per @ahnlak's comment, this would be a terrible client. If they're like that during the evening of a public holiday, they're going to expect you to answer the phone any time of the day. Unless you can charge them a rate high enough to reflect effectively being on call 24/7, it's just not worth dealing with someone like that.
This would be a terrible client DEPENDING ON HOW YOU MARKETED YOUR SERVICES.
If I'm paying multiple-thousands per month with a 10 minute SLA, a 30 minute delay in response is not acceptable.
On lowend, depending on impact, multi-day response times are fine.
The clients demanding an immediate response out of hours are almost never the ones willing to pay for it.
I don't often fire clients, but for those I make an exception :-)
Unless you are a bank and the user is complaining about a hacked bank account or stolen credit card, ignore or let go of these clients.
I speak fluent sarcasm and broken logic. | I would agree with you, but thæn we’d both be wrong.
@DrNutella said:
You promised slow response times yet you respond so quickly. Can I expect the same from your support? Under promise and insanely overdeliver?
I’m glad you’re calling my response time 'quickly'. Actually, people usually call me a 'slowpoke' or 'slow coach'. Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
You should never overpromise. Being down-to-earth and honest is much better. By the way, please excuse my late reply.
Honestly, I've had clients like that before - in the long run, you're better off without them.
I have been a client like this in a larger situation and I agree better off in the LOWEND market. The margins aren’t worth the trouble.
@cpsd said:
Very interesting project! I've registered with my LET/LES username (anyway, the email went to the spam folder in Yahoo).
Thank you very much for your interest in the project! I really appreciate it. Thank you also for letting me know that emails are ending up in your spam folder. I'll try to resolve the issue.
FINAL UPDATE: Service Shutdown & Project Conclusion
To the community,
I am writing this today to inform you that the LowEnd Shortener project will be discontinued and taken offline effective immediately.
Legal Status
Following a formal demand from a law firm regarding branding and domain usage, I am currently in the process of a legal statement (rechtliche Erklärung). Due to the ongoing nature of these proceedings and to avoid further legal complications, the service must be decommissioned.
Reflections on the Project
While the original goal was to provide a free, independent utility for everyone, it is truly unfortunate that independent community-driven initiatives often face insurmountable hurdles when they collide with established commercial interests and profit-driven motives. I had hoped for a different outcome, but the current landscape seems to leave little room for such projects.
In hindsight, I have come to the realization that this project was a mistake from the very beginning. As of today, there is not a single registered user on the platform. This fact alone makes it clear that the community did not accept or need the service as I had envisioned.
The Final Lesson
This entire experience has been a profound and painful lesson for me. Seeing months of work, personal dedication, and resources lead to legal pressure rather than community value is a definitive turning point.
I have decided that I will never again initiate or lead a community-focused project.
Moving forward, I will focus my energy and resources entirely on my primary commercial business activities. The servers will be wiped and the domains retired shortly after a brief transition period.
Thank you to those who took the time to read the vision, even if it remained unrealized.
I am sorry to hear your news Andy. All I would say is don't give up on the community. Of course you need to concentrate on your business side, but doing things for the community / Open Source can also prove beneficial. I run FOSSVPS with absolutely no income but 'feel' I am at least benefiting others.
As far as lowend.vip - I did use your service and was VERY happy with it until it lost all of my links / data. I did not pester as I knew you were still developing etc.
So thank you for your service and your time - some things work, others don't and without trying we often don't know the outcome.
I hope the legal side sorts itself out amicably.
Mike
FINAL UPDATE: Service Shutdown & Project Conclusion
To the community,
I am writing this today to inform you that the LowEnd Shortener project will be discontinued and taken offline effective immediately.
Legal Status
Following a formal demand from a law firm regarding branding and domain usage, I am currently in the process of a legal statement (rechtliche Erklärung). Due to the ongoing nature of these proceedings and to avoid further legal complications, the service must be decommissioned.
Reflections on the Project
While the original goal was to provide a free, independent utility for everyone, it is truly unfortunate that independent community-driven initiatives often face insurmountable hurdles when they collide with established commercial interests and profit-driven motives. I had hoped for a different outcome, but the current landscape seems to leave little room for such projects.
In hindsight, I have come to the realization that this project was a mistake from the very beginning. As of today, there is not a single registered user on the platform. This fact alone makes it clear that the community did not accept or need the service as I had envisioned.
The Final Lesson
This entire experience has been a profound and painful lesson for me. Seeing months of work, personal dedication, and resources lead to legal pressure rather than community value is a definitive turning point.
I have decided that I will never again initiate or lead a community-focused project.
Moving forward, I will focus my energy and resources entirely on my primary commercial business activities. The servers will be wiped and the domains retired shortly after a brief transition period.
Thank you to those who took the time to read the vision, even if it remained unrealized.
@somik said: @AGXL what is the nature of the lawsuit? As far as I can see, LowEnd is not a "copyrighted" as of now. Can you share more details if possible?
It is not a lawsuit in the traditional sense, but a formal cease and desist declaration (Unterlassungserklärung) issued by a law firm. While I share your perspective regarding the generic nature of the term, I have decided not to engage in a protracted legal battle against a corporate entity's resources. As I am currently in the process of a legal statement regarding this matter, I cannot share further details at this time. I appreciate your understanding.
Comments
I have a slightly different view. For privacy reasons, I’m not allowed to quote the ticket. Perhaps I also implied something that wasn’t actually there. In any case, I’d like to apologize for any discrepancies and any mistakes on my part.
Regarding the provision of a copy of the database with the URL links, it might be difficult to publish it in the Internet Archive for privacy reasons.
You’re absolutely right - my work isn’t good enough right now - I’ll do better.
As far as I am concerned @AGXL your site and its many options are very good.
I have no idea who @GoMaKe is, or your relationship but my advice would be keep going and you have my support (in the PM).
Get your FREE VPS if you develop Open Source software
Congrats.
Good look with the low end shortening
Your projects aren't rubbish if you enjoy working on them and learned something while doing it.
Are you saying if we didn't enjoy working on it and don't learn something new while doing it, thæn our project is rubbish?
How about if someone learned nothing while hated working on it? Like doing their job?
You promised slow response times yet you respond so quickly. Can I expect the same from your support? Under promise and insanely overdeliver?
I moved all my websites to Carrd, and cancelled all my idlers.
Save the earth, don't idle.
If you didn't enjoy working on it and didn't learn anything, then it's rubbish. Yes, most work projects are rubbish
I’m glad you’re calling my response time 'quickly'. Actually, people usually call me a 'slowpoke' or 'slow coach'.
Just the day before yesterday, I lost a relatively well-paying client because I didn't reply within 30 minutes late in the evening on a public holiday.
You should never overpromise. Being down-to-earth and honest is much better. By the way, please excuse my late reply.
Honestly, I've had clients like that before - in the long run, you're better off without them.
As per @ahnlak's comment, this would be a terrible client. If they're like that during the evening of a public holiday, they're going to expect you to answer the phone any time of the day. Unless you can charge them a rate high enough to reflect effectively being on call 24/7, it's just not worth dealing with someone like that.
This would be a terrible client DEPENDING ON HOW YOU MARKETED YOUR SERVICES.
If I'm paying multiple-thousands per month with a 10 minute SLA, a 30 minute delay in response is not acceptable.
On lowend, depending on impact, multi-day response times are fine.
Hey teamacc. You're a dick. (c) Jon Biloh, 2020.
A client paying multi thousands per month still needs to agree with specific SLAs. The response time is about 10 or 15 mins for the support team to "accept" the issue, but if they need engineering support, the SLAs are usually around 24 to 48 hours for the engineer to respond.
I pooped today.
"It's a hard life- to be a stick insect." - Karl Pilkington
The clients demanding an immediate response out of hours are almost never the ones willing to pay for it.
I don't often fire clients, but for those I make an exception :-)
Unless you are a bank and the user is complaining about a hacked bank account or stolen credit card, ignore or let go of these clients.
Congratulations! As long as you can still manage on your own, everything is fine.
Thanks for the project!
I have been a client like this in a larger situation and I agree better off in the LOWEND market. The margins aren’t worth the trouble.
I moved all my websites to Carrd, and cancelled all my idlers.
Save the earth, don't idle.
Very interesting project! I've registered with my LET/LES username
(anyway, the email went to the spam folder in Yahoo).
Thank you very much for your interest in the project! I really appreciate it. Thank you also for letting me know that emails are ending up in your spam folder. I'll try to resolve the issue.
FINAL UPDATE: Service Shutdown & Project Conclusion
To the community,
I am writing this today to inform you that the LowEnd Shortener project will be discontinued and taken offline effective immediately.
Legal Status
Following a formal demand from a law firm regarding branding and domain usage, I am currently in the process of a legal statement (rechtliche Erklärung). Due to the ongoing nature of these proceedings and to avoid further legal complications, the service must be decommissioned.
Reflections on the Project
While the original goal was to provide a free, independent utility for everyone, it is truly unfortunate that independent community-driven initiatives often face insurmountable hurdles when they collide with established commercial interests and profit-driven motives. I had hoped for a different outcome, but the current landscape seems to leave little room for such projects.
In hindsight, I have come to the realization that this project was a mistake from the very beginning. As of today, there is not a single registered user on the platform. This fact alone makes it clear that the community did not accept or need the service as I had envisioned.
The Final Lesson
This entire experience has been a profound and painful lesson for me. Seeing months of work, personal dedication, and resources lead to legal pressure rather than community value is a definitive turning point.
I have decided that I will never again initiate or lead a community-focused project.
Moving forward, I will focus my energy and resources entirely on my primary commercial business activities. The servers will be wiped and the domains retired shortly after a brief transition period.
Thank you to those who took the time to read the vision, even if it remained unrealized.
Andy
I am sorry to hear your news Andy. All I would say is don't give up on the community. Of course you need to concentrate on your business side, but doing things for the community / Open Source can also prove beneficial. I run FOSSVPS with absolutely no income but 'feel' I am at least benefiting others.
As far as lowend.vip - I did use your service and was VERY happy with it until it lost all of my links / data. I did not pester as I knew you were still developing etc.
So thank you for your service and your time - some things work, others don't and without trying we often don't know the outcome.
I hope the legal side sorts itself out amicably.
Mike
Get your FREE VPS if you develop Open Source software
Is it possible to get the db dump?
Generally speaking, yes.
@AGXL what is the nature of the lawsuit? As far as I can see, LowEnd is not a "copyrighted" as of now. Can you share more details if possible?
It is not a lawsuit in the traditional sense, but a formal cease and desist declaration (Unterlassungserklärung) issued by a law firm. While I share your perspective regarding the generic nature of the term, I have decided not to engage in a protracted legal battle against a corporate entity's resources. As I am currently in the process of a legal statement regarding this matter, I cannot share further details at this time. I appreciate your understanding.
We are unsurprised.
Daniel fan club 😎 affbrr
You were absolutely right. I should have realized this earlier. Like my mother always says: I’m an educated idiot.