MadonnasManOne

This post has quite a few people who have said that they will not shop at Circuit City, again. Whether it is because of what Circuit City is doing in regards to the early posting of the ads, or from a past experience that has turned them off. The point is, one lost customer may not mean much. It's just a drop in the bucket. However, when that bucket becomes full of those drops, then the danger of flooding increases. The point being, one lost customer may not mean much, but, many will hurt.

Circuit City has caused, by something so stupid and petty, more customers to say that they will choose somewhere else to shop. All so that they can keep their prices "secret" for a couple of weeks longer. The damage caused by this is much more significant than the result they are trying to achieve. They can be a bully all they want. What they don't realize is that they are biting the very hand that feeds them. I just hope they feel it is worth it, when they are standing there, scratching their heads, while all of their previous customers are shopping elsewhere.

Chew

Add me to the "won't shop there again" crowd, there's better companies I can spend my money at.

wlmowery

This will be my last post, because it is apparant that many can or never will see the point I and others are making.

However, this post sums up my concerns. What exactly is the PRINCIPLE you are standing-up for in this situation. As I mentioned before, if Speedy is getting his information from a legitimate source who is not violating any obligations to keep such information under-wraps until a specific date, then he will likely win any claim against. I doubt that to be the case however. Knowing the industry, the law and the general operations of large corporate entities, I can almost guarantee that his source is breaching a contractual obligation to keep this information from the public. That being said, exactly how is it principled to continue to support such actions. I guess I have a different definition of principled!

Signing out on this one folks!

PS: I understand the psychology of this, I believe. It's the Robin Hood syndrome. However, the big difference is that stealing from the rich to feed the poor is a discussion of needs, not wants. I have yet to see anything sold at CC that qualifies as a NEED.

Trevor

I've enjoyed reading your thoughts on this matter Wayne, thanks for taking the time to articulate them.
They won't be accepted by those of us with the spirit of entitlement though, which is most of this forum.

Goldblum

Wayne

Steelbook#1Fan

I am in agreement with Wayne on this one. It is very obvious that Speedy was receiving his info illegally (he has not once answered any questions about his source) and now he has to pay the price. I used his info as much as anyone else on here, but when you break the law someone has to pay. I have accepted the fact I now have to wait until Sunday morning to see all the sales, it sucks but that is the way it is. Thanks for the memories Speedy...

neiname

As is evident from my previous posts, I agree with Wayne on this as well and Trevor's "spirit of entitlement" comment is apropos in regards to this forum and unfortunately, most people as a whole.

WallyOPD

Silence does not equate to an admission of guilt. If I were in his situation and had absolutely nothing to hide I still wouldn't be saying a word at this point.

oldchuckles

oldchuckles

I guess I am one of those people "with the spirit of entitlement" because I stand with Geoff Kleinman and Speedy on this matter. Geoff works hard for his money, but now has to hire attorney(s) to protect his business from the greedy Circuit City legal team, and our friend Speedy has to go underground to hide from the federal marshalls who are trying to serve him with a subpoena. You call this justice? What did Speedy do except tell us the PUBLISHED sale prices of the City Circuit ads? The corporations pay their lobbyists to influence the lawmakers (Congress) to write the "laws" which benefit the corporations and screw the customers. This "corporate ownership" of the Congress must end!

One way for the little guy to beat the mighty Circuit City is to stop shopping at their stores. A famous philosopher once said: "A single ant is insignificant, but a thousand ants can bring down an elephant!"

At a time when the U.S. is being invaded by 3,000 illegal aliens each DAY and drug-dealing and crime is rampant in our streets, it seems that the #1 priority is to hunt down Speedy and send him to the Big House because he shared published info about cheap deals at Circuit City a few days early! Gimme a break!

Heat

Ah, I see where this is going. CC is not trying to just stop Speedy, they want to know who he is.

http://www.nintendojo.com/infocus/vi...php?1187150655

Dane Marvin

I think there used to be a Circuit Shitty here in the Omaha area, but it must have been run out of business by Best Buy and others. Reading this thread, it's no wonder. They don't WANT people to shop at their store.

JeremyM

There was one in Omaha, right across from the NFM Mega Mart next to Kohl's. I actually liked the store for their CD selection (the DVD section was fairly poor), but you could see they weren't going to last as it was always dead.

Minor Threat

My respect and support to Speedy and Geoff for their professionalism surrounding this matter - hang in there and best of luck.

spainlinx0

Good luck Speedy. I actually never really checked your threads that I can remember, but I know it must be frightening having a large corporation gunning for your head.

What a shitty way to thank someone whose actions benefitted you directly. You were more than happy to look the other way before, but now that he's getting in trouble, he's the asshole? Were you warning prior to this that maybe he shouldn't do this? Did you take a moral stand against him before CC decided to flex their corporate muscle? No. You took advantage of his "illegal insider information" happily. Oh poor you, you have to wait until Sunday now to get prices. Your attitude strikes me as extremely elitist and condescending.

Josh-da-man

Unless things have changed since I was in college, trade secrets do not enjoy the same legal protections that patents, trademarks, and copyrights do.

Just to throw out an example, if I happen to find or reverse engineer the top secret formula for Coca-Cola or Kentucky Fried Chicken's eleven herbs and spices, then I am free to use those formulas.

I am only subject to threat of legal action if I illegally obtained the information (such as breaking into an office or safe) or broke a legally binding agreement (such as a non-disclosure agreement).

If the prices are indeed a trade secret and someone broke a criminal law to obtain them or a contract to not reveal the information, then, yes, they are legally culpable.

At least that's what I was taught in college (which may not be accurate, some of my profs were a bit... ) and the laws might have changed (I'm really not in the mood to read a bunch of legalese).

Steelbook#1Fan

I was always under the impression that the companies supplied Speedy with the sales information, I had no idea how he got them but I 'assumed' it was with a legit source. Unfortunately it seems it was not a legit source and he was caught. DvdTalk let him post these ads for quite some time so I am guessing their thought it was all legit also. He posted the info every week and I looked at it, I did nothing illegal. I could care less one way or the other.

oldchuckles

I think everyone who benefitted from Speedy's posts should be hunted down and served with a subpoena by Circuit Shitty, and then thrown into one of those secret torture prisons that our current "corporate-loving" President created in some third-world countries.

Of course, I am only being facetious. But seriously, we all benefited financially from Speedy's posts at one time or another. We praised Speedy. We encouraged Speedy to keep doing the great job he was doing. Either we are all guilty of some UNKNOWN CRIME, or we are all innocent (including Geoff and Speedy) of doing nothing that was criminal. Folks, you are either with Speedy or with the corporate elite and their sleazy lawyers! Choose a side and be done with it! As I have said before, I consider Speedy to be like family. He saved me tons of cash, saved be lots of time, and saved me fuel costs by not having to drive all over town looking for deals. Now, Speedy is being pursued like a fox during hunting season in England. For now, all I can do to support Speedy is to stop shopping at Circuit Shitty.

dan30oly

It is extremely naive to believe that Best Buy, Circuit City and Target independently chose Speedy to notify the on-line community of their upcoming sales promotions 1 to 2 weeks in advance. It's rather obvious that he was getting them from indirect channels, whatever they may be.

While you obviously did nothing illegal, I highly doubt that Speedy did anything "illegal" either. The ethics of Speedys' postings can be questioned, but I for one appreciated them (although, I only used the information once for the buy 2 xbox live accessories get $20 off deal).

tonyc3742

No, it's not just black and white like that. We're not all Robin Hoods, virtuous and saintly because of fighting the Man; nor are those who can see CC's side beholden to their Evil Corporate Overlords. Though admittedly the legal situation is different, I view it as speeding (pun not intended). Speeding is illegal though sometimes there's not "harm" (going 70 on the interstate like everyone else),everybody does it, if I get busted, I take my lumps and pay the fine, I don't try to be some martyr or hero. That's what bugs me most about this. Posting "insider information" that he was not "supposed" to have (I assume, I asked multiple times where/how Speedy got the info, was never answered), then getting busted (though admittedly CC has gone hardcore), and acting all martyred and saintly and threatening to Boycott! that damn evil company just trying to run their business and not piss off their supplies (don't forget, if they don't make profits, they have to either raise prices or cut wages), rather than saying Well shit, ya got us. Okay, we won't do it anymore.
I appreciated Speedy's work, and told him so, but sorry, I don't really consider him "family" because he saved me a few bucks on dvds. I liked having the ads posted, but if they weren't posted, life would go on; if he didn't post the ads, I would read the ads online each Sunday on each vendor's website, or see what new deals people were discussing.
Reverse engineering is different. If I happened to analyze pricing patterns and say "I think the PS3 will drop a hundred bucks this Sunday", and happened to be right, well, that's why they call them "analysts". Of course, I think reverse engineering the actual device or recipe *is* illegal, or at least violating EULAs or ToSes or whatever, in many cases.
Anyway, I do hope Speedy and DVDtalk/CAG come out of this ok; it would be awful to have your life ruined over something as stupid and relatively pointless as posting ads early, and I do think CC has overreacted; they may just be hitting the sites hard to get Speedy's info so they can serve him some sort of "stop posting this stuff" order.

Goldblum

My feelings exactly.

Sweet Baby James

I would have never guessed.

The Valeyard

Or fire long-time employees and re-hire them at minimum wage rates.

Breakfast with Girls

Come on. What bullshit.

paulringodaman

shit I didnt think speedy was in that much trouble good luck to him..dont buy circuit city!!