So RocketBoom won’t dance with Zune. And the reasons? Andrew wants to be neutral and he doesn’t want to be bound by the non-disparagement terms in the Zune logo agreement.Â
If it salves your conscience, Andrew, go get a sponsorship from Apple too. It’s just business.
But what about this disparagement thing? By now, you all know that I’m not a lawyer, not even on TV. But I have learned a thing or two about disparagement in law after being threatened with a defamation action over something I wrote hear a year or so ago. What I wrote wasn’t defamatory, but it was a good quick and steep learning curve.
In this kind of law, intent matters. Via Answers.com, according to the Thomson and Gale legal encyclopedia:
In torts, a considerable body of law has come about concerning interference with business or economic relations. The tort of injurious falsehood, or disparagement, is concerned with the publication of derogatory information about a person’s title to his or her property, to his or her business in general, or anything else made for the purpose of discouraging people from dealing with the individual. Generally, if the aspersions are cast upon the quality of what the person has to sell, or the person’s business itself, proof of damages is essential.
It’s worth noting that disparagement is known by the legal name of injurious falsehood. Merely criticizing Microsoft, were the criticisms true, would not be falsehood, by definition.Â
Go talk to your lawyer, Andrew. My understanding, though, is that so long as you’re truthful on RocketBoom Microsoft’s non-disparagement language shouldn’t affect you.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
