Web developer Isaac Miller tells his story on allegedly getting sued by Ripple over a website he created selling fidget spinners. The San Francisco-based fintech firm alleges that Miller had infringed copyright and defrauded its customers.
Ripple Sends Cease And Desist Notice
Miller recounts what happened by saying several years ago; he noticed that the Ripple logo looked similar to a fidget spinner. Motivated by this insight, he had the idea of building a “silly website,” paying homage to this observation.
After building ripplefidgetspinner.com, Miller even went to the trouble of setting up the necessary APIs so the site could accept XRP as payment in exchange for fidget spinners.
“I set it up so it actually could accept XRP for fidget spinners. I was selling fidget spinners for Ripple currency. I thought it was hilarious.”
Although fidget spinners have gone the way of every fad before it, and the price of XRP is a lot less than in 2017, Miller left the website up and forgot all about it.
However, a few days ago, his hosting company contacted him, saying the Ripple legal team has been in touch to complain about the site. They allege Miller had infringed Ripple’s copyright and defrauded its customers.
“The lawyers at Ripple are issuing a cease and desist on me because of copyright claims. And they also claim that I was frauding their customers, and that I wasn’t a legitimate business, I was getting people to send me their XRP for no reason. I beg to differ. If someone sends me XRP I send them a Ripple fidget spinner.”
Miller Feels The Heat
Feeling aggrieved with the allegations, Miller contested the claims. Two days later, not only was ripplefidgetspinner.com taken down but so were all his other websites and even the sites he had created for clients.
“I was angry, I was livid. So I get Blue Host support on the line. I’ve used Blue Host for years. I get them on the line and say, “guys, what the heck, my sites have been taken down over a fidget spinner.””
Miller’s response was to spam the hosting company’s customer service, and eventually, he got his sites reinstated.
Sharing his thoughts on what he should do next, Miller thinks he will keep ripplefidgetspinners.com up. But make it even clearer that he has no affiliation with Ripple.
Source: XRPUSD on TradingView.com
Fidget Spinners Join The List of Fads That Came And Went
There have been many fads that have popularized culture. A brief rundown might include Beenie Babies, Rubrics Cube, Gangnam Style, yoyos; the list is endless. But fidget spinners were the thing in 2017.
At the time, it was rarer not to see a child spinning one. The palm-sized spinners consist of a ball bearing housed within a three-pronged plastic device. Spinning them is supposed to induce relaxation, stress relief, and aid concentration.
Many schools banned the device. However, some teachers and psychologists claim they can help behavior and learning, especially in cases of ADHD.
The fidget spinner inventor Catherine Hettinger did not receive a penny in royalties despite its global success. Unfortunately for Hettinger, she surrendered the patent in 2005 because she didn’t have the required $400 renewal fee.