On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 1:30 PM, MakeMoney <chicagolocalde...@gmail.com>wrote:
> > I have a business plan and I am looking to role it out. It involves > using Twitter as a median. I have already gotten interest from > parties willing to pay for my service, but I beleive it may infringe > upon how Twitter will eventually make money. I do not want to invest > in this service, and then have Twitter shut it down to replace it with > their own. I sent Twitter an email today asking them for a possible > discussion time, but I am guessing they get a ton of these and most > likely won't respond. If not does anyone know the legality of using > there service to make money? And the legality of them being able to > shut off my account? Thanks. Generally speaking, any company that uses its terms of service to stifle competition is running the risk of violating anti-trust laws. For that reason, I seriously doubt if they'll even answer your email. That's a very dangerous conversation to have. Companies have to compete on their offerings, not by making deals with potential competitors. Consider the fact that there are hundreds or thousands of software developers who "use" Windows to compete with Microsoft. Not only is that legal, Microsoft has found itself in legal hot water when it tries to prevent it. Imagine, for example, if Microsoft tried to stop OpenOffice from running under Windows. The U.S. DOJ would jump all over that. On the other hand, when you're dancing with the elephant it is easy to get stepped on. As I think Heidi Roizen used to say, "How do you know that Microsoft likes you? They crush you last." A lot of people don't understand anti-trust laws and how they affect communities and their conversations. For example, it would be a huge problem if developers here began discussing and comparing how much they charge for their work. That sort of conversation tends to be interpreted by the courts as price fixing, which is unlawful. Nick
