Webwork - 4:24 pm on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

So, Siemens talks with the kid (with his lawyer) and determines the kid is credible. Then, to make things really interesting to a jury, Siemens joins in the lawsuit (if credible) so that the jurors ponder just how evil any of the parties might be.

If the jury determines than an employer was evil enough to in fact have encouraged the wrongful taking of intellectual/business property AND then, to attempt to suppress or deal with the revealation by suing a kid/college/professor who was simply telling the truth, would the measure of punitive damages be enough for the kid/college/professor/Siemens to end up owning the company?

Looks like a judo move to me. I'm with Brett on the end game strategy, except as to the claim against G.

Does Google's defense include "just tell us no-follow/no-index and we won't"? In the age of spiders is spider repellant a threshold duty to be fulfilled before a claim can be brought against a spider? Is a spider a trespasser if you leave the door open and put out the welcome link? Interesting subject, likely to be settled in legislatures and the courts because the signature page to a settlement by consent would take too long to circulate and too many people would ask for modifications.