Amicable settlement between Mannheim City and Mark Zondler
Today and Monday this week, we had a couple of constructive meetings with the City of Mannheim to discuss the further use of the Twitter account @Mannheim. The discussions were conducted on a basis of cooperation and with the goal of aligning the respective interests.
Both sides have come to the conclusion that an out-of-court settlement is currently favorable and a lawsuit should be avoided. This is because the difficult legal situation is interpreted differently.
Today at 4:45 PM the following amicable settlement was reached:
- Mark Zondler commits to provide his name and a photo on his Twitter account and a declaration in the Twitter account Bio section that he does not represent the city. This is to prevent confusion with the City of Mannheim. Furthermore, Mark commits to not transferring the account to any third party.
- Mannheim City withdraws the cease and desist order sent on January 13, 2010. Furthermore, the City of Mannheim has committed to not initiating a court proceeding against Mark Zondler within the next 12 months.
Mark Zondler can continue to use the Twitter account @Mannheim and it has been made clear and public that the Twitter account @Mannheim does not represent the city of Mannheim.
To read the official agreement between Mark Zondler and the City of Mannheim, click here.
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The problem with Goliaths is that while they may not have a moral, or even legal, right to run over you, they do have the resources to swamp you in legal proceedings which will bankrupt you. Is this moral? No, but it a reality of how the world too often works. The legal systems do not protect the average folks and, certainly, don’t provide justice. No, they rely on getting around right by technicalities.
Best wishes.
The agreements came to pass as expected. Both sides appear to have realized that litigation would border on frivilous and become a waste of the court’s time (and the tax payer’s money). While the city had ‘some’ legal standing per se, this was easily remedied by mutual cooperation, where both the city and the defendant worked in good-faith to advance their own respective agendas without damaging each other. That’s what I call being grown-ups , and that’s how it should be done. Kudos to both sides.
[...] auf die Fahne und wartet sogar mit Fernbedienbarkeit des Rechners auf. Im Rahmen der (mittlerweile beigelegten) Auseinandersetzung um den Twitter-Account @mannheim hat Mikogo einige Publicity bekommen. Es wird [...]
Well done, and I think it makes sense.
So what it boils down to is:
- a withdrawal of the cease and desist order
- and Mark is allowed to actually keep using the Twitter account
1 + 1 = A win for the little guys!
My only question is why the clause about 12months: Does Mark expect another cease and desist order in one year’s time?
Good for Mark and Mikogo! Although I feel the initial cease request was unjustified and silly, I do hope that there are no hard feelings between both parties.
I wonder how much money it has cost the state/city of mannheim. This was a 100% nonsense action. For Mark it was simply annoying. Who pays his lawyer and time investment? No one!
I think Mark was misguided to choose a Twitter name like that, but that’s the sort of mistake anyone could make when starting out. I’d like to think that if he’d been asked nicely he’d have ceded the name without asking for any compensation. The City blew it by being heavy-handed and assuming ill will when there was none. I have a feeling that, in a similar situation, that would have annoyed me enough to be tempted to hold out for what Mark has got, which is the right to continue using his Twitter name. However, it is a bit of a hollow victory, as I still feel it’s not an appropriate Twitter name for an individual or for a company, and I suspect that at some point he’s going to want to change it anyway, if only to avoid giving the impression that he’s trying to misrepresent himself.