What's the problem?

Can I get an answer as to what the heck the problem is with Cubits?
What's the problem?
Why does Dave's Garden/ Internet Brands want to shut down Cubits?
What's The Big Problem?
I paid $20 in March ..... TALK TO ME. "K"?
MIGUEL (WHATEVER), TERRY, MELODY, TAILY ROSA (OR WHATEVER)
TALK TO ME.... i pay. WHAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH CUBITS?

The problem is that IB is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ) that buys special interest websites to sell advertisements on. That's what they do for a living. They are in the business of doing business. This is all public info easily findable on the Internet.

Search for "Internet Brands" and "vbulletin" for some interesting tidbits about the company, for example.

If anyone thinks IB's plans with this site primarily involve not making money but catering to the likes and interests of goofy garden-freaks then I have a bridge to sell him/her in Brooklyn.

So what's the answer to my question?

I created an Echinacea site there and it was so much fun and wonderful. I still pay to be a member here and I have no ads on my site. I don't see how that site is a threat to this place at all. It's not devoted to just gardening either. It's more of a community run by the users. This is more like a site run by a dictator.

I have 2 cubits. I'm on board with everything. I don't want to start a new thread lamenting the arrogance and conspired hatchet job being done against Cubits. What exactly does IB have against Cutbits to threaten and act to take us down? What? We've spent a lot of time building our sites. Why does IB want to kill us?

As a lawyer, I can give you a general explanation. I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY OF THE DOCUMENTS NOR SPOKEN TO ANYONE AT DG OR CUBITS.

When Dave sold DG to NM, he apparently agreed to become an employee of NM. His employment contract with NM allegedly contained a non-compete clause (Dave could not create another site similar to DG within X amount of time). When NM sold DG to IB, the sale should have included all the employee contracts. That is normal legal procedure. So Dave's employment contract was then owned by IB. Let's say the non-compete clause was for one year (Dave could not create another site similar to DG within one year after resigning as a DG employee). If Dave rejected a new employment contract offered by the new owner (IB), he effectively resigned from DG and the non-compete clause would begin on run on that date. It makes no difference whether Dave understood his own employment contract (which included the non-compete clause) as long as he received a copy and signed it when he became an emplyee of NM.

As I understand it, IB alleges that Dave created a competing site (Cubits) before the non-compete clause expired. Only the actual employment contract can answer that.

I think they also allege that Dave took information from DG and reproduced it on Cubits. Dave claims otherwise. The truth will be negotiated or tried in court. But I expect Dave does not legally own that information because he previously sold it to NM who then sold it to IB.

We pay to access the information on DG. If Dave created a free site with the same info, people will join there instead (Duh). So, IB loses money. They did not buy DG to lose money. That is the whole purpose of non-compete clauses. Almost every employee (including you) has a non-compete clause.

All the sales documentation and employee contracts are confidential and cannot be released without the consent of all parties to the contract, so quit asking.

Frankly, I don't think it is any of our business. Stay as a member of DG or don't. Make your opinion known with your $$, that is what it is all about anyway. That is what I am doing.

I just renewed my membership to Dave's garden. This will be my second year as a member. I was a bit amused when my membership was signed, "Thank you for being a part of Dave's Garden! Dave and the team." This isn't complaint, just an observation. I am certain that it is a marketing decision to continue "the personal touch." It is the reason that companies create icons like Betty Crocker and the Campbell's Kids.

I was concerned about the change of ownership, but still value the information posted BY THE MEMBERS here. I have met many wonderful people both online at at my first plant swap yesterday.

I am not an attorney. I am certain that both Dave and Internet Brands have valid concerns and grievances. I am not taking it personally. Personal attacks on either Dave or Miguel are inappropriate, in my opinion.

I believe, however, that the closure of cubits over a threatened lawsuit has alienated many people who visited or worked on cubits sites. The content that I have seen there was new, original and not by Dave. I visited one plant database on one plant cubit that was created by the founder of that cubit. It was different than the ones at Dave's Garden. I still rely on Dave's Garden and several university sites for plant searches. I also check the Garden Watchdog for company reviews.

The people that I personally know who have left Dave's Garden have done so because of financial hardship, personal or health issues limiting internet time, disagreements with members of the forums and deleted posts. I don't personally know of anyone who left Dave's Garden because of cubits.

In my opinion, as a paying member of Dave's Garden, I don't believe that the existence of cubits is a threat to the traffic or membership revenue of the Dave's Garden website. Legal harassment of Dave or the cubit creators, on the other hand, will alienate many subscribers that have become friends, online or otherwise, of the people involved. In the current business climate, people are going to be more sympathetic to individuals than to corporations.

Thank you 2ndchance, I really appreciate you giving us some legal facts
So we can be better informed and understand all this better. Some really need to hear it from someone with the knowlege.

people have left due to all this with IB and Dave's new site. Not due to financial hardships but due to the fact how they felt things were wrong. I cant list all who have lkeft due to this reason as i would have to figure them all out but alot have left due to this fact. Nothing more then just Ib and Dave 's site.

Some may have left due to money troubles but i Know alot on other places have said they have left for other reasons.

2ndChance wrote:

Really??

My husband worked for the printer division of IBM. That division got sold to Ricoh. When Ricoh took over, he had to sign a new 'non-compete' contract with Ricoh.

I worked for York International. They got bought out by Johnson Controls. When Johnson Controls took over, I had to sign a new 'non-compete' contract with Johnson Controls.

I always thought that is was more 'normal' to sign new non-competes with each company.

Also - I think he worked on Cubits before he signed that contract. Someone posted on Cubits a screen grab of him talking about working on it years ago. I think he even had the website registered before then as well.

I think it's best if we lock this thread and return to discussing gardening topics. If you have suggestions for improving the site, or you're looking for announcements on any updates or changes to DG, this forum is the place to look. But we need to let the legal matters stay where they belong.