Ford trying to shut down vehicle based forums and filing lawsuits

NYSpeed Automotive
1

I just heard this on a stereo forum that I am on. Ford has contacted a few sites including the ranger station telling them that they need to shut down and pay a 5000 dollar fine. A few others from different ford vehicle sites have heard the same thing. Anyone hear of this?? Im going to check out corral and a few other stang sites to see if they have anything posted about this.

2

Even their enthusiasts hate them…

this is much worse than we thought people

3

I’ve heard rumors of these things for year; AFAIK nothing has ever been more than a rumor.

4

Yeah i heard about this as well… there goes my Mod status at Mustangforums.com lol

5

Sounds like some goofy-ass ploy to make a little bit of money, I guess when you are doing that badly, shutting down forums for a couple grand sounds like a good idea

6

what grounds could that possibly be on?

probably some scammer posing as a ford rep trying to get 5000 bucks from a forum.

7

so lets kick the ppl in the ass who have bought are cars and trucks in the past. WTF good way to push ppl away especially beloved mustang fans. There has to be a shit load of F150 and Mustang forums out there.

8

I dunno. Im going to try and find more proof. It sucks if it is true seeing that my dad retired from ford and all we drive are ford vehicles.

9

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/mustang-lounge/146347-i-love-ford-products-but.html

http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2006/06/EditorsCorner/index.php

http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/mustang-lounge/59505-protest-ford-mustang-lawsuit.html

10

http://www.behindthebuzz.com/black-mustang-club-and-ford/

after digging, it looks like ford is pissed about losing out on logos and other trademarked items.

11

technically it is a trademark violation…

what dreid says … makes much more sense.

12
13

This is exactly what I was thinking when I read this.

14

stupid fucking lawyers :tdown:

lets go after the core group of people that keep buying Ford again and again. Someones going to eat shit for this as soon as it makes bigger news I think. This has happened in the past and Ford always came out and did the right thing

15

They could absolutely sue those sites who use the Ford logo. They can’t, however, sue any vehicle based forum like the title and first post make it sound. It is purely a trademark issue, and those sites are being asked to stop using the Ford Logo, and possibly the Ford name in the title. You can say “Ford enthusiasts website” or something like that, but I believe you can’t say “FordForums.com” . Law is a bitch.

16

After this are they going to go from flea market to flea market and sue the guy selling decals of Calvin pissing on the logo?

17

Ford doesn’t even make the Ranger anymore ???

Maybe they want the Ranger owners to upgrade to F150’s.

Way to piss off core enthusiasts.

18

Funny part is how Ford is going after these websites and such; while BMW and GM both look in on and get information from these websites.

CamaroZ28.com and Bimmerforums.com have both had company reps contact people directly on the sites to discuss and resolve issues with their cars!!!

19

They may not like it, and it may make Ford look bad, but its still their right to have people cease and desist when it comes to using their brand.

20

I hope they win…

The only thing more stupid than Fords cars are their drivers:mamoru: