TechDirt Faces Gawker-Toppling Foe

Popular technology blog Techdirt informed its readers that it was ready to fight a libel lawsuit filed by the man who claims to have invented email, though founder Mike Masnick said, “this fight could very well be the end of Techdirt.” Shiva Ayyadurai claims he invented email in 1978, at age 14, when he created a messaging system for doctors at a small medical college in New Jersey. However, some electronic messaging systems – including ones created by Ray Tomlinson and used on ARPANET, the predecessor to the Internet – have also been given that honor. But Ayyadurai copyrighted “EMAIL,” and trademarked “The Inventor of Email,” and he has successfully sued Gawker Media for articles they wrote disputing his claim. Charles Harder, the Beverly Hill lawyer who represented Ayyadurai in that case, essentially shuttered Gawker Media by successfully arguing against them in court on behalf of former wrestler Hulk Hogan. That legal effort was bankrolled by billionaire Peter Thiel. ArsTechnica reports that it is not clear if Thiel is also funding Ayyadurai’s lawsuit against Techdirt. Ayyadurai seeks $15 million in damages based on 14 Techdirt posts between 2014 and 2016. “We are a truly small and independent media company,” Masnick said in a post. “We do not have many resources. We intend to fight this baseless lawsuit because of the principles at stake, but we have no illusions about the costs. It will take a toll on us, even if we win. It will be a distraction, no matter what happens. It already has been – which may well have been part of Ayyadurai’s intent.”