Mattel, the games company, have learned no lessons from the the trials and tribulations of the music industry on the Internet. When will the big names learn that the Internet is about giving people what they want, biding your time, then getting your reward down the line.
The story - 2 guys invent a Facebook application called Scrabulous. An online version of Mattel's Scrabble that friends can play through Facebook. This game is really popular with 500,000 daily players. So instead of working out how to make the most of this phenomenon, Mattel get it taken down, create a copy and sue the guys who made it for breach of copyright. (Full story)
If they had paid someone to do exactly what these guys has done for them for nothing, they would have thought themselses geniuses. Instead they annoy thousands of users who set up a Save Scrabulous Group on Facebook, who, now that the legal battle has been lost are urging visitors to "Get involved and boycott scrabble,as we cannot save Scrabulous".
The proof they did the wrong thing. Scrabble has seen a 30% increase in sales!
Advice - wherever you see a threat, you can usually find an opportunity. Particularly if you understand the basic principals of the web, which is that it is all about making friends and influencing people.
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