Monster Call to Arms

You've asked for it, you've demanded it, you've wished over and over someone would do it - well, it looks like your Christmas wish is coming through this year. Monster Cable has had a long history of suing or threatening to sue any and all businesses with the word "monster" anywhere near them. We've heard stories of used clothing stores, TV shows, baseball teams and more. Recently, Blue Jeans Cable scared them off with a well worded letter (it sometimes pays if your former profession was lawyer). Patrick & Christina Vitagiliano, founders of Monster Entertainment/Monster Mini Golf, have found themselves in the sights of the litigation team of the monster cable manufacturer. The problem? They are just too sweet of a target.

The modus operandi of Monster Cable seems to be threaten a suit, suggest a settlement where they pay Monster something substantial but less than the cost of fighting the suit, and then move on to the next victim. Surely, the $80,000 they suggested would settle this matter with Monster Entertainment/Monster Mini Golf is less than the fight so far (with more expenses on the way). They dress this up as a "one time royalty fee" but let's call it what it is - extortion. Monster Entertainment/Monster Mini Golf is the perfect target for a company like Monster Cable. They are big enough to have capital but not so large as to be able to effectively mount a resistance.

Or so they thought.

Patrick & Christina Vitagliano (the owners) aren't backing down. They've already spent enough in legal fees and other expenses to cover what Monster is asking. But for them, it isn't about the money - it's about the principle. And frankly, we here at Audioholics agree. Monster Cable doesn't own the word monster. No one walks into Monster Mini Golf and asks why they can't buy cables there. If this is something you think is just good business - fine. We've got lots of articles about speakers, amps, and debunking esoteric cables for you to read. But if you think that it is about time someone stood up for the little guy, took on the corporate Goliath, then listen to the plight of Monster Entertainment/Monster Mini Golf detailed below.

Members of our forum have already set up a facebook page about it.

Hi all,

Patrick & Christina Vitagliano (The founders of Monster Entertainment/Monster Mini Golf) here, with an update on how the lawsuit is going. As stated previously, we flew out to CA a few weeks back in an attempt to get both parties together with an impartial mediator, to try and garner an amicable settlement in lieu of going to trial. We did respectfully request that Noel Lee be present at mediation, since we all flew 3,500 miles to be there, and his office is only 45 minutes away but, as expected, he didn't show.

While we are not permitted to disclose ANY of the actual details of mediation, we are permitted to "officially" say that mediation failed. The two parties were much too far apart to find middle ground, and we are proceeding to trial.

Before doing so, Christina (in one last effort to reach the elusive Mr. Lee on a "human" level) sent him a letter asking that he take a few minutes to speak face to face, without lawyers, and simply talk this out. She had requested a personal response by Thanksgiving. As expected, instead of responding personally, we got an email from Mr. Tognotti (Monster Cable's in-house counsel) who informed us that Mr. Lee was traveling, but we could speak with legal instead if we wished. We did not wish. While we didn't think it'd work, we just wanted to see if Noel Lee would step up to the plate, or hide behind his lawyers. He did the latter.

So now....it's on to trial!

As you might expect, tt's going to take an army to defeat these deep-pocketed bullies. But in the meantime what we are going to need here is a call to arms! To everyone in the audio community and beyond, anyone who has ever been bullied, strong armed, or otherwise taken advantage of to step up and say "Enough is Enough!" We'll need YOUR help to stop them, by making this their most PUBLIC fight yet! Anyone who has a blog, post, forum, website, facebook, myspace, etc.....or ANY other public forum.....WE NEED YOUR HELP! Please contact us directly at 401-454-8100, or from our website at www.monsterminigolf.com to get involved and help us spread the word. We are putting up the money for our own defense, but we cannot win this without a huge public outcry behind us. Please contact us to help us get this thing some national attention!

We will keep you updated as to the progress of this ridiculous and frivolous litigation. In the meantime, we thank you for your continued interest and support in this matter.

Sincerely,

Christina and Patrick Vitagliano
Co-Founders of Monster Mini Golf