Cheapassgamer.com Subpoenaed by Circuit City

Shadowfire

From Kotaku

The latest CAGcast brings word that electronics retailer Circuit City has served CAG Productions with a subpoena. CAG Productions is responsible for popular video game shopping community CheapAssGamer.com, which has 100,000 registered members. The retail giant wants CAG to turn over all personal information about registered forum member Speedy1961, who has been posting weekly CC ads prior to their release on the site. Speedy has also posted them on DVDtalk.com, and that site appears to have received legal action as well. The subpoena mentions one CheapAssGamer thread in particular, which prior to E3, revealed that the PS3 would get a price drop. That same thread also included pricing for games at Circuit City as well as game prices at Target and Best Buy. From the thread:

* GAMERS / MOVIE AFFICIANADOS: Please note $100 Price Break on Playstation 3 Game System which brings the price down to $499.99 // Remember that you can get 5 free Blu-Ray DVDs with purchase of any Blu-Ray Player / Game system by going here: http://www.bluraysavings.com/

This was wedged in between details about the Wii and other details. As mentioned aboved, information about Best Buy and Target was also noted. CAG Productions CEO David Abrams (AKA "CheapyD") has hired a lawyer. "The CAG community's trust and respect is very important to me, so I've hired legal representation to deal with the situation," Abrams tells Kotaku.

In related news, gamers round the world find evidence CC's execs eat babies...

cj iwakura

Oh shoot. I always wondered if this could happen.

Makes me glad I haven't been posting my store's PLC lists...

Still, they have to realize this is getting them store traffic. It's unlikely their competition is going to get their information from a forum; that's been more beneficial for them than not, I think.

YodaTuna

cj iwakura wrote: »

Oh shoot. I always wondered if this could happen.

Makes me glad I haven't been posting my store's PLC lists...

Still, they have to realize this is getting them store traffic. It's unlikely their competition is going to get their information from a forum; that's been more beneficial for them than not, I think.

However they are probably under NDA's with the companies that make the products they sell. For instance, Sony probably didn't want it known they were going to drop the ps3 price before their official announcement. And since the first thing that was leaked about the price drop was a circuit city ad. It's possible that Circuit City could be held accountable by Sony for breaking the NDA.

galenblade

It's not really suing. They're not bringing a case against CAG. They just want any information CAG can provide about the guy who's been leaking the CC circulars early.

LewieP

Oh shits.

Kato

I hope they get the guy. *shrugs*

Saddler

YodaTuna wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

Oh shoot. I always wondered if this could happen.

Makes me glad I haven't been posting my store's PLC lists...

Still, they have to realize this is getting them store traffic. It's unlikely their competition is going to get their information from a forum; that's been more beneficial for them than not, I think.

However they are probably under NDA's with the companies that make the products they sell. For instance, Sony probably didn't want it known they were going to drop the ps3 price before their official announcement. And since the first thing that was leaked about the price drop was a circuit city ad. It's possible that Circuit City could be held accountable by Sony for breaking the NDA.

Oh, Sony.

Veevee

Anyone who tries to blame CC is an idiot, Speedy1961 brought this on himself by disclosing information I'm sure he knew he wasn't supposed to do.

Death of Rats

Sounds like a justified action. Even though I like these kinds of leaks, it does make sense that they'd want to lock this down.

Sheep

Veevee wrote: »

Anyone who tries to blame CC is an idiot, Speedy1961 brought this on himself by disclosing information I'm sure he knew he wasn't supposed to do.

Sadly, this seems to be the case. I don't know how CAG's can be held accountable, though. If ISPs are generally able to with hold IP information from the RIAA, couldn't CAG?

PikaPuff

Any company would be just as pissed about breaking NDA. Not a NDA, but Nintendo gets pissed if you release their products early, right?

cloudeagle

cj iwakura wrote: »

It's unlikely their competition is going to get their information from a forum; that's been more beneficial for them than not, I think.

Don't be too sure on that. Competition is cutthroat, and ALL retailers are probably doing what they can to find out impending price changes. I support cheapassgamer, but you can bet that reps from retailers keep an eye on cheapass to see what the competition is up to.

Face facts, plants are everywhere. Even here. For example, I'm a plant for Ol' Kentucky Shark Liquor.

Death of Rats

cloudeagle wrote: »

cj iwakura wrote: »

It's unlikely their competition is going to get their information from a forum; that's been more beneficial for them than not, I think.

Don't be too sure on that. Competition is cutthroat, and ALL retailers are probably doing what they can to find out impending price changes. I support cheapassgamer, but you can bet that reps from retailers keep an eye on cheapass to see what the competition is up to.

Face facts, plants are everywhere. Even here. For example, I'm a plant for Ol' Kentucky Shark Liquor.

That reminds me...

[SIZE=-1]A shark on whiskey is mighty risky, a shark on beer is a beer engineer![/SIZE]

YodaTuna

PikaPuff wrote: »

Any company would be just as pissed about breaking NDA. Not a NDA, but Nintendo gets pissed if you release their products early, right?

Nintendo has hit squads that kill you if you release their shit early. When a bunch of Targets released the DS Lite early, Nintendo completely ignored the company on the second ship, plus probably charged the a bunch of money. Probably cost them millions in lost sales and shit.

Houk

yeah im sure speedy has whatever's coming to him, but i also support the right to privacy, and while this is something to be fired over, im not sure it's serious enough to support handing over personal information. on the other hand, CC isn't a government agency, so their burden isn't as high.

apotheos

Hey look at how Cheapassgamer.com is totally not getting sued at all.

Editing thread title.

Sacred Cow

i think speedy knew what he was getting himself into. the only thing CAG can do is provide his registered email (though i'm sure its not linked to anything that can ID him) and his IP address.

the only other thing CAG can do is ban his account to get CC off his back, but i don't think that's going to fix the larger issue at hand. SOMEONE is going to post this stuff again. maybe not at CAG, but it'll still be out there.

PikaPuff

chriswilliamsjr8763westpalmblvdwillametecolorado94857@gmail.com

Echo

Sacred Cow wrote: »

the only other thing CAG can do is ban his account to get CC off his back, but i don't think that's going to fix the larger issue at hand. SOMEONE is going to post this stuff again. maybe not at CAG, but it'll still be out there.

And that would stop the subpoena how?

Sacred Cow

Echo wrote: »

Sacred Cow wrote: »

the only other thing CAG can do is ban his account to get CC off his back, but i don't think that's going to fix the larger issue at hand. SOMEONE is going to post this stuff again. maybe not at CAG, but it'll still be out there.

And that would stop the subpoena how?

i meant that it would keep CC from taking further action against CAG not completely absolve them from giving them the information they're asking for.

Bamelin

One other thing to consider is that right or wrong Cheapassgamer is known to be the place to go for "insider" sales information, best deals, etc.

I'm not suprised they will fight to protect their user's ID ... it's their site reputation on the line.

GSM

It all turns out that speedy1961 is actually a real psychic, whose powers only seem to work in predicting Circuit City ads. For some reason he can't predict anything else.

Echo

Sacred Cow wrote: »

i meant that it would keep CC from taking further action against CAG not completely absolve them from giving them the information they're asking for.

What further action? It's a subpoena, not a lawsuit.

Threepio

This is why I do the vague-assed non-committal tapdance when I post shit such as the above. They could have broken the story at The Platformers a day before CAG, but the editorial team was kind enough to humour me and wait.

I'm glad they did.

Drez

galenblade wrote: »

It's not really suing. They're not bringing a case against CAG. They just want any information CAG can provide about the guy who's been leaking the CC circulars early.

While true, issuing a subpoena is both a legal action and an implied legal threat.

Veevee wrote: »

Anyone who tries to blame CC is an idiot, Speedy1961 brought this on himself by disclosing information I'm sure he knew he wasn't supposed to do.

While the second half of your statement is true, we're talking about laws not morals or whatever. A company is legally responsible for what it does with its information. I'm quite sure CC would be held legally responsible for the leak if it could be ascertained that Speedy1961 is a CC employee.

Maybe he's just a l33t hax0r.

Veevee

Drez wrote: »

Veevee wrote: »

Anyone who tries to blame CC is an idiot, Speedy1961 brought this on himself by disclosing information I'm sure he knew he wasn't supposed to do.

While the second half of your statement is true, we're talking about laws not morals or whatever. A company is legally responsible for what it does with its information. I'm quite sure CC would be held legally responsible for the leak if it could be ascertained that Speedy1961 is a CC employee.

Maybe he's just a l33t hax0r.

I meant more towards people who try and spin the subpeona as something that CC shouldn't have done or call them evil for doing it or something. Yes its their fault for supposedly trusting Speedy1961 with this information, but the subpeona is not something to be angry at them over, as the OP seems to imply.

Æthelred

If someone randomly tells you information restricted by their NDA, you're perfectly free to tell everyone else, aren't you?

victor_c26

Æthelred wrote: »

If someone randomly tells you information restricted by their NDA, you're perfectly free to tell everyone else, aren't you?

Yes, you didn't agree to anything. The person that agreed to the NDA is in deep legal feces.

Why do you think journalists are so quick to trick company employees into releasing confidential information? They wouldn't dare if they had legal responsibility.

Antibodies

Speedy is awesome for always hooking us up with the deals, he's undoubtedly the biggest leaker on CAG and CC can thank him for bringing in customers to clear out the games and tech stuff. He really screwed up recently by bothering to always include details on his personal affairs and life on their boards, rather than posting as some omnipresent otherworldly voice. His own ego led to hubris and downfall.

I hope this doesn't end up hurting Cheapy, he's in a tight spot over it and I'd hate to see that site change in any way, its saved me a heap and gotten me into plenty of games I'd never touch otherwise.

Æthelred

victor_c26 wrote: »

Æthelred wrote: »

If someone randomly tells you information restricted by their NDA, you're perfectly free to tell everyone else, aren't you?

Yes, you didn't agree to anything. The person that agreed to the NDA is in deep legal feces.

Why do you think journalists are so quick to trick company employees into releasing confidential information? They wouldn't dare if they had legal responsibility.

Thought so. CAG are perfectly fine then. Especially if it's not even illegal to solicit restricted information.

Monoxide

You guys do know that companies like Circuit City don't like people who only shop there when they have deals open, right?

Typically, sales and clearances are only used to bring consumers into the store. Once you're there, they'd like you to buy other things. Full priced things. Shit that they will actually turn a profit on.

They don't like people like Speedy, and they don't like people that read CAG. Best Buy has made this very obvious through their various discussions on how to get rid of what they call "demon shoppers", basically places like CAG, fatwallet, and slickdeals' target audience.

Captain K

hahaha, "demon shopper". Awesome.


There's got to be at least a handful of stores that would consider me a "demon shopper". I can't remember the last time I bought anything at Circuit City that wasn't on clearance.

Monoxide

Actually, sorry, the generally accepted Best Buy term for it is Devil Shoppers

Demon Shopper was coined by some guy who wrote a book called Angel Customers and Demon Customers.

IShallRiseAgain

Maybe companies should put salt in front of every door to ward off those evil smart consumers.

Echo

Companies like to go "Yay free market!" and "Yay informed customer!" in public, but then they suddenly hate the informed customers when this happens. :P

FreddyD

Monoxide wrote: »

You guys do know that companies like Circuit City don't like people who only shop there when they have deals open, right?

Typically, sales and clearances are only used to bring consumers into the store. Once you're there, they'd like you to buy other things. Full priced things. Shit that they will actually turn a profit on.

They don't like people like Speedy, and they don't like people that read CAG. Best Buy has made this very obvious through their various discussions on how to get rid of what they call "demon shoppers", basically places like CAG, fatwallet, and slickdeals' target audience.

Gamers are one of the most informed groups of shoppers, so the best way to get rid of devil shoppers is to get rid of their video games.

Captain K

Oh noes, our wildly successful retail venture that thrives on the free market is losing some percentage of its incredible profit potential to well-informed customers who also thrive on the free market

FreddyD

Monoxide wrote: »

Actually, sorry, the generally accepted Best Buy term for it is Devil Shoppers

Demon Shopper was coined by some guy who wrote a book called Angel Customers and Demon Customers.

Devil Shoppers wrote:

Shopper Tactics That Might Send You to the "Blacklist" The following practices are among the most common and most offensive in the eyes of retailers. If you commonly engage in any of these practices, you may soon find that your next return is denied or your name has been added to a store's "blacklist" of bad customers.

• Buying a product, taking advantage of the product rebate, then returning the product for a refund.
• Buying clothing or another item, wearing it (or using it) once, then returning it (the classic example is the evening gown that's worn with tags on for a night, then returned).
• Buying an item and returning it with the intent of buying it at the reduced "open-box" price
• Buying clothing or another item with the intent of returning it later and re-buying it at a markdown price.
• Buying a product at a discount, such as from the store's selection of "loss leaders," (low-priced products stores lose money on that are designed to attract customers) then reselling it on eBay for a premium price.
• Finding rock-bottom prices on Web sites, then challenging stores to pay up on their lowest price guarantees.
• Taking up an employee's time to ask questions about a significant purchase with the intent to buy it elsewhere.

Those are things that even CAG wouldn't openly condone. I hate dickasses that buy up all the marked down games so they can Ebay them.

Houk

FreddyD wrote: »

Those are things that even CAG wouldn't openly condone. I hate dickasses that buy up all the marked down games so they can Ebay them.

When CC had their first major $5 game bonanza, our local gamestop manager ran out first-thing and bought up all six copies of Disgaea from them to sell on ebay. This was a good time after Disgaea had basically disappeared from shelves, and somehow this CC had a bunch. I went the same day specifically looking for it, but he'd already been there.

He told me this later because, up until then, we'd had an awesome rapport. Hated that fucker after that, though.

The_Scarab

How do they even add your name to the blacklist unless you pay for everything with a credit card.

pay by cash goddamit. I pay by cash for everything unless it is an online purchase.

Houk

The_Scarab wrote: »

How do they even add your name to the blacklist unless you pay for everything with a credit card.

pay by cash goddamit. I pay by cash for everything unless it is an online purchase.

do they take your name/info when you do a return? it seems like a lot of their problems lie in exploitation of the return policy.

i cant remember the last time i returned anything, so i dont really know.