"Gush" <jgush99@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:36cef160.0307240343.b60f15d@posting.google.co m...
> one has posted this little nugget yet. It seems our good buddies at
> Smart Parts has finally decided to open "Pandora's Box" as it were,
> and is suing Indian Creek Designs, citing patent infringement. What

I actually didn't know who had the patent on that, and didn't realize it was
so broad in scope, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.

> So what does this mean for us? Well, SP is going after the smallest
> fish first, in Indian Creek, so they can set the precedent
> there,collect past royalties and liscensing, then go after the big
> boys like National Paintball, Tippmann, Kingman, WGP, WDP,etc., etc.,
> and blackmail the whole industry! Why would SP do such a thing? Aside

That's easy. To corner the market. Smart business practice, pure and
simple. Eliminate your competition. Sounds like they are trying to make
the market in electros their own. To me, while I agree that it will
probably do more harm than good in the short run to the paintball industry,
the simple fact of the matter is that paintball as a sport will live on,
regardless of a monopoly on electros by one company.

> the most visible, public face of our sport. If SP's lawsuit comes to
> fruition, most of the non-SP sponsored teams may have a tough road
> ahead of them, as the companies who sponsor these teams may simply not
> exist after SP has their way with them. IMHO, this move could castrate
> the NPPL, PSP, Xball and any other pro league, and there goes
> paintball's marketable commodity.

Of all the companies listed above, the ONLY *major* distributor that will be
affected in a dramatic fashion would be WDP, makers of the Angel. Why?
Because the Angel is their only marker(of note, at least, I'm not sure if
they even have others). The other companies, Tippmann, Kingman, WGP,
etcetc, all had standard pneumatic markers before any inclusion of an
electro-pnuematic line.

Make no mistake, in the short term, the monopoly on electro-pneumatics would
lead to a devastation of the sport's existing teams, in terms of
sponsorships, at least. However, I think you will find that once everything
shakes out, many of the teams relying on technology for their wins will
return to more basic roots, and relearn to shoot their cockers as fast as
their electros. Believe me, it's easy to get a cocker timed so that one can
deliver as devastating a level of firepower as an electro.

Think about this in another way: would a team that wanted to win paintball
championships want to rely on the SHOCKER to do it? The shocker is, from
all accounts, a horrific paintball marker to use in tournament play. It's a
gas hog, it's heavy, it's unwielding, do you honestly think that people
would switch to Shockers just to play with an electro in a tournament? Hell
no. Given my choice, give me a cut down cocker or mag over a shocker any
day of the week, and twice on sundays.

> So whadda we do? Well, an easy answer would be to simply boycott SP,

When was the last time you saw a shocker on the field?

> but maybe a better route would be the letter writing/ email campaign.

That would make them forego millions in royalties and penalties, yeah, ok...

> Just thought you all should be aware of this, not trying to troll. I
> know some members of r.s.p would be just happy to see electro's
> disappear (nudge nudge Jeff). I guess we'll just have to see what
> happens...

To be perfectly honest, it doesn't bother me one way or the other. While I
happen to think that stock class is the way of skill, most people in the
paintball world don't have the skill to run with the big boys(or small guns,
as the case may be). All that said, electros are the front line in
paintball technology at the moment, regardless of my opinion of the skill
required to wield one.

In the end, I'd imagine that any lawsuit brought forth would be settled out
of court for a fee to use the patented technology, for every electro sold.
Imagine, Smart Parts doesn't even have to continue to make the shocker,
which is not selling very well anyways, and they get to dip into the huge
electro market anyways. Five bucks a gun, or something like that, 20 bucks,
whatever. How many of the newer guns sold are electropneumatic or sear
trippers? A good portion of them, I would say. Imagine getting your grubby
mitts on those dollars, eh? Smart Parts is probably NOT trying to shut down
everyone else, but rather take a piece of everyone else's pie. Anyone who
refuses, ok, we'll take over your company. But we don't really want your
company, so we'll take it over, and sell your marker division to someone
who's in bed with us, and they can deal with the headaches of manufacturing,
while we reaps the profits. It's simple, really.

--
Jeff Goslin - MCSD
It's not a god complex when you're always right
http://www.goslin.info

<< Believe me, it's easy to get a cocker timed so that one can deliver as
devastating a level of firepower as an electro.>>

A cocker can't be shoot anywhere near what an electro can. Very few people can
shoot a cocker 8 a sec. Anyone can shoot an electro 8 a sec. Even the e-blade
cocker is slow compared to open bolt electros.

<< While I happen to think that stock class is the way of skill,>>

Stock class requires a lot less skill to play. It is much easier to advance up
the field and to do everything else.