When Blogging Goes Bad....

A North Carolina entrepreneur blogs a warning to her industry -- and gets sued for her troubles.In January, Leslie Richard got a call from a man from Vision Media Television. The Boca Raton, Florida, TV production company wanted to know if Richard would agree to be interviewed for a documentary on eco-fashion. According to Richard, the caller implied that the film might air on PBS or possibly on CNN."I was nervous, but I was totally, like, Yeah -- I'll do it," says Richard. A TV appearance promised to be a huge PR boost for her two-year-old Asheville, North Carolina, company, The Oko Box, which sells clothing made of organic cotton, hemp, and bamboo. As talks progressed, however, Richard, 31, grew increasingly skeptical about the documentary. She says another Vision Media employee told her that Oko Box would be charged $22,900 to cover some production expenses, plus $3,000 for travel costs. Feeling "creeped out," Richard called the Better Business Bureau and posted a message about her experience on her company's blog. "Look alive small eco business owners," she wrote, " 'cause there is a new scam targeting us. Using television lingo, an entire team of people, a website, video footage, and a whole bag of lies to cover their scheme."As cathartic as this blog post may have been, it put Richard's business at risk. Anything posted on a CEO's blog -- including reader comments -- can be construed as carrying the weight of a company's endorsement, says Marc Zwillinger, an attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. When the production company threatened to sue Richard if she didn't take down her blog, she wrote: "Um, yeah VMT your scam is being posted & has already been reported, and your imaginary lawyers can't do anything about it."In July, Vision Media made good on its threat and filed a lawsuit in Florida against Richard and her company, asserting that the comments on Oko Box's blog had directly resulted in $5 million in lost business. The suit also asked the court to award Vision Media $15 million in punitive damages.Mark Miller, an executive producer at Vision Media, denies that his company claimed to work with PBS. He also says Vision Media has a good rating with the Better Business Bureau, contrary to a post published in the comments section of Richard's website. "We've lost a lot of business as a result of her blog," Miller says.After the initial shock wore off, Richard found a lawyer in Florida who was willing to work with her pro bono. At presstime in late September, Richard was close to a settlement with Vision Media, and she said she was prepared to take down the blog posts.Richard says the nine-month standoff could have been avoided if Vision Media had just said, "We're a video company that does advertorials; you can use it however you want, and this is how much it costs." Miller asserts that his company does, as a policy, mention fees in the first phone call and that Richard misunderstood the pitch. "Our presentation is crystal clear," he says. (PBS declined to elaborate on its statement concerning Vision Media.)As CEO blogs proliferate, so will the legal issues. "My sense is that she could have written her warning post in a more careful way," Godin says. "I want to push CEOs to be authentic on their blogs and to be selfless in trying to help readers. But they also have to understand that their words will be out there and widely seen. So they owe it to their stakeholders to act responsibly."

Can't Catch a Taxi? Here's Why...

Checker Motors Corp. stopped making taxicabs over two decades ago, but the company has soldiered on as a parts manufacturer. That ride has been detoured, though, as the company recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The 87-year-old Kalamazoo company filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Friday, Jan. 16.Although Checker stopped production in 1982, the company still has 246 employees making metal stampings and welded assemblies for all of the Detroit 3. The filing makes Checker the seventh major U.S. supplier to file for bankruptcy protection in the past year, and the 54th this decade. Escalating raw material prices and dwindling sales for their customers' products were cited as the main reasons for the filing, but another big reason was labor costs. It's reported that a deal with unionized labor couldn't be reached even after a year of negotiations.

At Last

Obama Takes Oath and Office

I have a Dream

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

2009 Detroit Auto Show

Dodge Circuit EV

What is it?-This is an all-electric sports car (i.e. zero gasoline consumption, zero tailpipe emissions) with a 150-200 mile driving range, and performance of 0-60 in less than 5 seconds. Consider it Dodge's answer to the Tesla Roadster, and the polar opposite of the Dodge Viper GTS.

Cool Concept Feature-Can be powered up by plugging it into a household socket

Chances of it making it-Dodge insists this has a real chance of making it to dealerships.

Caddys answer to the Chevy Volt

Cadillac Converj
What is it?-The best analogy we could make is that the Converj is the Cadillac version of the Chevrolet Volt, or as one GM executive put it, "the Cadillac of electric vehicles." Capable of achieving 40 miles of gas- and emissions-free electric driving with extended-range capability, the Converj has a silly name, but awesome potential.

Cool Concept Feature-No rearview or outside mirrors; cameras provide surrounding images on the instrument panel for a panoramic view.

Chances of it making it-If GM can find the money, you will see this car.

First production Ford Thunderbird sells for $600k

When Ford Motor Co. introduced the 1955 Thunderbird,it became known as the first “personal luxury car” – a sleek two-seater that stood out in a sea of big station wagons, coupes and sedans. For a certain Orange County family, one of these automotive icons has been as much a part of the family as Mom and Dad. And while all 16,155 of the vehicles made that model year are considered precious, theirs is ahead of them all: It’s the very first production model. (The first production Thunderbird, VIN# P5FH- 100005, was owned by George Watts of Orange, California.)

Bye Bye PT Cruiser

Ye old Chrysler PT Cruiser is going the way of the dodo this summer, and according to Chrysler LLC President Tom LaSorda, the automaker is actively pursuing a sale of the equipment used to build the PT in Toluca, Mexico.Speaking with Bloomberg, LaSorda was kind enough to both ask and answer his own questions, saying, "Would we sell those assets? Yes. Do we have any offers to sell those assets? No. Would we be pursuing a buyer? Yes." That makes for an easy interview...Sales of the PT dropped by 49% last year, with only 50,910 vehicles leaving dealer lots. That's down from the PT's peak when Chrysler was able to offload 144,717 models in 2001. The PT's demise doesn't come as a surprise, particularly considering that Chrysler's owner, Cerberus Capital Management, has slashed six other models from the automaker's lineup since it took control in August 2007. For those of you keeping count, the PT's timely death means that the Chrysler badge is only affixed to three models: the Town & Country minivan, Sebring and 300C.

The Fisker Karma S

What is it?-The Karma S is a four-seat, plug-in hybrid hardtop convertible based on the ready forproduction Karma sedan. It has a battery-only range of 50-mile battery range and an on-board engine and generator to extend the range of the vehicle. Did we mention it's drop-dead gorgeous?

Cool Concept Feature-The first plug-in hybrid with a retractable convertible top

Chances of it making it-If we've learned anything from the debut of the production Karma sedan, it's never to doubt Fisker Automotive.

38TH Barrett Jackson Car Auction

A 1999 Vatican popemobile vehicle that General Motors is selling this week at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale was once used for Pope John Paul II in Mexico City. The stretch Cadillac DeVille with an elevated throne could be tricked out with some spinner wheels, a thumping church organ and a holy-water vessel in the console. "It would make a fine grand marshal car for the Calgary Stampede parade," said Glen Richardson, a car enthusiast who splits time between Scottsdale and Calgary, Alberta.
The papal Cadillac that GM built for John Paul II is among the approximately 245 vehicles the carmaker is selling at Barrett-Jackson. They are part of GM's Heritage Collection of innovative and experimental cars, pace cars and other special vehicles. Cars for sale also include a pristine 1916 GMC flatbed truck and a two-tone green 1954 Oldsmobile 98 with a Rocket V8 engine and an Autronic Eye on the dash that automatically dimmed the headlights. Greg Wallace, manager of the GM Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Mich., said the vehicles are among those the carmaker is willing to part with because they no longer have a business purpose, the center has more than one of the same model, or caretakers believe, if necessary, they could reaquire the vehicle.
Some in the auction, he said, are not able to be titled for driving, and others might have been sold for scrap.
GM has been coming to Barrett-Jackson since 2004, although previously had brought only 25 to 50 cars per year.
The cars are expensive for GM to maintain - Wallace estimated they cost $2,500 per year for "care and feeding" - so the financially troubled automaker took a closer look this year.
"We're trying to be as efficient with our collection as possible," Wallace said.
GM's papal ride was drawing lots of interest Tuesday during the car auction at WestWorld, with visitors taking photos and chuckling reverently.
Pope John Paul II took a lap around the Estadio Azteca soccer field in the white Caddy before a crowd of more than 100,000 on Jan. 25, 1999.
The pope blessed the car, but it did not have the blessing of his security detail, which rejected it as unsafe at any speed.
The popemobile and other GM cars are among more than a thousand cars that will be auctioned through Sunday at the 38th annual Barrett-Jackson event. Wallace said a 1925 GM house truck sold for $112,000 on the first day.
Given the tough economy, he is unsure how the week will go, but remains optimistic. "We'll know more in a couple of days," he said.
Russo and Steele starts its auction today in Scottsdale. RM Auctions and Gooding & Co. hold their events this weekend.

Gran Torino

Gran Torino is a film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Eastwood stars as a Korean War veteran who catches a teenage Hmong boy trying to steal his 1972 Gran Torino. The Ford Gran Torino is no stranger to the spotlight, a 74 Gran Torino was the star of the popular TV show Starsky & Hutch.

Rare 1937 Bugatti Car Found in Garage

It was the equivalent of finding an old Picasso or an unknown Beatles tape hidden away in your uncle's attic. Relatives of Dr. Harold Carr found an extremely rare 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante — a Holy Grail for car collectors — as they were going through his belongings after his death. The dusty two-seater, unused since 1960, didn't look like much in the garage in Gosforth, near Newcastle in northern England.
But only 17 were ever made, and when it's cleaned up and auctioned in Paris next month, experts believe it will fetch at least $4.3 million and possibly much more.
Bugatti once represented the height of motoring achievement. The supercar was so ahead of its time it could go up to 130 mph when most other cars topped out about 50 mph.
This particular car is even more valuable because it was originally owned by Earl Howe, a prominent British race car driver, and because its original equipment is intact, so it can restored without relying on replacement parts.
"It has all the finest attributes any connoisseur collector could ever seek, in one of the ultimate road-going sports cars from the golden era of the 1930s," said James Knight, head of the international motoring department at Bonhams, which will auction the car Feb. 7.
Knight and a small number of Bugatti enthusiasts knew of Carr's proudest possession, but not the eight relatives who inherited Carr's estate.
The orthopedic surgeon, who died at age 89, was described by relatives as an eccentric hoarder who never threw anything out. He also left behind an Aston Martin, which was sold, and a Jaguar sports car that was scrapped because it was in such poor condition.
The Bugatti marque is famed for its speed and handling and was a frequent race winner in the 1920s and 1930s. The 57S Atalante was one of its most successful models, each one made by hand with unique details.
The company founded in 1909 by Ettore Bugatti collapsed in the 1940s after a long string of racing victories.
The rights to the legendary Bugatti name were purchased in 1998 by Volkswagen, which has built the Bugatti Veyron, one of the world's fastest and most expensive cars.

Happy New Year!!!!