Baumgartner's Daredevil Parachute Jump From Space Put On Hold

Velcroman1 writes "For years, an Austrian daredevil named Felix Baumgartner has been planning to take a 23-mile plunge from the edge of space — and in the process, become the first parachutist to break the sound barrier, plummeting toward the ground at 760 miles per hour. The engineers and scientists behind The Red Bull Stratos project, an effort to break the record for the highest freefall ever, billed the jump as more than a stunt. The leap from 120,000 feet was to yield volumes of data that would have been used to develop advanced life support systems for future pilots, astronauts, and even space tourists. But a promoter feels that the jump was his idea, and filed a lawsuit in April to prevent the event from taking place. And now Red Bull has pulled the plug on the project, FoxNews.com reports. 'Due to the lawsuit, we have decided to stop the project until this case has been resolved,' Red Bull said."

WTF

[somersault]

So if someone tells you to jump off a bridge, you're not allowed to do do it if they suddenly decide that no actually it was their idea and they want to keep it?

"Intellectual property"

[MrHanky]

When saying "wouldn't it be cool to do a parachute jump -- from outer space!!11" gives you a monopoly on draining money off the people actually doing it, the concept of "intellectual property" really shows how childish and immature it is.

Sick of lawsuits

[toQDuj]

Anyone else sick of ridiculous lawsuits? Can we get a public vetting vote for lawsuits to determine whether they are worthwhile or not?

The future of IP

[khchung]

This is what you get for promoting the idea of "Intellectual Property".

If you can, using IP, stop people from making and selling products, stop people from singing songs, stop people from telling stories that contain certain fictional characters. Then why not stop people from making a jump from space?

Space = 100km above sea level

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it possible for Slashdot to avoid the marketing-speak? Space begins 100km (62 miles) above sea level. [wikipedia.org] 36km is not "the edge of space".

Re:Pull the plug

[PseudonymousBraveguy]

They invested heavily in the project and the resarch to make this possible. Just to "pull the plug" because some asshole sues them does not only leave the asshole with the "square root of fuck all", but also everybody involved in this project.

Unfortunately the US is such a big market, else I'd say they should simply pull their producs out of the country and let the sucker try to sue in a more sane jurisdiction.

Idea not original...

[charleylc]

No one can tell me that others have not, at the very least, though about pushing the envelope for free falling from the edge of space and beating Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger's previous record. Unless the promoter has filed for a patent on the idea of falling from that high, which I highly doubt (even if it is something that could be patented), I don't see what kind of legal claim the promoter would have. Truly, this sounds like an attempt at a greedy money grab. The Austrian skydiver, Felix Baumgartnen, is pretty crazy even considering a stunt like this, though. Breaking the speed of sound, which is apparently highly likely, without being inside an actual machine, is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, in the event of equipment failure, all kinds of fun physical maladies could appear, like the blood boiling and bleeding from the eyes due to low atmospheric preassure or freezing from -140F tempratures. You would think the promoter would be more concerned about the person actually taking the risk rather than his own bank account. But, I guess that would be too much to ask from the greedy corporate world.

This

[Trogre]

This is why all Intellectual Property laws, with the possible exception of Trademarks, need to be systematically dismantled.

Starting now.

Re:"Intellectual property"

[L4t3r4lu5]

It worked for "... using a computer!11"

Re:Space = 100km above sea level

[zebslash]

We're talking about a Foxnews report here... Scientific accuracy is not their priority.

Re:Sick of lawsuits

[somersault]

I refer the poster to YouTube. Pick a video. Basically any video. Now, look at the comments. Do you really want these guys deciding what lawsuits are "worthwhile"? I think they'd actually get more ridiculous. These people are the ones that sue when they accidentally kill their dog in a microwave.

Re:WTF

[Eraesr]

No, but apparently commercial interest is involved as well. It's probably not about the sole fact of executing someone else's idea, it's more likely about the money involved with sponsorship deals and stuff like that. If Red Bull is going to get lots of commercial exposure with this and the other party wants a bigger slice of the pie because they came up with the campaign to begin with, then it's understandable that they don't want to be snowed under by a behemoth like Red Bull.

Short step?

[CaptainNerdCave]

Are you sure you don't mean "leap"?

Wait... I'm being informed by my attorney that "leap" is too significantly similar to "jump", which is already another's IP. I'm sorry for wasting your time.

Re:WTF

[smallfries]

Playing Devil's Advocate for a second: why shouldn't they? When did we grant Intellectual Property rights to plans for promotional stunts. How exactly does he feel that he has been violated - copyright (not applicable), patent (no applicable).... Unless he got them to sign some sort of contract before showing them the plans he has no protection..... and now I'll probably RTFA to discover which of these was true.

Re:The future of IP

[Pharmboy]

This is saying: "Have a lifelong childhood dream? Well, that dream belongs to us now, and it is only fair because money changed hands, and we bought and paid for that dream."

Thank god that Martin Luther King Jr. didn't accept sponsorships.

Ground Control to Major Tom?

[digitaldc]

FTA: Hogan claims the daredevil stunt would be worth $375 million to $625 million in advertising to any corporate sponsor.
If this type of lawsuit was as prevalent in the past, NOTHING would be accomplished.
Again, science and innovation are stifled by simple, unabashed greed.

Re:Nice catchy title...

[FrostedWheat]

As far as the human body is concerned, it may as well be space.

Re:Huh?

[smallfries]

Last time that I checked Coca-Cola do sell their product in the uk. Here is a description of UK law [gillhams.com]. So as I already said it is quite insane to pass laws to give protection to "secrets". The best way to protect them is to ensure that they remain secret, not having laws to punish people who leak them.

Re:Non Disclosure Agreement

[CohibaVancouver]

This is an example of something that sounds good in principle, but is difficult in practice. Imagine the scene:

"Hey Red Bull, I've got a *great* idea for a promotional stunt!"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Sign this NDA and I'll tell you!"

"An NDA? Go away, kid, you bother me."

Re:WTF

[nizo]

...there might really be something to the case...

Like free publicity?