Fleshlight Just Threatened To Shut My Account Down For Violating Their Trademark but

[BoyAlley]

Fleshlight Just Threatened To Shut My Account Down For Violating Their Trademark but the problem is I don't send them any traffic and don't have them on any of my sites and don't give a shit if they shut my account down or not.

Please cease all trademark bidding within the next 48 hours or we will be forced to remove you from the Fleshlight Affiliate Program.

Thank You For Your Compliance,

The Fleshlight Team

What a bunch of clusterfucks that company is. They've NEVER seemed to have their shit together, and it would appear they continue a fine corporate tradition of making jackasses out of themselves.

Suck my ass breeders suck my ass!

[Babaganoosh]

What are they babbling about? How are you violating their trademark?

[beerptrol]

Here's they email they sent me. I'm assuming it was sent to all their affiliates


Hello Everyone,

I would just like to remind everyone that as per our service agreement,
terms and conditions, terms of service (whichever you choose to call
it) that we do not allow trademark bidding.

Please refer to Section 2 Articles 5 and 7:

5. We also prohibit the use of keywords, search terms, and domain
names that contain any variations of our Trademarks, such as
"Fleshlight,? for use in search engines, portals, sponsored advertising services,
or other search and referral services. If you send visitors from any
site we consider an unacceptable traffic source, your account may be
cancelled, and any monies owed to you will be forfeited.

7. You will not redirect traffic to our site where the URL remains in
the address when a customer attempts to bookmark, what appears to be,
our site.

Please cease all trademark bidding within the next 48 hours or we will
be forced to remove you from the Fleshlight Affiliate Program.

Thank You For Your Compliance,

The Fleshlight Team

[BoyAlley]

Why the fuck would they send that out to ALL of their affiliates, making it sound like all accounts are in violation?

And how the fuck are you suppose to promote someone without using the name of the product?

Are people suppose to call them "fuck sleeves" instead of "fleshlights" now or wtf is their drama?

I'd think that everyone using the name "Fleshlight" has done wonders to brand them to the consumers no?

[fuzebox]

Um it was a canned email they sent all their affiliates, and if you reread it they aren't accusing you of anything, just stating what their new policy is.

[Babaganoosh]

lol anyone wanna buy fleshlightblog.com?

[woj]

everyone got the same email, relax dude...

[Aneros Josh]

Originally Posted by BoyAlley

Fleshlight Just Threatened To Shut My Account Down For Violating Their Trademark but the problem is I don't send them any traffic and don't have them on any of my sites and don't give a shit if they shut my account down or not.



What a bunch of clusterfucks that company is. They've NEVER seemed to have their shit together, and it would appear they continue a fine corporate tradition of making jackasses out of themselves.

Suck my ass breeders suck my ass!

Wow...those aren't very nice words BoyAlley and frankly I'm shocked that they're coming from you. We did NOT accuse you of violating our trademark term. Personally, I have never had anything against you but if you come on here making false claims, I will. We are sending out another email clarifying our point and defining the boundaries a little better. I can assure you that I did not send out this email and from now on, I will approve every email that goes out to our affiliates personally.

[will76]

I never understood why a company would try to prohibit you from advertising their product.

Makes no sense to me. If the affiliate makes you sales they make you sales. If you are worried about an affiliate stealng sales from you (which is really an oxy moron) then don't have an affiliate program.

So you are suppose to advise fleshlight but you can't say " fleshlight" ???

[MoreMagic]

lol only thing they try to do is cover there ass because they still don't understand a fu.. from SEO and on this way they are sure they get top spots in mama google

[cj_purve]

What a bunch of idiots!
Please don't use the name fleshlight to promote fleshlights or we'll come get ya. LOL

[will76]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

Wow...those aren't very nice words BoyAlley and frankly I'm shocked that they're coming from you. We did NOT accuse you of violating our trademark term. Personally, I have never had anything against you but if you come on here making false claims, I will. We are sending out another email clarifying our point and defining the boundaries a little better. I can assure you that I did not send out this email and from now on, I will approve every email that goes out to our affiliates personally.

you shouldn't be so shocked he read it the way he did. After all you resending the email to make sure the message is clear. If you don't think it was clear then don't be so surprised people took it the wrong way.

[Babaganoosh]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

Wow...those aren't very nice words BoyAlley and frankly I'm shocked that they're coming from you. We did NOT accuse you of violating our trademark term. Personally, I have never had anything against you but if you come on here making false claims, I will. We are sending out another email clarifying our point and defining the boundaries a little better. I can assure you that I did not send out this email and from now on, I will approve every email that goes out to our affiliates personally.

So I couldn't promote fleshlight using fleshlightblog.com? You can't be serious.

[BoyAlley]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

Wow...those aren't very nice words BoyAlley and frankly I'm shocked that they're coming from you. We did NOT accuse you of violating our trademark term. Personally, I have never had anything against you but if you come on here making false claims, I will. We are sending out another email clarifying our point and defining the boundaries a little better. I can assure you that I did not send out this email and from now on, I will approve every email that goes out to our affiliates personally.

Well maybe you shouldn't send out fucking retarded ass emails that make it sound like you're accusing an affiliate of violating trademarks and threatening to shut down accounts?

I'm not trying to make false claims or any shit like that, I'm just going by what your own email said which I was shocked to get which is why I started this thread.

PS: You guys really need to hire someone that has a clue on the affiliate side of things. I think most people here would agree, no matter HOW good your product is, your affiliate program has been one train wreck after another.

[Aneros Josh]

Originally Posted by will76

I never understood why a company would try to prohibit you from advertising their product.

Makes no sense to me. If the affiliate makes you sales they make you sales. If you are worried about an affiliate stealng sales from you (which is really an oxy moron) then don't have an affiliate program.

So you are suppose to advise fleshlight but you can't say " fleshlight" ???

We aren't trying to prohibit anybody from advertising our product. However, bidding in AdWords for the term "Fleshlight" is using our trademarked name to make a profit. We have no problem with people using AdWords, we just have a problem with them using our trademarked terms. As far as sites and organic results are concerned, you CAN have Fleshlight terms all over your site, we have nothing against using our name on your site(s), just against bidding on our trademarked name in AdWords.

[aybecker]

I got it too, then i checked it in gmail and hit "Report Spam"

[BoyAlley]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

We aren't trying to prohibit anybody from advertising our product. However, bidding in AdWords for the term "Fleshlight" is using our trademarked name to make a profit. We have no problem with people using AdWords, we just have a problem with them using our trademarked terms. As far as sites and organic results are concerned, you CAN have Fleshlight terms all over your site, we have nothing against using our name on your site(s), just against bidding on our trademarked name in AdWords.

PS: Whoever came up with that policy is retarded.

It sounds like:
"You can use our trademarks on webpages, in ads, in domains names, all over hell, just not on adwords cuz we want to be able to buy those spots ourselves cheap."

[Aneros Josh]

Originally Posted by BoyAlley

Well maybe you shouldn't send out fucking retarded ass emails that make it sound like you're accusing an affiliate of violating trademarks and threatening to shut down accounts?

I'm not trying to make false claims or any shit like that, I'm just going by what your own email said which I was shocked to get which is why I started this thread.

PS: You guys really need to hire someone that has a clue on the affiliate side of things. I think most people here would agree, no matter HOW good your product is, your affiliate program has been one train wreck after another.

As I said, I did not send the email out and in the future, I will be approving any emails that are sent to affiliates. As far as getting somebody who has a clue about the affiliate side of things, I take that personally. We have had some difficulty with our affiliate program because we are a tangible product and the first tangible product to incorporate NATS. Everything was custom and it has been a steep learning curve for both us and NATS. I have been working on getting a better affiliate program and answering affiliate requests for promotional materials and content. We will be launching several new things in the next few months so for those of you who can be and have been patient with us, we appreciate it. I have always prided myself in good customer service and if anybody needs ANYTHING Fleshlight affiliate related, they know they can come to me and get it.

[Aneros Josh]

Originally Posted by BoyAlley

PS: Whoever came up with that policy is retarded.

It sounds like:
"You can use our trademarks on webpages, in ads, in domains names, all over hell, just not on adwords cuz we want to be able to buy those spots ourselves cheap."

There are several solo girls out there who do not allow the promotion in adwords of their trademarked names...the reason why most paysites don't stop the adwords promotions is because they don't have a trademarked site name.

[riddler]

pretty stupid policy to keep the adwords prices cheap for your ownself..

someone should buy a assload of the term fleshlight and send it to a competitor just to raise the prices of the word.

[DidierE]

I got the mail too and I'm SHOCKED like BoyAlley is!

I have the word "Fleshlight" in my domain name so the next 48-hours doesn't seem good for me neither

I really can't understand you guys!
We are all here to make money...JUST LET US MAKE MONEY...PERIOD!

I really really hope you guys would change your mind on this because there are tons of Fleshlight affiliates who won't be happy with this

[_Richard_]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh;12hahahahaha4

As I said, I did not send the email out and in the future, I will be approving any emails that are sent to affiliates. As far as getting somebody who has a clue about the affiliate side of things, I take that personally. We have had some difficulty with our affiliate program because we are a tangible product and the first tangible product to incorporate NATS. Everything was custom and it has been a steep learning curve for both us and NATS. I have been working on getting a better affiliate program and answering affiliate requests for promotional materials and content. We will be launching several new things in the next few months so for those of you who can be and have been patient with us, we appreciate it. I have always prided myself in good customer service and if anybody needs ANYTHING Fleshlight affiliate related, they know they can come to me and get it.

didn't you guys donate a bunch of money to charity?

[yahoo-xxx-girls.com]

Originally Posted by beerptrol

Here's they email they sent me. I'm assuming it was sent to all their affiliates


Hello Everyone,

I would just like to remind everyone that as per our service agreement,
terms and conditions, terms of service (whichever you choose to call
it) that we do not allow trademark bidding.

Please refer to Section 2 Articles 5 and 7:

5. We also prohibit the use of keywords, search terms, and domain
names that contain any variations of our Trademarks, such as
"Fleshlight,” for use in search engines, portals, sponsored advertising services,
or other search and referral services. If you send visitors from any
site we consider an unacceptable traffic source, your account may be
cancelled, and any monies owed to you will be forfeited.

7. You will not redirect traffic to our site where the URL remains in
the address when a customer attempts to bookmark, what appears to be,
our site.

Please cease all trademark bidding within the next 48 hours or we will
be forced to remove you from the Fleshlight Affiliate Program.

Thank You For Your Compliance,

The Fleshlight Team

They could at least have sent me one... ^^

If your not actively trying to send them some traffic for their associate program they most likely will close your associate program account...

.

[BoyAlley]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh;12hahahahaha4

As I said, I did not send the email out and in the future, I will be approving any emails that are sent to affiliates. As far as getting somebody who has a clue about the affiliate side of things, I take that personally.

Don't take it personally breeder I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings or anything. The email and policy is retarded, but since you're not the one that wrote the email you shouldn't take my criticism of it to heart.

My comments were meant to be "this is retarded" not "you are retarded".

[will76]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

We aren't trying to prohibit anybody from advertising our product. However, bidding in AdWords for the term "Fleshlight" is using our trademarked name to make a profit. We have no problem with people using AdWords, we just have a problem with them using our trademarked terms. As far as sites and organic results are concerned, you CAN have Fleshlight terms all over your site, we have nothing against using our name on your site(s), just against bidding on our trademarked name in AdWords.

So as an affiliate I can't promote your product in adwords?

Why stop at adwords, where do you draw the line with where traffic is purchased. What about yahoo paid spots?

I know a few people here will agree with you on this but most wont. I am one of the ones that doesn't. If i had affiliates bidding on a term I definetly wouldn't tell them they couldn't bid there. Either way I would win if my company got a sale through ou ad or through one of our affiliates. What I personally would do, I would probably back out and not compete with my affiliates if they were covering that traffic source. But thats just me.

[Aneros Josh]

Originally Posted by DidierE

I got the mail too and I'm SHOCKED like BoyAlley is!

I have the word "Fleshlight" in my domain name so the next 48-hours doesn't seem good for me neither

I really can't understand you guys!
We are all here to make money...JUST LET US MAKE MONEY...PERIOD!

I really really hope you guys would change your mind on this because there are tons of Fleshlight affiliates who won't be happy with this

We are not telling you to remove the word Fleshlight from your domain name, we are simply stating that you can't bid on the term "Fleshlight" in adwords....that's all, plain and simple...no need to take down your Fleshlight domain

[BoyAlley]

Originally Posted by Mr.Sexbankroll

didn't you guys donate a bunch of money to charity?

They donated $7,000 to the Free Speech Coalition as part of one of my charity sig auctions if that's what you're referring to.

But that has nothing to do with them sending out a retarded email.

[Varius]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

We aren't trying to prohibit anybody from advertising our product. However, bidding in AdWords for the term "Fleshlight" is using our trademarked name to make a profit. We have no problem with people using AdWords, we just have a problem with them using our trademarked terms. As far as sites and organic results are concerned, you CAN have Fleshlight terms all over your site, we have nothing against using our name on your site(s), just against bidding on our trademarked name in AdWords.

Doesn't sound like that from the email:

"5. We also prohibit the use of keywords, search terms, and domain
names that contain any variations of our Trademarks, such as
"Fleshlight,? for use in search engines, portals, sponsored advertising services, or other search and referral services."

That sounds like they may not use it at all in any way shape or form pretty much, not specifically bidding.

BoyAlley,

The fact the email did say "Hello Everyone" should have tipped you off that ti was a mass mail though, not sent to you directly

[Aneros Josh]

Originally Posted by will76

So as an affiliate I can't promote your product in adwords?

Why stop at adwords, where do you draw the line with where traffic is purchased. What about yahoo paid spots?

I know a few people here will agree with you on this but most wont. I am one of the ones that doesn't. If i had affiliates bidding on a term I definetly wouldn't tell they couldn't bid either. Either way I would win if my company got a sale. What I personally would do would probably back out and not compete with my affiliates if they were covering that traffic source. But thats just me.

First of all, I NEVER said you couldn't use AdWords...I said you couldn't use our trademarked name in AdWords. If you want to promote Fleshlight through the use of other AdWords, that is fine.

[DidierE]

We are not telling you to remove the word Fleshlight from your domain name, we are simply stating that you can't bid on the term "Fleshlight" in adwords....that's all, plain and simple...no need to take down your Fleshlight domain

Okay, but your policy says the following:

We also prohibit the use of keywords, search terms, and domain names that contain any variations of our Trademarks, such as "Fleshlight" for use in search engines, portals, sponsored advertising services, or other search and referral services. If you send visitors from any site we consider an unacceptable traffic source, your account may be cancelled, and any monies owed to you will be forfeited.

Confused now...
I just wanna make sure because I don't wanna be happy now and get a nasty email from you in a few months about this issue...

[BoyAlley]

Originally Posted by Varius

BoyAlley,

The fact the email did say "Hello Everyone" should have tipped you off that ti was a mass mail though, not sent to you directly

I assumed it was sent out just to people that they felt were in violation. The last thing that I read was the last paragraph, and it very much looked like it was addressed to an individual that was out of compliance:

Please cease all trademark bidding within the next 48 hours or we will be forced to remove you from the Fleshlight Affiliate Program.

Thank You For Your Compliance,

The Fleshlight Team

[will76]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

There are several solo girls out there who do not allow the promotion in adwords of their trademarked names...the reason why most paysites don't stop the adwords promotions is because they don't have a trademarked site name.

mmm thats bullshit, most don't prohibit it because they are fine with their affiliates advertising their product.

[ridikuloz]

I think it's nothing big, but yea the email was a little exaggerated.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

We are not telling you to remove the word Fleshlight from your domain name, we are simply stating that you can't bid on the term "Fleshlight" in adwords....that's all, plain and simple...no need to take down your Fleshlight domain

To wit... and domain names that contain any variations of our Trademarks, such as "Fleshlight

[chupacabra]

wow, ironic for them of all people to be bitching about trademarks and such... i mean, they pay thieves on torrent sites to steal my and others copyrighted content...

pot, kettle, black anyone..?

[pocketkangaroo]

Originally Posted by BoyAlley

PS: Whoever came up with that policy is retarded.

It sounds like:
"You can use our trademarks on webpages, in ads, in domains names, all over hell, just not on adwords cuz we want to be able to buy those spots ourselves cheap."

Most mainstream programs have that same policy. Many adult companies too. That policy is not new.

Their email is difficult to understand. It can read many ways. At first it sounded like they were saying that no one could use the word Fleshlight on their site to get search results. Now I understand it's just for PPC? A little clarification would be best before sending out a vague email.

[will76]

Originally Posted by Varius

BoyAlley,

The fact the email did say "Hello Everyone" should have tipped you off that ti was a mass mail though, not sent to you directly

Boyalley maybe has a big ego and he thinks of himself as "eveyone"... wait maybe it was his nose, i forget.

[DidierE]

It can read many ways. At first it sounded like they were saying that no one could use the word Fleshlight on their site to get search results. Now I understand it's just for PPC? A little clarification would be best before sending out a vague email.

Yes or maybe just a complete re-write of your TOS?

[BoyAlley]

Originally Posted by will76

Boyalley maybe has a big ego and he thinks of himself as "eveyone"... wait maybe it was his nose, i forget.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And my nose is bigger than my penis.

[chupacabra]

ps: see this thread to illustrate just how much the fleshlight bitches care about our industry..

http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=749580

[will76]

Originally Posted by chupacabra

wow, ironic for them of all people to be bitching about trademarks and such... i mean, they pay thieves on torrent sites to steal my and others copyrighted content...

pot, kettle, black anyone..?

oh the irony.

They don't want their own affiliates to advertise Fleshlight using the word " fleshlight" but it is ok for them to advertise on sites with stolen content.

[jacked]

you guys do realize that this has been part of their TOS for sometime now right?

atleast a year or two, since i had signed up

[Aneros Josh]

A follow up email will be sent out addressing the concerns brought about by a vague email that was not written by myself and not approved before sending out. The main focus is on the AdWords and using our terms. The new email will give a better explanation.

[crockett]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

We are not telling you to remove the word Fleshlight from your domain name, we are simply stating that you can't bid on the term "Fleshlight" in adwords....that's all, plain and simple...no need to take down your Fleshlight domain

cool good you make that clear, had me worried a bit.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by pocketkangaroo

Most mainstream programs have that same policy.

This is true. Rather common actually.

[yahoo-xxx-girls.com]

Originally Posted by FleshJosh

We are not telling you to remove the word Fleshlight from your domain name, we are simply stating that you can't bid on the term "Fleshlight" in adwords....that's all, plain and simple...no need to take down your Fleshlight domain

I was wondering if I had a sub-domain setup for indexing purposes could I use for example.

fleshlight-girls.prismvod.com ( being directly pointed to your associate program? ) just as an example...

Thanks for your time FleshJosh,

.

[SmokeyTheBear]

Originally Posted by baddog

This is true. Rather common actually.

kinda .. not too many products "are" the name

its hard to describe fleshlight in an ad without using the word fleshlight.

[Babaganoosh]

"fleshlight" in a domain is ok? Yes or no.

[Hollywood Horwitz]

not to make light of this thread, Josh! how ya been dude? Hit me up on ICQ sometime and let's catch up. I won't be at any WM shows for awhile so..

[JFK]

Originally Posted by fuzebox

Um it was a canned email they sent all their affiliates, and if you reread it they aren't accusing you of anything, just stating what their new policy is.

I got the same thing,it was a canned email, as you say