Weather Underground, Incorporated v. Navigation Catalyst Systems, Incorporated et al

Filing 201

DECLARATION by William A. Delgado re 193 Response to Motion filed by Connexus Corporation, Firstlook, Incorporated, Navigation Catalyst Systems, Incorporated (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit K, # 2 Exhibit L, # 3 Exhibit M, # 4 Exhibit N, # 5 Exhibit O, # 6 Exhibit P, # 7 Exhibit Q, # 8 Exhibit R, # 9 Exhibit S, # 10 Exhibit T, # 11 Exhibit U, # 12 Exhibit V, # 13 Exhibit W) (Delgado, William)

EXHIBITT

A West Court Reporting Services transcript, reported by LiveNote Certified
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CERTIFIED COpy
In the United States District Court
For the Eastern District of Michigan
**Confidential**
Deposition

Of

Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D.

August 3, 2010

The Weather Underground, Inc.
v.
Navigation Catalyst Systems; Inc., et al.

Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D.
Confidential

8/3/2010

1

Q.

Was there anything else that struck you as inaccurate?

2

A.

Yes.

He also thought that I gave permission to the

3

Weather Underground of Hong Kong to use our name.

4

did not give them permission.

5

Q.

I

Do you know if anybody else associated with Weather
Underground gave them permission?

6
7

A.

I do not believe so to the best of my recollection.

8

Q.

Is there anything else in Mr. Steremburg's deposition
transcript that was inaccurate?

9

10

A.

To the best of my knowledge, no.

11

Q.

Other than the deposition transcript of
Mr. Steremburg, did you review any other documents?

12
13

A.

Yes, provided by my attorney, so that would fall under
attorney/client privilege.

14

MR. SCHAEFER:

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Just so you know, basically

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anything that you and I discussed or you and Anthony

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discussed obviously is privileged.

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which documents you looked at, but beyond that, don't

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share anything that we talked about.

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THE WITNESS:

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MR. SCHAEFER:

22

Q.

Okay.
About those documents.

BY MR. DELGADO:

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He can ask you

And that was going to be my next question, which

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documents did you review in preparation for today's

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deposition?

Westlaw Deposition Services

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Page 10

8/3/2010

Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D.
Confidential

1

Q.

It says while working on his Ph.D. he cofounded the
Weather Underground in 1995, is that correct?

2
3

A.

Weather Underground, Incorporated.

4

Q.

Weather Underground, Incorporated.

5

A.

Yes.

6

Q.

Let me ask you about that.

When was your first I

7

guess encounter with the name Weather Underground

8

while you were studying at the University of Michigan?

9

A.

It occurred when my advisor, Perry Sampson, advocated

10

using that name for an educational weather project

11

based upon software I had written.

12

Q.

What year was that?

13

A.

I'm pretty sure it was 1991.

14

Q.

And did the software that you had created have a name?

15

A.

UM-weather.

16

Q.

And did Mr. Sampson tell you why he was suggesting
that name for your software project?

17
18

A.

Yes, he said it was because since this weather project

19

got its start at the University of Michigan,

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there was a radical group that got its start at the

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University of Michigan named Weather Underground, he

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thought it would be a cute tongue in cheek reference

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to the '60s radical group.

24

25

Q.

and also

Do you know if Mr. Sampson was involved In that group,
the 1960s group?

Westlaw Deposition Services

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Page 16

Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D.
Confidential

1

Q.

8/3/2010

Are you aware of any non-functioning entities other
than the '60s radical group?

2

3

A.

No.

4

Q.

When did you first hear of the Weather Underground
group of Hong Kong?

5
6

A.

I believe it was in 1992 when a fellow named Clarence

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Fong E-mailed me and asked if he could have a copy of

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my UN-weather software! and I supplied it to him for

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free! and at that point he wrote back and said I'm

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going to name this -- I'm going to run the software

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and call it the Weather Underground of Hong Kong.
So when he informed me that he was calling

12
13

it the Weather Underground of Hong Kong! that's when I

14

first became aware of the usage of Weather

15

Underground.

16

Q.

Okay.

What was your response to Mr. Fong?

17

A.

I was flattered.

18

Q.

They're still in operation today as best as you know?

19

A.

Yes.

I should qualify that.

I'm not sure they're

20

still running myoId code from 1991.

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surprised.

22

Q.

I would be

Are you familiar with any other entity that uses the
phrase wunder with a U in it as part of their name?

23
24

A.

No.

25

Q.

In your position at Weather Underground! do you have

Westlaw Deposition Services

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Page 20

Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D.
Confidential

1

Q.

8/3/2010

Prior to that conversation with Mr. Schwerzler, when
g~ess

2

was the I

3

you had with one of your business partners about the

4

lawsuit outside of a board of directors meeting?

5

A.

the second most recent conversation

Jeff Ferguson and I share an office, so I would say on

6

average once a month we discuss the latest information

7

from Enrico.

8

Q.

Where's that office?

9

A.

It's 300 North Fifth Avenue, number 240, Ann Arbor.

10

Q.

Are you the only two employees for Weather Underground
in that office?

11

12

A.

No, we have an accountant part time that also works
there.

13
14

Q.

What is that person's name?

15

A.

Kelly L-U-C-K.

And once a month our two customer

support people come in the office and work.

16

17

Q.

Otherwise they work remotely?

18

A.

Yes.

19

Q.

Have you ever had any communications with any person

20

who works at one of the companies that was named as a

21

defendant in the lawsuit?

22

A.

No.

23

Q.

To the best of your knowledge were any of the domain

24

names that are the subject of the lawsuit ever offered

25

to Weather Underground for sale?

Westlaw Deposition Services

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Page 35

Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D.
Confidential

1

A.

No.

2

Q.

You are the author of the blog WunderBlog?

3

A.

It's called Jeff Mast.ers' s WunderBlog.

4

Q.

Are there other contributors?

5

A.

Yes.

6

Q.

Who else is a contributor to the WunderBlog?

7

A.

8/3/2010

When I'm on vacation Shaun Tanner and Rob Carver fill
in for me.

8
9

Q.

And how long have you been authoring WunderBlog?

10

A.

Since 2005.

11

Q.

Do you recall what month you started?

12

A.

Yes, it was April.

13

Q.

Does the WunderBlog blog only appear on Weather
Underground websites?

14
15

A.

No.

16

Q.

Where else does it appear?

17

A.

I believe it appears on something called
blogburst.com.

18
19

Q.

Do you know what blogburst.com is?

20

A.

They're a site that makes money by selling ads on
pages that feature other people's blogs.

21
22

Q.

Does Weather Underground have a relationship with
blogburst.com?

23
24

A.

No.

25

Q.

So how is it that WunderBlog appears on blogburst.com?

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Page 36

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CERTIFICATE OF NOTARY
.

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.

STATE OF MICHIGAN.)

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4

) SS
COUNTY OF OAKLAND

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I, KATHRYN E. ADKINS, certify that this

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deposition was taken before me on the date

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hereinbefore set forth; that the foregoing questions

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and answers were recorded by me stenogJ?aphical;L.y: .and.
reduced to computer transcription; 'that this is a

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true, full and correct transcript of my stenographic

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notes so taken; and that

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counsel to', either party nor interested,. in the event

+ am

not related to, nor of
,

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".

of this cause.

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... "

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KATHRYN E. '. 'ADKINS, CSR-4'697

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Notary Public,

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Oakland County, Michigan

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My Commission expires:

April 10, 2013

~