So you would think a big company like Hasbro would be happy that they have fans so dedicated to their products that they promote them for you…

Martyn Yang of Canberra, Australia was one such fan. He loved NERF guns so much that he set up a blog to talk about them and similar products, and to interact with other fans that shared his passion. The NERF fan site, Urban Taggers, featured reviews, product descriptions, and general posts about the fun of playing with NERF toys, Super Soakers, and Laser Tag.

Then one day Yang posted a review of an item called the N-Strike Elite “Rampage” Blaster, an unreleased NERF gun not yet available in stores, but that was widely available on both eBay and its Chinese counterpart, Taobao. Not long afterwards, Hasbro contacted Yang offering to give him some free items that he could give away to his readers, and asked for his mailing address. Yang happily sent them the requested information, only to receive a letter from Hasbro’s lawyers instead.

The letter demanded that Yang take down the review of the unreleased product, and also sought the contact information of the person who had given him the info on it, asking for their name, address, email, and IP address.Continue Reading

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