Top all-time · #2555
B
Blue Jeans Cable -- Quality Cables at Reasonable Prices
Company blog · bluejeanscable.com/articleshardware
Blue Jeans Cable -- Quality Cables at Reasonable Prices is the company blog at bluejeanscable.com, writing about hardware. Since 2009, 30 different Hacker News readers have linked it 34 times, most often “Monster Cable Correspondence (a patent infringement threat and reply)”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
No feed foundVisit the blog
34mentions?
30HN people?
2009–2025first – last linked?
Too few sampled comments (24) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers mainly link Blue Jeans Cable for its 2008 response letter to Monster Cable's patent threat, which commenters call a work of art, plus its HDMI and cable articles.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 24 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Monster Cable Correspondence (a patent infringement threat and reply)5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2013-09-28
- /legal/mcp/response041408.pdf3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2021-10-26
- /legal/mcp/index.htm3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2009-11-19
- /legal/mcp/response041408.pdf3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2015-01-07
- What's the Matter with HDMI?3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2011-09-12
- /legal/mcp/index.htm3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-04-04
- /2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2010-03-31
What Hacker News says?
I highly recommend Blue Jeans Cable - https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdmi-cables/hdmi-cable.... Their cables were the only ones that consistently delivered full promised bandwidth and stable connection even at long cable lengths. Plus, their email support has been very helpful, and had the same “quality cables, no bullshit” attitude as the rest of the website. No affiliation, just a happy customer of 5+ years.
Comment linking /store/hdmi-cables/hdmi-cable.htm
on “Cheap junk flooding Amazon has brand names like MOFFBUZW”Submitted Is Your Cat 6 Cable a Dog? (2013) as a story · 223 points
HN discussionAnd Blue Jeans Cable's 2008 response to a Monster Cable demand letter: The CEO of BlueJeans was an ex-litigator; excerpt: <quote> After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1985, I spent nineteen years in litigation practice, with a focus upon federal litigation involving large damages and complex issues. My first seven years were spent primarily on the defense side, where I developed an inte…
Comment linking /legal/mcp/response041408.pdf
on “A patent troll backs off”Submitted How a bad RJ45 termination can ruin a cable as a story · 113 points
HN discussionNice dig at the supreme court on their payments page. Kurt hasn't lost his mojo. https://www.bluejeanscable.com/paymentinfo.htm
Comment linking /paymentinfo.htm
on “Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)”Submitted What's the Matter with HDMI? as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThe complete story: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/index.htm
Comment linking /legal/mcp/index.htm
on “Monster Cables picked the wrong guy to threaten (2008)”Submitted Monster Cable Correspondence (a patent infringement threat and reply) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThe original ( https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/response041408.pdf ) has so much more. It is truly a work of art: > RE: Your letter, received April Fools' Day > Let me begin by stating, without equivocation, that I have no interest in infringing upon any intellectual property belonging to Monster Cable. Indeed, the less my customers think my products resemble Monster's, in form or function, the better. > Sim…
Comment linking /legal/mcp/response041408.pdf
on “New USPTO Memo Makes Fighting Patent Trolls Even Harder”Monster Cable went after Blue Jeans Cable, a small boutique audio cable manufacturer in Seattle, threatening basically patent-driven extortion and licensing. Except the guy that founded BJC was an ex-corporate lawyer. His response letter ( https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/response041408.pdf ) is full of zingers, but most appropriate for this exact point is this: > After graduating from the University of Penn…
Comment linking /legal/mcp/response041408.pdf
on “The natural diamond industry is getting rocked. Thank the lab-grown variety”In that vein, you may also enjoy Blue Jeans Cable's response to Monster: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/index.htm
Comment linking /legal/mcp/index.htm
on “The Oatmeal's lawyer responds to FunnyJunk”The are a couple of very helpful articles on the Blue Jeans cables sitee about what is wrong with HDMI. "HDMI is a horrid format; it was badly thought out and badly designed, and the failures of its design are so apparent that they could have been addressed and resolved with very little fuss. Why they weren't, exactly, is really anyone's guess, but the key has to be that the standard was not intended to provide a be…
Comment linking /articles/whats-the-matter-with-hdmi.htm
on “Why all HDMI cables are the same”I'm reminded of an incident a few years back when Monster sent a cease and desist letter to Blue Jeans Cable. The CEO wrote them a response that was pretty well publicized: http://gizmodo.com/380055/blue-jeans-cable-calls-bs-on-monst... I bought some cables from http://www.bluejeanscable.com/ a few months later. I needed to make a few longer than normal runs, and they had reasonable prices and were direct about the…
Comment linking /
on “Why you should never pay more than $10 for an HDMI cable (Infographic)”Wikipedia suggests: Letter: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/monsterletter.pdf Exhibits: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/exhibits.pdf Response: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/response041408.pdf
Comment linking /legal/mcp/response041408.pdf
on “Monotype font licencing shake-down”This reminds me of the Blue Jeans Cable / Monster Cable shakedown nonsense. https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/index.htm I wish I could find the original writeup from Blue Jeans, it was frickin' magnificent.
Comment linking /legal/mcp/index.htm
on “Monotype font licencing shake-down”Obligatory Blue Jeans Cable v. Monster Cable legalese catfight: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/ (The final response pdf in particular)
Comment linking /legal/mcp/
on “Record Label Picks Copyright Fight With The Wrong Guy”Perhaps we should scrap it all and go back (forward?) to coax. http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/whats-the-matter-with...
Comment linking /articles/whats-the-matter-with-hdmi.htm
on “HDMI 2.0 officially announced”Referencing for the sake of Criticism (e.g. Societal Benefit) is robustly protected by the First Amendment and Fair Use Doctrine, which, unless the Courts totally fuck it up (it's possible), should be above the basic Trademark protections. This situation is basically Monster Cables vs. Blue Jean cables, but without a snarky, go-fuck-yourself response (yet). http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/
Comment linking /legal/mcp/
on “Comcast taking action against Comcastroturf.com for trademark infringement”They did test alot of cable recently: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/is-your-cat6-a-dog.h... So, given the context they may have actual conclusions they reached about Chinese made cables.* I have had alot of experience in the recent few years with Chinese made wire, and I am unsurprised when it comes out bad. The most common issue I have had is buying a particular gauge and getting something smaller, but ma…
Comment linking /articles/is-your-cat6-a-dog.htm
on “How a bad RJ45 termination can ruin a cable”Another article on the same site (Blue Jeans Cable) makes the interesting point that some kinds of cable are more expensive not because they are better at reducing signal loss but because they are rated for more fire-resistance for certain kinds of installations.[1] The article points out that more expensive is not always better if by "better" you mean "less likely to distort the signal." [1] "Good, Better, Best --…
Comment linking /articles/good-better-best-or-not.htm
on “How a bad RJ45 termination can ruin a cable”Class 2 wiring isn't "plenum" wiring. See http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/inwallrating.htm and the NEC.
Comment linking /articles/inwallrating.htm
on “How a bad RJ45 termination can ruin a cable”> [Blue Jeans Cable] identified a cable that had sub-par signal characteristics, and without looking at the actual effects it had on network performance made the premature conclusion that it was. From the fine article: "[Our customer is] dealing with network performance issues at a small company, and has come to suspect that bad patch cords, made by an electrician, account for some of the problems he's seeing." Look…
Comment linking /articles/channel-certified-ethernet-patch-cords.htm
on “How a bad RJ45 termination can ruin a cable”Off topic, but I can't resist re-posting the following. It will bring tears of joy to anyone who hates patent trolls. Blue Jeans Cable was mentioned on HN a few months ago in the context of Monster Cable sending them a letter threatening to sue them for patent and trademark infringement. An HN poster characterized their response letter to Monster Cable as: "That. letter. is. glorious." Here are just a few snippets:…
Comment linking /legal/mcp/
on “How a bad RJ45 termination can ruin a cable”Hey, Blue Jeans Cable! These are the guys who told Monster Cable to get stuffed. Very nice way of dealing with a patent troll: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/response041408.pdf transcribed at http://www.audioholics.com/news/blue-jeans-strikes-back Best part: "Not only am I unintimidated by litigation; I sometimes rather miss it."
Comment linking /legal/mcp/response041408.pdf
on “How a bad RJ45 termination can ruin a cable”+1 It reminds me of the Monster Cable lawsuit against Blue Jeans Cables[1] and any other company using "Monster" in the name; including, but not limited to, a go-cart racing company. Fortunately, the BJC owner was a lawyer in another life and peeled back the layers of the lawsuit to find exactly what you describe... a giant, non-sensical, non-cohesive set of documents showing nothing in particular, not even addressi…
Comment linking /legal/mcp/index.htm
on “Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents”Here's another famous one, at the otehr end of the scale: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/index.htm (The "Our response" link is the one, but the others may be useful for context.)
Comment linking /legal/mcp/index.htm
on “TweetPhoto CEO Says Too Much In Interview, Gets Fired.”http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/response041408.pdf
Comment linking /legal/mcp/response041408.pdf
on “Monster Sues Beats Electronics, Founders for Fraud”They used to be notorious for frivolous lawsuits. I personally found it amusing how badly they got played by Beats, as documented at http://gizmodo.com/5981823/beat-by-dre-the-inside-story-of-h... and elsewhere. My personal favorite example of absurd litigation was their threat to sue Blue Jeans Cable, documented at http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/ . The response from Blue Jeans is seriously awesome.
Comment linking /legal/mcp/
on “Monster Sues Beats Electronics, Founders for Fraud”And bluejeans - the ending of the 'our response' PDF is particularly satisfying https://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/index.htm Not quite as satisfying as Ian Hislop's letter to James Arkell ( https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram ) but still good.
Comment linking /legal/mcp/index.htm
on “Monster Energy Goes After Indie Dev for Using the Word 'Monster'”I've always been partial to blue jeans cables ( http://www.bluejeanscable.com/ ) ever since I read their response when monster tried to scare them into a settlement over bogus patent claims.
Comment linking /
on “Slaying the Cable Monster: Why HDMI Brands Don't Matter”
