Three brothers who created an Internet advertising business and didn't like X10 Wireless Technology trying to muscle them out of business over a failed X10 bill payment sued and won $4.3 million in compensatory damages
Russell, Chris, and Tim Vanderhook had accused X10 of failure to pay $564,000 in commissions, not to mention stealing their proprietary technology and business model, according to CNN. "This lawsuit," the middle Vanderbrook told CNN, "was about fairness, not making us rich."
Seattle-based X10 was ordered to pay the compensatory damages earlier this month, while deliberations on punitive damages begin October 23. X10 has not yet announced whether they plan to appeal the compensatory case. "It would be inappropriate…to discuss this matter," X10 attorney Sean O'Connor told CNN, "until the jury has completed its deliberations."
The Vanderhook brothers created AdvertisementBanners.com from their parents' Yorba Linda home when Tim Vanderhook was still a teenager, CNN said. Using pop-under technology allowing advertisers to put pitches under Websites, letting surfers see them after closing a browser instead of battling standard popups, AdvertisementBanners.com landed X10 as one of their first major clients, and X10's security camera ads began appearing widespread in cyberspace, CNN said.
Then, the Vanderhooks discovered X10 wasn't paying their bill, CNN added. "These were young guys who had a dream to start a successful company," their attorney Michael Fitzgerald told the network, "but X10 looked at their youth and thought they could wipe them out."
