Instant Jury : Legal Briefs

Instant Jury Acquires Onthejury.com

2010-09-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

HOBOKEN, NJ September 20, 2010 – Today Instant Jury (www.instantjury.com), the court of public opinion, acquired www.onthejury.com , a similar jury-of-your-peers type website where anonymous users post arguments and have the public jury vote for a winner.

“We are very excited to open up the Instant Jury community to the faithful users of On the Jury,” states Scott Kaufman, Marketing Director for Instant Jury. “We have a special awards system in place for On the Jury users so they can transition to our site’s system without having to start over [accumulating award points].”

Instant Jury awards points called Jury Credits to its users for completing daily tasks such as leaving comments or voting on cases. The jurors accumulate points and acquire various levels of status to form the Grand Jury on the site’s homepage.

“We are developing new programs with various partners for the Jury Credit system such as a redeemable prize bar and special site privileges based on status,” says Kaufman. “ It will be an interesting study to see if someone is willing to trade-in a social network status for monetary value.”

Instantjury.com has a global user base of 2,500 members and growing.

The Grand Jury : How to Earn Jury Credits 101

2010-09-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

Jury Credits are our way of keeping score for those who do their digital civic duty at The Court of Public Opinion. Jury Credits will not only earn you a spot on the Grand Jury but they will also give you some rank among the other jurors.

Levels:

Citizen: an Instant Jury virgin - 0-49 Credits
Samaritan: Experienced in the Instant Jury sack. Understands how the parts (of the cases) work - 50 Credits
Counselor: Banged every case from here to Beijing- 125 Credits
Judge: Master of the IJ Penal System- 175 Credits
Supreme Court Justice: the highest honor at the Court of Public Opinion: 1000 Credits

Do these easy tasks to start earning credits:

Join a Jury = +1 Jury Credit
Comment on a case = +1 Jury Credit (max 1 per case)
First Juror to Join the Jury = +3 Jury Credits
Serve as a Plaintiff or Defendant = +5 Jury Credits
Reaching 100 pt milestones (100, 200, 300 etc) = +10 Jury Credits

Fail to do these tasks and it'll cost ya'!

We take rank seriously so in order to maintain your standing and place among the Grand Jury, you must report regularly or fulfill your commitments or you will lose Jury Credits.

Fail to log in to Instant Jury in a 24 Hour Period= - 1 Jury Credit
Join a Jury but fail to place a vote= -1 Jury Credit

What can I do with my Jury Credits?

Instant Jury is still growing so nothing yet. But wait! We are working on instituting two new rewards for those with ample Jury Credits:

1) Special privileges at each level- judge a case, moderate the message board etc...

2) A prize bar where you can redeem your credits for prizes. Like real prizes and not the rubber monster pencil toppers you used to get for scoring 300 on SkeeBall.

However, we need to reach a certain number of users before we can institute these programs or no one will benefit. That's why we need your help to spread the word about Instant Jury. Tell your friends about cases, tweet out our links, update your facebook status with details about great cases...all of these things help us get more jurors. Sooner or later, you can use your Judge status to rule in favor of your friend as she sues her ex and then treat her to something like Cupcake Stop.com by trading in some credits.

More to come! Please contact us with any suggestions!

Also be on the watch for special contests to earn BIG CREDITS for small tasks.

The Jury Box: A New YouTube Channel

2010-09-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to The Jury Box, a new YouTube channel dedicated to the jurors of Instant Jury. We'll be using this channel for all sorts of videos... media coverage of Instant Jury, relevant evidence for cases, and of course YOU the JUROR. Check out the first video done by our friend Sean.

Sometimes typing into a comment box makes it difficult to get your point across or your words are misinterpreted by another juror. The Jury Box now makes it possible to comment on any case with video. At Instant Jury, no good deed goes unrewarded so to kick things off, we will be rewarding Jury Credits for all jurors using the new channel.

Post a video about a case = 500 Jury Credits
For every 500 views = 100 Jury Credits

This is a great way for new jurors to collect some jury credits fast and earn a spot on the Grand Jury.

Here's how to do it:

Record a video of yourself or something relevant to any of the cases (new or old) and post it to YouTube.
Make yourself known in the video; "Hi...this is Juror Wingman27 from InstantJury.com and I have a little something to say about the case "Always Late for Dinner"...
Send an email with a link to your video to judge[at]instantjury[dot]com .
The Judge will post your video to The Jury Box and announce to the jurors when the video is live.

This channel is designed to be a fun and interactive addition to the Instant Jury community. The Judge reserves the right to decline any video from being part of the channel in which no points will be rewarded. If you don't like it, then SUE 'EM!

Thanks for helping the Instant Jury community grow. We look forward to seeing your videos.

- Brett, Instant Jury Court Reporter

The Wedding Case Winner

2010-07-06T15:48:00.001-07:00

WOW! On behalf of our married friends and all of us here at Instant Jury we’d like to thank all of those jurors that participated in our recent contest. The suggestions were great and all were taken into consideration. There were some good comments from all! Everyone from our more seasoned jurors like tanyamae, ajdm326 and our old friend EvilPenguin to some of our newer faces like Joslynm, nufnuf and chasethdevil. I hope we continue to hear from you new jurors in the future!!

The contest was such a success we would like to do it again. So if you or your friends are having a dispute, email us at info [at] instantjury [dot] com and let’s get you on the site!! If your case is a good one, we’ll feature it and award prizes for the participants involved.

We’ve got a great community of jurors and we would once again like to thank everyone for participating. Without further ado, the winner of the dozen gourmet cupcakes from www.cupcakestop.com is juror Sayins_all !!!! We’ve emailed you and asked you to choose from one of over 70 different types of gourmet cupcakes from our sponsor.

Keep those cases coming and we look forward to hosting our next contest with some more great giveaways! Continue to check in with us for more details.

The Judge

Mo' Weddings, Mo' Problems

2010-06-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

...and where are problems best solved? Instant Jury of course!

I was at our friend Mike and Karen's shore house this weekend when I noticed the usually care free and happy couple seemed unusually tense and cold with each other. After a few John Daly's (Arnold Palmer iced tea + vodka), they opened up and told me they are at ends with each other over a planning problem for their wedding in December. Karen did not want my opinion since she knows I am best friends with her beau. Fine by me...I suggested that they take their case to Instant Jury and let the public help them find a solution. They agreed!

Since this is a case featuring friends that are near and dear to the Judge, the court will be awarding a prize of 12 gourmet cupcakes courtesy of our sponsor, Cupcake Stop.com. 12 cupcakes of your choice (a dozen of one flavor) will be shipped via FedEx to the juror who posts the most interesting, most original or most practical solution to our couple's woes.

The couple is preparing their statements and the case will be posted this Wednesday, June 23 at 12:00PM EST.

Here are the ground rules:

The comment must be left by a registered user. Anonymous comments will not be considered for the prize.
The juror must reside in the United States (Sorry internationals! We'll award you 200 Jury Credits if you win and reside elsewhere.)
The comment must be left before the verdict is delivered.
The Judge and the IJ staff will vote on the winner.

Good luck and thanks for helping out!

- The Judge

Score!

2010-05-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

CONTEST ENDED 6/1/10
If you're not part of at least one social network, you are quickly falling behind the times. The rate at which news travels has grown exponentially due to these virtual water coolers. Facebook, Twitter and Four Square are three of our favorites. If you add us as a friend on these sites, you will receive 150 Jury Credits for each site. We'll throw in an extra 50 for following us on Blogger too!

Just simply add us as a friend and send us a message with your Instant Jury username and we'll award you the points.

Twitter

Facebook

Facebook Fan Page

Foursquare

Blogger

Wasn't that easy?

Need Help Starting a Case?

2010-03-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

In today’s fast paced society, arguments can happen quickly. Knowing how to win them can help you get ahead. Here are 9 tips on how to effectively argue and get your way.

1)Pick your battles. This is the most important point of all. You certainly don’t want to argue with a 6 foot 5 inch bouncer when he insists that you had too much to drink. That’s probably an argument you’re not going to win. Pick the battles that you have a reasonable chance of winning.

2)What’s in it for me? Sometimes just knowing you’re right is justice enough but sometimes it pays to kick and scream to score those two first class tickets to Tahiti. The bigger the prize, the better your argument must be. Always know what you stand to win…and lose!

3)Stack the jury. You need to know who’s going to render the verdict before you start arguing. If you are trying to make a case for watching Monday Night Football to a group of women holding a Sex and the City DVD, you probably won’t get many votes. Make sure you’re on a level playing field.

4)Just the facts ma’am. If you don’t know the key points of your argument as well as your opponent’s, you will have a difficult time creating a sound case. Positioning your strong points against the holes of the oppositions’ will make for stronger case in your favor.

5)Find some red hands. Having irrefutable evidence helps make any case stronger. You can’t just cite your cousin Joey as saying “he thought so too!” Cousin Joey has no credibility but a photo of the crime or a paper trail will.

6)Check your emotions. As much as you would like to reach across the table and rip out the opposition’s endocrine system with your bare hands, showing this type of emotion could hurt your case. Presenting your argument with a sense of calm shows maturity and garners respect and credibility. Wait ‘til after the case is over to go curse like a sailor.

7)Don’t be a bully. Maybe your opponent has some skeletons in their closet that have no bearing on the argument at hand. Don’t reveal them. Doing so looks petty and will only make you lose favor in the eyes of the jury. If you have your facts straight, they will be ammo enough.

8)Win with pride. Saying “I told you so” can feel soooo good. But biting your tongue and not saying anything at all will help you in the long run. No one likes a know-it-all. Don’t be one. Your opponent will know they’re wrong and your silence will be salt in the wound.

9)Lose with dignity. You can’t win ‘em all and you won’t. Don’t be discouraged. Replay the argument in your head and identify where you went wrong. Next time, play it differently.

All New Scoring System is Here!

2010-03-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

*** THERE IS AN ERROR WITH THE DIGG BUTTON. ALL SCORES THAT WERE INFLATED AS A RESULT OF THIS ERROR WILL BE ADJUSTED ACCORDINGLY.

THE NEW SCORING SYSTEM IS LIVE!!!

Instant Jury is about making life more fair. So what good is our point system if its not fair for everyone! Some of the new users claim " Its too hard to get on the Grand Jury! How am I eeeever going to get there?" Well, now is your chance. As you know, JURY CREDITS get you to the holiest of jury boxes where you will join Instant Jury Legends Wrench Doozer, Evil Penguin and The Baz!

In the past, jurors could only earn credits for either posting a case or sitting in as a juror. So we thought, well, anyone can do that! But can they do it consistently? Hmmm? So here is the deal...the bestest most loyal, every day jurors will be rewarded. Everyone scream YEAHHH. The stop-in-now-and-again jurors will sustain. Everyone scream YEAHHH. And the I-only-peek-in-every-now-and-again-while-I-enjoy-a-triple-shot-fat-free-skim-soy-frappa-nyoint-nyoint-before-I-have-to-go-back-to-doing-my-TPS-reports kind of users may actually LOSE points. Everyone scream YEAHHH! Now if you want to score, you need to out jure your fellow jurors!

Here is how we will score things from now on:

Earn
Join a Jury = 1 Jury Credit
Comment on a case = 1 Jury Credit (max 1 per case)
Click the Digg Button on a case = 3 Jury Credits
First Juror to Join the Jury = 3 Jury Credits
Serve as a Plaintiff or Defendant = 5 Jury Credits
Reaching 1oo pt milestones (100, 200, 300 etc) = 10 Jury Credits

Lose
Fail to log in to Instant Jury in a 24 Hour Period= - 1 Jury Credit
Join a Jury but fail to place a vote= -1 Jury Credit

More to come! Please contact us with any suggestions!

Another Seinfeld Cookbook Concoction: The Marriage Ref

2010-02-22T17:43:00.000-08:00

An overheard NYC subway conversation:

Man: " I heard about this cool new idea that allows couples to air their dirty laundry in a public forum while the world decides who is right and who is wrong"

Woman: " Oh yeah...I heard about that too. Its called InstantJury.com!!"

Man: " Really? I don't think that's what it was called though. This idea is brand new. "

Woman: " No. That is definitely what it's called. Instant Jury has been around for over a year now. "

Man: " No, no. This idea is BRAND new. It was created by Jerry Seinfeld and is going to be on tv."

Woman: "Well, maybe the show is new but the idea is not. Instant Jury is the original for sure."

Man: " Well, you know the Seinfeld's and their "borrowing" of other people's ideas."

Woman: "Fuck Seinfeld."

Man: "Totally."

Instant Jury Guest Judge of the Week: Wendy Diamond, Forbes Magazine Canine Queen

2010-02-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

New York, NY. February 19, 2009 – Today Instant Jury (www.instantjury.com), the court of public opinion introduces guest judge, Wendy Diamond, the Martha Stewart of the milk and bone dish (The New Yorker). Wendy Diamond, leading pet lifestyle expert, TV personality and animal rescue advocate, as well as author of the recent It's a Dog's World: The Savvy Guide to Four-Legged Living, will serve as the first guest judge for Instant Jury.

Guest judges will be able to leave comments on everyday cases and also be able to provide the final verdict, no matter what the public is voting. Log on today to leave your pup cases for Wendy Diamond to provide expert advice and rule over the case.

“I am so excited to be the first guest judge for Instant Jury especially since my book, It’s a Dog’s World: The Savvy Guide to Four-Legged Living, has so many great tips for dog owners and dog lovers,” said Wendy Diamond. “I love the idea of being able to rule over a case – I have always wanted to be a judge.”

Instant Jury recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. In that time, Instant Jury has grown to be the go-to site to settle squabbles over fantasy football, roommate issues and any little thing that gets underneath your skin. With thousands of cases on Instant Jury, users have aired their dirty laundry about colleagues wearing too much perfume and replying all on an email conversation to pop culture issues such as Simon leaving American Idol and Sundance Film Festival movies.

Instant Jury allows users to settle disputes, sit on a jury, and be a judge. If you think you're in the right, you'd probably like to know, especially if others will back you up. Instant Jury is the place to air that dirty laundry -- er, evidence -- against meddling roommates, controlling girlfriends, and anyone else who deserves it. File the motion, set the stakes, and plead your case to an instant jury and let the public decide.

“Everyone is saying ‘content is king’ which is why we are so excited to bring guest judges to site to bring new and interesting cases and content,” said Brett Reilly, founder of Instant Jury. “We can’t thank Wendy Diamond enough for being our number one guest judge and we look forward to the other guest judges. Continue to log in to see who is ruling the cases.”

If you are interested in working with Instant Jury to be a guest judge, please contact info [at] instant jury [dot] com.

Happy Anniversary...to US!

2010-02-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

New York, NY. February 4, 2009 – Today Instant Jury (www.instantjury.com), the court of public opinion, celebrates its one-year anniversary. In just one year Instant Jury has grown to be the go-to site to settle squabbles over fantasy football, roommate issues and any little thing that gets underneath your skin. With thousands of cases on Instant Jury, users have aired their dirty laundry about colleagues wearing too much perfume and replying all on an email conversation to pop culture issues such as Simon leaving American Idol and Sundance Film Festival movies.

“Instant Jury’s one year anniversary and is a sign of the amount of users coming to the site and the stability of the company moving forward,” said Brett Reilly, founder of Instant Jury. “We started this site on a whim and have been shocked by the attention and the amount of people logging on to settle their squabbles. We look forward to growing the site as we take on year two.”

Looking toward the future, Instant Jury is raising funds to grow the site, restructure the site design and extend its reach to drive more users to the site. In addition, Instant Jury will be targeting different advertising opportunities with digital entertainment and pop culture partnerships.

“I love Instant Jury because when my friends and I are arguing about something stupid – the best quarterback in the NFL, how to say a certain word, you name it – I can just take them to www.instantjury.com to prove I am right,” says Andy Knapp, a frequent Instant Jury user. “It gives me bragging rights because I can say everyone else agreed with me.”

Instant Jury Takes on Sundance

2010-01-21T20:21:00.001-08:00

Visit www.instantjury.com to see Sundance squabbles go down.

New York, NY. January 20, 2009 – Today Instant Jury (www.instantjury.com), the court of public opinion, is taking on Sundance Film Festival from January 21-31 by letting Sundance attendees and those that want to follow along log on and argue which movies will win, be the first to get distributed, or score major star power. Not agreeing on who the coolest director is at Sundance, which movie is the best to hit the festival, or who the best looking celebrity walking down Main Street is? Take them to Instant Jury.

Users can log on beginning today, with the first Sundance Instant Jury court case. As horror becomes the most profitable genre in filmmaking, the first Sundance case involves which horror movie will be a break out hit at Sundance: Splice, featuring Adrien Brody as a scientist who plays dangerous games with human and animal DNA, or Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds, buried alive in a coffin with just a cell phone, a candle, and a knife. Log on now, view the evidence, and let your voice be heard. With Sundance beginning this Sunday, users can follow along and weigh in with thoughts on the entertainment buzz.

“People are passionate about movies and everyone has an opinion, so it makes sense that Instant Jury would be front and center for one of the premiere film events of the year,” said Brett Reilly, founder of Instant Jury. “Instant Jury helps settle those annoying arguments, through the help of the Instant Jury community, to prove just who is right. I have seen court cases range from office mates not washing their hands to couples arguing about cleaning gym equipment after use to thoughts on bigger issues in the media like Tiger’s affair. We’ve got it all.”

Instant Jury allows users to settle disputes, sit on a jury, and be a judge. If you think you're in the right, you'd probably like to know, especially if others will back you up. Instant Jury is the place to air that dirty laundry -- er, evidence -- against meddling roommates, controlling girlfriends, and anyone else who deserves it. File the motion, set the stakes, and plead your case to an instant jury and let the public decide.

“I love Instant Jury because when my friends and I are arguing about something stupid – the best quarterback in the NFL, how to say a certain word, you name it – I can just take them to www.instantjury.com to prove I am right,” says Andy Knapp, a frequent Instant Jury user. “It gives me bragging rights because I can say everyone else agreed with me.”

Read more at the Salt Lake Tribune.

The Most Useless Machine Ever...

2010-01-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

... and I NEED one.

Seriously, this is BIG news...

2010-01-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard, click here.

Be the Judge

2010-01-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

New Years Celebration, Religious Demonstration or Terrorist Attack?

Cheeeeeeeese

2009-12-29T04:52:00.001-08:00

DMV : Help Wanted
Job Requirements : Must have a pulse.
Maybe Mellow can get some help from these guys.

Return at your own Risk

2009-12-25T13:32:00.001-08:00

I would rather give myself a colonoscopy with a fistful of Legos
than return a gift on 12/26.

Happy Holidays from Instant Jury! Its not very often we get to enjoy a holiday on the front end of a weekend so fill the cooler with beer, stay in your pj's til dinnertime and for god sake people, stay out of the freakin' mall. That place will be flooded with H.B.'s (Human Beings.)

We're looking forward to hearing all of your holiday arguments and we promise we won't make you tender a gift receipt.

This is kinda neat...

2009-12-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

This guy does some cool things with regular objects. Check it out. (Is it weird that the beans look really good?)

Instant Jury Defendants of the Week.

2009-12-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

Each of these defendants will receive a generous prize of zero dollars and zero cents.

Click here to see the full list of mugshots.

The Virtual Den of 1984

2009-12-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

"Nothing says 'Cool-White-Dad' like a real big lolli."

Take a trip back to the 80's with this website designed to look like your cool friend Wally's basement. Change the channel and watch an episode of The Facts of Life, Perfect Strangers or The California Raisin's Christmas Special (Shows change randomly throughout the day.) Turn the volume up too. This way you wont hear me upstairs bangin' Wally's mom: http://betamaxmas.com/

Everyone Loves a Good Star Wars Joke

2009-12-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

Some of my best Christmas mornings were the ones where I got some hot Star Wars toys. I think I may have pooped myself a little when I opened up the Millenium Falcon and realized that I now owned the fastest ship in the galaxy (made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs!) And so it is that Star Wars still makes me feel like a kid. I enjoyed finding this collection of funny Star Wars Tees...just in time for Christmas: Star Wars Tees

15 Things You Should Know About Coffee

2009-12-19T08:48:00.000-08:00

As the Holidays are among us and we share the warm embrace of kith and kin, we sometimes need our old friend Joe to give us a pick me up before making one last stop at Aunt Gertrude's. Here are some fun facts about our pick me up pal: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/coffee

A list of people I want to sue:

2009-11-18T17:30:00.000-08:00

Mothers who let their children push the very stroller they should be riding in.
Women in heels walking slowly down a subway stairwell while the train is in the station.
The person from the Stella Artois Beer plant who decided to put the little paper wrapper around the top of the bottle.
The person who created the Geico googly-eyes commercial.
The guy who brings his girlfriend to poker night. (but ok if she is in a bikini and serves beer)
People who talk about the weather in a crowded elevator.
This knot in my back
New parents who throw Jack and Jill baby showers.
The small rhinoceros that runs circles in my head after a night of drinking.
Ron Jaworski

The Box

2009-11-05T18:17:00.000-08:00

Listen up Jurors! Take a break from the courtroom madness and check out the new Richard Kelly Film, The Box, opening this weekend. The movie stars Frank Langella, Cameron Diaz, James Mardsen and Instant Jury's own, Ryan Woodle (the guy from the How to Video on the home page!)

Support our fellow juror and do your civic duty by going to the movies this weekend and saluting his silver screen appearance.

-The Judge

Instant Jury Summons Jon and Kate to the Court of Public Opinion

2009-10-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK, October 19 – Instant Jury (www.InstantJury.com), the premier site for dispute resolution, is calling out Jon and Kate Gosselin, the stars of the TLC reality show, Jon and Kate plus 8, to air their arguments live on their website. The site, also known as the court of public opinion, serves as a virtual courtroom for anonymous users who wish to have arguments settled by a jury of their peers.

Brett Reilly, owner of Instant Jury, explains why: “These individuals are arguing through media channels that often distort their side of the story through editing,” he says. “Instant Jury will give them a chance to say their piece directly to the public with no media interference. This way the public can chose a side once and for all.”

Instant Jury has rendered verdicts for over one thousand cases posted by anonymous users serving as plaintiffs and defendants. Topics range from roommate tiffs to property disputes. A jury of users signs on to each case and decides the outcome by a majority vote.

Brett adds, “ The legal fees these two are incurring are incredible. Jon’s lawyer accompanies him on every television show. Leave the lawyers in the office for the serious issues and try to win the public’s acceptance at our site for free.”

About Instant Jury:

You never know what’s going to happen at Instant Jury. The site draws users in the middle of disagreements – from friendly to ferocious – to decide who’s actually right and who’s dead wrong. Cases are decided upon by a team of jurors who log on to vote on which side has the better argument. A simple majority decides the outcome of each case. People who don’t have a bone to pick can become members of juries. There are even “stakes” that can be agreed upon by each party. The beauty of the site is that cases can range from roommate disputes to serious issues between couples. And the outcomes of these cases are anything but ordinary. Instant Jury launched in March of 2009 and has a rapidly growing user base of 1500+ registered jurors.

Jurors of the Week

2009-10-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

Here are the jurors of the week for week ending 10/10:

Buc
Senor_Perfecto
Law Space
Xanju
llyonais
The Baz

If your username is mentioned anywhere on this post, send an email to brett [at] instantjury [dot] com to claim your Instant Jury Squeezy gavel!

Where's the Judge?

2009-10-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that Judge Hugh D. Cyde has disappeared from the site. Where did he go? As Instant Jury grew bigger, we were constantly asked by our new members " Why is Wilford Brimley your mascot?
Well, we didnt really want any legal trouble from ol' Wilford by infringing upon his image so we decided to create a new look for the Judge! And, we want your help!

Send us your sketches, photoshops, quarks, clay sculptures and Light Brite renderings for consideration to brett [at] instantjury [dot] com. Be sure to include your username.

All submissions will receive:

100 jury credits
Instant Jury squeeze gavel

If your design is chosen for use on the website, you will win a Canon Elph Digital Camera and 500 Jury credits!!!

* by submitting your art to Instant Jury you hereby grant to Instant Jury a worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, perpetual and irrevocable right and license to use, reproduce, distribute, perform, prepare derivative works from and display such Member Submissions on the Site and in promotional materials and to provide the Services.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary licenses, rights, consents and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses to Instant Jury. Instant Jury will own all rights, title and interest in and to all derivative works and compilations of Member Submissions that are created by Instant Jury ("Derivative Works"), including all worldwide intellectual property rights therein.

New Spinoff Site Idea: Invest Now!

2009-09-28T19:10:00.001-07:00

After leaving my tv remote all the way on the other side of the couch, I lost control of my viewing choice from 6:30 to 7PM. The nightly news slyly rolled into the show TMZ. Amid all the senseless news bits about celebrities looking terrible, I was able to create a new novelty idea; InstantDivorce.com! Our first users could be Fred Durst and his wife of 3 months (done) or Chloe Kar-douche-ian and Lamar Odom who are sure to be splitting ways soon.

These two knew each other for exactly one whole month before getting engaged. Not even. (30 days has September, April, June and November) Yeah, so they are a few days short. The case would start like this :

Chloe: Plaintiff: I don't know how I failed to see that this wouldnt work. I mean, like, we had so much in common. We're both 7 feet tall, wear XL Fruit of the Looms, hail from the Amazon rain forest and both have taken a back door pass from Kobe Bryant. But then I woke up one morning and was like, whoa, you're like only an athlete and are not really that famous for anything. I can't handle it anymore. I want to be the only one in my family that wears a size 14 shoe.

Lamar: Defendant: But we're in love. I even got a big gol' chain that says your name on it and I cant return it. Please baby, dont leave me now. I didnt even get a chance to race Bruce Jenner around the house at the family bbq. Tell you what...let's arm wrestle for it.

...and then the likes of Kamel, Syncitystar, Old Hag, Mermowtimi and RunswithScissors get to vote on how they divide up their assets. If only it were that easy!

Well, maybe it will never happen but at least we can have some fun deciding on dirty deeds in the parents house, emails vs landlines, and what to do in San Diego.

Oh yeah... we were featured as the Cool Site of the Day on www.AskMen.com this week! The IJ buzz continues!!!

Jury Honor Roll from week of 9/21:

Mingo
Jimmy Wang
Old Hag
rrh0tm0ney

If your username is mentioned anywhere on this post, send an email to brett [at] instantjury [dot] com to claim your Instant Jury Squeezy gavel!

If only Nelson Mandela were here...

2009-09-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

All the world leaders and world dictators descend on New York City this week for the Mideast Peace Talks (is that an oxmoron?) I say we send out Instant Jury summons to Khadafy and Ahmadinejad to let Evil Penguin and Wrench Doozer serve 'em some justice!

And how does Donald Trump manage to get his name in the news? Unless Rosie O'Donnell moved to Kuwait (due to her penchant for camel steak), he should go pitch a tent in a little place called No-one-really-effing-cares-about-you-ville. What a mess!

Not to mention, I have to fight East Side gridlocks, unemployed protesters (this is an assumption but who has time to protest with a day job?), orange, no yellow, no orange, no, no yellow terror alert levels, and the usual Lexington Ave vagrants just to get to my chambers. But, at least we have some great cases this week! Broken Beer Mugs, Dangerous Games and Serious Issues await rulings from YOU, the INSTANT JURY.

Oh, Nelson...if only everyone could see things your way.

TRIPLE Credits: How to get on the Grand Jury Quick

2009-09-09T14:31:00.001-07:00

Trying to make the Grand Jury but can't seem to crack the top 10? Now is your chance to earn TRIPLE the jury credits. Any user participating in steps one, two and four below will receive TRIPLE the point value through 11/1/09. Just to make it fair for those users who have already friended and loved us: refer a friend and have them leave your IJ username along with theirs and we'll give you the difference in points!

The race is still on for the first juror to 1000 jury credits! Big prizes and big titles abound.

Ongoing ways to earn points:

1)Friending - Add us as a friend and post a comment with your IJ username (or reference your IJ username if you already registered under another name on one or all of the sites below and earn 10 jury credits per site x 3 = 30 JURY CREDITS THROUGH 11/1/09

Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Blogspot

2)Loving - Give us a thumb's up, digg us, and write a quick positive review of Instant Jury using your IJ username ( or just sign the review using your IJ username if you are already registered under another name) on one or all of the sites below and receive 15 jury credits per review x 3 = 45 JURY CREDITS THROUGH 11/1/09

Stumbleupon
Neatorama
Buzzagent
Current
Digg
Ebaumsworld
Youtube

Send an email to Steve [at] instantjury [dot] com with your username and the sites you posted on. Once we verify your claim, your points will be awarded!

3) Serving - You can always earn points each day by serving as a juror on cases. Jury duty earns 1 jury credit per case.

4) Suing- Earn 5 jury credits by serving as the plaintiff or defendant on any case. Limit one case at a time (you must have a verdict rendered on one case before receiving credit for starting another.) 15 JURY CREDITS THROUGH 11/1/09

The After School Special Returns!

2009-09-09T13:52:00.001-07:00

When I was a young lad, I used to race home from school, slam the door on my sister 's face, run to the tv and grab the humongous box controller with the 40 foot extension chord/tripwire and get in my comfy position on the couch. Why? So I could learn the life lessons taught in the always dramatic, always tear jerking After School Special. Kids with missing limbs, drunk driving accidents, pregnancies...OMG the horror. I would go to bed on a full stomach of cheetos and grape drink with a worried feeling that one wrong move would put me in my very own ASS (what an acronym!)

Well the show is no longer, but lessons can still be learned. How? But at Instant Jury of course!

Each case offers a moral and life lesson that would make Aesop proud (google it kids.) So that is why we are making Contest #3 our After School Special competition. Winner gets a CANON ELPH digital camera and 300 jury credits. To win, you must beat your opponent by the largest margin of victory on any single case submitted during the time period.

Here are the rules:

Start Date: 9/14/09 12:00PM EST
End Date:9/30/09 11:59 PM EST

1) The case MUST originate from Facebook: Use the Instant Jury App found here. NOTE: The case will originate with your REAL name but will be replaced by your IJ username when it becomes live on http://www.instantjury.com/. Only your facebook friends will see your real name.

2) You must have at least 25 jurors on the case. Use the Tell Your Friends About This Case feature to spread the word and help sway the jury in your favor.

3) Tie goes to the juror with the most juror credits from the ongoing contest. Click here to find out how to gain points.

4) All cases must comply with the terms and conditions of http://www.instantjury.com/. Instant Jury reserves the right to end the contest at any time.

School 'em and Sue'em. Good luck!

-The Judge

The Grandest Juror: Contest #2 Video Show-CASE

2009-08-15T15:08:00.001-07:00

The fight for the top spot in the Grand Jury is still up for grabs. Evil Penguin still holds first place honors while newcomers AskMe and The Baz cracked the top five by picking up points in the ongoing contests (click here to learn how.) ChuckC remains consistent but will have to participate in some extracurricular activities to move ahead. And what ever happened to Mr Yuck? We haven't seen his sour face in weeks. I am willing to bet Kamel, Tanyamae2000 and You_be_the_judge will be overtaking him if he doesn't report for jury duty soon. He must be listening to that new iPod he won last month. Bammer and Wrench Doozer are also still in the hunt!

Congratulations to Casper/Hot Chick for winning the Bust the Jury Box contest. They had a record setting 199 jurors on their case. I think it helped that they posted it the same day Steve and Brett were on MTV but that's they way it goes. Lesson: Always have a case at the ready. You never know when you may win! They take home 100 Jury Credits and will share a Canon Elph camera. However, knowing these two, they will likely be back at Instant Jury next week fighting over it!

Contest #2: Video Show-CASE can land someone in the top spot QUICKLY. Its simple...post a video case and win 150 Jury Credits for both the plaintiff and the defendant. You must have at least 30 jurors to qualify so use the Tell Your Friends About This Case feature to stack the jury (prefarably in your favor!)

The contest starts Sunday August 16th at 12:00pm and will run through August 31st 11:59am. Click here to see a sample case. Instant Jury reserves the right to remove any content that the Judge feels is inappropriate. All uploaded material must meet the terms and conditions of the site.

Good luck!

Instant Jury appears on MTV's "It's On with Alexa Chung"

2009-08-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

On August 5th, the creators of Instant Jury, Brett and Steve, made an appearance on the MTV show "It's On with Alexa Chung." The show was live across the nation as the guys talked with Alexa about the site before settling two disputes with audience members.

See the clip here.

Also on the show were Bethenny Frankel, Karolina Kurkova, The Duke Spirit and Fabolous.

Thanks to our jury members at MTV for getting us on the show!!!!

-The Judge

Do you have what it takes to become "The Grandest Juror?" (Win a Wii, Canon Elph and other cool prizes!)

2009-07-24T17:06:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't love a good competition? While our plaintiffs and defendants duke it out for stakes such as dinners and six-packs of Schlitz, why not let our jurors duke it out for great prizes like digital cameras and ipods while they do their civic duty?!

How, you say? Two words: Jury Credits.

Each month we will have a series of mini-contests. All jurors, as well as plaintiffs and defendants, will be eligible to earn big time jury credits and great prizes. Every single credit earned during these contests will qualify you to win big prizes as well as working toward 1000 jury credits and the ultimate honor: Supreme Court Justice: the highest title at Instant Jury. The winner will hold the title solely...that is, as long as they can maintain their point lead during the subsequent months!

How to earn points:

Contest 1:
Title: Bust the Jury Box

1st Prize: 100 jury credits and a Canon Elph SD1100 IS 8 megapixel digital camera.
2nd Prize: 75 jury credits and an Instant Jury squeezy gavel
3rd Prize: 50 jury credits and an Instant Jury squeezy gavel
Runner Up: 25 jury credits and an Instant Jury squeezy gavel

Starts: August 1, 2009 12:00PMEST
Ends: August 14, 2009 12:00PMEST
Rules: The plaintiff/defendant who post a case and round up the most jurors in the time allotted will be the winner. The jury MUST contain at least 30 members to qualify.
Hint 1: Use our facebook application to start a case with one of your facebook friends. Your case will show on your newsfeed or post the link to your case on your wall.
Hint 2: Start a case, wait for the defendant to accept the stakes and then click Tell Your Friends About This Case. Enter your friends email addresses, tell them to join you need help and ask them to join the jury. They will be sent a clickable link that will take them to your case.

Contest 2:
Title: TBA
Prize: TBA
Starts: August 15, 2009 12:00PMEST
Ends: August 31, 2009 12:00PMEST

Contest 3:
Title: TBA
Prize: TBA
Starts: September 1, 2009 12:00PMEST
Ends: September 15, 2009 12:00PMEST

Ongoing ways to earn points:

1)Friending - Add us as a friend and post a comment with your IJ username ( or reference your IJ username if you already registered under another name on one or all of the sites below and earn 10 jury credits per site.

2)Loving - Give us a thumb's up, digg us, and write a quick positive review of Instant Jury using your IJ username ( or just sign the review using your IJ username if you are already registered under another name) on one or all of the sites below and receive 15 jury credits per review.

3) Serving - You can always earn points each day by serving as a juror on cases. Jury duty earns 1 jury credit per case.

4) Suing- Earn 5 jury credits by serving as the plaintiff or defendant on any case. Limit one case at a time (you must have a verdict rendered on one case before receiving credit for starting another.)

Use all of the above to earn jury credits, win prizes and compete to win the ultimate prize: a Nintendo Wii + other cool stuff (total prize pack worth $500) and the sole Instant Jury title of Supreme Court Justice. Doing your civic duty has never been so much fun!

* All contests participants are subject to the terms and conditions of www.instantjury.com. Instant Jury reserves the right to end the contest(s) at any time.
** All point totals will be updated on the Grand Jury scoreboard every Sunday night by 11:59PM EST.

New Voting/ Join the Jury Process

2009-07-22T03:49:00.000-07:00

Attention all jurors (especially those of you with the attention span of a gnat.) We are proud to announce that the voting process has been simplified from four clicks to one! Here at Instant Jury, we respect our user's pointer fingers and want to ensure that there is no juror fatigue during our trials. Starting on 7/23/09, this is how to join the jury and vote for your winner:

If the trial is in "Plaintiff is Entering Arguments" or "Defendant is Entering Arguments" stage, click JOIN THE JURY as you would would normally.
Once both arguments have been entered and the case is in "Jury is Deliberating" stage, look for a "Vote for me" button under each argument. Clicking this button will a) automatically put you on the jury and b) place a vote for the side you want to win.
After your vote is cast, you will be able to see who is winning the case in real time. Don't like the way the case is shaping up? Well, Tell Your Friends About this Case and get them to help weigh in!

If you have any questions, click contact us at the bottom of the home page for assistance.

We have a new juror contest on the horizon. Look for the banner ad on the homepage or check back here for details soon!

"Hey Jon-a-tin! We gotta winna!"

2009-07-02T11:24:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July to all! We had a great week here at Instant Jury with a record case and a winner of the "Race to the 4th" contest. Thanks to all who participated in both.

Record Case!
Monday started off with the case of the "Underwater Tit" as the administrator from www.thedanzatap.com sued one of their site's visitors, Harry Balsagna for posting a questionable pic on the site. The HUGE jury ruled in favor of the admin and Harry is now banned from the danza tap indefinitely. Ugh! Tough loss. You are always welcome here Harry!
Check out the danza tap's sister site www.takeareport.com. Its easy to get lost at TAR for a few hours so don't say I didnt warn you!

The Race to the 4th Contest
Congratulations to our winner, MR. YUCK from Baltimore, MD for earning his 100th jury credit in only 7 days. Mr. Yuck takes home an iPod touch and is quickly closing the gap on our one and only juror with Judge status, the clever and always insightful, EVILPENGUIN. Which one will be the first to reach the newly added status of Supreme Court Justice?

New Voting Process
We are currently in development for a new, easier voting process. You will soon be able to vote with one click and see how all the votes are stacking up for each party in real time. Not the way Uncle Sam would have done it but hey, we make the rules here.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

The "Race to the 4th of July Contest." Win an iPod Touch!

2009-06-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

1st place: iPod Touch
2nd-5th place: $25 American Express gift card and an IJ squeezey gavel

The first person to earn 100 NEW jury credits in the time period beginning on June 26 at 12:00PM EST and ending on July 3 at 11:59AM EST will win an iPod Touch.

Here's how to play:

1) If you don't already have a username, get one! Click here.

2) Earn jury credits by performing different Instant Jury tasks:

1 credit: Sit on a jury
5 credits: Befriend us! Add us as a friend on Facebook , Twitter and/or Blogspot (sign in with your gmail, AIM or yahoo ID) and write on our wall/tweet or comment with the phrase "Give this juror an iPod!" with your Instant Jury username to earn points. (Max of 15 credits)
8 credits: Write a review on stumbleupon.com (click here and search for Instant Jury; click "I Like this" and write a review) , digg.com (click here; then click "Digg it" and leave a comment), and/or current.com (click here; then click "vote up" and leave a comment.) (Max of 24 points) USE YOUR INSTANT JURY USERNAME TO GET THE CREDIT!
15 credits: Sue a friend. Serve as the plaintiff or defendant and receive 15 jury credits each. Click the SUE 'EM tab on the homepage to get started. (Limit 3 cases per juror; 1 case at a time; cases must meet IJ Terms and Conditions) (Max of 45 points)

Each way to earn will have a time/date stamp when the task is completed. The winner is defined as the juror to earn all points the fastest. Point earnings will be verified through the date stamp.

The contest will end as soon as five jurors earn 100 new credits and the credits are verified by the IJ staff.

GOOD LUCK JURORS!!!

-The Judge

IJ reserves the right to change or modify the rules of this contest, as well as cancel this contest at any time. By agreeing to the Terms and Conditions of this website, you are agreeing to the rules of this contest.

Welcome to the NEW Instant Jury

2009-06-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks for visiting. We’ve got a lot of exciting things going on, from streamlining the argument process to launching new ways of rewarding our most frequent users. Here are just a few recent updates:

Become a member of the Grand Jury: A new rankings box on the home page listing our best jurors. To get your name and move up on the list, earn credits for sitting on a jury, opening new cases, and referring new friends.

New contests: The chance to win big in upcoming contests and events. Stay tuned to the site for additional information and the opportunity to win great prizes.

Quicker cases: We’ve cut down on the time it takes to nab a decision with no more closing arguments. Now, all you need to do is enter your argument once for the jury to decide your fate.

And yes, we’re famous (okay, not really). We were just interviewed by The Jersey Journal. To read the article, click here.

- Judge Hugh D. Cyde