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Instead of computers, Jason Calacanis's Mahalo Web directory depends on entirely on humans to make sure its listings are accurate. Calacanis contends that humans are cheaper than servers and more accurate, too. Good theory, but here's the problem: computers only rise up against you in science fiction. Humans? Yeah, they ask for more all the time. One such fleshy Web crawler says Mahalo hasn't paid him enough for the work he's done. As a result, he plans to sue.

The disgruntled Mahalo contractor, who so far has posted anonymously to his blog, writes:

It looks as though the inevitable is likely, in less than a week I'll be forced to file a lawsuit against Mahalo.com and Jason Calacanis for failure to pay in accordance to the terms of our contracts. I made pretty much every attempt possible to reach an agreement and avoid going through the court process. However it's beginning to look fairly dim.

Asked about the news, Jason Calacanis said, "We don't comment on legal issues." We should have asked him how many lawsuits Google's servers have filed against Larry Page and Sergey Brin.