Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 23:49:06 +0000 (GMT) From: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> To: grog@lemis.com (Greg Lehey) Cc: gdk@ccomp.inode.COM, jkh@time.cdrom.COM, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: mv /usr/src/games /dev/null - any objections? Message-ID: <199711042349.QAA25437@usr02.primenet.com> In-Reply-To: <19971104112409.54867@lemis.com> from "Greg Lehey" at Nov 4, 97 11:24:09 am
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> > I can understand how mixing high-priced corporate lawyers with > > public-domain source code can drive you beyond frustration into > > the Great Beyond, but scrapping all of the games seems a bit ham > > handed. Why not send any questionable source code to the > > corporations in question, and let them make all of thier > > objections at once? > > How do you know which corporations are in question? They mumble at you like they mumbled at Jordan, and they're in your competition space. For example, if SCO complains about a trademark, you have to take it seriosly. If a computer game company for another platform complains about a trademark, you give them the finger (but only after they decline to port to your platform to make available the services they want you to delete). Speaking of which, why did Tetris get deleted instead of having the "PROGRAMNAME=..." set in the Makefile? I still think this is stupid as all get out... > > And I'm not sure it's necessary to remove all traces of the > > game, just all traces of the trademarked word or phrase. > > It doesn't seem to be as simple as that. At least, it wasn't with > T*tr*s. I seem to be saying this a lot in this thread, but... Bullshit. It's as simple as competition space. Apple Computer couldn't damage Apple Record's "good name and faith in the industry" because they weren't in the same industry. Hasbro/Tetris/et. al. are not in the "games for FreeBSD" business. The question is how much legality is required. Doesn't Walnut Creek or FreeBSD, Inc. have a lawyer on retainer who is at least willing to test the water with an "Apple vs. Apple" citation in a response letter? Or is the automatic reaction going to be to bend over for people who, dog-like, pee all over any name-space they see to mark "their" territory? Why the hell do you think domain names cost $50 a pop now? It's because Proctor and Gamble registered all their trademarks as domains. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.
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