Slashdot Mirror
Barney vs. Right to Satire
blkros writes "Looks like Barney isn't so lovable after all, or at least his lawyers aren't, as this article at Wired shows. They are starting to bring action against web sites that disparage the "lovable", purple dinosaur." The specific case they talk about is a page listing a hundred ways to kill a purple dinosaur, which strikes me as pretty fair satire (and a justifiable cause).
If people are interested in what to say when confronted by this sort of letter, they could do worse than to follow the example of the guys who wrote the Ulysses for Dummies web site. They got a letter from lawyers for IDG Publications (the publishers of the ...for Dummies series). Their reply is priceless. Copy and paste away!
...phil
...phil
"For a list of the ways which technology has failed to improve our quality of life, press 3."
What's a Soccer Mom?
I keep seeing references to it from Americans mostly but I don't know what it means. What's the difference between a Soccer mom and a regular Mom?
PS: yes, I know Americans call Football "Soccer". the relation to parenting escapes me. could someone explain?
--= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
If one goes to here at jihad.net, you'll see they've already been at the Jihad's collective doorstep and they've responded accordingly- acknowleging the trademark and indicating that it's parody and therby protected under US codes...
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
Every once in a blue moon, one of Lyons' employees or one of their legal council would pop into the list and hassle us. We'd tell them that it was parody, and as such, it's protected- go take a hike. (And they would...)
As for activity... One can always go and check it for yourself.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
I love Barney.
Dead.
For Mac OS 9 and down (aka, "classic Mac OS"), there exists a game called barney Carnage.
You can download it here
It's a regular activity at home. When the kids are asleep.
Karma karma karma karma karmeleon: it comes and goes, it comes and goes.
>Lawyers are actually a minority in Congress; there
>are more businessmen there now than lawyers.
But businessmen are easily intimidated by lawyers, since a lawsuit means a loss of money no matter who wins, and making money is what business is all about. Having more businessmen probably doesn't really change much, unfortunately.
And regarding Congress and its current crop of Representatives, here's a quick note to you Americans: If you're legally allowed to vote, and you don't, you don't deserve to celebrate the 4th of July. Shame on you.
After the recent distribution conflict, the battle of the languages, and the horrific Great Editor War, something comes along to completely unite all Slashdotters in mutual hatred against a single menace...
Try to find the monster manual entry for Barney sometime (I could, but I can't be bothered). Basically, it has Barney attended by a number of zombies...
--
To whom did you write the letter? The lawyer who sent the email? The recipient who apparently is somehow connected with UM's physics deparment? Your reasoning here escapes me.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Barney *was* on the grassy knoll. Barney Fife that is. Think about it. They came up with the "single bullet theory". Who's most closely associated with a single bullet? Barney Fife! Is there any hard evidence that he was really in Mayberry on that day? If he says he was staying at the Raleigh YMCA, how do we know that the guest register wasn't doctored? How do we know that the bumbling deputy persona wasn't just a cover for the most cunning, cold-hearted secret operative this nation has ever known?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
They always use the melody of songs that have been around long enough to be in public domain so that they don't have to pay anyone anything (same reason cartoons used various classical pieces), but can, of course, copyright the version with their lyrics.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
Don't tell us, tell Lyons. Write them a letter and tell them why.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
While combing their hair and talking on a cell phone. And then they give you the finger after almost running over you. As you may have guessed, PMS plays a large part in this lifestyle.
Spoil your ballot. It's a vote. It shows that you care, but don't care for the choices the political duopoly and its lackeys give you.
A spoiled ballot is still a vote, it's just a different kind of vote.
--G
It seems that they went for higher profile sites first, particularily the ones that criticized the educational content of the show. I just decided to take the site down and not try to bother fighting it as I'm in Canada and don't have the time or the resources to fight this.
You can view the whole letter here. Maybe if enough people protest, I'll put the site back up somewhere else. However, if you look through Yahoo's Barney section here, you'll see plenty of infringement on the fan pages. The fan pages are much more blantantly infringing than any of the stuff I put up. Don't they have to threaten everybody that infringes, or else it won't hold up in court?
Yahoo has delisted many of the now removed sites under the "Anti-Barney" category. At one time there were close to 20 of them.
--
Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness.
BY SLASHDOT
Re: Unauthorized Use of Intellectual Property
Dear Sir or Madam:
This firm is counsel to Lyons Partnership, L.P. ("Lyons Partnership"), the owners of the exclusive right to use the copyrighted children's dinosaur character Barney® as well as the federally registered and famous trademark and service mark Barney.
It has come to the attention of Lyons Partnership that you are operating a website found at URL:
www.cybercheeze.com/humor/list/31.html.
We have reviewed your website and have concluded that it incorporates the use and threat of violence towards the children's character Barney without permission from Lyons Partnership.
As a result of Lyons Partnership's continuous promotion of the Barney character, Barney has come to be recognized as a distinctive and famous trademark and service mark. Lyons Partnership vigorously objects to the unsavory and unwholesome content that you have associated with its trademark and service mark Barney. The content that you have placed on your website, used in conjunction with the federally registered and famous trademark and service mark Barney, including all relevant hyperlinks to third-party websites, constitutes a violation of the Federal Trademark Dilution Act pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1125(c)(1). By associating the Barney trademark with violence, your website tarnishes the distinctive qualities of the trademark and service mark Barney. Remedies available to Lyons Partnership based upon a violation of the Federal Trademark Dilution Act include a permanent injunction, damages, costs and attorneys' fees.
Your actions also constitute direct copyright infringement, and make you subject to injunction and liable to Lyons Partnership for its damages, costs and attorneys' fees. Pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 501(a), "anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner as provided by sections 106 through 118, or of the author as provided in 106(a), is an infringer of the copyright or right of the author.." Lyons Partnership hereby demands that you immediately cease and desist from diluting its trademark Barney, as well as reproducing, distributing, performing by means of digital audio transmission, displaying, or in any other way infringing upon Lyons Partnership's copyrights.
Lyons Partnership is prepared to pursue all available remedies to protect its intellectual property rights. However, Lyons Partnership will refrain from taking immediate legal action upon condition that you provide written assurances by June 27, 2001, that you have ceased and desisted from diluting the trademark and service mark Barney, as well as reproducing, distributing, performing by means of digital audio transmission, or displaying the copyrighted character Barney. Your written assurances must also state that you have removed all web page content relating to the unlawful use of the Barney trademarks or copyrights as well as any links to the official Barney website. We await an immediate response from you or your counsel.
Sincerely,
GIBNEY, ANTHONY & FLAHERTY, LLP
By: atthew W. Carlin
--
Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness.
I tried downloading it from several sites, all reported that the file didn't exist. Did it get pulled by the lawyers?
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
I hate you, .45
You hate me,
Let's tie Barney to a tree!
Then we'll take a
And shoot him in the head,
Now that purple fag is dead!
--
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Just be glad /. is only in 2D, not 3D. You'd be in a world of hurt, then.
--
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
> Somebody tell me where I can donate to the cause.
Three letters:
EFF
(My monthly charitable donation goes to them, and they get everything in my will. Kids want money? They'll have to work for it just like I did. *That* is capitalism.)
Reality has a liberal bias
I read this a couple of days ago on OverLawyered; they focussed more on Cybercheeze's reply. This is how we should all react to spurious lawsuits.
1999's TV movie Atomic Train had all references to "nucelar waste" changed to "toxic waste" in post-production after a "request" by the network. Gosh, I wonder why? :P
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
I sure hope the Lyons Partnership got their own 'intellectual property' house in order and paid the royalties due to whoever for the use of that annoying 'nick nack, paddywhack' song.
If they didn't, it's ok for them to steal, but not ok for us to criticize them?
I loved the cybercheese response, and agree totally with the poster who suggested a federal version of the SLAPP law.
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. - George Orwell or George Bush?
For the record, my kids watched Barney and I thought the show was fine (at least until the massive proliferation of nasal-talking puppets on the show; I have a violent hatred of nasal-talking puppets). Anyhow, my kids now primarily enjoy Thomas the Tank Engine and Peanuts.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Oh well.
It seems that some legal firms have found a new "make money - FAST" -scheme. IMO the interesting part is to see how long it will take, until the clients will realize that they'll be paying not only the huge legal costs but also the bad publicity caused by these cases.
Wendy R. Leibowitz summerized it well in her article.
As a sidenote: Attrition.org is also under fire because of the alleged trademake violation - they are hosting some priceless-campaing parodies and the lawyers of MasterCard still haven't got anything better to do...Link
Ville
My DeCSS archive:
The stereotypical activity for suburban children is to play soccer in local leagues. It tends to be the mother's job to take them to practice & games; hence the `soccer mom.' It refers to an imagined electorate of politically moderate women voters which politicians imagine will catapult them into victory. Given that so far the `soccer mom vote' has neither defeated nor won any victory for anyone, I find the whole idea rather suspect.
When lawywers are on the endangered species list, the world will be a better place.
Do your part, shoot or hang a lawyer each day. Better yet, go on a shooting spree at the closest law school! You'll be sure to kill off lots of them, and before they get a chance to create problems like the DMCA or CDA or COPA or you name it.
Acutally come to think of it politicians were in on all that too, so lets be sure and kill them off too.
(If you think I'm serious then you're too crazy to be reading slashdot)
Lee
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
*cough* And here is Part 1 of 2 (all the way back from 1993 and before.. note: at that time, I updated it a little, but I did not write it):
Message-ID:
Newsgroup: alt.tv.dinosaurs.barney.die.die.die
Organization: Macalester College
DAY OF THE BARNEY
Mrs. Thompson kissed her two children, Jenny and Robby, and sat them before the
television set. Their eyes widened and gleamed as the picture faded in,
revealing the one who had become a dear and cherished friend over the last few
months. Mrs. Thompson smiled at their captivated wonder, and went to the
kitchen to prepare dinner. As she readied the vegetables for stir-fry, she
peered into the living room and watched the blubbery, purple dinosaur prance
and roll across the screen.
"Silly fat reptile," she muttered, and went back to her preparations.
If Jenny and Robby were annoyed by her remark, they made no sign of it.
Instead, they listened and watched in rapt attention to Barney the Dinosaur,
who was being broadcast live from the nation's capital. The plaza was filled
with thousands of wide-eyed youths, who wriggled and squirmed for a closer look
at the Purple One. Off to the wings, the green dinosaur known as Baby Bop
giggled and preened, occasionally blowing a kiss to the children in the crowd.
Finally, following a light song and dance about sharing, Barney sauntered up to
the podium and spoke:
"Hello, all my friends out there! I'm so happy you could make it to my special
concert. Have I told you lately how much I love you?"
Children worldwide simultaneously burst, "I love you too, Barney!"
The Purple One giggled and for a moment appeared to blush. "Love is such a
wonderful thing. Especially the love you and I share for each other. I also
want you to know how much of a special friend you are to me. Are you my friend
also?"
The response was thunderous, rising from the kids in the plaza, across the
living rooms scattered across the nation.
"YES!!!"
"Well, that's wonderful!" reeled Barney. "But do you know what, kids? I have
something really, really sad to tell you." He sighed, letting his immense,
dead eyes roll to the floor. "Not everyone is Barney's friend....some people
don't even want you to be my friend."
Protests and cries began to rise collectively within the entranced mass. The
Beast of Purple quieted them with a raise of his hand. He continued:
"There are people who don't want me to love you, and want to take you away from
me. These people are very bad, and want to hurt your loving friend Barney.
Some of them may be people who are very close to you. But do you know what?"
The audience of children silently yet anxiously awaited the answer. An unholy
stillness had fallen upon the crowd. Many of the adults began to feel
isolated, targeted.....unwelcome.
"None of them, not a single one, loves you as much as I do. I'm your only real
friend in the world. I really love you, I do! But these bad people don't.
Some of them may be your neighbors. Some of them may be your teachers. And
some of them....."
"Who, Barney, who?!?" shrieked a young girl from a barricade.
"...some of them may be _your_ parents!"
Children began screaming and crying instantaneously, their teeth and fists
clenched in rage. Security guards who had been trying to keep the children
back behind the lines began to fidget uneasily, as the sea of wide-eyed,
growling, gurgling children began rising against them. Some guards broke from
the line and ran down the street, screaming frantically. Others tried to push
the youngsters back but were pulled in by grasping, clawing hands.
The cries were horrible.
One guard, as he was being simultaneously crushed and pulled apart by the
mindless horde, looked back upon the stage. The Purple One and his green
sidekick were laughing and dancing demonically about the platform, which was
now spattered with blood and torn clothing. Next moment the world went dark
and the guard was lost forever amidst the torrent of violence and unholy
chanting...
I love you, you love me.....let me have your family.....with
a quick stab or kick, we'll set the children free....don't you
know you were meant for me.....
Mrs. Thompson finished washing the vegetables and figured either Jenny or Robby
could take out the trash. She walked out into the living room only to notice
the children were gone and the TV station was giving a dull, whining tone and a
test pattern.
"Jenny? Robby? Are you here anywhere?"
Perhaps they've gone outside, she thought. She returned to the kitchen and
looked upon the counter. Her tinsel-steel paring and slicing knives were gone.
But they were there just a moment ago, she thought. Then, just as a flash of
steel slashed across her legs and another just above her waist, she heard a
muffled giggle and caught a glimpse of purple and green out the corner of her
eye. She collapsed into a pile of her own entrails and blood, her life seeping
into the tile. As the world faded to a lifeless grey, she heard a familiar
tune sung by two familiar voices...
"I love you, you love me... Let us join with Lord Barney... With a great big kiss and
hug, from me to you.... Let's purge the world of adults too...."
Mrs. Thompson stopped breathing.
"He's NOT a silly fat reptile!"
Is the logical implication of this that Lyons Partnership are prepared to give those who ask permission to brutally savage Barney?
If the price is right.
It's a corporation first and a children's entertainer second. Think Disney.
Lawyers are actually a minority in Congress; there are more businessmen there now than lawyers.
Not only that, the government is made up of the people--and it's not true that 90% of the people are lawyers.
If the American public really wanted that sort of legal reform, rest assured, the American public would get it. When the American public wakes up from its slumber and tells the politicians, very clearly, what they're going to do or else, politicians scurry to obey the great Leviathan that's the body politic.
Unfortunately, 90% of Americans can't be bothered to give a damn about anything in law or government.
That's where the real tragedy is.
... is to randomly send "lawyer's" letters to ISP about random sites, complaining they infringe on this copyright or that trademark. Use any old color printer to print authentic looking letters. Sit back, and watch the fun... If enough people do this, ISP's will learn to just ignore lawyer's letters, unless they are backed with very strong and verifiable arguments. And it only costs you a stamp, and is almost riskless.
That's what Kinko's is for...
> Anyway, as I understand it, the same technology is used in at least some printers.
That's what cybercafe's are for...
> Then they can trace back to you
That's what paying your printer with cash is for... And I hope your didn't send in that stoopid warranty registration card, did you?
> Impersonating a lawyer is a pretty big offense because prosecuters and judges are both lawyers.
Don't impersonate any existing lawyer. Make up a name. If the lawyer doesn't exist, he can't sue you. And the ISP will be too embarrassed to press any charges... And I also doubt that Big Brother will display his tracking capabilities just for investigating petty pranks. He prefers bigger fish to fry.
The same mark can be registered by multiple organizations, as long as the trademarks are for different industries. Eg. if you make "Barney" spoons, you'd be in trouble. But if you made "Barney" motor oil, you'd be okay.
--
I sue you, you sue me,
You can't afford our lawyers' fee,
With a nasty letter from Dewey, Cheatem, Howe,
Up your ass our landsharks plow!
(Gotta problem with that, you big fat purple fuck? Bring it on, motherfucker, bring it on...)
Come on, Saturday Night Live has been doing this type of thing for years. Whats the big deal. It is all done in fun (sometimes fustration, we ALL hate that stupid purple dinosaur). I think that some people just need to loosen up!
Just my $.02
"If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people in the world?"
Barney Doom was one of the original reasons I got into FPSs in the first place! How sad.
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
I love you,
You love me,
Let's recite from OT III
Uh, oh! There's a nasty cluster of Body Thetans on you, Barney!
Let's kill them with a Tom Cruise Missile!
Holy Xenu! You killed Barney! YOU BASTARDS!
Aw, too bad. Anyway, here's the Teletubbies to sing you the DeCSS source code song. Let's
all sing along!
k., before coffee.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
What's really sad about this is that in 95% of cases, they'll be going after people who haven't the resources to fight this. Satire is protected speech, but only when people want to protect it. Most ISP's will roll over and take it when they get a nastygram, rather than keep the site up while their customer fights it.
It will be interesting to see the first site that moves to rotten.com. My guess is they'll let it stand, knowing they haven't the legal stump of a leg to stand upon to take it any further than nastygrams.
The truth about Scientology, Xenu, and you: Operation Clambake
(EOM)
sorry, Anonymous Coward, didn't ever see that. I normally don't read webpages sponsored by the Olsen twins.
...if he was killed, scientists might be forced to re-engineer him in a laboratory using his genetic material, filling in missing gene sequences with that of a nearby relative (perhaps H.R. Puf-N-Stuf?).
In short, there's a palpable risk that he could could be re-engineered into a species infinitely more corny and terrifying than we could possibly imagine.
(p.s. - if any of you Internet comedians steal my idea about making a Jurassic Park parody with scientists building a theme park populated with genetically-engineeried enhancements of Barney, H.R. Puf-N-Stuf, the Banana Splits, or whatever... I'll sue for infringement.... In the spirit of this news thread...)
(well, maybe not. but could you at least throw CATS into the mix somehow?)
In 1998, 3 years ago, Barney lost a similar suit against the Famous Chicken, or San Diego Chicken, whatever it's called. The Chicken had this skit in its act where it would beat up a purple dinosaur that looked a lot like Barney, and Barney wanted it stopped. The Barney guys lost that case 3 years ago. It seems to me that pursueing similar cases after the loss is criminal.
I know that, back in the 80's, Nintendo was sued by Universal Pictures for using the word "Kong" in Donkey Kong. They also sued Coleco, for the ColecoVision version. Nintendo won that case, saying that not only did Universal no longer own the copyright to King Kong, it knew that it didn't because of a previous failed lawsuit. Then Nintendo countersued, and got big damages. It seems that this case is very similar.
Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
Add to that description the idea that they're often a) vaguely left-leaning "swing voters", and b) incredibly responsive to the mantra, "for the children".
Politicos like to shamelessly cater to them with "pro-children" legislation, regardless of minor details such as constitutionality or logic, because that's a good way of getting their votes -- and because otherwise, their votes aren't locked-in.
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
Dungeons and Barneys
Barney by AD&D Rules
Barney
Climate/Terrain: Nine Hells, Gehenna, Hades, The Abyss, PBS
Frequency: Very rare or daily at 4 pm
Organization: Solitary
Activity Cycle: Day
Diet: Little children's minds
Intelligence: Insipid (-12)
Treasure: Merchandising contracts
Alignment: Purple evil
No. appearing: 1 (may be attended by 1-100 Barney zombies, see below)
Armor class: 10 (big and plush)
Movement: 3
Hit dice: 8
THAC0: 12
No. of attacks: 2
Damage/attack: 1-10 (x2)
Special attacks: Hug (damage 3-30)
Special defenses: Aura of intolerable idiocy
Magic resistance: 90%
Size: L (8' tall)
Morale: Stupid (30)
XP value: 4,000
Barney is a demon from the lower planes, a great purple and plush deformed dinosaur. It is the enemy of intelligent lifeforms, eternally seeking out small children and feeding on their natural intelligence and curiousity.
Combat: Barney will normally attack with it's two great paws, each inflicting 1-20 points of damage. If a victim is struck with either paw and fails a saving throw versus paralyzation, they are dragged to Barney and may be hugged next round. A hug inflicts 3-30 points of damage each round until the victim or Barney is killed.
Barney may also utter a 'Power word "I love you"' once every three rounds. Any adults hearing the power word must save versus spells or flee in terror for 1-6 rounds. Any child hearing the power word must save versus spells or be controlled by Barney. He or she will thereafter follow Barney's commands with a delightful smile, and is subject to continued brainwashing. Each day that a child is in Barney's control they may be taught another lesson by Barney, decreasing their intelligence and wisdom by 1. When either stat reaches zero, the child becomes a mindless Barney zombie! Barney zombies follow his commands with love and a delightful smile, and eagerly spend gold coins on Barney merchandise.
Barney is constantly surrounded by an aura of intolerable idiocy. Any individual within 20' must save versus spells once per round or lose 1 point of intelligence. When intelligence reaches zero, the victim falls to the ground in a quivering, gibbering wreck. Intelligence may be regained at the rate of 1 point per day afterwards. In addition, the aura tends to make spells go awry, tactics to fail, and mundane items to become intelligent with their own insipid personalities.
Habitat/Society: Barney resides in a great temple and television studio on the lowest plane of the Abyss, with areas extending into every lower plane and prime material plane via transdimensional gates. He is constantly surrounded there by 1-100 Barney zombies clutching plush dolls and lollipops, which they may use as +2 maces in combat.
-From CyberLost, via AOL; original Bitnet post by Hellraiser
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
The thing I don't get is how long it's taken them to start any lawsuits. Why now? There have been anti-barney jihads around the internet for at least 6-7 years now.
Heck, I had a tshirt that said "Kill Barney" and it's been long enough ago that that tshirt got holes, became a rag, and even outlived its usefulness as a rag.
It looks like alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die is still around. How about "Night of the Barney"? and all of its sequels that floated around usenet for forever? Surely that is a little more defaming that a site that displays ways of killing purple dinosaurs. Can you still find Barney WAD files for Doom? By this point, there would be thousands of people to sue...
Barney caused the black plague
Barney started world war I when he shot Archduke Francis Ferdinand
Barney did not speak out against against the Nazi's during the Holocaust
Barney was on the grass knoll
Barney invented AIDS
Barney sold arms to the contras
Barney is depleting the ozone layer
Barney is responsible for the trouble in the tech sector
Barney and the purple teletubby were seen going to an "exclusive" resort in Palm Springs with Bert and Earnie, and were later joined by C3PO and R2D2
Barney is the anti-christ.
Did I leave anything out?
You'll get it if you diss Barney!
Hey kids! Our word of the days is "Lawsuit!" Later on in the show you'll watch me use some lawyers to stick my giant purple dick in some people in court! Won't that be special? Everyone's doing it! Got a problem with a bully on school grounds? Get a lawyer! Did your sister take that 5 cents you had in your piggy bank? Get a lawyer! Someone call you some names? Get a lawyer! It doesn't matter if you win or lose if you're a giant corporate dinosaur! You can bankrupt them with legal fees and the results are about the same!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Actually, if you read this carefully it seems clear that this applies only if you are going to link using their logo.
This paragraph is the confusing part,
You are granted permission to link up CyberCheeze from your Web site, as long as you use only the Logos provided. All use of other graphical elements for linking to the CyberCheeze Web site without explicit prior permissions is illegal. By downloading the Logo, you fully agree to the Policies set herein.
The first sentence is very poorly written, but I interpret this to mean that if you want to link to this site using a graphic logo, you have to user their logo and you have to abide by the policies set down here. This says nothing about text links.
...a web site with 50+ ways to kill purple dinosaurs needs to worry that the Jurassic Park III lawyers will bite!
Mr Cranky. Another film review site.
Funny, bitchy, and beating on Barney.
judge: clerk?
clerk: yes judge?
judge: do we still have that first amendment
thingy hanging around?
clerk: we do.
judge: case dismissed.
I am pleased to see that the three organizations mentioned in the story are laughing this idiot off. Part of the fallout from so many articles about IP abuse on places like /. is that there are a lot of well informed netziens out there. This kind of tactic would have worked a charm two or three years ago. No longer.
Incidentally, take a look at the wording of that letter - does it mean that if you get permission from Lyons partnership then you can threaten to maim and kill Barney all you want?
Does this imply that linking to a site dilutes the trademark? Does this mean that the lawyers feel it right and proper to try and enforce who may and may not link to their client's site?
-Eldurbarn
Face it, American Football players are pansies. They wear a suit of padded armor to take the same hits that a soccer player takes on a tackle wearing only shinguards and a cup. Soccer safer than football? Hah!
--Fesh
--Fesh
Kill -9 'em all, let root@localhost sort 'em out.
Since so much of the content of Barney is in the public domain anyway, they're going to be hard pressed to defend what few items they can. Personally, since they felt compelled to take music from the American revolution and traditional childrens' songs and rewrite the lyrics in an attempt to make money, I feel less than zero pity for them. I think somewhere along the way, the creators of Barney either forgot what they were doing or simply never had any morals to begin with. Either way, I'd love to see them removed from Pubic Broadcasting stations.
No Zen is good zen
BTW, the above is sarcasm. However, I could quite easily forsee that at least part of the argument made by the lawyers on behalf of the trademark owners would be that kids looking for Barney stuff on the web could possibly come across disictions of violence against Barney, Barney and Friend in adult situations, etc.
Unfortunatly, if you get a jury pool full of soccer moms, this may easily work. There are many who do want to sanitize every corner of the world so they don't have to do any actual parenting, because otherwise they wouldn't have time for Amway and Starbucks Coffee between running their kids to soccer practice and holding Tupperware parties. After all, it takes a village, and we're all part of that village whether we want to be or not. :-(
--
--
Intelligence is definitely a recessive trait.
I think every person from the 'Erin Brokovitch' movies is sueing the studio for one reason or another.
I'm sure many people remember mattel going apeshit over Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' song.
You just ain't 'leet without a load of lawyers.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
This was covered by The Register a few weeks ago.
But of course, the lawyers will pick on the little guy to send a message to all the other little guys. Like with Felton, the RIAA didn't expect Felton to fight back. When he did, their response was, oh, we didn't mean it.
Fight Spammers!
Sicilian necktie
Definition: A piece of wire used to garrote a victim. Here is the definition
Columbian necktie
Definition: When a persons throat is slit from ear to ear and the person's tougue is pulled out though the incesion to resemble a necktie.
SealBeater
-- Its survival of the fittest...and we got the fucking guns!!!
Sung to the Barney " I Love You" song... o/~ I hate you, you hate me, let's gang up and kill barney
with an AK-47, he won't be going' to heav'n...
won't you say you'll shoot him too o/~
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
You have almost all of it. There is one additional element: when the term "soccer mom" is used by a conservative (someone to the political "right" in the States) it also implies that there is an element of hand-wringing "what about the children" liberal nonsense to the person.
To someone on the left, all that hand-wringing and wailing about the children is the foundation of their political belief and is taken seriously.
[ducking!]
I'm not necessarily defending the tactics here, but it's gotten fashionable to try and destroy anything related to childhood. I simply don't understand it. Why can't people just let children enjoy a silly, purple dinosaur without feeling the need to "kick over the sand castle"?
The best comment I ever heard about this was one of the producers talking to a TV Guide reporter about barney. The reporter was making the typical disparaging remarks, and the producer simply said "You have to remember, it's not intended for you. Why would you think you would enjoy it?
That was a brilliant response. The next time you feel like disparing Barney or any other popular toddler character (of course, "popular" is the reason many hate it), just repeat to yourself: "it's not intended for me" and back off.
--
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Some random (presumably trademarked) common names/terms:
Think of trademarks kind of like a (more properly run) set of domain names. You have to be actively using it to claim it. You only get an entry in the TLDs that directly relate to your product. So "wendys.food" is exclusive to the Wendy's corporation, but wouldn't have much of a claim if Wendy Johnson wanted to open "Wendy's Car Repair".
In general, trademarks seem to be (at least in my understanding) one of the better-run intellectual property things. I think they just get a bad rap due to the unfortunate interaction between trademarks and domain registries (where all commercial entities have been more-or-less lumped together in .com).
modern propaganda no longer is concerned with lying to all the people all of the time. modern propaganda has no need to convince all of the people that A is also not-A. modern propaganda does not even need to lie, explicitly. modern propaganda consists of portraying information in so many different ways that one group of people think A is A, one group thinks A is not-A, another group thinks A could be either, and another thinks that A is just another government fabrication anyway so why bother...
the american public in the late eighteenth century did not awaken in righteous anger and throw off the oppressive chains of the United Kingdom. there was no spontaneous consciousness-raising en masse. rather, the intellectuals of the time -- businessmen, public servants, lawyers -- published many persuasive texts over a period of time that provided an ideological foundation upon which vast amounts of human resources could be laid, body stacked upon body, to forcefully settle the argument.
the People, as conceived by dreamy-eyed libertymongers, simply does not exist. the People is a convenient fiction called into being at various times in history to suit the whims of intellectuals [who worship ideas above the People], revolutionaries [who worship violence above the People], and large-scale social forces [which serve the interests of nobody and nothing save survival probabilities]. the People is variously hardworking, honest, stupid, delusional, downtrodden, longsuffering, lazy, avaricious, hopeless, helpless, heartless, and directionless. the People is a blind golem. it knows neither what it wants nor how best to obtain the few things it can coherently conceive. numberless infinities of cells flake off your body and die every day as part of natural functioning. oppression, genocide, deception -- these are operational processes of the Body Politic which you idolize so zealously.
there will be no Great Awakening of the American Public.
---
Hollywood, Television, has become the dream machine. We need to take that back; each of us is a Dream Machine
It should be interesting to see what the lawyers plan to [try to] do with the usenet group:
Not just current/future postings, but also consider all the posts to it which have been archived or just put on regular back-up tapes world-wide. Just send your favorite newsreader to that group, or fire up a browser to look at google's group search page: http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search (A search for "barney" in just that newsgroup brought up gobs of hits.)Will google become a target for the lawyers, too?
Disclaimer: I don't know how active the group is, and my current connection is so slow I've not surfed newgroup posting in years, so I don't know how active the group currently is. Then again, with the lawyers' activities, it may experience a surge of popularity.
http://www.cybercheeze.com/info/logolink.html
It seems you can't link to them without using their logo. Does that make the above link illegal? I guess so. So while I liked the intent of Cybercheeze's reply, they're also pulling some lawyer crap of their own. Am I wrong? Is it illegal now to link to a site without permission?
Seriously, what's happening to our civilization when everything needs to be so regulated?
Upon seeing the box was too small, Schrodinger's Elephant breathed a sigh of relief.
The archive has moved to etext, as EFF clearly states here. See here for the offending text.
my old sig used to be funny, but then slashcode ate it and now it's not funny anymore
Who knows... If every slashdotter wrote them one email a day AND printed out the email and sent it to them via the postal service, they might understand...
Of course then they might see such a market and then, in the name of profit, create "Barney and Friends Die" shows...
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
You could also do it to the kids.
One of the first programs I wrote was this little game in VB where you killed barney in ever more creative ways, thus gaining more points.
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inspired me in so many ways. Mainly because it was simple enough that I could write things alot like it (i remember learning sort algorithms just to figure out how to do a high score table like it)
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I would pay to see Barney take the stand in a court of law claiming defamation of character. "I love you, You love me... wait, why can't you love me?"
---
Developers: We can use your help.
Why haven't sesame street sued over Bert Is Evil? Maybe they are too busy laughing at it....
You know what, I'm PROUD to be accused of being bigoted towards lawyers...
Damn proud.
That's like being called a "religious bigot" by the Scientologists.
That means I'm living up to my Roman Catholic upbringing.
=== The price of freedom is eternal vigilance
"A site with 100 ways to kill a purple dinosaur's lawyers?"
;)
That's a HELLUVA idea! I think I'll start such a list up on my personal home page tonight.
One thing's for sure, there IS no bad way to off a lawyer
=== The price of freedom is eternal vigilance
Barney was an uncredited writer on all the Voyager "It was just a Holodeck/dream" episodes.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Sang to the same tune as "this old man" or Barney's " I love You"
I love you, You love me, We chased Barney up a tree, Got tha Buck shot out and let it roar! NO MORE PURPLE DINOSAUR...
Razzious Domini
Razzious Domini
I could be a GREAT KARMA WHORE if I could just shed the few morals I have left.
I guess these guys never saw Barneysteim 3D.
Ahh, I can still remember games that fit on _one_ floppy disk *sniff, sniff*
But I digress... this is actually pretty scary and very much like Voltaire and what happened after he wrote Candide. Could this open up sites like THe Onion to attack even when they are being so outlandish? I read Candide in senior high school, so I want to know what schools in several hundred years will be teaching the Onion so I can send my descendants there.
unf.
Quite frankly, if such a case could be won, it would set a dangerous precedent. Imagine if you couldn't participate in M$ bashing on your website. Or for that matter, imagine if you couldn't participate in Linux-bashing. No trolling intended. Just two examples I thought would appeal to slashdot readers. But seriously: Some time ago, companies were given the right to advertise on TV that "their product was better than {insert specific brand name}." Would winning such a court case undo all of that?
I would think their case would hold water if we were talking about slandering a real person. But this is a "fictional" character on a TV program, and one that seems to almost invite animosity (for some inexplicable reason). What makes them think that we should give up our rights to free speech?
Somebody tell me where I can donate to the cause.
GreyPoopon
--
GreyPoopon
--
Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?
Isn't that the truth? I played Mickey Mouse part time while in college (92-93) and caught crabs from the filthy underwear they forced us to wear.
--
The Lawyers' nastygram said the websites were violating the Federal Trademark Dillution Act. Here's what that law actually says:
...
(1) Any person who, on or in connection with any goods or services, or any container for goods, uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol, or device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin, false or misleading description of fact, or false or misleading representation of fact, which
As you can see, this only applies to unauthorized commercial uses of a registered trademark. These websites do not qualify as commercial uses, therefore they have no legal basis to sue the anti-barney sites. IMHO, frivolous litigation about "intellectual property" infringement has gone way too far. The DMCA should be abolished, and all copyrights should be limited to 6 years. This country is pathetic. It's turning into a lawyerocracy... *sigh*
Repeal the DMCA!
Is the logical implication of this that Lyons Partnership are prepared to give those who ask permission to brutally savage Barney?
http://www.themeparks.ie
Screw the censors.
I'm an asshole, so what?