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AOL Threatens Peng, Demands Domain Handover

nutznboltz writes "According to the Peng project website AOL has sent them a cease-and-desist letter claiming that Peng, a GPLed software project is commerically exploiting AOL and has until Oct 15th to hand over the pengaol.com domain name." Update: 10/12 17:45 GMT by T : As several readers have pointed out, the domain name in question is actually pengaol.org, rather than pengaol.com.

212 comments

  1. Well, he should've not done this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Using aol.com in your domain name for something AOL related is just asking for trouble.

    1. Re:Well, he should've not done this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Peng can now be found here: http://www.peng.apinc.org/

    2. Re:Well, he should've not done this by n9hmg · · Score: 1

      They should add a logo of a pen behind bars, then, it can be the pen jail, or in older english pen "gaol" (like Reading Gaol).

    3. Re:Well, he should've not done this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that is the way i read it "Pen Gaol.Org"

    4. Re:Well, he should've not done this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just because my trademark is "joe", it does not
      mean that I own every domain name that includes
      arbitrary permutations of such three letters.

    5. Re:Well, he should've not done this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Using aol.com in your domain name for something AOL related is just asking for trouble.

      I am so sick of you fucking idiots that always lay down like the good little drones you are and protect corporations' "rights." Fuck AOL!

    6. Re:Well, he should've not done this by Steve+Franklin · · Score: 2

      Yeah, you might end up in gaol.

      --
      Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam rexque futurus.
  2. Slashdot Threatens every site on the web by anonymous+coword · · Score: 4, Funny

    That has a / or . in its domain name. Since every one has that in their url, everyone with a domain name will be recieving a cease and desist letter from Rob Malda soon.

    1. Re:Slashdot Threatens every site on the web by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Technically, / isn't in anyone's domain name, and period usage far pre-dates Slashdot.

    2. Re:Slashdot Threatens every site on the web by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      by that same logic dot.org will be threatening slashdot.org soon. (too bad it's just some ad site.)

    3. Re:Slashdot Threatens every site on the web by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or maybe a certain drugged-out, washed-up, guitarist will threaten slashdot.org

  3. Did AOL initiate this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not clear from the article that AOL initiated this. the article said that if Peng doesn't comply, then Ars Fox will be forced to inform AOL. To me that implies AOL doesn't know about this yet.

    1. Re:Did AOL initiate this? by portmonk · · Score: 4, Informative

      From the Arent Fox website:

      E-Commerce Transactions

      Following are representative e-commerce and telecommunications transactions handled by Arent Fox attorneys:

      AOL Legal and AOL Business Affairs. Represented AOL Legal and AOL Business Affairs in a multi-year, multi-million dollar strategic marketing alliance to offer Network Solutions= (NSI) domain name registration and value-added services globally across America Online, Inc. brands. Network Solutions= services will be available through co-branded sites across AOL, AOL.COM, CompuServe, Netscape Netcenter, Digital City, ICQ, and Spinner/Winamp, including the international services, making it easier and more convenient than ever for businesses and consumers to create an online presence.

    2. Re:Did AOL initiate this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...making it easier and more convenient than ever for businesses and consumers to create an online presence ...which we can take away from them if they use a certain sequence of three letters of the alphabet in a way we don't like.

  4. Corporate America at its best... by KillerBob · · Score: 2, Redundant

    So... a big corporation sees something that resembles its name, and without even investigating into what it actually does, it sics the lawyers on 'em....

    They're not too bright if they don't realize that it has the potential to expand their business.... All it does is give people using OS's other than Win/Mac the opportunity to use their absolutely trustworthy and splendid service (/sarcasm). They still have to pay AOL for it. Peng's not making a profit on it. How is this harmful to AOL again?

    Oh wait. On the "About Peng" page, it says it's a "reverse ingeneering" [sic] of AOL's technology, so it must be evil.

    --
    If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
    1. Re:Corporate America at its best... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you don't protect your trademarks, you lose them. That's the law.

    2. Re:Corporate America at its best... by DavesError · · Score: 1

      It could be seen as harmful due to the fact that without the bloated software, you aren't being exposed to advertisements and such that aol makes money off of.

      I'm not a finance major or anything, but I would say that losing money, because people no longer are using the bloated software, is harmful.

      That said, I still like what peng is doing, if AOL is going to be too lazy to get software created for linux, then its their own damn fault something like this is available.

    3. Re:Corporate America at its best... by LowAmmoWarning · · Score: 1

      If AOL should be suing anyone it should be suing the makers of Trillian, Cerulean Studios.

      --
      We could all benefit from my education.
    4. Re:Corporate America at its best... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is used correctly.

    5. Re:Corporate America at its best... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like the other person mentioned, the peng software doesn't display adverts to the users, thus aol doesn't make as much money.

      In addition, aol uses client-side security. People using a client that isn't aol-written doesn't necessarily provide the security aol needs. IMO, aol farked up in their system design. Their security is already busted. Using this method doesn't help them.

      I can sort of see their point, but I disagree with it. My own current client provides data via web page. We discovered that one particular company sells a service that interacts directly with our web pages. They didn't talk to us about it first. When we update our pages, they tell their users that their system is broken because of us.

      We aren't suing them, however, even if we would win. Instead, we're going after a technological solution to prevent the robot.

      We also discovered that another group is trying to grab our client list as a sales list. Since we are a non-profit organization, we have a page that allows searches for institutions. We discovered that a robot has been sequentially requesting all the institutes available. We discovered this by the simple method of trying to figure out why are utilization was so dang high.

      Again, we're correcting this to prevent it.

    6. Re:Corporate America at its best... by Krach42 · · Score: 1

      They're French.... give 'em a break. So they can't spell English well... Oooo! Not everyone speaks American English. I've seen some odd looking statements from British English that are perfectly grammatical to them.

      --

      I am unamerican, and proud of it!
  5. The domain they should have bought by yerricde · · Score: 2, Interesting

    To fix this, hand over pengaol.com and go register pengdialer.com, which is still available.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  6. .org not .com by bjschrock · · Score: 3, Informative

    It looks like the name in question is pengaol.org, and they've moved the site to another location. So they've either already given up, or are just getting ready to just in case.

  7. Correction: by flogger · · Score: 5, Informative

    They are asked to hand over the pengaol.org domain name. Not the pengaol.com

    --
    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    "First things first -- but not necessarily in that order"
    -- The Doctor, "Doctor
    1. Re:Correction: by Blkdeath · · Score: 2
      They are asked to hand over the pengaol.org [pengaol.org] domain name. Not the pengaol.com
      By my observation, "pengaol.com" does not exist..

      I agree with a previous poster, Pengaol.org should aquire themselves a lawyer, and perhaps even counter-sue AOL for needless abuse, harassment, etc.

      --
      BD Phone Home!

      Shameless plug. Like you weren't expecting it.

    2. Re:Correction: by kpansky · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, pengaol.com no longer hosts the Peng project... but at least you can browse the Apache 2.0 docs :)

      --

      --Kevin
  8. Not wanting to be offensive, but... by mhesseltine · · Score: 5, Insightful

    pengdialer.org is available as a domain. Why would you specifically use someone else's trademark in your name, knowing that companies with money will persue a change?

    --
    Overrated / Underrated : Moderation :: Anonymous Coward : Posting
    1. Re:Not wanting to be offensive, but... by seann · · Score: 0, Informative

      because in french
      AOL means
      "contact"

      --
      I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
    2. Re:Not wanting to be offensive, but... by mhesseltine · · Score: 1

      I never studied French. Where do you come up with that?

      --
      Overrated / Underrated : Moderation :: Anonymous Coward : Posting
    3. Re:Not wanting to be offensive, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      -- Why would you specifically use someone else's trademark in your name, knowing that companies with money will persue a change?--

      I have a domain that happens to be the name of a big company, but mine is under the .net TLD. I'm not a squatter. I have the domain because it is my sirname, and I obtained the domain for personal and family use. I have never contacted the company for "ransom", and they have never contacted me to "cease-and-desist."

      Trademark registration requires a listing of goods and/or services covered by the mark. I don't have any goods or services associated with that particular domain. And I don't pass the domain off as being associated with that particular company. Live and let live.

    4. Re:Not wanting to be offensive, but... by mhesseltine · · Score: 2

      As AC above said:

      I don't have any goods or services associated with that particular domain. And I don't pass the domain off as being associated with that particular company. Live and let live.

      O.K. In this instance, I can see there not being a problem. However, when you do associate your product with something that someone else has trademarked, then I don't see a problem with them defending their trademark.

      --
      Overrated / Underrated : Moderation :: Anonymous Coward : Posting
    5. Re:Not wanting to be offensive, but... by seann · · Score: 1

      *points to his bum*

      --
      I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
    6. Re:Not wanting to be offensive, but... by valmont · · Score: 3, Informative
      heh. i speak french fluently. and AOL does NOT mean contact. but that did get you a +1 though! congrats :) hey, nice butt ;] hehe.

    7. Re:Not wanting to be offensive, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      'pengaol' is a contraction of 'pen' and 'gaol' (jail to you americans).
      i don't see the connection with america on line in this name.
      maybe ao.com should persue aol.com in the courts..

    8. Re:Not wanting to be offensive, but... by Sri+Lumpa · · Score: 1


      Yeah, and maybe AOL should also attack these trademark thieving bastards over at shAOLin.com too?

      Note: if you don't know the meaning of the word sarcasm or what the shaolin temple is don't moderate this post because you don't get it.

      --
      "The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
  9. Hmmm by FreeLinux · · Score: 3, Informative

    Registrant:
    STEPHANE GUTH (PENGAOL-DOM)
    3 Rue Des Vergers
    BLIESBRUCK,57200
    FR

    Domain Name: PENGAOL.ORG

    Administrative Contact:
    GUTH, STEPHANE (SGM450) birdyisme@AOL.COM
    3 Rue Des Vergers
    BLIESBRUCK, 57200
    FR
    +33387022871
    Technical Contact:
    Departement Noms de domaine (CP1146-ORG) internic@AMEN.FR
    AMEN.FR - Agence des Medias Numeriques
    12/14, rond-point des Champs-elysees
    PARIS
    FRANCE
    +33 1 46 51 95 60
    Fax- +33 1 46 51 95 60

    Record expires on 30-Jun-2003.
    Record created on 30-Jun-2001.
    Database last updated on 12-Oct-2002 13:39:17 EDT.

    Domain servers in listed order:

    PARIS.AMEN.FR 217.174.192.229
    NS2.AMEN.FR 195.154.205.4


    I'd suggest that Peng move to the domain and tell AOL what they really think.

    BTW, seeing as Peng is French, are there any Nazi references or links on AOL? Let's hope not for AOL's sake.

    1. Re:Hmmm by Kashif+Shaikh · · Score: 1

      I'd suggest that Peng move to the domain [fuckaol.org] and tell AOL what they really think. This is what is says: "www.fuckaol.org has been suspended by Domain Direct Administration. If you are the owner of this domain, please contact help@domaindirect.com to have your domain reinstated." In other words, the AOL/TimeWarner police are everywhere.

  10. Uh by sfraggle · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously though, what were they thinking? AOL _is_ a trademark. Dont get me wrong, I generally agree with a lot of the anti-megacorp stuff (software patents, the evils of the DMCA etc) but in this case they are clearly using AOLs trademark. It seems pretty justified to me.

    --
    were you expecting to see a sig here? perhaps you'd rather see the inside of an ambulance!
    1. Re:Uh by zod1025 · · Score: 1

      Is "DOW" a trademark? Does that mean that WinDOWs infringes? I thought not.

      --

      -ZOD-
    2. Re:Uh by overshoot · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Seriously though, what were they thinking? AOL _is_ a trademark.

      Yes, it is. Therefore it's illegal for me to market my company "Another Old Look" (which sells faux antiques) as "AOL."

      On the other hand, it does not prevent me from using their trademark to refer to them, as in the ISP help page, http://www.sample.com/help/former_aol_users which explains the Internet to people who have only used AOL.

      Just as there is no trademark infringement if an auto parts manufacturer sells decorative wheel covers designed for Cadillacs and calls them "Roulette Wheel Covers for Cadillac," there is no trademark infringement for someone who provides accessories for AOL mentioning that fact. They're not claiming to be AOL, they're describing a context.

      --
      Lacking <sarcasm> tags, /. substitutes moderation as "Troll."
    3. Re:Uh by AvitarX · · Score: 2

      no, but winDOW a stock helper would be infringing. PengAOL is also. It is a dialer that connects to AOL, and could therefore cause confusion. I really think it is fair of them to not be able to use AOL in their name. Now if they were banned from mentioning AOL compatibility, that is different.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    4. Re:Uh by ChopsMIDI · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Therefore it's illegal for me to market my company "Another Old Look" (which sells faux antiques) as "AOL."

      Actually... that instance would be okay because the two companies are completely unrelated.

      AOL is just an acromyn, but only when used in the right context references American Online.

      --

      How could I say to men: "Speak louder, shout! For I am deaf!"? -Ludwig van Beethoven
    5. Re:Uh by andyf · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, I really don't think it would be illegal if you were in a completely different product arena. Basically, if there's no likelihood of confusion, it's less likely that you'll get in trouble. In the pengaol case though, I think there would be a likelood of confusion, but there probably wouldn't be for "Another Old Look" calling itself AOL. (Though you could probably get a lawyer to argue anything.)

      --

      Photos of bits of the past hiding in the present: afiler.com
    6. Re:Uh by seann · · Score: 1

      So a Linux user, who goes out of his way to find a dialier so he can dialup to AOL and use the internet is going to get confused if this program is endorsed by AOL or not?

      --
      I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
    7. Re:Uh by andyf · · Score: 1

      I'm not talking about the *real* world here, I'm just talking about the *legal* world -- which is obviously what's important when you've received a cease and desist letter. Realistically? Of course no one's going to be confused. But as far as trademark law goes, yes, I think there could be a "likelihood of confusion". Read the link I put up there, I think you'd understand what I meant then.

      --

      Photos of bits of the past hiding in the present: afiler.com
    8. Re:Uh by sapone · · Score: 1

      You DO realize that they aren't selling anything? So how are they going to infringe a trademark if they don't do any trade? The reason for trademark protection is to stop competing companies from abusing the trademark, not to stop people using the trademarked word at all.

      Sebastian

    9. Re:Uh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AOL _is_ a trademark.

      Yes, it is. Therefore it's illegal for me to market my company "Another Old Look" (which sells faux antiques) as "AOL."


      Probably not. Trademarks are registered in certain classes, pertaining to a certain industry or group of products.

      Faux antiques and computer services are NOT in
      the same trademark class.

      And even if they were, the court must consider the risk of confusion of your brand and AOL:s brand, which in this case is very low.

      Oh yes, IALS.

  11. Wow by Apreche · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I didn't even know that existed. That solves all of the problems with AOL. I remember way back when I used AOL. It was an ok service provider. I didn't get busy signals like everyone else. The only gripe I ever had with AOL as in ISP was that in order to connect you had to run the bloated memory eating AOL software. Whereas for another dial up ISP I could use the super lite built in windows dial up networking. I don't want to have to use up all my RAM just to establish a connection. I always ended up minimizing the AOL software and using netscape or other programs.

    PENG, which I didn't know about until just now, appears to be the ultimate solution. It makes AOL exactly the same as every other dial-up ISP. No bloated software to load, and it works in linux!

    I can see why aol is pissed though. Because of PENG there is at least one person out there who isn't seeing their ads and is probably getting better transfer rates because there isn't a crapload of software hogging the cpu and bandwith(with ads). So that's money lost for AOL. Admittedly it isn't much money lost. I mean how many people use linux and AOL? Two totally seperate groups of people.

    Hopefully it will encourage AOL to not force its users to load a giant ad-laden piece of software to connect, or at least to re-compile that bloated piece of software for linux.

    Nah, I don't think they're that intelligent.

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
    1. Re:Wow by davidstrauss · · Score: 2
      Whereas for another dial up ISP I could use the super lite built in windows dial up networking. I don't want to have to use up all my RAM just to establish a connection. I always ended up minimizing the AOL software and using netscape or other programs.

      I never thought I'd see Windows and "super lite" in the same sentence. DUN is probably just as bloated, it just loads with Windows and can't be removed (like IE), so it seems fast and light. At least it doesn't put ads on your screen like AOL.

    2. Re:Wow by AnyoneEB · · Score: 2, Informative
      DUN is probably just as bloated, it just loads with Windows and can't be removed (like IE), so it seems fast and light.
      Under Windows 9x you can remove Dial-Up Networking, but you need it installed for some LAN features including internet sharing (even if you are sharing cable/DSL). As far as I can see there's no option to remove DUP under Windows XP, but it might be hidden away somewhere.
      --
      Centralization breaks the internet.
    3. Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is, it's in Disk Management, under 'Delete Partition'

    4. Re:Wow by asteinberg · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I didn't even know that existed.

      The irony about moves like this is that AOL, in trying to destroy Peng, has instead just brought it to the attention of thousands of people just like you. Instead of helping a few users get around AOL's bloated interface, it can now help hundreds. Plus, since it's open-source, I think it's probably a safe assumption that it is here to stay - even if AOL's pressure scares the author into stopping his work on the program, the source is still out there, and now thousands of Slashdot-readers know about it and are interested in it.

      Yet another example of how (surprise, surprise) big companies like AOL Just Don't Get It.

      --
      The first ever Ultimate Frisbee video game: here (now
    5. Re:Wow by lithiumcloud · · Score: 1

      So it's a pity the term "slashdot effect" is already taken, or I'd be coining it now.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank.
  12. Sleezy Law Firm? by Unknown+Relic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Arent Fox asks us as a first step, to suppress every reference to the Aol brand name and logo, and after another (rather sinuous) argument, to hand over the pengaol.org domain name. We have to comply and answer before october 14th, or they will inform Aol of their action."

    Note the last sentence. It sounds to me like it's not AOL initiating this, but in fact a sleezy law firm looking to create themselves some from by finding people to sue. They're probably hoping that peng will not comply, and thus generate themselves a juicy law suit.

    1. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by 99bottles · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Hmmm... Good point.
      From this AOL suit back in 2000 (from a different firm), I notice much more detail in the threat, including legal references. In particular, it seems strange that a reputable firm would simply use "Re:AOL" as the subject of the corresponence.

    2. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by mrobinso · · Score: 0
      In Canada, this behaviour from a law firm is referred to as maintenance and champerty.

      This sleeze seems to be an American phenomenon.

      Land of the free, home of the brave.

      .mike
      sig? what the hell for?

      --
      -- Karma whore? You betcha. --
    3. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by LoadStar · · Score: 3, Informative
      Note the last sentence. It sounds to me like it's not AOL initiating this, but in fact a sleezy law firm looking to create themselves some from by finding people to sue. They're probably hoping that peng will not comply, and thus generate themselves a juicy law suit.

      No, Arent Fox probably does represent AOL Time Warner. This doesn't, of course, preclude that they are a sleazy law firm, but then again, most law firms can probably be described as sleazy.

      Arent Fox is a pretty major law firm. I recognize the name from various Apple rumors sites - Arent Fox is the law firm Apple uses to go after the rumors sites when they break an NDA.

      In this case, it's very likely that Arent Fox is retained by AOL Time Warner to pursue any and all copyright infringement cases they find. They are likely given a wide jurisdiction to act in AOL's behalf, up to the point of filing a law suit against a party. IANAL (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express), but I believe this is fairly standard in agency law.

      What you describe is common in Germany, from what I understand, where any lawyer can go after a party, without having any kind of agency relationship with the offended party. (I vaguely remember a case involving SuSE of this type, I believe.) I don't believe that this type of action is legal in the US. I believe you have to be retained in an agency relationship with a party before you are able to pursue legal action.

    4. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by dreamword · · Score: 2

      Almost certainly not.

      (Note: IANYAL. This is not legal advice.)

      In the letter, they refer to AOL as their "client" and say that they "represent AOL" in these matters. They can't do that if AOL isn't really their client. If it turns out that AOL is in fact not their client, Peng will have a cause of action against Arent Fox. But Arent Fox aren't that stupid; I'm pretty sure they're actually retained by AOL.

      Here's my guess: AOL has retained Arent Fox to defend their trademarks, etc., and to send out nastygrams demanding compliance. "We will advise AOL of its available remedies" (which is what the letter says, very different from "they will inform AOL of their action") doesn't mean "We'll go tell on you," but rather, "we will give legal advice to our client about what actions our client should take."

      So it's probably not AOL directly initiating this, but it's not some fee-finding trademark-chaser who's going to show up at AOL's door with a possible suit. AOL has almost certainly asked them to find people to sue (or, at least, to find people to send nastygrams to); they're not doing it on their own.

    5. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by theBraindonor · · Score: 1

      Check out their site, www.arentfox.com. You'll find info on the sections of law that they cover. One such section is E-Commerce. As you can see from the info on their site, they are representing the interests of AOL in conjunction with Network Solutions. Since providing false information about client representation would be frowned upon by the Bar, it does appear to be legit.

      Of course, the fact that the above info falls under E-Commerce on their site shows that they may still be stuck operating under the old E-conomy.

    6. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by odin53 · · Score: 1

      First of all, American lawyers cannot do what you claim. More importantly, Arent Fox is a pretty big law firm; I'm not sure what you mean by "sleazy law firm," but it's a well-known, successful Washington DC-based firm, one of the top 20 there. It represents AOL in some IP matters. I think you misunderstand the "they will inform AOL of their action" phrase -- it simply means that Arent Fox will tell AOL that they decided not to cease and desist. Bad wording, yes.

    7. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



      What you describe is common in Germany, from what I understand, where any lawyer can go after a party, without having any kind of agency relationship with the offended party. (I vaguely remember a case involving SuSE of this type, I believe.) I don't believe that this type of action is legal in the US.

      I guess you haven't heard of Larry Klayman and Judicial Watch.

    8. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by sjvn · · Score: 2

      Other folks have already pointed out that read correctly Arent Fox's letter makes perfect legal sense. You may disagree with it, but you need to take that up with AOL. I'd just like to mention that Arent Fox is a Major DC and NYC lawfirm. You could call them lots of things, especially if you were on the losing side, but sleazy isn't one of them. These guys you take seriously. If Peng is to have a shot of surviving this--and for what little it's worth I think they do--they need serious legal help and they need it now.

      Steven*

      *Who has nothing to do with Arent Fox except that he knows their reputation.

    9. Re:Sleezy Law Firm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "So it's probably not AOL directly initiating this, but it's not some fee-finding trademark-chaser who's going to show up at AOL's door with a possible suit. AOL has almost certainly asked them to find people to sue (or, at least, to find people to send nastygrams to); they're not doing it on their own.

      I doubt that AOL asked them to find people to sue. Rather, they gave them a continuous search of possible trademark infringement, so that the AOL trademark would not be diluted in the way that Xerox was. But with such an open license, the "enterprising" attorney says "Hey, look what fell in my lap." That is _exactly_ how the "billable hour" works at law firms. Find potential prey, bill the client for nonsense, and send the kids to private school.

  13. Come on AOL, by norweigiantroll · · Score: 5, Informative

    Go pick on someone your own size. Gaim, Peng, Jabber, etc., seems like AOL just likes to harass non-profit, open-source projects. Come on, these people are working (mostly for free) on the software, giving out the software for free, and releasing the source code too. AOL should be ashamed of itself for for harassing people who are just trying to help their fellow man.

    1. Re:Come on AOL, by nackrm · · Score: 1

      From the way things look, this isn't AOL doing the picking on here. But if it were, there is a clear reason why they would want to see the fall of Peng. And that is power. They don't really care about the number of linux clients they could get. Besides, most people running linux might not go for being an AOL client anyways. So no noticable market share increase. They would rather prevent this company from releasing software that uses its own technology.

      ...and releasing the source code too.

      Like AOL really wants everyone to have access to its own proprietary protocols.

      --

      Be a man! View at -1
      acm.cs.uwec.edu
    2. Re:Come on AOL, by program21 · · Score: 1

      Like AOL really wants everyone to have access to its own proprietary protocols. Depending on how Peng came about the info on the AOL protocols, it may be perfectly legal reverse engineering. Coversely, it may not be, I don't know, just addressing the possiility that the knowledge was obtained through legally protected means.

      --
      This has been a test. Had this been a real emergency, we would have fled in terror and you would not have been informed.
    3. Re:Come on AOL, by ramzak2k · · Score: 1

      but dont you think that the fact that these projects are open source would form a greater threat to holding on to their Intellectual Properties than say a project on AOL dialer thats proprietary ? this ofcourse would be from aol point of view that they want to stop development programs such as these & prevent people from getting new ideas looking at the source.

      --

      Siggy Say, Siggy Do
    4. Re:Come on AOL, by mhesseltine · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Maybe, AOL is using this as a tactic to start talks about a settlement. The settlement could involve AOL acquiring peng like they did with Nullsoft, Netscape, ICQ, etc. Let someone else build the idea, and once it's proven, buy the company and incorporate it. This saves AOL the burden of spending on R&D, but gives them a new market.

      --
      Overrated / Underrated : Moderation :: Anonymous Coward : Posting
    5. Re:Come on AOL, by Planesdragon · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Go pick on someone your own size. Gaim, Peng, Jabber, etc., seems like AOL just likes to harass non-profit, open-source projects. Come on, these people are working (mostly for free) on the software, giving out the software for free, and releasing the source code too. AOL should be ashamed of itself for for harassing people who are just trying to help their fellow man.

      Take a closer look at those software projects:

      gAIM: A pirate-client (as much as yahoo messenger or msn messenger) on the valuable AIM network.

      Jabber: A program attemting, also, to hack into the AIM network.

      (Remember, it's not just 'free software' that AOL is going after; they're also picking at anyone at all who tries to "hack" into AIM.)

      Peng: well, heck. It's a Linux "dialer" that intentionally allows people to use AOL's servers to connect in a way that AOL doesn't intend, to use them as a common ISP.

    6. Re:Come on AOL, by lithiumcloud · · Score: 1

      But then we'd only have Microsoft to hate and they aren't nearly as evil. Without AOL... there would be no need for Slashdot.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank.
    7. Re:Come on AOL, by intermodal · · Score: 2

      The settlement could involve AOL acquiring peng like they did with Nullsoft, Netscape, ICQ, etc. Let someone else build the idea, and once it's proven, buy the company and incorporate it. This saves AOL the burden of spending on R&D, but gives them a new market.

      why not? worked for microsoft *groans as his karma is mercilessly slaughtered for mentioning it*

      --
      In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
    8. Re:Come on AOL, by gabba_gabba_hey · · Score: 1

      they don't really need to purchase the company as there isn't one and the software is released under the GPL. This is an issue for them if they're concerned with the licensing which is entirely probable, but otherwise they don't even need to spend a dime and the R&D has already been done for them.

  14. So many to sue... by 99bottles · · Score: 3, Funny

    On a hunch, I did whois on aaol.com, baol.com, caol.com, daol.com, eaol.com, ...then I got bored.

    It looks like they better start suing, they've got a lot of others using their trademark.

    1. Re:So many to sue... by Kwikymart · · Score: 2

      You've never heard of context? AOL doesn't own the trademark on "gaol" (yes, it is a word!) just because it has the letters "aol" in it. It's the same thing with Microsoft Windows..... if they had complete control over the word "Windows" then I'm sure there would be a lot of glass shops and window-hangers out of business. AFAIK, The infringing use of a trademark must be that it will cause confusion or clearly use the trademark in a method similar to that of the trademark owner's use. AOL does have a case if it's just about trademark... but anything else is pure crap.

      --

      Buying a Dell computer is equivalent to dropping the soap in a prison shower.
  15. Here are the culprits. by FreeLinux · · Score: 5, Informative

    Arent Fox

    Why not drop them a line.

    1. Re:Here are the culprits. by xactoguy · · Score: 1

      Screw that... we don't even have to drop them a line. Everyone is just going to see that link and click on it, and they will find out soon enoudh what we think! ;)

      --


      And so we go, on with our lives
      We know the truth, but prefer lies
      Lies are simple, simple is bliss
    2. Re:Here are the culprits. by Ektanoor · · Score: 2

      Their motto - "Attorneys at Law" should be changed to "Attorneys at Wild".

    3. Re:Here are the culprits. by joebp · · Score: 2

      Can't....... Control........ Refresh........ Button......

    4. Re:Here are the culprits. by Blkdeath · · Score: 2
      Why not drop them a line [mailto]
      I've done just that, and hope others will do same.
      --
      BD Phone Home!

      Shameless plug. Like you weren't expecting it.

    5. Re:Here are the culprits. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oops, did I just middle-click that link a few hundred times? (Mozilla really should still find an elegant solution for tab overflow.)

    6. Re:Here are the culprits. by nettdata · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you're going to hit them, do some REAL damage and check out this Perl driven bio page:

      http://www.arentfox.com/cgi-bin/bioEditor.pl

      --



      $0.02 (CDN)
    7. Re:Here are the culprits. by chedrick · · Score: 1

      I'd suggest a spell check next time....

    8. Re:Here are the culprits. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.arentfox.com/post/forum/csforum.html

      First Post?

    9. Re:Here are the culprits. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.arentfox.com/post/forum/csforum.html

      NO 1st Post

    10. Re:Here are the culprits. by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 2

      Hit them? Damage?

      So you don't like what these lawyers are doing, therefore you want us to ./ a CGI page, and attempt to DDOS their site?

      --
      "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
    11. Re:Here are the culprits. by Blkdeath · · Score: 2
      http://www.arentfox.com/post/forum/csforum.html

      Interesting. Somebody re-posted my e-mail. Quite flattering. :)

      --
      BD Phone Home!

      Shameless plug. Like you weren't expecting it.

    12. Re:Here are the culprits. by odin53 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are a goddamn idiot. What do you possibly think e-mailing (or /.'ing or DDOS'ing like the posters below) the LAW FIRM is going to do? Stop the law firm from SERVING their CLIENT? DROP the cease and desist? WHO DO YOU THINK IS "MAKING" THEM DO IT? Honestly, I can't believe people actually think that the law firm behind the company is at "fault" for serving their client to the best of their ability. If Arent Fox for some reason refused to send the C&D letter on behalf of AOL, besides its being unethical, AOL would go fire Arent Fox and get another firm. See the point? It's AOL that's doing it, not the firm.

    13. Re:Here are the culprits. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      No... you misinterpret... I think what he is saying is that.. if someone grabbed all those pages, and did this...

      Kelleyk@arentfox.com Kirschd@arentfox.com Kittsm@arentfox.com abramsos@arentfox.com albertam@arentfox.com amreina@arentfox.com andersol@arentfox.com anderson@arentfox.com applegaw@arentfox.com atkinsd@arentfox.com avlupo@arentfox.com baileym@arentfox.com bardind@arentfox.com basilw@arentfox.com bastianh@arentfox.com bellotts@arentfox.com bensonc@arentfox.com bermanm@arentfox.com bermanr@arentfox.com besundea@arentfox.com bettenhb@arentfox.com blassm@arentfox.com bogena@arentfox.com braterr@arentfox.com bristoll@arentfox.com brownc@arentfox.com brownt@arentfox.com bumpersd@arentfox.com bushd@arentfox.com buskeyc@arentfox.com campbelb@arentfox.com candrevk@arentfox.com carpentr@arentfox.com carterh@arentfox.com carvalhc@arentfox.com castielt@arentfox.com castler@arentfox.com charnofs@arentfox.com charykw@arentfox.com clarkm@arentfox.com clarkr@arentfox.com cohene@arentfox.com cohens@arentfox.com cohns@arentfox.com colemans@arentfox.com colsone@arentfox.com commonsb@arentfox.com conneend@arentfox.com corbine@arentfox.com crosbyh@arentfox.com cryanm@arentfox.com culverj@arentfox.com davisr@arentfox.com dernbacp@arentfox.com dickerj@arentfox.com disbrowj@arentfox.com dowdm@arentfox.com dreuxm@arentfox.com dreyers@arentfox.com dubina@arentfox.com dubrowd@arentfox.com dunnek@arentfox.com dzarad@arentfox.com eatonm@arentfox.com edwardsr@arentfox.com englec@arentfox.com englishc@arentfox.com estradal@arentfox.com feige@arentfox.com feldmans@arentfox.com fishela@arentfox.com fishmanb@arentfox.com fleischm@arentfox.com flowec@arentfox.com flowersd@arentfox.com formans@arentfox.com foxj@arentfox.com francest@arentfox.com friesj@arentfox.com galer@arentfox.com gargiulj@arentfox.com gatewooj@arentfox.com giaimoc@arentfox.com gibsons@arentfox.com giulianc@arentfox.com glynns@arentfox.com gogelb@arentfox.com gonzaler@arentfox.com goodricw@arentfox.com gordonm@arentfox.com gouraigh@arentfox.com grayj@arentfox.com greenwag@arentfox.com grigoric@arentfox.com growm@arentfox.com gryced@arentfox.com halperni@arentfox.com halpernj@arentfox.com hambrice@arentfox.com hamiltoa@arentfox.com harbisos@arentfox.com haughtop@arentfox.com hendersd@arentfox.com hennl@arentfox.com hillr@arentfox.com hillrj@arentfox.com hills@arentfox.com hirschr@arentfox.com hor@arentfox.com hueyb@arentfox.com hulmej@arentfox.com hungs@arentfox.com hurwitzm@arentfox.com hutcherc@arentfox.com infolaw@arentfox.com jacobk@arentfox.com jewq@arentfox.com johnsonk@arentfox.com jordanj@arentfox.com kahanere@arentfox.com kahns@arentfox.com kalickl@arentfox.com kaminskj@arentfox.com kaneb@arentfox.com katrichh@arentfox.com katzm@arentfox.com kaufmanb@arentfox.com kidneyj@arentfox.com kimelman@arentfox.com kingc@arentfox.com kitsmith@arentfox.com klapiscj@arentfox.com kleimans@arentfox.com kleins@arentfox.com kneelans@arentfox.com kraininr@arentfox.com kucikg@arentfox.com kupferbm@arentfox.com kurmanm@arentfox.com laboej@arentfox.com langdonm@arentfox.com lansingb@arentfox.com larsond@arentfox.com lattimor@arentfox.com leahym@arentfox.com leberb@arentfox.com lesterl@arentfox.com levalg@arentfox.com levitl@arentfox.com loughlil@arentfox.com lucasc@arentfox.com macleodp@arentfox.com manelas@arentfox.com maramesw@arentfox.com marchicj@arentfox.com marinok@arentfox.com marmelsc@arentfox.com masseye@arentfox.com matelskw@arentfox.com mazurj@arentfox.com mccoyj@arentfox.com mckalipf@arentfox.com mcleand@arentfox.com mcnallya@arentfox.com mcsherrw@arentfox.com meeksm@arentfox.com meighere@arentfox.com mercurij@arentfox.com milema@arentfox.com mitcheld@arentfox.com mitchelg@arentfox.com morrish@arentfox.com murrayr@arentfox.com myronj@arentfox.com nassikaj@arentfox.com newmanr@arentfox.com noonann@arentfox.com nortonc@arentfox.com oramg@arentfox.com osnosd@arentfox.com osterhat@arentfox.com ottaviad@arentfox.com ozgum@arentfox.com pavelt@arentfox.com pearlel@arentfox.com peelers@arentfox.com perlmanm@arentfox.com piercee@arentfox.com porterc@arentfox.com pricej@arentfox.com raffac@arentfox.com raffertm@arentfox.com randalld@arentfox.com rauchm@arentfox.com ravitzg@arentfox.com ravitzj@arentfox.com rbrand@arentfox.com redferne@arentfox.com reicherp@arentfox.com reichsk@arentfox.com reidera@arentfox.com reinbacs@arentfox.com rheem@arentfox.com ricepj@arentfox.com rigauxs@arentfox.com rosenj@arentfox.com ruggierj@arentfox.com rummelj@arentfox.com ruttenbc@arentfox.com salamonb@arentfox.com sandersj@arentfox.com sarrailw@arentfox.com savittd@arentfox.com schehlj@arentfox.com schmerlc@arentfox.com sheltond@arentfox.com shortl@arentfox.com shurena@arentfox.com siegela@arentfox.com silberbr@arentfox.com silkenaj@arentfox.com simonj@arentfox.com simss@arentfox.com sinclaiv@arentfox.com smithdj@arentfox.com spencera@arentfox.com stansbuw@arentfox.com steinbej@arentfox.com stevensm@arentfox.com stolovee@arentfox.com strongc@arentfox.com sundarab@arentfox.com taubk@arentfox.com tepperg@arentfox.com tibbse@arentfox.com tidmanm@arentfox.com tollefsb@arentfox.com tuckette@arentfox.com vanhollc@arentfox.com vayraf@arentfox.com wachenk@arentfox.com wahlb@arentfox.com waldmanb@arentfox.com wards@arentfox.com watersr@arentfox.com webberr@arentfox.com webmaster@arentfox.com wertzbem@arentfox.com westerma@arentfox.com whitingr@arentfox.com willcoxb@arentfox.com williamc@arentfox.com wisorr@arentfox.com wolfs@arentfox.com wongk@arentfox.com woodsidb@arentfox.com wynnd@arentfox.com yampolsh@arentfox.com yenc@arentfox.com yohays@arentfox.com youngh@arentfox.com yurowj@arentfox.com zapponee@arentfox.com zauchaj@arentfox.com

      ... and someone else harvested email addresses from slashdot for spamming purposes... it would probably suck quite a bit for all those folks.

      Gee, I hope no-one does that!

    14. Re:Here are the culprits. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And what, for example, would happen if you signed all those people up for their own email alerts, here:
      http://www.arentfox.com/cgi-bin/alert.pl

    15. Re:Here are the culprits. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And what, for example, would happen if you signed all those people up for their own email alerts, here:
      http://www.arentfox.com/cgi-bin/alert.pl

  16. Oh Please... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So what if AOL is a trademark! Just beacuse their name happens to be an extension of the AOL name does not mean it is should be subject to trademark. Trademark is there to prevent confusion, not to silence speech. I don't think someone going to pentaol.org would confuse this site with aol.com -- that'd be hard pressed. Thus, there isn't a trademark violation.

    1. Re:Oh Please... by DEBEDb · · Score: 2

      I was just wondering - if you sell used
      Toyotas (or parts), do you need to get permission
      from Toyota to name your dealership
      Bob's Toyotas of Smalltown?

      --

      Considered harmful.
  17. They didn't look at the site by Ektanoor · · Score: 5, Informative

    It seems that looking at sites/articles is not a problem among certain /.-ters. If one looks well at this letter, then he may note that they only have taken a look the the name of the site...

    Besides it seems that Peng's development came into a halt somewhere in August. This news is in the first page in French- "Peng ne sera plus maintenu" 03.08.2002. So, the claims come a little out of sight and rather harsh. Again, we see that lawyers are also bad readers, love to shoot first, blindly and stupidly.

    1. Re:They didn't look at the site by wolf- · · Score: 1

      Not blindly nor stupidly.
      AOL pays them for action.
      No action, no billing.

      Law is all about the MONEY.

      The politicians who make the laws.
      The lawyers who argue the law.
      Judges who rule on the law.

      Have enough money to get started, you can get into law. Once in law, you have enough money to continue.

      --
      ----- LoboSoft specializes in Digital Language Lab
  18. arguments over names by zod1025 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The human mind is really good at spotting differences. When you read the words "Microsoft" and "Micro$oft" you instantly know that those are very different words. It therefore follows that domain names with different spellings are easily distinguishable and completely distinct.

    The domain "micro$oft.com" is not in any way confusable with the domain "microsoft.com". They are different. You have to push different keys on the keyboard to get to these sites.

    Now, if some buisness were to have a link to the "micro$oft.com" domain and say "Click here to get to MICROSOFT!" then THEY should get a C&D letter. NOT the owners of the "micro$oft.com" domain.

    Any other use of litigation regarding particular choices of domain names is an abuse, and should be stopped.

    --

    -ZOD-
    1. Re:arguments over names by MrWa · · Score: 1
      The human mind is really good at spotting differences. When you read the words "Microsoft" and "Micro$oft" you instantly know that those are very different words. It therefore follows that domain names with different spellings are easily distinguishable and completely distinct.

      The human mind is also really good at ignoring the the differences and see what it is expecting. A lot of times people will subconciously ignore the double "the" in the first sentence. The same thing can effectively dilute a trademark as well. Kleenex?

      Yes, AOL (Arentfox, really) seem to be picking on a little guy because of AOL in its' name. What I find suprising, though, is that Peng isn't getting in trouble for providing a means to access AOL's private network without using AOL's approved client...

  19. I do say. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FP version 17.0

  20. Download While You Still Can by fire-eyes · · Score: 3, Informative

    Of course, this is only a suggestion.

    http://osdn.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/penga ol /peng1.04.tar.gz

    http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/pengao l/ pengaol0.96.tar.gz

    --
    -- Note: If you don't agree with me, don't bother replying. I won't read it.
    1. Re:Download While You Still Can by fire-eyes · · Score: 1

      Those url's have an extra space in them. I'm sure you people will figure out what to do.

      --
      -- Note: If you don't agree with me, don't bother replying. I won't read it.
    2. Re:Download While You Still Can by blank_coil · · Score: 1
      --
      No sig for you.
  21. Fuckers. All of them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who do these people think they are? Apparently, if you have money, you can try and take over any domain name that you please. For another excellent example of this, take a look here on how the cops and some rich dude are suing a college student to make him fork over his domain drunkatcollege.com

  22. Legal Fund (EFF?) by fire-eyes · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't think this is big enough for EFF but...

    Perhaps a legal fund of some sort could be set up. It'll certainly get 20 bucks from me.

    --
    -- Note: If you don't agree with me, don't bother replying. I won't read it.
    1. Re:Legal Fund (EFF?) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't agree with you.

    2. Re:Legal Fund (EFF?) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, you're going to give yourself $20? How generous of you. When is /. going to enforce a post preview BEFORE submission?

    3. Re:Legal Fund (EFF?) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jesus, man. They're in the wrong. You can't run about intentionally misusing someone else's trademark to label your competing product.

  23. I will save you some time... by br4dh4x0r · · Score: 1

    More like AOHell!

    AH HA HA

    Nice one!

  24. I was wondering... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's it like to be a bench warmer for a debate team?

    Get a clue.

  25. how about rotflmaol.org by jukal · · Score: 1

    Should the owner already start making coffee for the AOL lawyers :) Domain name "takeovers" like this are insane. If your company happens to be known with a three letter name, does that automatically mean you can takeover anything which ends to these magic three letters. If so, I will make one company that's called A, another with name B, and third called ...erm... D :)?

  26. Important Message From AOL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ding! "You've got Sued"

  27. Bullshit by Sean+Clifford · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Using aol.com in your domain name for something AOL related is just asking for trouble.


    Bullshit. AOLSucks.com wouldn't have the impact without "aol" being part of the domain name. They successfully defended the domain under the auspices of fair use.


    Just because the letters aol are part of your domain name doesn't give AOL the right to stomp down on your ass - even if the subject of your site is related to AOL.


    If you're up to something infringing on their trademark like trying to make money off their good name, then yeah you're violating their mark. But this doesn't.


    IANAL, but you should get one. They're really not all that expensive. Stand up to the bully. Tell AOL to fuck off.

    1. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Something like AOLSucks can receive special protection under the law (because of the type of speech), while using AOL in the name of a related product does not. If you own company XYZ, do you want someone else to setup a company called XYZ next door? Most business owners wouldn't.

      The real question is "Why was AOL in the domain name?" Was it because they wanted to relate their product to AOL? Yes. That's why they're in the wrong. It's not as if they set up a domain years ago for a product called Paola, and then AOL came along and said "Hey! AOL is in there!" It's not like when Gateway 2000 stole gateway.com from it's legit owner.

    2. Re:Bullshit by neuroticia · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except for one thing. It allows the user to connect to AOL, bypassing AOL's software, bypassing AOL's control over their Online Service. It removes advertising, AOL's content, and other parts of the AOL user experience that AOL wants to provide.

      If AOL wanted to provide Linux users with their software, they would. If AOL wanted to allow users to dial up to their OSP without using the AOL interface, they would. But they don't.

      AOL is an Online Service Provider, not an ISP. They make part of their income off of fleecing companies and convincing them to join up. Anything that allows the end-user to avoid seeing the companies that have joined up, is effectively removing some of the selling power that AOL has.

      On top of AOL's aims to provide a specific user experience, and get funding from various companies based on the number of eyes that will see their content, AOL is also required to defend their trademark--otherwise they will lose the right to defend their trademark, and it will become a term that lapses into common usage, thus usable in ways that AOL would not like.

      AOLSucks is fine, it's a commentary site. It's non-competitive with AOL, and does not deny that AOL is a trademark. Pengaol is a violation of AOL's rights. Sucks, but it's true.

      -Sara

    3. Re:Bullshit by entrigant · · Score: 1

      Just because the letters aol are part of your domain name doesn't give AOL the right to stomp down on your ass...

      That's all good and well 'cept... they do anyways. There's a difference between what should happen and what does, and using aol in a domain name for something aol related IS asking for trouble. Even if the trouble is not deserved.

      Welcome to the Real World(TM).

    4. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Trademark infringement under the Lanham Act requires confusion as to source, mistake as to origin, or outright deception. The *best* that aol could claim is an infringement through "colorable imitation." The threatened suit is bullsh*t. There's not a whim of evidence that pengaol.org would be associated by the public with aol.com. Perhaps aol could sue successfully in a civil action (e.g., disparagement, unfair business practices, etc.), or perhaps under copyright, but this is not a case of trademark infringement.

    5. Re:Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree that AOL is an online service, however, I myself do not use it as an "online service". I simply use the AOL dialing program to connect, then minimise it from then on; utilizing the beauty of 0800 internet access without hourly cut-offs.

      Pengaol does for me, almost to the letter what I'm already doing, but doesn't have the costly performance impact that the AOL RAS implementation and that huge number of glyphs in memory does.

      If you look directly at the aims of "Internet Access" and the responcibility AOL has to offer, it's quite obvious AOL is using it's marketshare as it's secondary source of income; and this is bound to falter in time. Courts should recognise this.

      In an ideal court of law, there is no "circumvention of advertisement models", and in no way should it be considered illgeal if you consider advertisement undesired and harassing (there are no laws forcing you to watch ads [unless you own a TV]). Is this not what spam is? Unsolicidated advertisement...

      I didn't opt in to all the ads AOL could throw at me. I was roped in.

      Sadly, EULAs (binding or not, google: crackZ) and Terms of Service have really not been challenged all too well.

      I guess I'm off now to tape the eyelids of my youngest open and make him watch "educational" TV.

      MM

  28. first post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    doh! Well I was close eh

  29. Slashdot - Challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See if we can Slashdot the legal weasels. Everybody hit the link.

    1. Re:Slashdot - Challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      They'll probably sue /.

      In the meantime, they also have forums. Not that I'm suggesting anything.

    2. Re:Slashdot - Challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.arentfox.com/post/forum/csforum.html

      FIRST POST!

    3. Re:Slashdot - Challenge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hmm, looks like full html is allowed on that forum... fun, fun, fun. Some javascript popups to certain places perhaps? Hmmmmm? *cackles evilly*

    4. Re:Slashdot - Challenge by UncleFluffy · · Score: 2

      I don't know which is funnier:

      "SLASHDOT OWNZ J00"
      "I lost my penis"
      or
      "We buy excess seafood"

      Truly noble and mature, fellow /.ers...

      --

      What would Lemmy do?

  30. Shame by TheophileEscargot · · Score: 2, Informative
    I've used Pengaol before, and it works fine. Essentially it's just a tunnel: if you have a valid username and password you can use it as a normal ISP from Linux. You don't have access to the AOL chatrooms or proprietary content (or didn't when I used it a year or so ago), and you have to sign up from a Windows machine: you can't create an AOL account with Pengaol.

    I don't see how AOL are being harmed by this, since you still need to be signed up with them. Hopefully they'll keep the project going in spite of this harassment.

    1. Re:Shame by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 2

      I don't see how AOL are being harmed by this, since you still need to be signed up with them.

      Because you aren't seeing all the ads and customized content on the front page.

    2. Re:Shame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AOL is getting harmed by it because they love spamming their uses with Advertisements through their client. They make a few extra bucks off those Ads, so if you're using their service without their client, they get all bitchy, it happens. They're AOL, you expected something else?

  31. Dude!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're 33 minutes late! WTF?
    Don't be so lame.

  32. While we're suing by 99bottles · · Score: 1

    Maybe they should consider suing themselves on behalf of FOX Broadcasting.

  33. Arent Fox sues Pengaol by jamirocake · · Score: 1

    Three months later...

    The Fox TV channel sues Arent Fox....

    Three months later....

    The Mexican government sues the FOX TV broadcast company for profiting from their president's name......

    Ahh, shuks

    --

    --Manuel
    "I hate quotations, tell me what you think"
  34. One more for the "Suppressed" directory by vegetablespork · · Score: 4, Insightful
    [user@host Suppressed]$ ls

    aebpr22.zip* eBookReader (old verson)/
    TiVo MPEG/
    ASPI Me (backdate to 1998)/ PanoTools/ WINE with DX/
    Blizzard Jackboots/ peng1.04.tar.gz WMA crack (v7)/
    Broadcast 2000/ skie/ Xolox/
    DeCSS/ Streambox VCR 3.1b/ xp-stuff/

    [user@host Suppressed]$

    When will these idiots learn that attempts to suppress software only result in wider distribution. I hadn't heard of Peng until today: now I'm preserving a copy.

    --

    Call (206) 338-5780 COLLECT for information about a genuine BA, BS, MA, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.

    1. Re:One more for the "Suppressed" directory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      When will these idiots learn that attempts to suppress software only result in wider distribution. I hadn't heard of Peng until today: now I'm preserving a copy.

      But are you publishing it?

      If they're stopping mass distribution, then they're winning.

    2. Re:One more for the "Suppressed" directory by asb · · Score: 1
      When will these idiots learn that attempts to suppress software only result in wider distribution. I hadn't heard of Peng until today: now I'm preserving a copy.

      FYI: They're not trying to supress the software, only the domain name.

      --
      Antti S. Brax - Old school - http://www.iki.fi/asb/
  35. Peng great idea, shitty execution by leviramsey · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I spent an ungodly amount of time getting peng to work on my step-brother's system, and I tell you, the build and configuration process was designed by morons. WTF is with needing to be root to *compile* the POS????

    Maybe someone will take the GPL'd codebase and turn it into a ./configure; make; make install type of thing...

    1. Re:Peng great idea, shitty execution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, it's true that peng is not really easy to compile/install.
      Official owner of peng do not continue to maintain it, that's why a new project called pengfork started on savannah:Pengfork on savannah

      It's only available with CVS and is not fully stable and finished. It's still under heavy development but you will find a configure script ;)
      Pengfork team also continue to maintain peng code to resolve important issue when we see one cause peng is more stable.

      I'm a developer of pengfork so I'm really concerned with the Arent Fox issue. What cause us fear is not the fact they ask us to stop use the domain pengaol.org this seems to be legitimate even if I don't like the method used...
      Points I fully disagree are:
      1)"You are also distributing software products that interacts and/or interfere with our client's proprietary software"
      We do not interact/interfere with the AOL interface if this is what they mean...

      2)"AOL still is considering the propriety of your software and reserves all its rights to object to those products"
      humm... what means propriety? if they mean we don't show unwanted ads they're right...

      3)"Your commercial use of our client's AOL mark"
      What commercial use!!!! We didn't ever earn a cent for the use of peng nor AOL software.

      Furthermore you will not find any link nor sentence that could induce AOL's customers in error. Peng is not an official AOL client and don't claim it by any way.

  36. reverse engineering ? by ramzak2k · · Score: 2, Informative

    Did you guys read there About page ?

    they have a line that says,
    "This program includes a reverse ingeenering of the Aol's protocol. "

    Arent Fox guys must be drooling over that statement licking their DMCA plate.

    --

    Siggy Say, Siggy Do
    1. Re:reverse engineering ? by metallic · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You are allowed to revese engineer under the DMCA in order to create interoperable software, I believe.

      --
      Karma: Positive. Mostly effected by cowbell.
    2. Re:reverse engineering ? by Renaud · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are allowed to revese engineer under the DMCA in order to create interoperable software, I believe.

      The D-M-C what ?
      They're in France anyway, and is reverse engineering is legal here, period.
      (dunno how the EUCD is going to affect this, though...)

  37. They took my domain also by Joe+Jordan · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is nothing new. AOL has been doing this to virtually any domain name that has the letters "A" "O" and "L" in sequential form for as long as I can remember.

    I also had an a-o-l domain name. "EnhanceAOL.com" was my site before I got a cease and desist from Arent Fox claiming that I was diluting their trademark. My site was an aol add-on site - software that actually improved upon their client software (hence the term 'enhance aol'. They don't look at the "content" of your site. They don't care if your trying to save the poor starving children of the world. If you have "aol" somewhere in your domain, they're going to take it.

    Don't believe me? I found this site: search.wipo.int which lists at least some of the AOL domains that have been repo-ed by AOL -- If anyone knows of a better source please post because I know there's been more.

    1. Re:They took my domain also by Hayzeus · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Don't believe me? I found this site: search.wipo.int [wipo.int] which lists at least some of the AOL domains that have been repo-ed by AOL

      A lot of these are also DENIALS of AOLs petitions. This usually seems to be the case when WIPO finds that the allegedly infringing domain has is actually being used for something. Under the WIPO guidlines, AOLs attempt to take your domain should have been denied. Trademark infringement is actually another matter, though. WIPO considers possible infrigement, but infrigement alone shouldn't get the complaintant's request approved.

      Just out of curiosity, did you ever end up going before WIPO? How did things pan out?

    2. Re:They took my domain also by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also had an a-o-l domain name. "EnhanceAOL.com" was my site before I got a cease and desist from Arent Fox claiming that I was diluting their trademark.

      Now that's just bullshit. You were, if anything, strengthening their trademark by further associating it with their product. We're talking about some seriously stupid people here.

    3. Re:They took my domain also by Joe+Jordan · · Score: 3, Informative

      Just out of curiosity, did you ever end up going before WIPO? How did things pan out?

      I had just started advertising the domain for less than a months time before I got my first 'cease and desist'. I ignored them hoping they'd go away, but got another one about a month later. I wasn't about to risk lawsuit from a multi-billion dollar corporation, so I called Arent Fox and told them they could have it if they refunded the 2 year registration fee. They did, and I did. I didn't know as much back then as I do now, but I'm not sure if handling the situation differently would have resulted in any different outcome.

  38. pengaol.org = 0.0.0.0? by avarame · · Score: 1

    % nslookup pengaol.org Server: ns2.charterpipeline.net Address: 24.205.1.62 Non-authoritative answer: Name: pengaol.org Address: 0.0.0.0 Hmm. Did they give in, or is their name server just dying?

    --
    Save time now so you can waste it later
  39. Arent Fox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Heres the really idiotic thing.

    From Netcraft

    "The site www.arentfox.com is running Apache/1.3.23 (Unix) (Red-Hat/Linux) mod_gzip/1.3.19.1a mod_ssl/2.8.7 OpenSSL/0.9.6b DAV/1.0.3 PHP/4.1.2 mod_perl/1.26 mod_throttle/3.1.2 on Linux."

    Sure, its OK to save money on your website with Linux but lets sue the pants off of developers. Nice.

    OpenSSL/0.9.6b
    http://www.mandrakesecure.net/en /advisories/2002/M DKSA-2002-046-1.php

    Oopsie

    1. Re:Arent Fox by kz45 · · Score: 1

      Sure, its OK to save money on your website with Linux but lets sue the pants off of developers. Nic

      where is it shown that the creators of peng are linux kernal developers?

  40. AOL needs to lose this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    AOL has no material interest in this. These guys REed dialer interoperability, nothing more. AOL sells accounts, and the software can't use the service without you having one.

    Just like Telephones... If you sell a service, then you should have the right to access it using whatever platform YOU choose.

    We really, really, need to get back to a flatly "first sale" world. Not just for books, but for everything. Soon, no doubt, we'll be seeing everything from washing machines to toasters laying propriatary ties at our feet.

    BUY A THING -- OWN A THING.

    OWN A THING -- DO WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT TO WITH IT.

    PERIOD.

    1. Re:AOL needs to lose this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This has nothing to do with the service or the software... it's all about the deliberate use of acompany's trademark in a domain name. They screwed up.

    2. Re:AOL needs to lose this. by neuroticia · · Score: 0

      You can't bring your wife's Mitsubishi to the same Toyota Dealership that you bring your Toyota to for repairs. Toyota would not repair the Mitsubishi, even if you paid the same fees.

      Other ISPs are like general car repair places, AOL is specialized. AOL sells their service with their software for a reason. It's their right to decide who gets to connect to it, or not.

      Besides, there are other-cheaper-better ways to connect. Why use AOL? Yeez. I agree that AOL should be happy that someone is doing this, but they're not--so end of story. It's their right to decide, even if their decision is a godawfulstupid one.

      -Sara

    3. Re:AOL needs to lose this. by Chromium_One · · Score: 1

      Copy it, and resell it?

      WTF is this? "Score 3, Insightful" on what is clearly a troll? As was pointed out previously, in order to use this Linux dialer, one must already have an AOL account. Pengaol isn't making (or even trying to make) a profit here. AOLs' beef is simply about the loss of control over the customer "experience". Unfortunately for AOL, they're really selling a service, rather than an experience. My advice to them would be to give up and accept that not all users are complete idiots. Not all users want the extra bloat they call "services". Next!

      --
      When you live in a sick society, just about everything you do is wrong.
    4. Re:AOL needs to lose this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's about the domain name and the illegal use of their trademark.

    5. Re:AOL needs to lose this. by Chromium_One · · Score: 1

      You're not paranoid enough.
      Think about all the wrangling they've done AFTER the court order to open up instant messaging... pretty well a dead issue by now, but I'd not be surprised if that issue gets revived.

      --
      When you live in a sick society, just about everything you do is wrong.
    6. Re:AOL needs to lose this. by Zebbers · · Score: 1

      ummm
      you are a dumbass
      there needs to be a new moderation called

      Bullshit Analogy.

      Christ, didn't you ever do analogies in grammar school?

    7. Re:AOL needs to lose this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ot all users want the extra bloat they call "services".
      Then why the hell are they using AOL? What makes AOL AOL is the extra bloat they call services. If they just want Internet access, sign up with a real ISP fer chrissakes
    8. Re:AOL needs to lose this. by RyuMaou · · Score: 1

      Check your user agreement with the phone company again. You actually can NOT access their service with "any equipment you want". They have restrictions. They also restrict their liability based on what equipment you do, in fact, use.

      Remember the days of Ma' Bell? Back when you had to buy your phone from them? We really haven't come that far, it just seems like it from where we started....

      --
      Oh, the trials and tribulations of a network geek! Read about them at: http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/
  41. -1 Overrated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This poster cut-and-pasted a whois record and made a dumb comment (fuckaol.org) and an irrelevant comment (Nazi links) and gets moderated to 5?

  42. Finally, al place for goatse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I bet that the lawyers would love a few goatse in their forums. #:^0

  43. Re:But they speak french. by mider · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was just wondering, how can they respond to the letter if they only speak French?
    Shouldn't the Lawyer send the letter in French?

    --

    "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." - Soren Kier
  44. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  45. Arent Fox sued by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    20th Century Fox threatens Arent Fox, demands handover of the arentfox.com domain.

    1. Re:Arent Fox sued by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? We know that they Aren't Fox, so there's no confusion... :)

  46. Actually, no by Raul654 · · Score: 2

    The words they use preclude this, because they call AOL their client. If AOL had not retained them, it would be a bald-faced lie and illegal under several laws. As I understand it, this is quite common in germany, actually.

    --


    To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
    --E.C. Stanton
  47. Here's what you want to hit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.arentfox.com/cgi-bin/bioEditor.pl?reque st=view&from=SQL&bio_id=129 Man, just look at that peach. I think I'm in looooove.

  48. I didn't interpret it that way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No reasonable person would read that post that way.

    I'd say a reasonable person would interpret this as "Oh, what people work at a sleazy lawfirm?"

    Do you agree its a sleazy lawfirm?

    1. Re:I didn't interpret it that way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No reasonable person would read that post that way.

      Oh yes, when read the words "Hit them" and "Damage", the first thing that runs into my mind is "Oh, what people work at a sleazy lawfirm?"

    2. Re:I didn't interpret it that way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe a sleazy lawfirm, but just because you disagree with them does not give you the right to "Hit them" or "cause damage".

    3. Re:I didn't interpret it that way by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe a poor choice of words, but I don't think it's an altogether bad idea to get someone's attention in their server room. It'll crawl up the word of mouth ladder there and someone will realize that they're being noticed by a community, and in a bad way.

      Immature? Yes. Will it have any effect? It probably won't change any of their actions, no. Does it make me feel like I'm doing something besides sitting here and complaining? Yep.

    4. Re:I didn't interpret it that way by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      But that's the american way!

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
  49. Gaol is a word by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gaol is an old-timey spelling of jail. They should just change every occurrence of Pengaol to PenGaol and come up with some B.S. explanation of the name. That'd be the end of it. You can't sue someone for using a substring of your name in an entirely different word!

  50. Busting down 'the man' ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't it time for a massive denial of service attack on both the law firm and AOL? Or better yet someone at a tier 1 isp announcing bogus routes to AOL's net space...

  51. Silly Thing to Expect To Get Away With by reallocate · · Score: 4, Informative

    AOL makes its money from all the "ad-laden" content and services it spoonfeeds to its subscribers. So don't expect them to produce software that enables AOL users to ignore that content. Or, to allow someone else to do the same without a legal challenge.

    AOL has dallied with Linux dialers in the past, getting, I believe, at least one to beta. They've probably done the math and decided the costs of supporting Linux as an AOL client are more than the revenue they'd take in.

    Under U.S. law, anyone who has registered a trademark must be seen to defend their rights to that trademark against infringers, or risk losing the trademakr altogether via a court decision that the trademarked language or art has lapsed into general usage. Years ago, Xerox went after use of the word "xerox" (which they'd trademarked) to refer generically to any copier. Even ran TV commercials telling people not to say "please xerox this".

    Marketing a product that combines duplication of a proprietary product's functionality with an infringement of that product's copyright is tantamount to inviting a cease and desist order.

    If you don't like this, at least realize that your real target isn't AOL but trademark law.

    --
    -- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
    1. Re:Silly Thing to Expect To Get Away With by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn. They charge, what $25 a month, and give you ads galore on top of it? Either they're really fucking rich, or they have massive tech support costs to make up. Given the average computer literacy of AOL users, the latter wouldn't surprise me.

    2. Re:Silly Thing to Expect To Get Away With by reallocate · · Score: 2

      AOL probably doesn't make any more money from dialup customers than any other ISP. That's to say, selling dialup access is a l-o-w margin business.

      Sure, they make money from the ads, but they also make money by channeling all those millions of users to businesses who pay AOL for the privilege.

      Tech support is simply a cost of business. They need to retain their proprietary software and their proprietary dialer to maintain the lock on their customer base.

      As for the "average computer literacy of AOL users"...well, who really knows, eh? They have put together a pretty slick piece of software, though, especially if you think the goal should be to increase use of computers rather than increase knowledge about computers.

      --
      -- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
    3. Re:Silly Thing to Expect To Get Away With by Evil+Adrian · · Score: 0

      It seems that a lot of geeks have this notion that AOL is for idiots. But c'mon, you shouldn't have to know how to program a computer if all you want to do is read some news, e-mail some friends and play some games.

      Just because you own a computer doesn't mean you should know how to program it. (I'd bet 90% of Slashdot users have a car, but only 5% of them could do something like transmission or engine repair on their own.)

      --
      evil adrian
  52. Re:Silly Thing to Expect To Get Away...Correcction by reallocate · · Score: 2

    Correction:

    Make the next to last paragraph read "...infringement of that product's trademark is tantamount...." (replacing "copyright" with "trademark".)

    Rats:-)

    --
    -- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
  53. Re:But they speak french. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ah! thats just what they want you to think! But all those French-claiming-to-not-understand-english understand perfectly well when i explain them how to get to the nearest coffeeshop in English. hmmmm how strange!

  54. Come on Slashdotters! by electroniceric · · Score: 2
    Slow down a minute and let's put this in context:
    GAIM? You mean the program whpse name is the addition to the acronym AIM standing for (AOL Instant Messenger) of the letter G standing for GNOME or GTK toolkit or whatever? A program which depends on a protocol written by AOL and whose logins exchanges are mediated by AOL's servers? Now it happens that AOL has one of the IM networks with enough people to make it a useful communications medium, so it is reasonable to ask that they make it available to others, but.... they're still the ones who made the network happen. There are many important things to debate about whether such networks should open and publicly available, but just because a company built a private one doesn't mean they're a bad guy.

    Here's an analogy:
    If I built a private road, I would feel free to tell a small trucking project that I didn't want it using my roads, for reasons including maintenance, liability, effect on the people who live by my road, etc. Even a "nice" trucking project. I might build a private road even though I believe roads should generally be public, simply because a public road is a more complicated and slower endeavour.

    So take the debate back where it belongs:

    Q: Should AOL allow other dialers?
    A: Probably, under certain circumstances and conditions.
    Q: Should AOL allow other projects to use its messaging network?
    A: Probably, under certain circumstances and conditions.
    And so on and so forth

    I'm all for an intelligent conversation about these terms and conditions.

    Not only that, but even if they were a simple bad guy, why would you call them names if you know your side will have to work with them at some point? It's just counterproductive.

    1. Re:Come on Slashdotters! by Zebbers · · Score: 1

      first off AIM stands for Asshole Insertion Magnet.

      2nd of all, I run GAIM...gaim formats packets that I send to aol servers. Aol can always choose to deny or reject those packets(such as theyve done to jabber) but AFAIK they allow 3rd party use of the feature limited TOC servers.

      Whats at issue isnt any of that. Its strongarm tactics that companies use to take out anything and anyone remotely threatening. Napster, jabber, decss etc. I'm sorry, but 99% of the OS projects out there cant afford to defend themselves in court. So it simply because a matter of who has the most money, not who is in the right. Thats what is fucked up about these things.

      Personally, your post didn't have much to do with anything. Your analogy was way off as well.

    2. Re:Come on Slashdotters! by neuroticia · · Score: 1

      First off, AIM stands for AOL Instant Messenger, so saying it stands for Asshole Insertion Magnet does two things. 1- it makes you sound like uber-troll, and 2- it automatically devalues everything you have to say after that.

      Second off- Yes, GAIM formats packets that you send to AOL servers. The key being AOL servers. AOL has the right to accept or reject, and thus far it has been accepting. In the future, if it decides to reject--you've already said it has the right.

      The issue isn't anything BUT that. The case we're discussing has two components. 1- the unauthorized use of AOL's network resources by software they don't want on their network. And 2- The unauthorized use of the AOL trademark name. Both of which AOL has the right to use "strongarm" tactics to halt.

      By the way... You really like telling people their analogies are bad, don't you?

      -Sara

    3. Re:Come on Slashdotters! by arkanes · · Score: 2

      As part of a court order (I believe related to the AOL - TW merger), AOL was required to keep the AIM network open. Of course, they wiggle anyway (multiple protocols, for example), but they do have a legal obligation to allow others to access the network.

  55. AOL's biggest opposition by Ferguson · · Score: 0

    Their customer satisfaction would quadruple if they would stop:

    1.) Reading people's emails/chat logs
    2.) Stop the domainname suing
    3.) Stop censoring people (kids is debateable, but they censor adults too).
    4.) Stop pissing off every gamer in the world by destroying any online gaming experience.
    5.) Find a way to reverse the damage done to one's ego when someone says "Dude, you've got A-oh-hell!?"

  56. Section 1201(f) by yerricde · · Score: 3, Informative

    You are allowed to revese engineer under the DMCA in order to create interoperable software, I believe.

    True, under the letter of the law: 17 USC 1201(f). But good luck proving in court that your "means are necessary to achieve such interoperability".

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  57. Yes. Ease of Use Doesn't Diminish Brain Power by reallocate · · Score: 2

    Right you are. If KDE or Gnome came out with a dialer that installed as easily as AOL's client, that found several local ISP phone numbers automatically, that simplified email, browsing, etc., and offered keyword access to thousands of geek-oriented sites, plus proprietary content thanks to deals with folks like OSDN, etc....well, there'd be some serious salivating and self-congratulating going on.

    --
    -- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
  58. Surely AOL would have to give the domain back by Zemran · · Score: 2

    If Peng have to hand over the 'Pengaol' domain because it contains the name 'aol' then surely AOL would have to give it back under the same logic.

    --
    I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
  59. Look what happened to Aimster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Aimster is now Madster Details are here.

  60. Domains Containing AOL.COM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    0AOL.COM 1-800-AOL.COM 1-AOL.COM 1212AOL.COM 1800AOL.COM 1888LEAPAOL.COM 1AOL.COM 1STAOL.COM 1TOORDERAOL.COM 2-AOL.COM 2000AOL.COM 21AOL.COM 247AOL.COM 24HRAOL.COM 2AOL.COM 365AOL.COM 3AOL.COM 3DAOL.COM 40AOL.COM 411AOL.COM 4AOL.COM 4FREEAOL.COM 6C-IPT-AOL.COM 7AOL.COM 800-AOL.COM 800AOL.COM 800CALLAOL.COM 888AOL.COM 888LEAPAOL.COM 999LOPEZZZLAWAOL.COM 9AOL.COM A-AOL.COM A2B2AOL.COM A84DB4-AOL.COM AAAAAOL.COM AAAAOL.COM AAAOL.COM AAOL.COM ABAGORIOAOL.COM ABANGGAOL.COM ABOUTAOL.COM ACAOL.COM ACC-AOL.COM ACCESSAOL.COM ACCLAIMENGAOL.COM ACCOUNT-AOL.COM ADAOL.COM ADDAOL.COM ADIOSAOL.COM ADMIN-AOL.COM ADULTAOL.COM ADVANCECAMAOL.COM ADVANCEDAOL.COM ADVHYDPHILAOL.COM AFAOL.COM AFRICAN-AOL.COM AFRICANAOL.COM AFRICAOL.COM AFRO-AOL.COM AFROAOL.COM AGAOL.COM AGENDAOL.COM AGR1698842AOL.COM AIM-AOL.COM AIMAOL-AOL.COM AIMAOL.COM AIRPORTAOL.COM AJHOMES2AOL.COM AKSARAYAOL.COM ALABAMAOL.COM ALAOL.COM ALASKAOL.COM ALBAOL.COM ALGERIAOL.COM ALICIAANDDENNISRAOL.COM ALL-AOL.COM ALLABOUTAOL.COM 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TVONAOL.COM TW-AOL.COM TWAOL.COM TWC-AOL.COM TWCAOL.COM TWIGCO1-AOL.COM TWOAOL.COM TWXAOL.COM U-SHOP-AOL.COM U-SHOPAOL.COM UAOL.COM UCAOL.COM UJAOL.COM UM2AOL.COM UNAOL.COM UNIVERSALAOL.COM UPDATE-AOL.COM UPDATEAOL.COM UPDATINGAOL.COM UPMYAOL.COM URAOL.COM URBANAOL.COM USAAOL.COM USAOL.COM USEAOL.COM USER303189AOL.COM USERAOL.COM USERSAOL.COM USESAOL.COM UUAOL.COM VAAOL.COM VAL-MARTATAOL.COM VALMARTATAOL.COM VAOL.COM VASILYEVAI-AOL.COM VCAOL.COM VEAOL.COM VERIFY-AOL.COM VIAAOL.COM VIAOL.COM VIDAOL.COM VIETAOL.COM VIETNAMAOL.COM VINAOL.COM VIPMANAOL.COM VIRAGOTREIBERAOL.COM VIRGINRECORDSAOL.COM VIRTUALAOL.COM VISA-AOL.COM VISAOL.COM VITAOL.COM VNAOL.COM VOICEAOL.COM VONCOR-AOL.COM VSOLEIL25AOL.COM W-WWAOL.COM W1-AOL.COM W1AOL.COM WAHL-AOL.COM WAHL-MART-AOL.COM WAHL-MARTAOL.COM WAHLMARTAOL.COM WAL-MARTATAOL.COM WAL-MARTONLINEATAOL.COM WALL-MART-AOL.COM WALL-MARTAOL.COM WALLMART-AOL.COM WALLMARTAOL.COM WALLMARTATAOL.COM WALMART-AOL.COM WALMARTATAOL.COM WALMARTUSAOL.COM WAOL.COM WAP-AOL.COM WAP2AOL.COM WAPBIJAOL.COM WARNER-AOL.COM WARNER-BROS-AOL.COM WARNER-BROTHERS-AOL.COM WARNERANDAOL.COM WARNERAOL.COM WARNERBROS-AOL.COM WARNERBROSAOL.COM WARNERBROTHERS-AOL.COM WARNERBROTHERSAOL.COM WAS7166AOL.COM WATISAOL.COM WAXZ-WAOL.COM WB-AOL.COM WBAOL.COM WCAOL.COM WE-SHOP-AOL.COM WEAOL.COM WEB-AOL.COM WEBAOL.COM WEBCARDS-AOL.COM WEBFREEAOL.COM WEBLIFEAOL.COM WEBMAIL-AOL.COM WEBMAILAOL.COM WEBMASTERATAOL.COM WEBPICTURES-AOL.COM WEDAOL.COM WELCOME-TO-AOL.COM WELCOMETOAOL.COM WELOVEAOL.COM WERULEAOL.COM WESHOP-AOL.COM WESTVIRGINIAOL.COM WHAOL.COM WHATISAOL.COM WHYAOL.COM WHYUSEAOL.COM WICKLOWGAOL.COM WICKLOWSHISTORICGAOL.COM WIN-AOL.COM WINBETA-AOL.COM WIREDAOL.COM WIRELESSAOL.COM WIRELESSWEBAOL.COM WITHAOL.COM WMAYLONAOL.COM WOANNUTHATUMISS2AOL.COM WOLFCREEKMINING-AOL.COM WOLLEDERGUTEAOL.COM WOMENOFAOL.COM WORKATAOL.COM WORKFORAOL.COM WORKINGAOL.COM WORLDOFAOL.COM WORLDTRIPPERSAOL.COM WOWGREETINGS-AOL.COM WPAOL.COM WUNSCHNAMWASPYHB50AOL.COM WVAOL.COM WWAOL.COM 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  61. Unbelievable... by cliffiecee · · Score: 1

    Almost seven hours and not a single reference to gaol? (Granted it's not funny, but still...)

  62. Remember Streambox Ripper by willpost · · Score: 2

    It allowed people to decode and convert RealPlayer format so you wouldn't have to see all the annoying ads. Real shut them down.

    I don't hack into your company so please don't advertise into my home.

  63. Morals are rare in corporations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they could legally enslave our attention spans they would do it.

  64. fa! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pengaol? What's that? A prison for ball point pens?

  65. Re:But they speak french. by ramzak2k · · Score: 1

    that could have been the case if their website was also in french.

    --

    Siggy Say, Siggy Do
  66. Go Peng! (but ...) by valmont · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I find Peng's efforts highly laudable and i'm glad to see they have gotten themselves a brand new home.

    but really AOL is always going to try to fight reverse-engineering attempts of their proprietary protocols. face it, they suck.

    With all the alternative ISPs out there, why would anyone subject themselves to AOL for connectivity? My guess is many families have had their AOL accounts for a while now, and more educated children of those households attempt to cope with the lameness by using this cool dialer.

    I'd say there will come a time when people will have to bite the bullet and give up those AOL screennames. They suck at broadband, they're heavily tied into dial-up, they spam the crap out of you, and shove content down your throat all the while confining you to their obnoxious sandbox and screwing-up your network settings. They do everything in their power to abstract the Internet back into AOL. I find that eeevuuuhl.

    I for one have been using EarthLink for years on a slew of operating systems, starting from dial-up up to DSL (over 2 1/2 years now), and it's always been a breeze. They'll send you a CD that'll handle the whole sign-up and installation process, or you can just get an account on-line within minutes, and at the end of the web-based process they'll show you a secure page with your username, password, dial-up number, mail and dns settings with which you can manually configure your OS. And BAM you're done. That's $22/month vs $25/month. And if you are craving spoon-fed content, you can always access your account's "start page". Note that each earthlink account actually comes with uhh i think 7 additional accounts or was it 8 additional? forgot. Each account has its own e-mail box, home page address (10MB quota, not bad) (http://home.earthlink.net/~youraccount), and start page. Oh, also the EarthLink DSL account also gives you .. uh .. i think 20 hours of free modem dial-up access, so you can get on-line while travelling through hotels and what-not. They *will* bill your ass if you go over 20 hours though. careful.

    Anyway this was just an example of what i find to be a really good nationwide alternative to AOL, but there are other local ISPs all over the place. I'd stay away from local phone companies for DSL service, and go thru a re-seller of their service instead. Phone companies might give you connectivity but they won't give you nearly as many "on-line" perks as other true ISPs will, make sure you comparison-shop. For example verizon assigns you some obnoxious cryptic email address when you get their DSL package. *lame*.

    Also keep in mind that any time a local phone company advertises their DSL service to you, i'm pretty sure there has to be at least one other company that offers you similar service, typically with more features for about the same price albeit potentially slightly different service terms. I know EarthLink is pretty-much everywhere, but you have other companies such as speakeasy dsl or something that offer cool plans for gamers.

    DSLReports.com is always a good place to look for competitive offerings from various providers in your area.

  67. OL.COM should sue AOL.com by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... As AOL has obviously used their domain name.

    Query: ol.com
    Registry: whois.register.com
    Results:

    Organization:
    Internet Holding Group
    Web Master
    575 Lexington Avenue #520
    New York, NY 10022
    US
    Phone: 212-317-0110
    Fax..: 253-541-5914
    Email: Webster@ol.com

    Registrar Name....: Register.com
    Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com
    Registrar Homepage: http://www.register.com

    Domain Name: OL.COM

    Created on..............: Tue, May 20, 1997
    Expires on..............: Fri, May 21, 2004
    Record last updated on..: Wed, May 29, 2002

  68. Not a fight you want to get into by ozzee · · Score: 1



    Go off and register - 'pengina.org' (peng Is Not AOL(tm)) or 'pengloa.org' (peng line on America) ....

  69. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  70. Just a thought by Wierd+Willy · · Score: 0

    Why would AOL (Assholes On Line) be trying to stop an organization that would increase their potential customer base? Free of charge no less? I may be being rather dense about this, it would seem to me that getting more customers would be a good thing for them, even if their service is crap, and their billing practices are just barely on the right side of extortion and bank fraud.

    --
    Stupid Humans.....
  71. President Bush sued. by nhavar · · Score: 3, Funny

    A recent statement made by President George W. Bush at a press conference regarding the "digital divide" has drawn sharp criticism and a barrage of cease and desist letters from AOL (with attached AOL cds). The statement in question "We will work to get America online and bridge the digital divide" is said to be a violation of AOL (America On Line) intellectual property. Turd Ferguson, AOL's chief IP lawyer, stated "This is a clear attempt by the president to use AOL's good name to further his own cause" and added "As the world's best and fastest growing ISP we will be the one to get everyone online. Any statement to the contrary is just foolish and could give cause for litigation." When questioned about the issue Steve Case stated "Yeah what he said... Anyway all your friends are on it."

    The President has refused any major comment on the issue but was quoted by a reliable inside source as mumbling something about "...modifying the draft, we need more lawyers and 40-something chairman to drop on Iraq".

    --
    "Do not be swept up in the momentum of mediocrity." - anon
  72. In a related move... by kitzilla · · Score: 1

    ...legal counsel for America Online today served the entire community of Paoli, Indiana, with a collective Cease and Desist.

    Paoli is the home of Paoli Peaks, a popular ski resort, which in 2002 celebrates 25 years of
    "thrills, chills, and just plain fun on the snow!"

    AOL attorney Les Humor says the media conglomorate's suit was unavoidable.

    "Paoli clearly is attempting to trade on goodwill associated with the AOL brand by their continued and sequential use of the letters A, O, and L."

    The area is named after the historic General Paoli Tavern, which stood nearby in the late 18th century.

    "Really, the fact that the Paoli name goes back over two hundred years isn't germane to my client's case," explained Humor. "I mean--couldn't they call the place Cold Hills or something? Of course they could."

    Courts sometimes find in favor of a trademark holder when another entity attempts to market related goods or services under a similar name. It must be demonstrated that the new product might cause confusion or be mistaken for the trademarked product.

    "That's the real kicker," said Humor. "Those skiers are going downhill pretty fast, and so is our stock."

    AOL is an AOL Time Warner company. AOL: so easy to abuse, no wonder it's number one!

    --
    This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
  73. so they are gonna sew me for wannaolivefromme.com? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ROFL.

  74. There are other reasons by akadruid · · Score: 2, Informative

    In the UK, at least until recently, AOL ran the only unmetered dialup service that did not require a BT telephone line.
    In addition to that it was a fast, reliable and cost effective service. I hate the dialer as much as the next /. reader but the service was the best.
    I have now moved and have an excellent ADSL connection but for six months AOL was the best solution by far.

    --
    "Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything." (attrib. Joseph Stalin)
    1. Re:There are other reasons by valmont · · Score: 2


      oh yah that must have been tough, yeah i heard AOL has had some pretty aggressive service plans throughout Europe to work around per-minute charges limitations the local telco monopolies were imposing to their dial-up users. I have a few friends in France who had an unlimited dial-up line thru AOL, then i heard that whole thing sorta bit AOL in the arse as costs were too elevated. You've got any background on that whole deal?

  75. AOL = by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Arseholes Overworking Lawyers

  76. Bargainbeanies.com - U.S. Court of Appeals by Garry+Anderson · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Quote: A federal appeals panel has ruled that the operator of Bargainbeanies.com is not violating the trademark of Beanie Babies creator Ty by offering used dolls through the Web address. The case is significant because it supports the ability of second-hand resellers to market and hawk their wares over the Internet without running afoul of trademark laws.

    http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961090.html?tag=cd_m h

    Virtually every word is trademarked, be it Alpha to Omega or Aardvark to Zulu, most many times over. MOST share the same words or initials with MANY others in a different business and/or country. For example, the World Trade Organization (WTO) shares its initials with five trademarks - in the U.S. alone (please check). This could be any acronym or initialism - including the famous International Trade Centre (ITC) or International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    You can legally use any word, words or initials to start a new business without registering a trademark - providing you are not passing off, of course. Take for example the word 'apple'. It is legally used by thousands of businesses - large and small all over the world. Indeed, it is impossible that they all register themselves as trademarks - they are bound to conflict with many others, being confusingly similar. In my local phone book alone, there are at least five using this word - two garages (seems not connected), a car centre, fruit growers and a decorating firm.

    The authorities hide the simple solution to this conflict. From correspondence with them and their response, I believe them corrupt. Why? For a start, trademark holders do not own the vast majority of domains - it is obvious that something is needed to replace the registered trademark symbol - a new TLD of .reg would do that. This is for the same reasons, primarily to advise people that the mark is legally registered and protected by law. It is indisputable fact that the answer to domain and trademark problems was self-evident and is easier to use than the telephone. Honest lawyers have ratified the solution.

    To see major findings please visit WIPO.org.uk - not associated with UN WIPO.org. Although I use the initials WIPO, it is obvious to even the 'crooks' in UN WIPO that this site not associated with them. Same as is obvious to those at AOL that pengaol.org is not associated with them.

    1. Re:Bargainbeanies.com - U.S. Court of Appeals by Hairy+Dude · · Score: 1
      it is obvious that something is needed to replace the registered trademark symbol - a new TLD of .reg would do that.
      No, that should be .reg.us (etc.), since different countries have different trademarks.
  77. Re:Bullshit even more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Should I have to add that under the European law, the french law, reverse engineering is a not a crime in order to permit the "interopability" (I don't know the english word for "interopabilité")... so what pengaol did was to permit to unix users to connect to what they paid for (aol is not free as beer, no ?), so I don't understand what was the matter... maybe the name was too close to aol.

    But I repeat, it's not a crime to reverse engineer
    aol's protocol in our beautiful contries.
    We're not all living in US, are we ?

    I wonder when american firms will stop to think we're their vassals.... If I was the pengaol author, I'd never stop developping it.

    what if they sue the gaim author ?

    Djamé

  78. Re:But they speak french. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i wonder how many english speaker speak french......
    far less than french people who learn english as school.......

    pff, je sais meme pas pourquoi je me fatigue à discuter avec les pires trolleurs du monde, meme pas foutu de situer le portugal sur une carte....
    l'horreur.....

  79. Letter to Arent Fox by malachid69 · · Score: 1

    I know this won't help, but here is a copy of the letter I just sent.

    From: Malachi de AElfweald
    To: infolaw@arentfox.com
    Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 15:15:15 -0700
    Organization: EOTI
    Subject: AOL vs PENGAOL

    I have never heard of either you, or pengaol, until today.

    I read the article (posted here: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/10/12/17 10205&mode=nested&tid=120 )
    and then followed it to the pengaol project site.

    I note that you evidentally told them they had to relinquish the domain name pengaol.com.
    As a current domain-owner, Open Source developer, and future ISP-owner, I am curious what legal
    standing you had to require this of them? If they legally bought the name before AOL registered
    it, what right did AOL (or you) have to strong-arm them into relinquishing it?

    Furthermore, what guarantee do I have that some large corporation (with questionable business tactics like
    AOL or Microsoft) won't pay your firm to steal domain names from me? Why are you not pursuing saol.net,
    taol.net, baol.co.uk, thedaol.net, etc (those came from a 30-second search on google).

    They own the Logo, the Trademark, and certain domain names. They do not, however, own the letters AOL. They do
    not even own the acronymn. You might also notice that searching google.com for "America Online", the 5th entry
    is not even them.

    Thank you for your time,
    Malachi de AElfweald

    --
    http://www.google.com/profiles/malachid