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SSC Trademark Threats vs LinuxGazette.net
Zelligar writes "You may want to check into the brewing trademark issues between SSC/linuxgazette.com and the linuxgazette.net people - linuxgazette is a volunteer gazette, hosted by SSC for a while, and now SSC is taking it over - and threatening trademark litigation to boot!
Here is one story and another on the subject."
Don't worry. SCO will sue SSC out of business. For one thing, it is involved with Linux. For another, it sounds too much like SCO anyway (both in name and action)
There can only be ONE company that files frivolous lawsuits about Linux!!!!
Correct me if I'm wrong:
.. what if SCO started using something like "L1nux" for their new OS eh? :P
Summary:
1. Things changed at linuxgazette.com
2. Some contributers didn't like it (neither do I), and started their own site.
3. They were bright enough to use linuxgazette.net (of all places) for their new site. (even stealing the logo design)
4. linuxgazette.com doesn't like it, and tells linuxgazette.net to start their own site if they want, but not with the linuxgazette name.
5. linuxgazette.net doesn't agree, and the threats start to fly
(6. Profit?)
All very reasonable if you ask me
The path I walk alone is endlessly long.
30 minutes by bike, 15 by bus.
Who owns the trademark?
Is it a valid trademark?
If the volunteer organization used the name linuxgazette before it was registered by SSC, it is likely not a valid trademark.
I love to see litigation happy companies lose and come out behind.
The Word Wresting Federation against the World Wildlife Fund was fun.
See http://linuxgazette.net/ for the traditional Linux Gazette. Ah, feel at home? Good.
http://linuxgazette.net/issue96/reborn.html is part of their side of the story.
Personally, I think the CMS site sucks and goes against the spirit of what Linux Gazette has been for years.
Anything is possible given time and money.
But what if it was not a copycat site but a site made by some of the people who who ran the first site?
This is about a volunteer project, and the projecst has split. Who is to say which of the two groups can keep the name and which cannot?
Sebastian
They're not required by law to proactively defend an invalid trademark. I'd say any "trademark" with the word "Linux" in it not owned by Linus Torvalds has a shaky foundation. It's not like I can trademark "Pepsi News" or "McDonald's Customers".
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
> linuxgazette.com was first, and linuxgazzete.net is a ripoff of the .com
Of course the website "linuxgazette.com" existed before; but now many (most? all?) of the volunteers who ran this project (and who see themselves as "Linux Gazette" have created a new site, since the old one is no longer under their control. The company who once offered to host it now claims to own it. Read the linuxgazette.net side of the story at http://linuxgazette.net/issue96/reborn.html
Quote:
"SSC, the company who had been hosting - and, to some degree, supporting - our efforts since shortly after the inception of the Gazette has decided that it somehow belongs to them, to change, adapt - or to destroy - at their pleasure."
> The law. That's how it works, braniac.
But how do you know that the company is the rightful owner of the trademark and can do what it wants with it, without knowing about the agreements SSC had whith the linuxgazette people?
But according to Rick Moen. http://lwn.net/Articles/58065/
LinuxGazette was founded by a group, it was hosted independantly for a short period of time.
SSC provided hosting for many years and things got closer. They even paid for some writers.
Now they are leaving, and taking their name with them.
SSC thinks they own LinuxGazette, The volunteer group does not.
I think it will be interesting to see how SSC proves they own the name.
As posted below, more info is found here : http://lwn.net/Articles/58065/
:
.net folks for continuing to use the name.
A lot of people aren't reading the links - here is a summary (again)
Linuxgazette.com - originally founded by a group of volunteers.
SSC offered to host them, whee - works great.
SSC took over editing at some point
SSC changed the entire look/feel of the site, trashed the articles at will, and basically started locking out the original founders.
the founders took their content to linuxgazette.net
SSC, in the form of linuxgazette.com, is unhappy with the
IMHO - SSC should be ashamed for its bullying tactics. They should change the name of linuxgazette.com to something else, and give it back to the founders.
The problem is, they applied for the trademark on October 28th, 2003. This, of course, is the same exact day that the other people decided to split off from them. And this isn't "a few contributors", this is *all the staff*. Basically the only people left at Linuxgazette.com are SSC's people -- everyone who actually worked on Linuxgazette has left.
So yeah. Something's fishy here. Not sure what, but the impression I got (from the article and the emails posted to LWN) was that:
SSC basically offered them hosting space for a long period of time.
Having done so, SSC has basically started taking over recently, changing LinuxGazette.com from a newspaper type website to a blog/slashdot type "Content Managment System" site. This includes them taking older articles that were published under the OPL an removing the copyright notice, modifying articles at will without telling anyone (or even asking), and stuff like that. The only reason anyone noticed they were modifying articles was the original staff kept mirrors of the issues elsewhere, which were unedited.
The founders/authors weren't happy with this, so they decided rather than fight it, they'd just split off to "the other Linuxgazette" and poiltely request that SSC rename Linuxgazette.com and give them back their domain name.
SSC decides that hey, since they were hosting LinuxGazette.com, they now own LinuxGazette.*, and trademarks the name in reply to them deciding to leave.
Am I close? Anyone got any corrections to offer?