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Lindows Takes a Hit in the Netherlands
diersing writes "The Register has the latest on it. Resellers of the Linux distribution Lindows in the Netherlands were ordered today to stop selling the product. Amsterdam judge Rullmann agreed with Microsoft that in many ways Lindows is 'profiting from the success of Windows' by infringing on Microsoft's trademarks." This seems to be a rather common occurrence lately.
...how are they supposed to mimick windows? You don't have to reboot Lindows every time you move the mouse, so THAT can't be the point :-)
Look, this thing is totally safe! Built it myself, you know. You just press that button like this and then turn that lev
I'm not really good at translating but I'll give it a try
Loosely translated from a article on WebWereld (dutch IT news site)
Dutch judge prohibits the use of the trademark Lindows
This conclusion was made by the Dutch judge Sj. Rullmann in Amsterdam on Thursday.
Microsoft claimed during court that Lindows violated its trademark and that the name Lindows is too confusing in comparison to its own product Windows.
"Lindows profits unlawfully from the success of Windows because Lindows.com too explicitly puts its product in the market as a product which is capable of running both platforms", according to the judge.
[I don't even understand the next line in Dutch but I'll try: ] Moreover Lindows distinguishes itself [huh?] from Windows because of its name [and] Lindows takes unjustified advantage from the [fuck knows: undistinguishablility?] and reputation of the brand Windows.
Lindows.com is summoned to cease the violation of the trademark infringement on the brand Windows. The software company of Michael Robertson is also no longer allowed to advertise in the Netherlands.
Furthermore the four resellers in the Netherlands must stop with the sale and advertisements of Lindows products.
Also the judge ruled that Lindows must ensure that internet users from the Benelux [BElgium NEtherlands LUXembourg] can no longer access the site www.lindows.com.
This verdict corresponds to earlier rulings of judges in Finland and Sweden. There the use of the names LindowsOS and Lindows became prohibited in December as well.
Lindows.com could change its name in the Benelux. According to Erik Vollebregt Clifford Change, the question whether this will happen is uncertain because the sales in the Benelux are not high, but it is up to the lawyer's office of Lindows.com [in the USA]
Vollebregt: "We just sent the sentence to USA. Hence it still must be determined whether Lindows thinks it makes sense and money worth spending to appeal to the verdict"
"Microsoft is using lawsuits as a battering ram to smash Linux, to prevent it from reaching retail stores".
I've never heard of any other companies trying this.
The Californian company isn't even allowed to advertise in the Low Countries any longer and, even more remarkable, the judge has ordered Lindows to make its Web site inaccessible to Benelux-based web users.
Another case of Microsoft pushing Security Through Obscurity?
Lots of people will get to hear 'Lindows' as a result of MS legal action who wouldn't have normally.
As they say, all publicity is good publicity.
I wonder what Michael's next trick will be.
I think either: .. Aha... ha...)
(1) The marketing people are lazy
(2) They feel they can get a leg up by sounding more like "Windows"
(3) They thought Microsoft will be nice to them. (BWAHHHHAHHAAHAA
Throw in the fact that Lindows looks SUSPICIOUSLY like Windows XP, and I think Lindows doesn't really have a leg to stand on.
I've always thought Lindows and "LindowsOS" as they prefer it to be called sounded rather silly anyway. I think Lindows is a nice idea, and a good product, and an excellent way to get more people using Linux. However, much as I dislike some of Microsoft's business practices, I do think the name is too close, and I can see the judgement's point.
;)
Why not just call it Winux instead?
Could you argue that Linux profits from the success for Unix because it sounds similar?
The whole point of the judgement is that the judge thinks that Microsoft has proven that Lindows chose the name Lindows because of its relation to Windows. And, since Windows is a registered trademark in the Netherlands, this is obviously an infringement. Remember, Windows in Dutch has no other meaning as it does in English; it is not a common word.
Nobody can really claim that they chose Lindows for any other reason than the similarity to Windows. They could have chosen a lot of other cool names as Xandros and others have done. They didn't and they made the choice realizing that they might get into legal trouble for doing so.
Although I detest this verdict, I cannot say Lindows didn't have it coming. The name is a deliberate gamble. And when you gamble, you win some and you lose some. They won a lot free publicity all around the globe. Now they lost a case. Big deal. It's all in the game.
Being well balanced is overrated. -- John Carmack
I am afraid that this is not going to be a very popular opinion on /., but I have to say I agree with the judge.
Lindows makes a product that is similar in name, appearance, and function to MicroSoft's. They have advertised it as an alternative to Windows. They are clearly out to get people to switch from Windows to LindowsOS by imitating MicroSoft's product. They are just asking for it.
By the way, it's a tried and true tactic:
1. Piss people off
2. Get publicity
3. PROFIT!!!
</rant>
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
change the name to Lindos or LindOS, in spanish it means samething like pretty
The Judge's ruling regarding Lindows' free-riding is clear. In the United States, where the standard is likelihood of confusion, that element is really a slam-dunk. Virtually identically spelled, identically sounding names for the same class of product, and designed, in large part, to provide a substitute for the original product. Slam-dunk.
Where Lindows has had excellent success in the US, and more power for them for taking on this monster to do this, is by arguing that the term "Windows" is generic for a GUI-based operating system. If they win, Microsoft loses huge, just huge. Now only would Lindows be allowed to continue, but Microsoft would lose the Windows trademark as against anyone else.
In other news, the judge also ruled that "SCO" was too much like "Scum," and ordered them to clean up their act.
No, because Linux and Unix do NOT, in fact, sound similar...
/li'nuks/
/yoo'niks/
Linux
Unix
(Pronounciations stolen graciously from http://www.dictionary.com
Is it really this bad that you think we all walk around on wooden shoes and live in windmills? We haven't been doing that since the 90s !!
-- The Internet is a too slow way of doing things, you'd never do without it.
The success of Linux has been based by an internet-sauvy grass roots movement that created a whole community of like minded people. I think its the concept more then the name that can be credited.
As far as profits, the commerical releases of SuSE, RedHat, Mandrake, etc all have names that aren't easily confused with UNIX (where Lindows does mimic a commerical rival and desktop market monolopy owner).
Seems to me that Lindows chose that name specifically to leech off of Microsoft's mindshare. Let's face it, can you give me another reason that would explain that choice in names?
Add to this that the distribution acts a little too dangerously like Windows (complete with the default-administrator-user access), and I can't really say that Microsoft isn't justified in it's attacks on this company.
I work in software retail, and one thing I notice is the number of people who are under the mistaken impression that Lindows is Windows. Add to that the number of people who think it's binary compatibility is perfect (it'll run all their old windows apps). I've yet to see Wine reach that level of accuracy.
I will generally ward people away from this distribution, and point to the green or blue SuSE boxes on the shelf nearby; that's just as easy, and much more secure. (I used to point to the Redhat boxes, but since the personal version has been discontinued, it's more cost-effective for customers to buy SuSE)
The Penguin Producer
I hear there are cafes there where you do just that.
Y2K Compliant since the late 1890s
Duh, it's Linux that acts like Windows, Lindows, what's wrong with that? No one is going to get confused are they? Lindows does not claim to be from Microsoft. They have claimed some interoperability and ease of use for a Windows user.
The name is just fine and the trend of monopolizing varients of names is a distrubing new piece of anti-comptitive stupidity. Take it to it's logical conclusion. Is there any name that anyone can use to imply something simply works like or with Windoze? Does IBM still own the names "PC", "personal computer" and "personal system"? No one can do anything if you get too stupid and complient.
Microsoft is proving that many governments are for sale.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Why is everybody so upset by this? The fact that Microsoft is evil, does not mean they are wrong going after Lindows. ... makes sense considering that a lot of software is not available for Linux. But the look and the name just don't make sense. If the GUI is the user's problem, he/she should not be using Linix anyways. Jesus, if you are too stupid to figure out which one is the "close window" button in KDE because you are so used to Windows ... you are too dumb, don't reproduce, pick up smoking and drinking and use MS Windows for the rest of your natural life.
Lindows tries to emulate MS Windows' look, functionality and even the name. What's worse is that it is not doing any of those things very well either.
I don't see why Lindows is even out there. What purpose does it serve? Are they trying to confuse people to switch to Linux? I can see how something like that could happen to some Joe-Sixpack who goes to a store sees Lindows OS v.XX on the shelves and thinks it the new version of XP. Also, I can see why someone would want to emulate Windows API to run applications
That depends on how strong the wind is blowing.
``arguing that the term "Windows" is generic for a GUI-based operating system''
I think this makes a lot of sense. Windows is a regular English word, and therefore there is a good argument against it being trademarkable. If it were an acronym, there would be a point, but as it stands, I think the trademark should be invalidated, at least in English-speaking countries.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
Microsoft today pushed congress to ban the l key from being sold on PC keyboards. A spokesperson said "You don't need to type that key to visit good and whoesome websites. On the other hand, that key is essentia to terrorists trying to visit communist and subversive sites. True patriots wi have nothing at a to worry about."
Mental image of somebody punching Linux. "Oooh! Right in the Netherlands!"
qntm.org
I'm sorry, but Lindows is just another distro. It may be a good desktop distro for the unknowing (I haven't given it a try), but there are lots of other (more popular) distro's out there. We can still use all of the other Linux desktop offerings out there.
If Lindows need to rename their product, they'll need a name that conjures up an image of something you open, and through which you gain access to where you want to go today. How about calling it Gates?
I tried the recently-released "Developer Edition" that they were giving away a short while back, and I actually was rather impressed. Lindows has to have the most out-of-the-box polish I've ever seen in a commercial distribution. No, it's not very friendly to those of us who know their way around a computer already, but that's not the market they are targeting. It's not exactly going to replace Gentoo on my system, but I could definately see myself recommending Lindows to others.
/sbin/jiffyboot). Other than that though, I liked what I saw. Click-and-run might be the best system update tool I've seen outside of portage, and it has even Gentoo beat in the newbie-friendliness department.
The only real problem that I had with it was getting it to not mess up my boot settings. Though it can dual-boot with Windows easily enough, it does NOT play nice with other versions of Linux, and it took me a while to get it to not reset the MBR with it's own settings every time it booted. (Solution: delete/rename/remove executable permissions for
I game, therefore I am...
Next in line, Pella Windows http://www.pella.com/ for having Windows in their company name.
Or would MIT and apple complain?
How did Microsoft Windows get a trademark on Windows, is it that different to X Windows?
Be Free: Free Software Tuition
Windows
If i made a company that sold pop and called it Soca-Cola Company, and made the cans red, I think I would get sued by Coke and no one would think that Coca-Cola was wrong, and similarly if I was using Soca-Cola.com to push and sell my wares I would expect it to get shut down, since the judge can't shut it down he asked for the next best thing. Yes there are work arounds, and if you want to work around the law I am sure you can get away with murder too. The fact is Lindows wanted to sound like Windows as either joke or whatever, and quite honestly lindows works like windows and feels like windows. This is a good lawsuit and I wish you could open your eyes for ten seconds and see past the haze of Microsoft hate to see that this is legitimate.
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MikeRowSoft Lindohs?
-- Jim
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Man, nothing hurts like a hit in the Netherlands.
BFL
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