Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mozilla Cracks Down On Merchandise Sellers

Posted by timothy on from the likelihood-of-confusion dept.

An anonymous reader writes "MozillaZine reports that the Mozilla Foundation is cracking down on those selling unofficial Mozilla-branded merchandise. This takes the form of an open letter addressed to retailers of goods that bear the Mozilla name or logos. The letter suggests that the Foundation are willing to work with those selling Mozilla wares, as long as they get a cut and the retailer isn't operating in the US, Canada or Mexico, where they would be competing with the Foundation's own Mozilla Store. Threats of legal action for non-compliance are issued, albeit with friendly overtones. This open letter is part of the Mozilla Foundation's campaign to better enforce its trademarks, an effort that began when the Foundation was launched in July. In a related move, the Foundation announced that the new Firefox artwork is not open-source and can only be used in official builds or those sanctioned by the Foundation - this has led to debates about whether Firefox is free enough to be included in the Debian Linux distribution."

16 of 565 comments (clear)

  1. Mozilla Firefox's plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just keep changing the name every month. No one will want to produce bootleg merchandise.

    1. Re:Mozilla Firefox's plan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hah!

      They'd just end up calling it "The Browser formerly knowns as Phoenix".

  2. Re:Um... by COBOL/MVS · · Score: 2, Funny

    It worked for Microsoft.

    --
    GOBACK.
  3. As the saying goes. by JVert · · Score: 3, Funny

    Free as in advertising?

    At the sound of the tone free software will have officially "sold out".

    Damn this dragon! its only producing one egg a day! lets cut it open and harvest a lifetimes worth of eggs!!!

  4. Simple solution for Debian by dzym · · Score: 5, Funny
    rip out the firefox artwork, make firesomething a part of the default package, name the package mozilla-firesomething, and throw in a patch that makes sure the default firesomething configuration doesn't put together the words "fire" and "fox".

    Problem solved.

    1. Re:Simple solution for Debian by Stray7Xi · · Score: 4, Funny

      I propose Debian renames it FireFaux

    2. Re:Simple solution for Debian by Slamtilt · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Iceweasel" was suggested...

    3. Re:Simple solution for Debian by BancBoy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Rip out the Firefox artwork indeed! I was expecting a really cool looking theme straight from the movie when they changed the name. Then again, I was disappointed when Camino was announced and it didn't have a UI anything like the layout of a Camino. And let's not even get started on Firebird...

      --
      [UID-HeinzIntel]
  5. Wait... by GregThePaladin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mozilla has a store? Well I wouldn'tve bought my "I downloaded the best damn browser on the next and all I got was this lousy mousepad" mousepad had I known THAT...

  6. The missing ??? by michaelepley · · Score: 3, Funny

    The first patentable business method on slashdot:

    1. Write kick-a$!$# software
    2. Give away core product(s)
    3. Develop strong trademark
    4. Profit!!

    Seriosly, this is a good move for Mozilla; trademarks themselves are valuable, properly nurtured. The Mozilla foundation and the Mozilla's users would certainly like to be able to build value without ever having to sell its core product.

  7. What if the code were on the tee shirt? by jarich · · Score: 2, Funny

    Could you sell a tee shirt with the code printed on it? ;)

    --
    Agile Artisans
  8. Re:If this were Fark by atomic-penguin · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...ONE FSCKING PRODUCT...

    The shirt has a filesystem, that's awesome...I will buy one!

    --
    Cursing is for inarticulate motherfuckers.

    --
    /^([Ss]ame [Bb]at (time, |channel.)){2}$/
  9. t-shirts want to be free! by Jamie+Zawinski · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damn The Man. Damn The Man.

  10. This is a lack of girlfriend problem by Animats · · Score: 2, Funny

    If open source programmers had artist girlfriends with any real talent, this wouldn't be a problem.

    1. Re:This is a lack of girlfriend problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      If open source programmers had artist girlfriends with any real talent, this wouldn't be a problem.
      If open source programmers had girlfriends, there wouldn't be any open source software. :P
  11. Please, more jokes about the name changing! :-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I propose to ensure every user knows the name of his browser, that the default start page should be changed to a page with a little quiz like this:

    What's this browser called today? (yes, the one with its icon in small sizes looks like a little embryo)

    mozilla-browser? - are you kidding?

    mozilla-firebird? - no.

    mozilla-firedog? - no... maybe tomorrow.

    mozilla-thundercat? - nope.

    moziall-feuerfuchs? - NEIN!

    mozilla-firefox? - well, that was yesterday's answer... but close enough, I let you pass.