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Fark Seeks to Trademark NSFW

Posted by Zonk on from the not-so-freaking-wise dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The term NSFW is about to join the :( emoticon, going from a generic, oft-used internet abbreviation, to one company's exclusive trademark. Fark is seeking a trademark on the use of NSFW to describe naughty online content. Of course, they may face a bit of a battle because more than a few other people are already using the term NSFW to describe their products and services. Not that that's stopped anyone in the past." And, of course, the whole thing could be a big practical joke.

17 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. Hello? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Guess nobody clicked on the story cause it's marked NSFW! :)

    --
    My blog
    1. Re:Hello? by 77Punker · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't have a job, you insensitive clod!

    2. Re:Hello? by jonpublic · · Score: 4, Funny

      They should try to trademark the Florida tag.

  2. You've got it all wrong! by DeeQ · · Score: 5, Funny

    The term NSFW is about to join the :( emoticon NSFW is :)
    1. Re:You've got it all wrong! by Alzheimers · · Score: 5, Funny

      NSFW is (.)(.) and 3==D

    2. Re:You've got it all wrong! by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

      >> IANAL, but I'm dating one ;-)

      I<3ANAL should be your bumper sticker.

  3. Re:Even if it is a joke... by VirusEqualsVeryYes · · Score: 5, Informative
    As a regular Farker, I think it's safe to assume that there's no malicious intent behind this. Seriously, read the linked blog entry:

    About the NSFW Trademark Application, I can say three things:

    1) Yes, we applied for it.

    2) Can't comment on the prank angle other than "stay tuned."

    3) Muhahaha.
    Does that sound remotely serious to you?

    One of two things will happen. One: the trademark is granted, Drew gets some laughs, lawsuits, and the TM gets taken away. Or two: the trademark is denied from the beginning. Either way, this TM is not going to hold up for obvious reasons already cited in the summary.

    I don't think this is opening up any sort of Pandora's box. With or without this development, trolls will TM random shit regardless. We just have to hope that the system corrects itself -- which, in general, it has.
  4. Re:Truer words were never spoken by glindsey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously speaking, I'm betting Drew just wanted to see how many news outfits he could get to carry such a ridiculous story, and how much of an overreaction and outrage said coverage would generate in the blogosphere. An effective publicity stunt, really, considering the recent publication of his book [amazon.com] and its subject matter. Wait a minute... whenever other companies attempt to patent/trademark/copyright something stupid, Slashdot jumps right on it, and rightly so because it's a stupid move. We freak out about patent trolls and people trying to copyright emoticons. If Fark really were honestly trying to trademark "NSFW," why would it be ridiculous or overreacting for everybody to point out how broken the system is, and how much respect Fark has lost for pulling such an ass move?

    Are we saying that abuses of the copyright, trademark, and patent systems are not newsworthy now? If this is a joke, then more power to them, but I see no reason why those sorts of things shouldn't evoke outrage.
  5. Re:Even if it is a joke... by EMCEngineer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think everyone missed the point of this, and Slashdot fell right into it. The more page hits Drew Curtis gets, the more money he makes. So he has now created a stupid practical joke that is guaranteed to get dozens, if not hundreds, of websites to mention fark.com over and over and over.

    Then, he calmly dismisses it as a joke, while raking in profit.

    The stupid thing about this is how a few months ago fark went from being fairly open about NSFW imagery, to banning anyone that links to or posts it. Apparently they can make more money by being family(or workplace) friendly.

  6. Y'all don't understand trademark law. by CygnusTX · · Score: 5, Informative

    First off, the original post is wrong. The guy is not trying to trademark NSFW to describe naughty online content. The application is for the provision of entertainment services. To complain about this application is very much like complaining about someone trying to trademark the word "Apple" for computers and electronics. Oh my, but who would do that? If the application is registered, it would not take NSFW out of the public domain of posts and the like. It will just prevent the COMMERCIAL use of NSFW for the provision of entertainment services. So, if one of you wanted to use NSFW to sell, say, a cologne, you still could. And you could prevent others from doing so by registering the trademark.

  7. Trademark applications by ebcdic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... are the new press releases. How easily you are all trolled.

  8. You think it's a joke? by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sure, and it was all fun and games until "The Daily WTF" was forced to rename by the World Trade Federation.

  9. The dangers of NSFW! by HeliosTrick · · Score: 5, Funny

    A friend told me that NSFW stood for "Now Show Friends and Workmates"... I'm now unemployed :(

  10. Re:Even if it is a joke... by gclef · · Score: 5, Insightful

    it sounds juvenile, puerile, and self-serving.
    In other words, totally normal for fark.
  11. Re:If they can do it by Alzheimers · · Score: 5, Funny

    only if we can trademark IORAL too...
    No, Apple already trolled the iOral for their sex toy

    Then Apple has probably already trademarked iAnal, too.

  12. Re:Truer words were never spoken by kent_eh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If this application actually gets approved, I'm guessing that Drew will be the first to point out the system is sooo broken that anyone can register pretty much anything.

    And the rest of the Farkers will post hundreds of variations of "pOwned" or the Nelson "Ha Ha" picture

    Drew is just pointing out that the emperor really has no pants, and poking fun at the fact.
    SOP at Fark.

    --

    ---
    "I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh
  13. Re:Even if it is a joke... by RyoShin · · Score: 5, Informative

    The stupid thing about this is how a few months ago fark went from being fairly open about NSFW imagery, to banning anyone that links to or posts it. Apparently they can make more money by being family(or workplace) friendly.
    I'm sorry, but: what?

    I've been a member of Fark for quite a few years now (five digit ID, aw yeah), and they have always been against the NSFW postings. You could never post actual NSFW images in the discussion forums, even for discussions of a NSFW link. You could link to stuff, but only if you had large notices that the link was NSFW. If something is questionable, they remove it anyway.

    Even on the TotalFarker side (who are the only ones that can comment on Boobies links now) you can't post anything like that. Images are auto-disabled for "Adult content" links, too.

    Drew has generally tried to keep Fark a place that could be browsed at work, uncaught by language and porn filters. This isn't new. They may have cracked down on porn links recently, but everything else is old hat.