Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Company Takes Over Well-Known OSS Developer's Name Because the Domain Was Free

Posted by msmash on from the messy-situations dept.

New submitter Fatalis writes: Substack is a venture capital funded startup for subscription-based newsletters, and it admittedly chose its name following the advice from a Paul Graham (co-founder of Y Combinator) article to prefer names not registered in the .com zone. The same name has also been the user handle for a prolific open-source developer who now finds themselves competing for recognition in the tech space with a capital backed company. The lesson seems to be for developers to protect their personal brand by registering a domain name with the .com extension due to it being perceived as the default.

1 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. this is too much. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now you have to make sure your new company name or product doesn't collide with a fucking internet user handle? Nope. If your handle is important enough to you, trademark it or stfu.

    http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4801:qvpw13.2.1