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Microsoft demands http://linux.de removes slogan
The German branch of Microsoft
has demanded that our collegues at the
German Linux Web site remove their slogan "Where do you
want to go tomorrow?". They have complied by blacking out
their slogan, but Microsoft's legal position appears tenuous:
A search on Altavista for that phrase produced over 400 hits,
and ...
this trademark is pending for Cybernet Systems Corporation
of Michigan anyway..
Where the hell were you today?
So.. the communities who have used the slogans are:
* KDE
* Amiga, officially by Amiga Int. that is.
* OS/2 (officially?)
* This german company...
... and did I forget any?
But I do think that they all are a little silly, since none of them (including Microsoft) is using any "tomorrow" technology...
Is it a play on Microsoft or an ironic truth?
I always thought "It's now safe to turn your computer on." Would be a great Linux startup screen....
Now thats more a play on microsoft.
How about "Where do you want to go toady?" This might be a better one for Microsoft for how it treats its customers.
Microsoft, your time is up. Exit stage left.
Cool...using the name of a Rush album in their slogan. Think Geddy, Alex, and Neil will sue?
Everybody knows email and sendmail is GNU, so Linux should say that they are the @ in your email adress. It would be reinforced very well whenever someone types in an email adress or gives out there's - you get free advertising right next to their name. Mine is Linux is the future. The future is now. (I did it with word for irony - see metatag) - I didn't see it before, but there is also a cool logo that has a cute japanimation woman holding a stuffed and very happy tux. Didn't Microshaft steel icons from Apple? Forget about the desktop - go for business - tell them that linux is bigger than the Internet and they will have to turn to it if they want to stay in business. The key is business, because who has a Win computer other than they want to be able to bring stuff from work. "The business of America is business" -Grover Cleveland
We were there yesterday, follow us into future.
Alan Parsons comes to mind as well, although not as close.
"Where do we go from here.
After all of the children have grown up..."
Take care,
Jay
joconnor@roadrunner.com
LINUX.DE far away Linux linux-Slogan we recently by a well-known company with
a similar slogan in addition, our popular sub-title " Where DO were requested you
want to go tomorrow? " to remove. Up to final clarifying of the legal situation we
fulfill this request.
As the legal situation looks with this similarity, is not however yet quite clear.
Continuation follows?
PS:(They have a link to Microsoft Germany at "a well know company" text).
Good job, Rob! Right at the top of the page is a banner ad for VA Research with the slogan (what else?) "Where do you want to go tomorrow?" Hehehehehee... That'll teach 'em.
Doing parodies of advertising slogans is almost REQUIRED, since they (the slogans & the parodies) are usually good sound bites, and the slogans tend to be so simplistic & vacuous that you HAVE to make fun of them :)
How about:
"Where they told you they'd take you YEARS ago..."
"Where you NEED to be TODAY"
Userfriendly.org (http://www.usefriendly.org) had a nice one a while back:
This is where you will go today.
More true to nature anyway. Noticed that when I logged out of hotmail.com for the very first (and almost last) time.
A month or two ago I noticed a sign in the Greyhound station in San Diego-
GREYHOUND
?Donde quieres ir?
I think Microsoft is gonna have to sue a lot of people.
there is another banner on a page about bugs: http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Pers onal/L.Wood/IE4/ it has been there for *ages*.
We take you there today!
I suggest that everyone go over to forkinthehead.com and order one of their way cool "Who do you want to fork today?" T-shirts.
(No, I have no connection with forkinthehead, other than as a proud wearer of their Tshirt.)
Phase 5 uses a slightly different slogan, they write "Where do you want to be tomorrow", and they have registered this as (tm) - although I don't know whether it's international or only German.
I am not a lawyer.
Your mileage my vary.
We've already been there yesterday!
(afx: If you are who I think you are, your book is great!)
Anyway, I found it surprising that linux.de removed the slogan so fast. ("Of course we complied with their request", it says on their site). If they don't have enough faith in themselves to stick to their guns before the situation is cleared up, what's to discourage Micro$oft from putting pressure on them (or other sites) when they publish something critical to M$?
stroucki@guild.net
Open Source needs an organisation to sue to protect it's rights. If someone were to breach the GNU Copyleft, or to publish libelous falsehood about Linux, who would sue? Similarly if Microsoft were to target Linux by launching law suits againat individuals, who would pay to defend them and Linux on behalf of the open source community as a whole? At the moment nobody. The problem is that nobody owns Linux or other GNU open source product. In order to sue, it would be necessary to mount a class action. It is therefore necessary to have an organisation to coordinate class action on behalf of the open source community. IBM, HP, Corel, Intel, AOL/Netscape, Dell, Compaq, and countless individuals have all put a lot of investment into open source software, and open source moves into the commercial domain and challenges the likes of Microsoft, this investment will need to be defended more and more.
Issues such as the rights of the customer to choose the operating system and web browser of choice would also be better handled by class action for protection of consumer rights (perhaps with assistance from the corporate backers of open source to cover legal costs), than by individual corporations who will tend to be seen as protecting their own interests. This is the way to break Microsoft's bully tactics. Insist on the cost of Windows, or Internet Explorer (or both if Microsoft insists on bundling them) being refunded if the customer doesn't want it, as the consumer's right to choose rather than as an anti-competitive action. This will be a lot more effective in the courts.
Such a Linux organisation could also act as a lobby group to pressure the DOJ to take action to protect freedom of choice, freedom of speech with regard to privacy and encryption etc. This would benefit the vast majority of the computer industry and customers who want to see free and fair competition.
Unfortunately, this sort of competition is only allowed in very strict bounds in Europe. You are just allowed to compare products and their real facts (provided by some independant organization, e.g. a computer magazine). That's to avoid those "religious wars" of US advertising.
How is it that a Company in (Michigan, which I can only assume is in America) comes to have a patent pending in Germany? this mystifies me, perhaps someone can clear this up for me
Why don't we trademark slogans almost the same
to some of microsoft's un trademarked slogans and ask them to remove them.
(Bugger I can't remember my password sorry about the AC)
How about trademarking
"Internet Explorer 6"
"NT 6"
"Windows CE 3"
OK, don't feed off Microsoft (you are what you eat). How 'bout this for a slogan:
The dot org people.
GPL, John
"Where do you want to go to now/today?"
They stole it from guns and roses!
where do we go now.. where do we go-oh-oh
ooohh-hoo where do we go now...
ah-ah-ah-ahhha where do we go-oh!
picture this:
Some marketing person was listening to it on their headphones on a flight to a customer.. and guess what...
I think there should be a list to choose from. Not every on would want "Where do you want to go tomorrow"
Where shall we force you to go today?
Where would a real man want to go today?
When do you what to crash today?
What shade of blue is coving your screen today?
How would you like to be shafted today?
What underhanded B.S. can we pull to day?
What hot patch goes on today?
What version is craching today v1.0
What vertion is crashing tday v1.01
What sturgon is scraching away v1.1
What version is craching today v2.0 (upgrade $186)
What idea shall we steal today?
What upstart with a good idea can we kill today?
For a bug fix how much will you pay?
Where could we find any competition today?
Our lawyers developed more that our programmmers today!
Have you seen the memory we eat up today?
Why won't Unix go to hell and just stay?
Then again most of these are more appropiate for M$ web pages, but I more fun than M$ programmer with a "Pie Bill" video game.
My recollection is that some poor guy was selling BillGatus of Borg T-shirts on the Internet and was threatened will legal action by a group of MS lawyers. This guy (wish I could remember who) couldn't afford to fight and quit making the shirts. This was about a year or two ago IIRC.
Raymond Fellers
rfellers@ix.netcom.com
mmm..and to think we all thought you were
a Micro$~1 stooge being paid to post stuff
up here...
Guess we were mistaken. hehe.
Microsoft is just hassling competitors; part of their illegal monopolistic practices. Does Microsoft use the slogan in question? No. The legal aspects are pretty clear: Microsoft has no basis for their argument and no sense of humor. Micrsoft does have a vicious streak when it comes to public relations. If they can't take a joke and have no legal basis, then they are just bullies.
I'm sure you guys have pretty strong arguments on the legality of Microsoft's claim, but personally, I think that linux.de, if they wish to be marked "innovative", they should come up with something themselves. Linux community ought to support originality, otherwise you'd just be another microsoft... assimilating ideas from successful companies.
It's a competative parody slogan. If the laws interfere, hit'em with a bat. Confront dirty business tactics with mob tactics. Thats my two cents.
agreed. if a worldwide community of bright people can build an operating system, they can come up with a better slogan. but then again, it isn't the coders that post this shit, it's the kidz with nothing better to do. why don't you go download some more themes...
amphibious howard
Open Source needs an organisation to sue to protect it's legal rights. If someone were to breach the GNU Copyleft, or to publish libelous falsehood about Linux, who would sue? Similarly if Microsoft were to target Linux by launching law suits against individuals involved in open source development, who would pay to defend them and Linux on behalf of the open source community as a whole? At the moment nobody. The problem is that nobody owns Linux or other GNU open source product. In order to sue, it would be necessary to mount a class action on behalf of the open source community. It is therefore necessary to have an organisation to coordinate class action on behalf of the open source community. IBM, HP, Corel, Intel, AOL/Netscape, Dell, Compaq, and countless individuals have all put a lot of investment in time or money into open source software, and open source moves into the commercial domain and challenges the likes of Microsoft, this investment will need to be defended more and more.
Issues such as the rights of the customer to choose the operating system and web browser of choice would also be better handled by class action for protection of consumer rights (perhaps with assistance from the corporate backers of open source to cover legal costs), than by individual corporations who will tend to be seen as protecting their own interests. This is the way to break Microsoft's bully tactics. Insist on the cost of Windows, or Internet Explorer (or both if Microsoft insists on bundling them) being refunded if the customer doesn't want it, as the consumer's right to choose rather than as an anti-competitive action. This will be a lot more effective in the courts.
Such a Linux organisation could also act as a lobby group to pressure the DOJ to take action to protect freedom of choice, freedom of speech with regard to privacy and encryption software etc. This would benefit the vast majority of the computer industry and customers who want to see free and fair competition.
If your a small timer it doesn't matter if MS actually has a case (at least in most of the US states). Because you have to spend your own money to defend yourself. Hell, I couldn't even take a day off of work to go spend a day in court defending against this baloney. Just because something is legal doesn't mean it is right, and all the big corps know how win court cases by wars of attrition.
We had some proposals a few years back to change the tort laws so that if you lost a case you had to pay all the cost. It got shouted down because all the lawyers claimed that it would hurt the little guy. Would MS be playing this game if they couldn't hold the threat of a long, drawn out, appeal laden trial?
MAD has made a very long running business from parodying all sorts of trademarked and commercial stuff (e.g. The big Ghostbusters logo with the gost doing a 'thumbs down'). They then use the parodied logos, phrases, etc. to sell their magazine. Oh my God! Aren't they directly profiting from the name recognition of the stuff they parodied? Well guess what? It's legal.
The publicity it would generate would be incredible. M$ would not dare if they understood how damaging it would be for them.
KDE has this slogan too.
I like the McDonald's analogy. Mickeysoft and MickeyD's are quite alike: build a crappy product and market the hell out of it. Your partitally right; if it did both "Bugerthief" and "McCheddar", yes. But if it did "Bugerthief" alone and the "Burgerthief" character was sufficiently different, then it would be legal. The "hamburglar" himself is a rip-off of early vaudville/key-stone cop characters anyway. Comapany's can just co-opt cultural archetypes and claim that they own them, despite what lawyers from Disney and Microsoft think. Since Microsoft failed to come up with an innovative slogan; they failed to protect themselves from close approximation. If I were an airline and my current marketing campaign was "Fly away with American" and my competitor's came up with "Fly now with SouthWest " then my competitor would be guilty of lack of imagination, not of criminal infringement of my trademark.
PS: Burgerking did do a parody on Ronald McDonald: their restaurants featured posters of an angry, muscular King beating up a clown. Mc Donald's had a sense of humor, unlike Microsoft, and let it slide.
For years, the unofficial slogan of OS/2 users was "Where I want to go today!" I think I still have some of the graphics. I guess this shows that Microsoft considers Linux a bigger threat then OS/2, and OS/2 had them *very* scared for a while.
... You can't get there from here
Chuck
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
- Where do you want to go today?
- Uh, slashdot.org, please.
- *BZZZZZZZT* USER PERFORMED ILLEGAL OPERATION: CAN'T GO FROM HERE TO THERE.
[hideous blue screen]
GENERAL PROTECTION FAULT: REBOOT, RUN MICROSOFT© SCANDISK, GO TO http://www.msnbc.com .
- Kaufmann
To the editors: your English is as bad as your Perl. Please go back to grade school.
when do you want to reboot today?
Just updated mine :) http://www.portal.ca/~mouse
I second that suggestion, if everyone puts "Where do you want to go tommorow", or a similar permutation thereof on your web pages, their trademark starts becoming common parlace and much less enforceble. In fact, don't stop with web pages, add it to your .sig, etc. They can't go after so many people. This will surely annoy the hell of MS lawyers. hehe...
It has happened before. I.e: "Let me make a xerox of that letter".
PS. I already put it in my page!
I wondered why it has disappeared at least from CVS versions. Maybe they've been contacted from MS too?
There seems to be a lot of confusion about the
differences between copyrights, patents, and
trademarks. Here a few basics.
"prior use" applies to patents, not trademarks.
You can't copyright a title of something.
A trademark applies only to the areas that it is
applied for under. Violations only occur if you
use that trademark to try and sell
products/services using that name, in the same
category.
Also, a TM trademark is unregistered and a (R)
trademark is registered.
IANAL. YMMV.
Let's try to look at this from an unemotional perspective (which admittedly is difficult to do). It is obvious that one can't use the slogan
Where do you want to go today?
Even if this slogan is tied in with a clear parody of MS, one could get into trouble. What about...
Where do you want to go tomorrow?
Where do you want to be today?
Where do we want to go today?
Now these are slightly different. However, a reasonable person may confuse them to be the actual MS slogan. In this case, the argument will be made that you are benefiting (!?) from the viewers misperception that you are somehow related to MS. This argument is more applicable if you are in the same business field as MS. Now take the next two slogans.
I sorry Dave, I can't go there today (but I promise you a service pack tomorrow, maybe).
Where the fsck did you ever go yesterday or today?
These are far enough displaced from the original that a reasonable person would not confuse it for the MS slogan. They might recognize the connection, but they would also know that it was not the exact MS slogan.
As far as parody goes, you generally must make changes to the original slogan or trademark. The parody must be such that a normal person would recognize the difference. IIRC, the US Supreme Court has generally protected parody, and most courts use the perspective of how a reasonable person would view it. Finally, I think that everybody should put up "Where do you want to go tomorrow" on their own web site, and leave it up until MS comes barking.
10) The Dot Com People .com.
9) Where will we tell you to go today?
8) Go To Hell.
7) GOTO Considered Harmful.
6) Al Gore Invented Windows.
5) Where Do You Want to Line Bill's Pocket's Today?
4) We put the . in
3) Buggy Overpriced Software.
2) Where do you want to get sued today?
And the number 1 rejected slogan at Microsoft:
1) That's a feature not a bug!
Another: - We've upped our standards. Up yours.
You may be right about the free speech in EU, but the real problem is, that most people wouldn't have enough money to go through the legal system to the heighest courts, and additional, if the case is not "important" enough, you may be unable to go higher than a specific court.
Microsoft really needs to change their official slogan to something like:
"Microsoft, where can force you to go today?"
These seems like the path MS is headed in. All these big name companies, Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft always use these legal scare tactics to get what they want because they know they can afford to fight... whereas you can not.
--
The world is neither black nor white nor good nor evil, only many shades of CowboyNeal.
Put up the Slogan!!!
ttyl
Farrell
CAN-CON 2019 - Ottawa's only book oriented Science Fiction Convention! October 18-20, Sheraton Hotel, Ottawa, Canada h
Parodies are indeed protected, but only to a point. Using a parody of a trademarked advertising slogan as your own advertising slogan may be a bit too far. I suppose that's for the courts to decide.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
when do you want to reboot today?
Hmm.. that slogan assumes that you CAN control when you want to reboot! :)
NJV
Posted by NJViking:
What is: "IANAL. YMMV." ??
Just wondering.
NJV
Nah, slashdot already has dotslash registered. :)
I'd rather go to www.microsoftsucks.org anyway.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
Alternatively, I've always liked the slogan "Where do you want Microsoft to go today?"
-----
Free P2P Backup, Windows & Linux
Windows: We put the blues in blue screens.
Windows: You didn't want to save that, didja?
Windiws: We're the "un" in unstable.
Windows: Not just pain relief; productivity relief.
Windows: Advertise on our GPF's. Call us to find out how. Seen by millions daily.
Windows: Nothin' says lovin' like a good computer fsckin'
Microsoft: Did somebody say "Linux"?
Anyhow, we at VA aren't exactly bracing for the impact of such a lawsuit. Does anyone know how german law works on such things? That's the real question.
Chris DiBona
Evangelist, VA Research
--
Grant Chair, Linux Int.
VP, SVLUG
Co-Editor, Open Sources
Open Source Program Manager, Google, Inc.
I think the fear is that Microsoft, being the wonderful, ethical, and understanding company it is, would sue for libel against every Slashdot poster that ever said anything about the company.
In short, it's (hopefully) going for a legal loophole; it's kinda like using "Froot Loops" in a competitor's ad and covering up the "Froot" portion of the name.
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
Seem to remember seeing ads recently that *do* use *real* products.
The thing is, you can't make unsubstantiated, unresearched claims in an ad; otherwise, you have to make claims like "better than the leading brand." Otherwise, the FTC (in the US) gets ya...
That is, perhaps, why advertising has become such a wasted effort in the US, save for product recognition and recall.
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
Coca-Cola doesn't have a "swoosh." Nike does. Coca-Cola has the "Dynamic Ribbon Device."
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
Phase 5, a popular Amiga and Mac 3rd party hardware maker use this slogan, as do alot of companies.
...I cleaned up the root partition and now there's LOTS of free space!
Microsoft, your time is up. Exit stage left.
Until someone can provide us with some facts regarding German law in this area this is all speculation.
Nick
-- "It's a sad day for American capitalism when a man can't fly a midget on a kite over Central Park" - Jim Moran
How about: ``Do you wish to reboot your system?''
----------
You mean you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword and we'll try and kill each other like civilized peo
Come on, isn't that stretching it just a bit? The point is that it's a parody. Even if not, it's not exactly the same as Microsoft's slogan. No, M$ is just trying to throw its weight around.
----------
You mean you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword and we'll try and kill each other like civilized peo
I'm reading White's "The Once and Future King," which is a retelling of the Arthur legend. In his book, Arthur creates the knights of the round table to address the fuedal system's "might-makes-right" attitudes.
So how do we go about fixing this in today's society? How do we fight "might-makes-right" and rescuing websites in distress? We should create a new "Knights of the Round Internet" to oppose injustice and stupidity everywhere.
Lancelot, where are you? Sir Gawain? I'd settle for Don Quixote de la Mancha at the moment.
Anyone want to prepare a FAQ on things to do when Ogres attack your freedom?
My favorite was in one of Xach's GIMP tutorials. "How slow do you want to go today?"
Now if only I'd get my web page sorted out properly, I could put it on there too.
...and what do they do? Throw a couple of gallons of gasoline onto that bonfire...
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
The Future, The Choice Is Yours.
The Informed Choice.
For Generation Xcellence.
When Performence Matters.
No BSOD's Here.
Just where the hell do you think you're going today? And what makes you think you can go there without Microsoft?
http://www.lies.com/dec97/121897.html
I'll do that now! Great idea!
:)
I'm out of my tree just now but please feel free to leave a banana.
Ok. I think we should all step back a second and look at this. We need to evaluate whether it's fair to use this parady of the microsoft slogan or not. I would like to say that I don't see it as incringing upon microsoft as it's not that widly used. 400 searches on altavista is negligable. I think what has microsoft worked up is the intention of the parody. The intention is of couse to show linux's superiority to windows. We know of the superiority of Linux and this seems the easiest way to say it in few words. This is a Good thing(tm). Unfortunatly it has a nasty side effect as well. This side effect is that it TIES us to microsoft. By creating this sort of symbiotic realationship in the end are we not doing more harm then good?
Would it not be better to come up with some slogan that could be used across the board and not bind us into a paradigm? In the end we need to ralize this is not about linux vs windows. this is about creating good, solid and reliable software. And the PR needs to be about that. Sure there will be comperisions it is the medias way. But do we have to fall into that and create the paradigm within our own community.
"We want to take over the world, but we don't want to do it tomorrow, it's OK if it's next week"-- Linus Torvalds
Atleast you told us what microsoft was going to do next. Beware DotSlash! (I'm being comical here but the sad part is I wouldn't put it past them though I doubt they would be that obvious about it.)
"We want to take over the world, but we don't want to do it tomorrow, it's OK if it's next week"-- Linus Torvalds
http://www.io.com/~wwagner/pics/linux-ad2.gif
The law for Me (Microsoft) and the law for you.
Or..
We reserve the right to take public standards, "innovate" on them by breaking them, leaving a closed proprietary clunky system.
But you do not have the right to innovate on a fairly common english phrase that our propaganda department has invested so much time and effort on.
I think VA Research even used the "Where do you want to go tomorrow" slogan at one point in a Linux Journal ad. Perhaps this group should receive some award for being trite, but I doubt they will be sued over it, especially in Germany.
Now how about an ad during the Superbowl where a penguin is running around New York and meets a chiuaua and says "Yo quiero Linux!"
JET Program: see Japan, meet intere
We've got a poster for our booth and literature that has Tux riding on a pocket watch with spinning hands. It says
How Fast Do You Want to Get There?
We had this made for Comdex 1997 and have displayed it at every show since. I wonder if we'll see any of the MS legal team in Chicago next week?
--Kit
Former Inmate, VA Linux Sanitarium
After i went away from the Office, i called a cab.
The driver, named Bill, asked me Where do you want to go today?
As i am a Explorer i just told in a single and strong Word home, while opening both Windows to get some fresh air in.
Look ma, they are going to sue me for 6 words !!
*guess bill is trademarked too by now -shrug-*
Freaker / TuC
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
Next what?
Next to be requested to change something,
or next to brainlessly, spinelessly cave
to the request?
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Don't they realize that obeying this insane
order gives credibility to Microsoft?
Man, if the whole community is this soft and
acquiescent, we'll never be able to overcome
any REAL attacks.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Cybernet Systems Corporation has applied for a trademark on "Where do you want to go tomorrow?". But then, you're searching the wrong database (a US database) for a dispute that is taking place in Germany.
Downloaded the latest version yesterday. That slogan is still there as a tooltip.
I always liked "Where does Microsoft want you to go today?" better...
0 1 - just my two bits
This was quoted on slashdot a few months back
"first the ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win". - Ghandi
It looks like Linux vs Micros~1 has reached the third step.
Microsoft: where do we want you to go today?
0 1 - just my two bits
spectrecjr wrote: Parody is a form of protected speech, so MS have no legal leg to stand on. By the way, the people who are trademarking the phrase put out a Linux distribution---they posted on this thread in fact. So they are not using the trademark in a different field; the field is operating systems distributions....
And legal issues are sort of irrelevant. Post the slogan to your heart's content and watch MS look extremely foolish trying to send people legal threats, which they then post to their web pages.... ;)
This is silly. Law notwithstanding, nobody owns the sentence, "Where do you want to go tomorrow?" Certainly it's been in use commonly on the net for well over a year in reference to Linux, and Microsoft intimidation is sort of irrelevant.
Just use the slogan. Don't worry about it. ;)
Put up the slogan.
Let them sue all of us. Hehe.
This sig is false.
I can't tell you how many places I have seen that slogan. My god, look at VA Research, look at RedHat. Its everywhere. So what's m$ gonna due, sue everyone?
~centurion
What laws, if any, does Germany have regarding parody material?
Nonetheless, this is just another example of Microsoft "might-makes-right" tactics, something that can't help the trial any, regardless of the geographic location of this division.
Thank you for posting that.
--bricktoady
My friends, we are nothing but wings on the chicken of society.
Good question. Either really.
Fink
Why should anybody think that Microsoft has endorsed the "where do you want to go tomorrow?" slogan? Of course MS hasn't endorsed it! Why should anybody imagine they had??? As I already said, "where do you want to go tomorrow" ridicules the MS slogan, and rightly so. Nobody wants nor needs Microsoft to "endorse" that!
This isn't Microsoft's slogan, it's not what they trademarked, it's none of Microsoft's business. They don't like the ridicule, but there's no law against that in any democratic country I know about.
TA
You haven't got it yet: The point about making a parody of the Microsoft slogan is that "where do you want to go today" is a completely braindead slogan! It's just pure sillyness. That's why everybody is so keen to ridicule it.
TA
That analogy you presented was the worst piece of crap I've seen in a long, long time. Was that the best you could come up with?
TA
Oh come on, it's not creating "confusion, mistakes or deception"! No way it is. It's crystal clear, everybody immediately remembers Microsoft's slogan, "where do you want to go today" and then they see the point. So where's the confusion, deception and mistakes?
TA
Doesn't that precede Microsoft's use of the term by more than 2 decades?
Bravery, Kindness, Clarity, Honesty, Compassion, Generosity
...Nothing interesting here. Just move along...
Problem: paragraphs 1a and 1b require that the use be likely to cause confusion. In your example, the color scheme alone would be likely to cause confusion unless someone was specifically looking for the text. Nobody is likely to confuse Linux with Windows ( at least any more than they're likely to confuse a semi rig with a mid-sized car ), especially since that slogan typically begins with "Linux:" rather than "Microsoft:" ( I can't check the page in question because the site seems to have been slashdotted ).
Further, if your argument were true under US law then we would not be seeing the ads on US television where one company will show an "unamed competitor's" store where uniforms, slogans, products and characteristic names are so close to a real competitor's that the competitor in question is readily recognizable.
When you create a slogan or name, take-offs on it are one of the facts of life you accept.
Where is it trademark infringement? Last I checked MS had "Where do you want to go today?" trademarked, not the slogan in question. Sure they're similar, but the criteria for trademarks is "Is it's use likely to cause confusion between products?", and there's no way Linux will ever be confused with an MS product.
Why back down?
Simple.
They have more money than pretty much anyone.
The idea of aplying copyrights to the english language is stupid and will not work ...so tell mircosoft to go and play with them self and send me the slogan so I can put it up on my site.
I need to invent one
I've had a banner along those same lines up for a LONG time on my web page, and the no-fun gang from Redmond haven't said anything.
Well maybe it's because you're site isn't all that big or noticable. Hahahahaa...
How about this 100% explicit non-parody:
Where do you want to go today?
Away from Microsoft towards Linux! (or *BSD if you wish)
This establishes quite clearly 100% non-affiliation between what Microsoft and free Unices stand for.
In honor of the MS way, press the save button and search for your data a few days:
Do you know where your data went today?
Think about it, it really fits MS!
bah... that's WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TOMORROW enclosed in the H1 tag... the posting mechanism ate it even though I had it set to "Plain Old Text"... :-/
Glückwünsche, haben Sie Slashdot ermordet, indem Sie zum korporativen Druck beugten und Subskriptionen einlei
You should babelfish (babblefish?) the whole article:
A well-known company with a aenlichen slogan requested us to remove our sub-title from the homepage. We fulfill this request naturally - however where do we want to go then tomorrow? -) We mean: There again a knackiger message must. For this reason we organize now a competition competition competition.
Do you have a knackigen message in stock, which strikes others from the socks? Then ago with it!
To win there is naturally also somewhat... which, that yet not betrayed. As much is said: the hauptgewinn is rather large and does not fit now really into a CD ROM drive ;-)
As is the case for each competition there is also a selection: Your voice for the best Linux linux-Slogan delivers! Starting from 1 May the " wahlurnen " are open.
Anyone got a slogan that "strikes others from the socks"? Because "as much is said: the hauptgewinn is rather large and does not fit now really into a CD ROM drive."
I have to say that my hauptgewinn is getting too big for my CD drive.Mike
--
Mike
--
"Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?"
Was it just straight off the linux.de homepage
Almost...clicked on the full story link.
Here's the reference to TECO you mentioned:
This program takes a list of names on separate lines and sorts them.
[1 J^P$L$$
J <.-Z; .,(S,$ -D .)FX1 @F^B $K :L I $ G1 L>$$
(where ^B means `Control-B' (ASCII 0000010) and $ is actually an alt or escape (ASCII 0011011) character).
In fact, this very program was used to produce the second, sorted list from the first list. The first hack at it had a bug: GLS (the author) had accidentally omitted the @ in front of F^B, which as anyone can see is clearly the Wrong Thing. It worked fine the second time. There is no space to describe all the features of TECO, but it may be of interest that ^P means `sort' and J <.-Z; ... L> is an idiomatic series of commands for `do once for every line'.
Almost as bad as INTERCAL.
And /. is still doin' that thing with the < and >.
Mike
--
Mike
--
"Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?"
Mike
--
Mike
--
"Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?"
http://www.microsoft.com/questions/graphics/wd.
which can be seen here (provided Xoom doesn't start whining):
http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/hoffleman/wd2.gif
If that takes you to a tosviol.gif, hit reload a few hundred times.
(Derivative works of art are new works of art and so not covered by the original copyright. I think.)
This reminds me of the whole " Toys R Gus" thing a while back, where toys r us said they owned anything with an "r us" in it.
But it's not like somebody is calling themselves "Microslobs" or "Microsloth" or "Micro$oft" or any of the other fun variants, they are using Microsoft's stupid tag line to poke fun at them. Microsoft is totally out of control. What's worse, they have no sense of humor.
As if anybody going to www.linux.de is going to buy anything from them because they think they're at Microsoft's site! Hello? Anybody home? I think we should do what the guy in the other article is saying, abolish copyright. No artist is against MP3 that I've heard, and the ones that are for it (Tom Petty) get in trouble and are told not to distribute their songs anymore. How can people own words?
I'm not talking about books here, or anybody's livelihood, but to own a sentence? Like "This way in." or "Where do you want to go today?" or "We make it your way." or "News for Nerds: Stuff that matters" er... scratch that last one. Anyway, you get the point.
This is just a general rant after having tried to login to the old "renegade OLGA archive, which was down. I guess forever? Stupid money grubbing lawyers... like Pearl Jam or Eric Clapton or any guitarist cares if people can play their songs?? No by-ear transcriptions??? Ugh, it gets me so aggravated!!
-Begin Evan's Dumb Signature.....
rooooar
So. This is a real story, and not another brilliant hoax?
Suuuuure.
Why not another joke about getting sued for what's on Your site?
Shall we all have a good laugh, now?
Let's all hold our breath while Rob keeps us posted.
Now that was/is trademarked by a German company, I think Phase 5 Digital Products used to have it on their web site. Although it no longer seems to be there (neither does their A/Box product to which is was attached).
__// `Thinking is an exercise to which all too few brains
_
\\/ are accustomed' - First Lensman
Just like the guy with the pornographic Palm V advertisement parodies should.
For a good example, find the "Meat of the Loom" legal debacle.
-Chris
What laws, if any, does Germany have regarding parody material?
;-).
It doesn't matter what laws Germany has, because the EU's Laws take precedence (once you have fought your way through a member countries court system) and we do have freedom of speech (its under the European Court of Human Rights) so they are probably safe....but's that's just my opinion and i could be wrong
tom.
-- Tom
What I think is funny is that Jason at 0sil8, who did the "Simply Porn" ads, took them down because of his cease and desist order from 3Com and then linked to every site that has a mirror of his work. Wonder what 3Com's take on that is? Fight the man is right.
First they laugh at you,
then they ignore you,
then they fight you. -- you are here
Then you win.
Hey, 3/4 of the way home!
however they have started a contest to find a new slogan. submit here!
-- To bloody go where no man has gone before.
Here... I seem to remember a time when ribbons and politic banners used to be fashionable.
http://w3.to/silic0n
Sun Tzu must have been running Linux...
- Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. (Sun Tzu, The art of war)
Marriage is considered capital punishment for the theft of a goat in some third world countries...
prehensile.com has mirrored the "Simply Porn" ads, and serendipitously enough, is the site where the whole "Meat of the Loom" business was started.
M$ didn't sue Billy Graham back in '97 when his campaign ended up using this slogan. Why the preferential treatment for Billy G., other than the fact that he shares the same initials as Mr Gates himself, and that he's got friends upstairs?
/ memo_092997.html
http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97
Will /. be sued for the Bill/Borg icon now?
No they probably bought it. How much did Bill pay the Stones for "~[#]Start me up"? ('scuse the feeble ascii-art windows logo)
-- open source? sounds like the real book --
In a broad Aussie accent (broader than mine) today is close to ``to-die''. Onya moite!
-- open source? sounds like the real book --
In the arrival hall A of the Munich airport, there is a large ad from Oracle asking:
Where do you want to go tomorrow?
I wonder if it is still there tomorrow morning. (I do hope so!)
Life is too short for crappy pictures.
Actually,
Microsoft has the phrase
"Where do you want to go today"
registered
oops, now the phrase is on slashdot.
Watch out they may have to remove my post
hehe.
I will actually defend Microsoft on this one. I don't defend them on much. The fact is that any computer site that uses the phrase "Where do you want to go Tommorow" is doing it as a Microsoft play. Microsoft has a right to protect itself. A company's rights do not go away when it becomes large. Microsoft is not the antichrist, just a company with bad products and good marketing. Even bad companies deserve fair treatment
Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human.
mmm..and to think we all thought you were
a Micro$~1 stooge being paid to post stuff
up here...
Guess we were mistaken. hehe.
... and to continue...
At least I don't post as an anonymous coward (the way you seem to be doing), and I don't hide my affiliation.
What's this Micro$~1 crap anyway? Doesn't apply to NT. Doesn't apply to Windows 98/95 unless you drop down to DOS.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
Oh come on, it's not creating "confusion, mistakes or deception"! No way it is. It's crystal clear, everybody immediately remembers Microsoft's slogan, "where do you want to go today" and then they see the point. So where's the confusion, deception and mistakes?
From my perspective (and I am not a lawyer), the confusion is (as I said) in whether or not Microsoft is seen as ENDORSING the use of their trademark in that way, and therefore endorsing that company.
That's the confusion.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
That analogy you presented was the worst piece of crap I've seen in a long, long time. Was that the best you could come up with?
Given the short amount of time I can spend posting here while I'm at work, yes.
I'm paid to code, not to play on the Internet.
And heck, if you don't like it, come up with your own.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
Parody is a form of protected speech, so MS have no legal leg to stand on. By the way, the people who are trademarking the phrase put out a Linux distribution---they posted on this thread in fact. So they are not using the trademark in a different field; the field is operating systems distributions.... ;)
;)
Yep - and they haven't been granted that trademark yet; they've just filed for it. The whole trademark issues vary state to state, but if they're only doing in-state commerce under that trademark, they may well be able to. But they won't be able to register it with the federal govt. -- though it may slip through the net, in which case, MS will sue, and they'll lose it. 's pretty clear cut.
And legal issues are sort of irrelevant. Post the slogan to your heart's content and watch MS look extremely foolish trying to send people legal threats, which they then post to their web pages....
The thing is though, 99% of those people won't be providing official Linux services / running an official Linux site, which would appear to be what www.linux.de is. And that is where the problem lies; when they use it, it's no longer parody. It's advertising. And hey presto, it's no longer protected.
The thing is though, MS has to do this; if you don't defend your trademarks, they die.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
Thanks for the citation, it was definitely informative (Where did you get it, btw?). Now my question is what did www.linux.de violate?
:) (and the actual URL is in there, if you want to read the whole original document).
I just did a Yahoo search for trademarks, and followed a few links
As for what www.linux.de violated... I'm not 100% sure (firstly, I'm not a lawyer, and secondly, the only details I have on this are from slashdot). But I think it basically goes under the Sect 1114, 1(b) stuff:
They have a banner ad (an advertisement), which is using a parody (imitation) which is likely to cause confusion, mistakes or deception. Confusion, mistakes or deception can be anything from thinking that www.linux.de are Microsoft resellers, to the idea that by using such a similar slogan, Microsoft *ENDORSES* the companies / organisations which are using the similar slogan in that field.
And as for definitions of "colorable imitation", I think this is a duck-test thing.
Simon
Coming soon - pyrogyra
Microsoft is just hassling competitors; part of their illegal monopolistic practices. Does Microsoft use the slogan in question? No. The legal aspects are pretty clear: Microsoft has no basis for their argument and no sense of humor. Micrsoft does have a vicious streak when it comes to public relations. If they can't take a joke and have no legal basis, then they are just bullies.
m l#15usc1114
Sorry, but it has a legal basis -- section 1114, 1(a) and 1(b) of the Lanham Act of 1946.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/lanham/lanham.act.ht
Confusion can include whether or not Microsoft ENDORSES companies using a similar slogan and/or trademark. As such, www.linux.de was infringing MS's trademark.
(I am not a lawyer)
Coming soon - pyrogyra
M$ didn't sue Billy Graham back in '97 when his campaign ended up using this slogan. Why the preferential treatment for Billy G., other than the fact that he shares the same initials as Mr Gates himself, and that he's got friends upstairs?
Billy Graham isn't in the computer industry. He's not selling computer-related services. Therefore trademark infringment is not possible in this case.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
It wouldn't take an expensive lawyer to defend linux.de; in fact, if they hadn't backed down, M$ probably wouldn't have the balls to sue anyway--they'd lose.
Actually, no, MS wouldn't lose. This is in fact trademark infringment. Also, that company in Michigan is using the trademark in a different field...
Coming soon - pyrogyra
But I believe the law in question here is German. A German company is being sued by another German company (Microsoft's DE subsidiary).
As I said, I believe that trademark law was internationally agreed on, and is recognised internationally since the Geneva Copyright Convention (apart from some notable exceptions).
The law itself in Germany, I believe, is either very similar or identical to the law in the UK and the US.
Coming soon - pyrogyra
mmm..and to think we all thought you were
:)
a Micro$~1 stooge being paid to post stuff
up here...
Guess we were mistaken. hehe
Read the disclaimer. It's there for a reason.
Also, read my User Bio - I develop UI controls for Visual Studio. I also spend too much time online
Coming soon - pyrogyra
If you were to get sued by McDonald's for such "infringment" I'd be behind you 100%... (even if I did think you're ripping them off... but it's not close enough to be trademark infringement.)
And if MS created a DotSlash.org website, I'd think it'd be hilarious.. I might even gain some respect for them, being able to laugh at themselves (and us).. and I'd lose an enormous amount of respect for Rob & the gang if they tried to sue over it, as I'm sure most of the others here would as well.
Microsoft is trying to be a bully. The same rules we all learned as a child on the playground still apply, especially the one that says don't let _ANYONE_ push you around. I don't know who I have more hateful feelings toward, Microsoft or the wimps who didn't stand their ground. Especially to such a hollow threat. When these guys back down it effects everyone. Linux is a unique threat to Microsoft because it represents something they can't buy, and they can't get rid of it by bankrupting the company which produces it because linux itself is not produced by a company although many package and sell it. The typical weapons Gates employs are useless, so he must find other methods of attack. The very real threat exists that microsoft may begin going after the individuals who are creating and promoting linux. Don't think that they won't. Linux is a serious threat and Gates' personality is such that he sees any threat to his total domination as a cause for all out war. If you don't believe me I have one word for you: Netscape. Linux is not something that he will ignore, he will respond and that response will not be kind. When someone gives in like this when Microsoft doesn't have a leg to stand on in the first place it's like retreating your troops because the enemy jumped up and down and made noises that might be frightening to a small child. Gates is a bully and the simple rule is never back down.
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
Why did we (Cybernet Systems) apply for
the trademark for "Where do want to go
tomorrow" would be a good trademark?
Check out www.netmax.com for a really easy
to install and use LINUX or FreeBSD systems
with full HTML admin and user desktops --
easy enough for even Windows guys to use.
- By Chuck Jacobus at Cybernet Systems
(Cybernet.com)
I like "How do you want to get taken today?"
Yep! A whole bunch of us at www.il.fontys.nl and subsidiaries. It's an Internet student association that runs on Linux. We're updating our dusty old website and were allready considering that particular logo :)
I can't beleive that you would think that an innovative company like Microsoft actually stole something. Why this is the same company that invented the GUI and computers and ...... wait a minute, this company has not innovated or invented anything....and quite frankly I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they did steal it. That would be why I am a Linux administrator and not a NT one anymore. Bye Bye MSCE.
I changed my wee bubble to read: "Where would you like to be tomorrow?"
Thought it was appripriate...
I honestly don't understand why MS keeps doing these things. It seems to me, that stunts like this just gives people a reason to be cynical of Micro$oft...not that I'm really complaining of that fact. What do they really gain from this? A linux support site can't use a crappy slogan they've adopted? Big deal. Just more anti-MS sentiment to go around.
http://www.kmfms.com... that's all I have to say.
As has been said on /. many times before, a parody is one of the most protected forms of speech. I don't know what German law is like, or whether German, US, or international laws apply, but the point is, we're wimping out on the slander issue.
To harp on another favorite subject of ours, would a legal fund help us feel our backbone a little more? It wouldn't take an expensive lawyer to defend linux.de; in fact, if they hadn't backed down, M$ probably wouldn't have the balls to sue anyway--they'd lose.
I seem to remember that same slogan popping up on the start button of KDE. I wonder if they are next?
Fink
I use Linux because it works well for me, not because of anything having to do with Microsoft. I wouldn't care about Microsoft or their market share at all if it weren't for the fact that their policies affect the availability of content and drivers on other platforms.
Ok, so I can understand that copying a long sequence of words constitues plagarism, if the sequence is of publishable nature. You can't argue that copying a book, verbatim, is a violation - though interesting IP arguments are to be had about this. After all, information seeks freedom by it's very nature.
And I can understand that a single, specific word, such as the name of a company, can be protected as a trademark. It serves as an identifier, a propoer noun, and in effect it names a specific entity and serves as a reference to the same. This extends to acronyms that present a lengthy name concisely, such as ACME. (I don't know either)
But going rabid after a short phrase??
Am I going to get sued for asking "Where do you want to go today?" if I drive a cab? Can M$ dictate how I phrase my questions to my girlfriend? Can a phrase be forbidden by a corporation, simply because some lawyer without enough to do happens to misconstrue the meaning of that phrase as implying superiority over Microsoft?
I think that, with a name like Microsoft, somebody is simply overcompensating for their PC envy.
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
I'm sure I've seen this in their adverts. Come to think of it, their latest version says, "It is now safe to turn on your Linux computer," as a spoof of the Win95 shutdown message.
And Al Gore... well, is just a moron, and none of us particularly care what he thinks.
VA Research? Nah... We have a thing called Free Speech over here in the States.
:(
Frankly, I can't believe that linux.de actually complied. Over here, you can't sue for parody (well, maybe you can sue, but you can't win). Things must be different in Germany, though.
It's real sad to see that Microsoft's scare tactics actually worked in this case...
I'd suggest everyone put
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TOMORROW???
on their web page as a protest. Yes, even if you're in Germany. Let's see what Microsoft has to say about that!
Glückwünsche, haben Sie Slashdot ermordet, indem Sie zum korporativen Druck beugten und Subskriptionen einlei
Let Microsoft divert attention away from it's legal problems all they want. While legally tenuous, if I came out with a fast food resturant featuring characters dubbed "The Burgerthief" and "Mayor McCheddar" how many people would have a problem with me getting a cease and desist from McDonalds? And what kind of hysterical fit would the majority of you throw if microsoft started the website "www.DotSlash.org:Stuff for nerds. News that matters."?????
Maybe college would be good for teaching people perspective.
ROFL!
Where'd you get that? Was it just straight off the linux.de homepage (that's where I got the bit above from)?
Somewhere in the Jargon file (too lazy to find the exact reference right now) it says something about a popular past-time being to type your name in to TECO as a command and see what it comes up with...
The equivalent past-time for the 90's should be to do the same with babelfish... that was just too funny!!
--
- Sean
It's a fine line between trolling and karma-whoring... and I think I just crossed it.
- Sean
Ow! Babelfish sure mangled that one!
Ok... here's a human translation (admittedly by someone not quite fluent in German):
We were requested recently by a well-known company with a similar slogan to our popular sub-title, "Where do you want to go tomorrow?" to remove it. Until we can finally clarify the legal situation we are fulfilling this request.
How the legal process appears to deal with this parody, however, is not yet quite clear. More to follow?
--
- Sean
It's a fine line between trolling and karma-whoring... and I think I just crossed it.
- Sean
Yeah, and my mother was always asking me
"Where have you been?"
-- Alastair
Hasn't VA Research been using this slogan for some time, or did I fall asleep and they stopped using it?
Thanks for the citation, it was definitely informative (Where did you get it, btw?). Now my question is what did www.linux.de violate?
The important phrases seem to be:
"...in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive"
and
well, actually, the second one is a reprinting of the first in a different tense (corrent me if I'm wrong) in order to indicate those who make the infringement rather than those who use it.
Anyhow, linux.de doesn't seem to qualify for:
sale
offering for sale
distribution
of any goods or services. Can they be called advertising for it? It looks like it, I guess. Is this the one that qualifies? Or do you say that it's the "likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to decieve" part?
Btw, is "Where do you want to go tomorrow?" a "colorable imitation" of "Where do you want to go today?" What is the legal definition of colorable imitation? Do you know where it can be found? Can you find a dictionary definition of colorable imitation? I'm not used to that sort of language, so I'm curious to know what it means.
Thanks for the info.
They laughed at Einstein. They laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. -- C. Sagan
Where is it trademark infringement? Last I checked MS had "Where do you want to go today?" trademarked, not the slogan in question. Sure they're similar, but the criteria for trademarks is "Is it's use likely to cause confusion between products?", and there's no way Linux will ever be confused with an MS product.
l
... well, he's still waiting for the patent to file. And by the look of it, he ain't going to get it.
Look at it this way:
If Pepsi had their cans EXACTLY as they are now, but put the Pepsi logo in the Coca Cola font (and I'm not talking about the swoosh here), it'd be no contest -- Coca Cola would win the ensuing lawsuit. But! You say, "It says PEPSI, not Coca-Cola! how can that be confusing"?
Answer: Doesn't matter.
Here's part of the reason:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/trademark.htm
Under state common law, trademarks are protected as part of the common law of unfair competition and registration is not required. See Unfair Competition. States' statutory provisions on trademarks differ but most have adopted a version of the Model Trademark Bill (MTB) or the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act (UDTPA). The MTB provides for registration of trademarks while the UDTPA does not.
---
And here's the kicker:
The Lanham Act of 1946. ( http://www.law.cornell. edu/lanham/lanham.act.html#15usc1114)
Sect. 1114. Remedies; infringement; innocent infringement by printers and publishers
(1) Any person who shall, without the consent of the registrant--
(a) use in commerce any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of a registered mark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services on or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive; or
(b) reproduce, counterfeit, copy, or colorably imitate a registered mark and apply such reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation to labels, signs, prints, packages, wrappers, receptacles or advertisements intended to be used in commerce upon or in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of goods or services on or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive, shall be liable in a civil action by the registrant for the remedies hereinafter provided. Under subsection (b) hereof, the registrant shall not be entitled to recover profits or damages unless the acts have been committed with knowledge that such imitation is intended to be used to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the remedies given to the owner of a right infringed under this Act or to a person bringing an action under section 43(a) [15 USCS Sect. 1125(a)] shall be limited as follows:
(A) Where any infringer or violator is engaged solely in the business of printing the mark or violating matter for others and establishes that he or she was an innocent infringer or innocent violator, the owner of the right infringed or person bringing the action under section 43(a) [15 USCS Sect. 1125(a)] shall be entitled as against such infringer or violator only to an injunction against future printing.
(B) Where the infringement or violation complained of is contained in or is part of paid advertising matter in a newspaper, magazine, or other similar periodical or in an electronic communication as defined in section 2510(12) of title 18, United States Code, the remedies of the owner of the right infringed or person bringing the action under section 43(a) [15 USCS Sect. 1125(a)] as against the publisher or distributor of such newspaper, magazine, or other similar periodical or electronic communication shall be limited to an injunction against the presentation of such advertising matter in future issues of such newspapers, magazines, or other similar periodicals or in future transmissions of such electronic communications. The limitations of this subparagraph shall apply only to innocent infringers and innocent violators.
(C) Injunctive relief shall not be available to the owher of the right infringed or person bringing the action under section 43(a) [15 USCS Sect. 1125(a)] with respect to an issue of a newspaper, magazine, or other similar periodical or an electronic communication containing infringing matter or violating matter where restraining the dissemination of such infringing matter or violating matter in any particular issue of such periodical or in an electronic communication would delay the delivery of such issue or transmission of such electronic communication after the regular time for such delivery or transmission, and such delay would be due to the method by which publication and distribution of such periodical or transmission of such electronic communication is customarily conducted in accordance with sound business practice, and not due to any method or device adopted to evade this section or to prevent or delay the issuance of an injunction or restraining order with respect to such infringing matter or violating matter.
(D) As used in this paragraph--
(i) the term "violator" means a person who violates section 43(a) [15 USCS Sect. 1125(a)]; and
(ii) the term "violating matter" means matter that is the subject of a violation under section 43(a) [15 USCS Sect. 1125(a)].
So there you have it. Most other countries' trademark laws follow the Lanham Act; this was all settled down around the time of the Geneva Copyright Convention.
According to the letter (and spirit) of the law, Linux.De was indeed infringing a trademark.
Also, the Michigan guy who's trying to register Where Do You Want To Go Tomorrow?
Simon
Coming soon - pyrogyra